Twelve

Two days before the wrist would fully heal. I woke up that morning tired and with a creaking back. I winced at the sunlight streaming from an open window and pushed off the covers.

"AAAAAH!"

I headed for the bookshelf to grab a health book. I looked up 'pregnancy' and looked around for 'eggs'. Yeah, all I got was a platypus. Honestly, I might not be human, but I doubt I'm some duck-gopher-beaver-cockatoo or WHATEVER it is. I threw it at the shelf and stared at the egg resting on the bed. I cautiously walked over and plucked it up. It was warm. It had a light clover-colored base with two Uzis crossing muzzles with two roses in the center, one red and one white. Was this really a Guardian Character egg? I blinked and walked out of the room, freezing in the middle of the hall. Should I tell Amu? Ami can see them as bright as day, so that would be a waste of time… I already voted out Ikuto since he might've taken my egg as payback for all the times I took his. I wrapped my fingers more securely around the egg and pocketed it, my hand still with it. I walked downstairs and froze once more at the bottom step. Ikuto was standing right there, leaning over the kitchen counter, whistling softly, while his Character was munching on dried sardines. Amu wasn't in sight, neither was Ami.

Ikuto stopped suddenly and turned with a raise brow. He walked over and sniffed the air. The only thought I had was Oh SH*T do I still smell like P*SS? Yep. Give me an award for that thought. Of course, that apparently wasn't the case, so I was 50%-50% grateful. "Hmm."

"Hmm what?" I raised a brow.

He stepped back a little. "You have the scent of birth."

I blushed deeply. Do you know how wrong it sounds once you think about it REALLY hard? "N-No I don't! Jeez you F*CKING pervert!"

He chuckled. "I didn't mean sex wise," he stuffed his hands into his pockets, leaning slightly for my face, so I was leaning back. "I meant Character egg wise."

I gulped. "W-What? I d-don't know what the heck you're talking about!"

He laughed, straightening. That made my instincts nearly vote over to rip his 'annoying little SH*T bag of a head' off. "Why are you stuttering if it's not true?" he teased. "You have an egg."

I shook my head. Well, it's harder to try and restrain your vectors from ripping apart a HOT guy! "No I don't!" I lied on and on.

"Why did you scream then?"

…You know I was considering a censor for him at a minute. Think about birth…and screaming… "Nightmare!" I screamed, my hand never leaving my pocket. "JEEZ!"

"Oh really, what was it about then?" he asked seductively.

I froze. I c-can't tell him my usual nightmares…he'd never like me…wait what? "T-That…uh…"

"See? No nightmare."

"Yes it was!" I snapped. "It's just that it's more of a Rated R thing that's NONE OF YOUR F*CKING BUSINESS!"

He was STILL smirking. "I'm seventeen, remember that," he leaned in, "Kaede."

Oh F*CKING jeez. I sighed and stepped back. "LOOK," I snarled. "I don't WANT to tell YOU, okay?"

He still didn't believe a word I said. The Character came up, a dried sardine in paws and mouth. "Hey-nya," he waved. "I have a question-nya."

"Go ahead," I yawned. It WAS 3:00A.M.

"How did you push Ikuto into the wall two days ago-nya?"

I froze, all wind out of my lungs, eyes wide, and body slightly trembling. Oh yeah, I did push him with the vectors. Why I didn't remember that, I will NEVER know. I mean come on! You'd think I'd remember that after all he didn't know a thing about my being as a 'Diclonius'. I gulped and raked the back of my neck with sharp nails, yes, trying to cut it open. "U-Uh…"

Ikuto wasn't smirking anymore. "Yeah…how did you do that?"

Someone knocked on the door. I thought I was grateful, I thought I should be happy I wouldn't have to answer Ikuto's question, but when I opened it…

"Have you seen…Lucy!"

Yeah, it was Kurama, you know? The guy trying to stop the team from firing? Oh yeah, he wasn't mentioned in the present huh? Well, that's for three weeks and two days later of the ago. Well, back to the past, I was absolutely astounded that he was there. "W-What the heck are you doing here?" I yelled. I tried to shut the door on him, but was he persistent. "GO AWAY!"

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ikuto asked behind me.

I screamed and he backed up, hands in the air. The vectors charged out and smashed the door frame nearly in two. What was he doing here? Why? Did I do something? Was it about that fight? Was my existence somehow put under a death sentence? Well, yah, but that was three weeks and two days later to the NOW. I pushed harder against the door and Ikuto tried to pry me off. "GO AWAY KURAMA!" I yelled.

"LUCY!"

I gasped and the door flew into my nose. Yep, Ikuto chose to call me what I preferred him to call me right then and there. I heard a nasty crack and backed up, covering my nose gushing with blood. My hand was no longer in the pocket with my Character egg. Kurama was finally in, red in the face from pushing the door open. "OKAY!" he huffed. He straightened and shifted his tie a bit. "Lucy, I'm NOT here to hurt you…"

"YOU'VE SAID THAT-OWWW! HOW MANY TIMES?" I screamed, Kurama obviously thankful the door was shut. "I MEAN SERIOUSLY! WHAT THE F*CKING HE** ARE YOU DOING HERE? IS IT AGAINST THE D*MN LAW TO VISIT SOMEONE? I. DID. NOT. KILL. ANYONE!"

Ikuto was staring alright. "Hold on," he blinked. "Why would he accuse you of murder?"

Yep, I was at the point of heart attack. "Uh…"

"Lucy here is a Diclonius," Kurama sighed. "A dangerous being."

"She's not dangerous-nya!" Ikuto's character snapped.

Kurama blinked and pointed at him. "What's that, may I ask?"

I blinked and exchanged glances with Ikuto. "Is he supposed to…"

"Some adults see them," he shrugged.

I sighed and stood up straight, both hands still over my nose. "It's called a Guardian Character," I explained. "They come from eggs from your heart or soul or whatever Amu said…" I blinked, still not comprehending where they came from. "They're 'dreams and wishes of people' and that love-SH*T my cousin explained…"

"Cousin," Kurama stated.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah…It's not like I can't have some family, you know?"

Ikuto poked my shoulder, so I turned to him. "Is anyone going to explain why he thinks you'd murder someone?" he asked impatiently.

I gulped. "Yeah…um…"