Chapter 25: Hope

Synopsis: It is said in eastern belief that the soul is composed of four elements. Love, courage, desire, and of course hope. It is these four elements that give humans the capacity to exceed the expectations and boundaries that were once believed impossible to break. Amongst the four elements, hope is one of the strongest traits that have stood the test of time against discord and chaos during the darkest hours of human kind.

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

"talking"

thoughts

"I'm leaving!" called Mayu happily as she ran out the door.

"Come home early" responded Yuka.

It had been a week since the young adolescent had come to live in Maple Inn. Since that time many changes were made to incorporate her into their little family. For starters Mayu was now legally under their custody to which a few other arrangements were also necessary such as school relocation, tuition, paper work, and a few others minor necessities. Although it was a bit troublesome for the gang to get everything into motion it was well worth it seeing that child smile again.

But the hardest part about all this was finding her parents to sign over her custody to them.

"She's been getting brighter every day after starting school" smiled Yuka. She then looked to see Kohta still laying head face down onto the pillow and Kaede resting on the table with her head turned towards them.

"But to let Mayu-chan just transfer like that . . . . and to let her stay with strangers . . . . it isn't like a normal mother" said Kohta as he was deep in thought about the circumstance. "But it's hard to believe what Kaede-san said. Although when you think about it, it's the most likely case. But it isn't something you really want to acknowledge".

Kaede nodded her head slightly as she too was thinking about it. During her time at the orphanage, she had many varied experiences when it came to people. But more towards her age group at the time. Although she didn't understand it then, some of the orphans came from pretty rough backgrounds which resulted to why they always acted out towards others or were always so introverted making them jittery when it came to communication with others. As much as she didn't like to admit it Takeshi, Rika, and those other two boys were probably in the same boat as they just wanted an outlet for all the bad things that had ever happened to them.

Concerning Mayu, she showed all the signs by her experience of a troubled kid with some nasty parents. But at recalling the memory of meeting with Mayu's parents she couldn't help but inwardly smirk at what she did.

"But Kaede-san was it really necessary to do all that?" asked Kohta. "We don't know for sure if that was the case and what if they tell someone?"

"Don't worry, they won't" smirked Kaede.

~ Flashback ~

At Mayu's home, Kohta and Kaede sat calmly as they waited for Mayu's mother to finish the official signing of the documentation making Mayu legally under their jurisdiction.

As they waited, the pair watched calmly as the young brunette's mother was signing away her life to people she didn't even know. Although Kaede seemed cool and relaxed on the outside she was a raging inferno on the inside. The pink diclonius was already angry from everything she managed to put together thus far. But after meeting the b**ch in person including her bastard husband it was all too clear to her now as all her suspicions were right on the dot.

"If you are done here please let yourself out as you have no further business here" to which the elder woman then got up to leave.

"How can you call yourself her mother?" Mayu's mother turned to the pink figure as she had her eyes shadowed underneath her bangs. Kaede then looked up as her eyes alone now reflected that of a lion ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness to which it instantly turned the atmosphere cold. "She trusted you, so how can you do that to your own child?"

The elder woman narrowed her eyes in annoyance to what she was suggesting. "I have no idea what that brat told you. But she is a lying piece of filth that is only concerned with filling her own desires. Why you took pity on her is beyond me. But good riddance that child is no longer my problem".

Kaede had pretty much hit her point of tolerance as she now wanted to so badly break this b**ch in half. She then got up as she motioned for Kohta to do the same. As she dragged him to the door she turned to smile at him. "Kohta, please wait outside as things are going to get a bit noisy in here".

"Wait, I can't let you do that". But truthfully he was confronting a paradox as he was now facing a moral (or possibly an ethical) problem concerning Mayu's parents. On one hand it was true he was quite angry with Mayu's mistreatment after his pink friend put all the pieces together for him. Just like Kaede, he too wanted to march back in there and bust some heads as a form of repayment for their evil deeds as well as give some form of peace to the young brunette's anguish. However the conundrum was what separated a good person from a bad one. The point of saying you're better then someone is proving it through action of never doing something an evil person would do which would in this case be the use of violence for the reason of negative emotions or misplaced sense of self-righteousness. "Besides . . . . even if she does deserve repentance . . . . Mayu-chan would cry if her mother was hurt".

Kaede looked away briefly. It was rare to see a child's love to be so strong for a parent that deserted them. For Mayu to still love her mother so much after all the crap she put her through. " . . . . She's too good for that". She then marched back in to do exactly what she had been planning to do once the paper work was done.

Kohta sighed as followed deciding to burn off some extra energy of his own and also to make sure his pink friend didn't go overboard with the whole revenge thing. Besides, who said good guys always had to play by the rules, and walking the gray line wasn't so bad once in a while. Especially when the perpetrators were deserving of what was coming their way.

~ End Flashback ~

"But Kaede-san how many times did you kick that guy 'there'?" Kohta asked as he could only imagine the pain the man was in.

"I'm not sure, but hopefully enough to castrate him. I lost count after his fifth time of him begging me to stop. He'll probably be peeing blood for a while. But after that it's all downhill from there".

"Why is that?"

"Just something I've been experimenting with to which I've rearranged a few of his key hormone regulators ensuring the fact that he is going to have a very hard and painful life from now on".

"What exactly did you do to him?" asked Yuka worriedly.

Kaede sat up placing her hand to her chin as she thought carefully about what she did. "If you remembered anything from your biology class hormone and protein regulation is what keeps the body functioning within its normal parameters through signal transduction going to and from the hypothalamus in the brain. But if one of them becomes over-expressed or stops working altogether then it'll cause major problems for the body to perform its duties under normal conditions".

"So what exactly did you do?"

"For the most part his physical health and appearance is equivalent to that of a sickly near death eighty year old man in which he has no chance in recovering. In his current condition, he'll have to constantly shell out small fortunes on medical support just to keep his pain and body management in order. But if you really want generalization, I practically caused him multiple organ failure as he will now have to forever live the on the edge and constant fear death" as Kaede exhaled from the explanation. "Hope he enjoys the rest of his miserable life".

"Wow . . . ." said Yuka at seeing how scary Kaede could be when she wanted too.

Kaede smirked, "but Kohta really laid it on thick since he ended up starting it first".

The brunette looked shockingly to her usually peaceful cousin. "What did he do?"

"He just punched his head in knocking a few of his teeth out in the process". The pink diclonius grinned at recalling the memory. "It was kind of hot to see him do that . . . . although a bit strange for me to feel that".

"Kaede-chan personality is really beginning to rub off on Kohta" the brunette sighed. "But then what makes you so certain that they wouldn't call the cops on you?"

"Kaede-san kind of went a bit overboard and threatened to kill them if they did. Obviously a bluff, but effective nonetheless" Kohta replied as he sweat dropped at recalling what she did.

"But how do you know it worked?"

"Are you sure ma'am? We've heard reports of a domestic disturbance going on here at this resident" said the officer.

"Then they heard wrong. Nothing happened here".

The officer then looked over to see a freakish looking man as if a gorilla had just got done beating the crap out of him. "And him?"

"He fell down a few stairs . . . ."

The law enforcer looked to him in disbelief. "This amount of damage from a few stairs?" he asked questionably.

"He fell quite far" said Mayu's mother instantly trying to sound as truthful as possible.

"Oh I'm sure" smirked Kaede.

"But then what of her mother?" asked Yuka curious of her fate.

"It was as Kohta said. Even though that b**ch wasn't deserving of it Mayu would cry if we brought harm onto her. Besides one day she'll have to face her. But that time will come later when she is ready". She then got up to grab her bag and books. "Well we better be off then. This is our first day of classes after all and Nyu is waiting for us".

The trio soon left to the university. There they met Nyu who seemed to be becoming quite popular with the club recruiters. This was the first day of classes to which orientation was going on to welcome all incoming freshman. It was at this time that pretty much every new student would get harassed by returning veterans for three reasons. One was to join their club or fraternity. Two was to get fresh pickings at new meat. Third was simply to exert their seniority over them. Aside from all that the day was pleasant to say the least as they got their transcripts to which they all sat down together for the small time they had to get some lunch before going to their classes.

"Hey Kohta, have you decided on which club you're joining?" asked Yuka.

"I haven't really decided yet. They all seem really interesting, but I only have time for at least one or two of them and that's if my schedule fits them all. So what did everyone else decide on?"

"I want to join the choir club!" said Nyu excitedly.

"I don't think I'll be able to join a club seeing my schedule is quite busy since I'm majoring in biology and working towards a higher degree".

"Really? I'm also going into the biological field" replied Kohta. "Observations of evolution and morphological changes were really interesting. That's the whole reason why I got into the field".

Yuka then looked to her watch as she then got up to leave. "It looks like its times up now. I've got to go to class. So if you'll excuse me".

"She's right" then said Kaede. "I've got to head off to class as well".

"Alright, see everyone later then" said Kohta as he waved his cousin and girlfriends good-bye before going off to his class.

Nyu smiled as she waved them all off. As she turned to leave she saw a familiar face walk by her although he couldn't see her seeing as he was blind after having that run in with Lucy from a few nights before. She then gave a soft smile at seeing him in good condition before departing. (If you're wondering why Bando was at the university then read the manga. More information will be in the author's notes).

As classes ended the group of friends headed straight home as it soon drew close to evening as the day soon became twilight.

"We're home" they called as they walked into Maple Inn.

"Welcome home" answered Mayu as she had just finished cleaning the floor. "You've had a hard day. I've already made dinner and set up the bath. Which will you choose?"

"Wow, talk about the old fashion house wife routine" thought Kaede.

"Umm . . . . Mayu-chan" said Yuka. "There's no need to worry about such things. You're a family member here, not a servant. You don't have to worry yourself over everything like that".

"No" interjected the young brunette. "Because you've taken me in, this is all I really can do in return".

"Well . . . . is it OK for me to take a bath first?" asked Kohta to which Mayu nodded shyly too. The tanned youth then made his way towards the indoor spring as he then stripped himself down before walking into the pond like bath. He then sat there for a while to allow the hot water to wash away his troubles. "That kid really tries too hard worrying about everything like that".

"What do you mean?"

Kohta looked to the ceiling as he considered the question. "Mayu-chan is taking this whole 'paying back' thing too greatly as she is trying very hard to fit in. I think maybe she's worried about being discarded again".

"I don't think so. Mayu-chan is a really nice girl. This is probably how she wants to thank us for taking care of her".

"Perhaps, but as Kaede-san said we can't keep her like this for the rest of her life. Eventually she'll have to face her past in order to move on into her future".

"True, true, oneesan is always very wise when it comes to these kinds of things".

"Yeah . . . . " Kohta's eyes then snapped open as he had now just realized he was holding a conversation with someone who was in the bath with him. He then straightened his head to see Nyu sitting right across from him blushing and waving to him. His mouth immediately gaped in reaction to this event. "What are you doing in here?"

"Why are you acting so shy?" Nyu questioned. "It isn't like this is the first we've been together naked. Let alone did some fun things together" to which the ditzy girl snickered this last part.

"I know that" stuttered Kohta as he blushed at that remark. "But Nyu-san . . . ."

"Not Nyu-san!" she then interjected. "Nyu-chan!" as she pointed demandingly at him. "And from now on you'll address oneesan as Kaede-chan!".

"But . . . . Nyu-san . . . ."

Nyu sighed as she lowered her hand. She then got up to which Kohta covered his eyes in embarrassment but couldn't help but peek through his fingers as the ditzy girl soon repositioned herself right next to him.

"Nyu-san . . . .?"

The pink girl then grabbed his arm as it was soon enveloped between her bosoms before she leaned her head onto his shoulder. "You don't have to be formal with us anymore Kohta-kun. You, me, and oneesan aren't just friends anymore, we're lovers. So you don't need to address us like we're distant people from you anymore".

Kohta was feeling a bit heated as he tried to ignore where his arm was as well as tried to ignore the heat that was growing inside of him. "But maybe if I just follow her request she'll allow this to end. But I'm going to need a cold shower after this". He then turned his head to look down to her trying his best to focus at her eyes and nowhere else as he forced a smile onto his face. "Na . . . . Nyu-chan . . . ."

"Yes" she replied with an unusually overly cute sunny smile.

"Umm . . . ."

"Kohta-kun . . . ."

"Ye . . . . Yeah?"

Nyu then pushed herself a bit closer as her cheeks began to turn a slight darker shade of red. "Say my name again just like you did before".

The tanned youth gulped at the request as his blush began to turn darker. "Nyu-chan".

The ditzy girl began to lean closer as she stretched her head forward to meet his. "Again . . . ."

"Nyu-chan" as Kohta soon found himself leaning down to meet her.

"Again" she then whispered pushing her chin up for her lips to meet his.

"Nyu-chan" he then replied as he soon began to find himself lost in his heat.

Slowly they began to come together with their lips meeting in the center as Kohta's hands maneuvered themselves to her hips as Nyu wrapped her arms around his neck. But in such events like this, things like this should never be done especially when there is more than one person living in the same household as you.

"Kohta-san, is everything OK in there? I hope the water is not too hot. Oh my! I forgot to place the towels inside. Please excuse my intrusion" as Mayu's hand reached for the sliding door handle.

"Oh crap! Mayu is coming in" Kohta exclaimed in a whisper like tone.

"There is nowhere to hide" said Nyu as the pair looked back and forth attempting to avoid a catastrophe with the adolescent.

As Mayu walked in she immediately covered her eyes in embarrassment. "I'm sorry for intruding". She then turned around picking up the towels as she etched her way towards the racks. "So is the water OK". At this time she was too embarrassed to look at him for the fact was she had boy problems and looking at a half-naked pre-adult was not helping.

"I . . . . I'm fine" Kohta stuttered out trying to sound as calm as possible. He then fidgeted in the water in his attempt to remain calm.

"Is there something wrong with him?" "If there is anything else I can get you then . . . . ."

"No!" Kohta exclaimed as his body jolted forward a bit. "Everything is fine here. So it's OK for you to leave now".

"OK" Mayu replied carefully. "But come out soon or dinner will get cold".

"OK, thanks" but as soon as the young brunette left the tanned youth began to twitch uncontrollably from what was going on down under.

"You seem more stressed out then usual" said Yuka as she looked to her cousin who had just returned from his bath. "Are you coming down with something?"

Kohta's shoulders then sagged as he let out a sigh before sitting himself at the table.

"And what happened to you?" as Kaede examined her sister. "You seem . . . . brighter than usual".

"Really?" Nyu replied. "I don't actually think so" even though she had a big fat smile plastered across her face.

The next day soon arrived as everyone went about their usual routine. Mayu went off to her middle school as everyone soon departed to their university.

There day was like any other day as they went to class like usual. But today was different as Kohta, Yuka, and Nyu had a special lecture class to share that day. Seemingly to be like any other lecture the three friends did their assigned task.

Kohta would fall asleep by account of lectures usually being pretty boring.

Yuka would attempt to keep her cousin awake as to avoid from him getting into trouble.

Nyu taking notes while also drawing on her notebook seeing as that day's lecture really wasn't that important.

"Kohta, if you don't stay awake we'll get into trouble with the lecturer. Many people say the guy is rather cruel. So who knows what he might do to us" said Yuka.

Kohta yawned as he raised his head from his spot. "Why are you so worried? This lecture is just something we freshman are forced to go to anyways, and it isn't like they're testing us on any of the material".

"I know that, but you don't know if he might say important that we need to know".

Kohta yawned again as he waved his cousin off. "You shouldn't really concern yourself with that. Besides Nyu-sa . . . . Nyu-chan is already doing a great job at taking notes. So it shouldn't really be much of a problem".

Yuka sighed in response to this as she looked over to the ditzy girl's notebook. "Is this what you call note taking?" for the fact was the majority of her paper was covered in doodle art consisting mostly of kittens and flowers. "Hopefuly Kakuzawa-sensei won't call on us for anything ".

Right on cue the middle aged man came walking down their aisle as the three friends were still continuing their original tasks.

"Kohta, he's coming. At least look awake" as Yuka attempted to shake him awake.

". . . ."

"You really need to wake up now".

". . . ."

"Get up now!"

"Yuka! Stop poking my sides!" as Kohta looked to her with agitation etched onto his face. But because of his outcry he also gained the attention of his lecturer as he was now standing next to their row. "Well at least it's a perfect excuse to skip this boring lecture by being kicked out". He then looked up to see horror completely overtake the middle-aged man. "What's wrong with him?"

"There is no mistaking it! This is Lucy. What is she doing here?" thought Kakuzawa as he was now panicking about the potential fact that he was either going to lose his life or his testes". Since there existed no vaccine for the diclonius virus the only option was to cut off the infected individual's ability to reproduce.

"Sorry for causing a commotion like this sensei. We'll be leaving now. Come on girls" as Kohta made his hasty retreat followed by Yuka and Nyu.

"But something doesn't seem right. If that was Lucy she would have definitely known who I was and definitely would not have hesitated to kill me". So tempting his life's fate "Wait!"

"Now what" as the trio stopped at the door to face him.

Kakuzawa then appeared in front of Nyu as he looked down to her. "Do you know me?"

The girl in question titled her head slightly and looked to him wondering if there was a reason to why she should know who he was.

"Class is cancelled" Kakuzawa announced. He then looked to the trio sternly before looking away. "I want to see you three in my office now".

A moment later they soon found themselves in the teacher faculty as Kakuzawa began to question them.

"How do you know this girl?"

"She's a close friend of mine" said Kohta, but then was interrupted as Nyu gave a slight cough which caused Kohta to sigh bit. "She's actually my girlfriend" as he then blushed while averting his eyes.

"Girlfriend! What the hell is this nonsense!" thought Kakuzawa as he continued to examine them. ". . . . perhaps he is being coerced by Lucy. She only escaped a few days ago so that would give her plenty of time to make them do whatever she told them to do". "Then you wouldn't mind telling me more about your past now would you?" "I'll catch you soon enough" At this time the unshaven man was certain that the girl standing before him was most certainly Lucy. There was a good chance she didn't know his face since the room she was kept in was poorly lit in addition to the helmet she always wore. But taking this on a gamble, he assumed Lucy would not kill him there seeing as she would want to remain as inconspicuous as possible. But in addition to this, he also had a strong sedative hidden in his pocket at the one chance he would take her by surprise and knock her out if she proved aggressive.

Nyu placed her finger over her lip as she looked up. "Where do I begin?"

As the ditzy diclonius talked about her back story, Kakuzawa was becoming more dumbstruck by the minute. "Is she for real? This has to be some kind of trick. Who does she think she is fooling?"

"And that's pretty much everything" said Nyu as she wrapped it all up with a warm smile.

"It's getting pretty late sensei" as Kohta looked to his watch. "We better get going now".

"No! if they leave now I might lose my chance entirely!" "Well you see the reason I ask all these questions is because you look remarkably like the daughter of my late older brother. The thing was he died and she went missing. So I thought maybe you might know something about it".

Kohta, Yuka, and Nyu looked at each other before looking at Kakuzawa as if he were stupid or something. "I don't have an uncle" Nyu plainly stated. "Both of my parents were only childs".

"If the questions are done" Kohta interjected. "We'll be going now".

The unshaven man feeling agitated at how the situation was turning out decided to go for the direct route this time. He needed confirmation that this girl was at least a diclonius and not just some miraculous body double of Lucy. He then stood up aggressively as he struck his arm out to grab the ribbons out of her hair.

"Ahhh" as Nyu placed her hands over her horn in attempt to keep the cloth attached. With the longest time of being with Kaede, she made it a point for the ditzy girl to instantly react to protect her horn coverings as if her life depended on it.

"Sensei! What the hell are you doing?" as Kohta peeled his arms away before trying to force the older man back.

At seeing the growing trouble Yuka ran to the door as she called out to anyone who would listen. "Help! Help! A teacher is attacking someone!"

"Knock it off!" to which the tanned youth successfully landed his fist onto the older man's jaw causing him to crash to the ground.

"Insolent brat!" as Kakuzawa was getting back up for another go. But soon was stopped as both students and teachers filtered into the room to restrain the man. "Let go of me! Do you think you can do this to me you f**king brat!"

"That was scary" said Yuka. "For Kakuzawa-sensei to act so irrationally like that, who would have thought such a man would behave like that".

"Well according to him, he did lose his niece" Kohta responded. "So he must have been pretty stressed about the entire event if he was acting like that".

"Perhaps, but he was lucky to get away with just a minor penalty because of his standing with the university". Then something became apparent to the brunette as they were missing one pink head in the group. "Where's Nyu-chan?"

"She said she forgot something in the library. So we're going to meet her back home".

"Do you think she'll be alright?"

"Of course she'll be OK. After all what could possibly to happen to her, right?"

Nyu at this time had managed to retrieve one of her books as she was now happily skipping back home humming to herself. Her thoughts then turned back to Kakuzawa's rants which worried her slightly. However they were soon disregarded as she happily walked along.

But then her sixth sense tingled as she walked along the open courtyard. Although this sense had nothing to do with her psychic powers, it was more like something she developed after many years of facing dangerous situations. However the peculiar thing was there was no reason for her to feel afraid at this time. She was in a safe environment and simply there was no reason for anyone to target her whatsoever.

But the amazing thing about life is how things can instantly change within a single breath as the ditzy girl now found herself under attack as a cloth was forced over her nose and mouth. Before she knew it, she blacked out only to find herself in an unknown room with her arms tied to a rope attached to the ceiling. As Nyu came to realize the situation she was in she could only sigh at how things came to be. "If only I had a nickel for everytime . . . ."

"You're her, you're definitely her. There is no doubt about that". Nyu looked up groggily to see a familiar unshaven man sitting at his desk in front of a computer. "There is definitely no such thing as coincidence in this world. You are definitely Lucy". The man chuckled at the revelation as he reviewed all his data. "All the physical information directly points that you are definitely her".

"Kakuzawa-sensei, why are you doing this?" At this time Nyu attempted to focus her vectors to cut herself free. However the chloroform was still running through her system which made it nearly impossible to lift something let alone cut herself loose.

"Why? I'm going to study you of course in which I'm going to need a lot of research material". He then got up to remove his wig as a maniacal smile then took shape on his face as his head revealed two small horns. "We are alike after all and what better way to study lineages but through you".

Nyu looked up to see that one of her ribbons were indeed undone revealing one of her horns.

"But that's not all I'm going to do". Kakuzawa then proceeded into undoing his dress shirt as he unfastened his tie. "I'm also going to collect my due compensation from letting you out of the shithole you crawled out from".

". . . . !"

"My father may have his plans for you. But you see I have my own as it is my dream to see the birth of a newer and more superior human race. However more than that is that I will be the god of this new race as I will personally father a new species onto this Earth". He then advanced on Nyu as he grabbed her shoulders attempting to force a kiss onto her.

But not wishing to give him the chance she moved her face away while simultaneously cocking her knee back which then struck her aggressor right on the family jewels.

Kakuzawa cringed in pain but that only forced his maniacal smile to stretch further as he then went to his desk to pull out a syringe. "By the time you wake up you'll be the proud mother of a new species of human who will decimate the arrogant old ones of this Earth. So you should feel honored to be a part of this process".

Nyu looked fearfully to him as she was running out of time and options about what to do. As she tried to use her vectors once more a strange feeling came over her as Kakuzawa was now standing in front of her inches away from putting her to sleep and defiling her in the process.

Just centimeters away from completing the deed, blood splatter shot across her face. For it was at this time she looked in shock to her dead attacker as his head was cleanly cut off as it then rolled off his shoulders followed by his body crumbling to the ground, but not before acting like a blood fountain for those few moments.

As Nyu watched in horror, it was not her who performed the deed of murder but the person who stood behind the recently created corpse.

Although it was usually customary to thank your savior, this was a different case as her savior was not the kind of person you would want to be hanging around with for very long.

Nyu then fell to the floor as her savior had then cut the ropes which bonded her to the ceiling.

As she looked up to the person who had saved her moments ago, all her face could do was show concern and wariness as she now stood up to face this person. As she looked into the cold dead eyes of this woman she gulped as she could only find herself able to say this. "Hello Lucy".

". . . ."

"Why did you save me?"

". . . . You know why . . . ."

"Man, where did that girl go off too?" as Kohta ran back to the university. Since the time he left an hour had easily passed which started to make him feel concerned. Although he knew he shouldn't feel too concerned about it seeing as the ditzy diclonius easily had the power to wipe out an entire army at the motion of a thought he couldn't help but want to make sure himself.

Yuka and Kaede too had their concerns of her late coming. But they were certain she would be OK seeing if Nyu was in any kind of trouble Kaede would instantly pick her up through a telepathic connection.

But regardless of that Kohta decided to go out anyways to look for her.

By the time he arrived onto the campus all he could do was wonder at the sight that was before him. "What is all this?" There is front of him was a bunch of black suited men as they were apparently combing the area in search for something as it appeared. As he tried to progress, he was immediately stopped by one of the said suited men.

"What do you think you are doing here boy?"

Kohta scrunched his eyebrows at seeing how serious the man was taking his job . . . . whatever it was. "I'm a student here and I was looking for a friend of mine who might still be on campus. So if you'll excuse me . . . ."

"I'm afraid this area has been restricted for the time being. Please return back another time".

"Then may I talk to Kakuzawa-sensei then?" asked Kohta. During his walk back to the university he speculated that perhaps the unshaven man probably was holding Nyu up in order to apologize to her. "But that doesn't seem right". If anything, the tanned youth was a good judge of character, and something about that professor just screamed out that he should be wary of him.

"I'm sorry, but he is currently indisposed at the moment".

"Hmm? Why is that?"

"He is currently on leave seeing as the dean had now decided to suspend him for the time being".

"Suspension?" "Strange, but do you know if he is still on campus? Or when will he be back?"

"I'm sorry, but I do not know any more than that. So please remove yourself or have yourself removed off campus by security".

"Jeez, don't need to be so touchy" to which Kohta soon left feeling baffled at everything that had just occurred.

He then began to walk home wondering where that girl could have gone until a flash of pink glimmered in his eye which immediately caught his attention. "Nyu!" Although he called out to her the girl did not turn around as she still continued to walk. "Weird, she should have heard me". He soon caught up to her as he embraced the petite girl within his arms from behind. "I was so worried about you Nyu-chan. You should have come home sooner".

". . . ."

"Nyu! Where have you been?" asked Kaede as she berated her sister. "You should have been home over an hour ago".

"Sorry oneesan" Nyu replied half-embarrassed as she rubbed the back of her head. "I was kind of tied up in situation. So it took me a bit longer to get home".

The pink diclonius sighed as she got up to smack her sister over the head, but lightly. "One of these days you're going to be the death of me you know that".

The ditzy girl smiled as she gave her sister a hug. "Don't worry, I'll work harder so that oneesan won't have to worry over me all the time".

Kaede sighed again as she peeled her sister off so she could return back to her previous task of making dinner for everyone.

"By the way Nyu-chan, Kohta went out to look for you. Did you happen to see him along the way?" asked Yuka.

Nyu thought carefully about this before she turned to smile at the brunette. "Can't say that I did. But I'm sure he'll show up soon".

On cue of her statement the sound of the front door could be heard as someone soon stepped into the building. "And speak of the devil . . . ."

"Kohta-kun!" Nyu cheered as she immediately jumped onto him giving him a big hug in the process.

"Ahh Nyu-chan, you seem to be feeling back to your normal self" smiled Kohta.

"Normal?" the ditzy girl questioned.

"Nyu-chan, I thought you said you didn't see Kohta on your way back" said Yuka as she gave her pink haired friend a quizzical look.

Nyu then squeezed her eyes closed as if deep in thought about something. As wrinkles began to form on her face her expression then snapped back to normal. "Sorry, I was very deep in thought about something so I must have been completely oblivious about everything that was going on around me. Sorry for ignoring you like that Kohta-kun" as she then planted a kiss on his cheek.

The tanned youth chuckled at the response as he patted his girlfriend on the head. "Well as long as everything is OK". He then proceeded along with Yuka to dining table. "Oh, and there was this weird thing that happened at the university . . . ."

As they got further away an uncharacteristic frown appeared on Nyu's face as it appeared something was most definitely on her mind. But she then patted her cheeks returning her smile to the way it was before going to the dining table to join her family for the evening meal.

"Hey Wanta! Over here!" called Mayu as she watched her dog happily run into her arms.

On this particular day the young brunette had decidedly taken her dog for a walk on the beach. But wishing to enjoy the afternoon sun and allowing the pup some extra exercise, the pair played happily as they enjoyed their time together. But her attention was then immediately captured by another individual who was on the beach.

"This is such a filthy ocean" as Bando took out a cigarette. "Hmm, what are you looking at?" as he saw the petite child staring aimlessly at him.

"Thank god, you seemed like you were done for" said Mayu as an expression of relief appeared on her face.

"Huh? Am I supposed to know you?" But after thinking it over for a few minutes a light bulb lit in his head as he then recognized the voice of the young brunette. "Are you . . . . by any chance that girl from that time?" Bando looked down to her as he further concentrated on the matter. "Hmm, it seems so".

Mayu however looked back at him with astonishment. "Amazing, you were fixed up really well. Your right hand it there too. Thank god".

"Be quiet . . . ." to which Mayu became silent at the elder man's request. As he looked to the child Bando began to grow irritated at how events had transpired. "Ahh shit, now I'm indebted to you and this isn't the kind of crap I . . . ." as he gave a low growl. "You know . . . . it's my principle to not be indebted to anyone. Especially to a woman which would be you brat". The elder man then let out a heavy sigh. "I'll pay you back. So what do you want of me?"

Mayu gave him a confused look. In her young life it was her belief that humans helped each other simply because it was the right thing to do and nothing more to which she expected nothing back in return. As for her answer, "Uhh, that's OK"

"Stop that!" said Bando as his irritation began to swell. "It's not for your pleasure, it's my question! C'mon spit it out!"

But all the young brunette could do was look away shyly from how pushy the man was being in trying to show his gratefulness.

"Ahh fine then! I'll decide for you!" Bando then took out a notepad as he began to scribble his personal information onto the page. "If you get into a pinch someday it'll be my turn to save you. When you want to be saved just call this number and I'll kill them for you. So here is my contact information" handing her the slip of paper. "Okay? I'll definitely save you. So with this my debt to you is repaid. But remember this is a onetime deal. So think about it before you decide to waste it on some trivial crap, you got it brat?"

As Mayu finished reading over the information she looked up to smile at her hired gun. "Thank you".

Bando grunted as he blushed in embarrassment. "First time ever being thanked for this kind of shit".

The pair then looked up as they saw a storm setting in. But before he decided to leave he had another thing on his mind that he wanted to know. "By the way, do you know anything about a girl with horns?"

The young brunette looked to him curiously at why he would want to know that. "Would you happen to be talking about Kaede-san or . . . ."

Instantly Bando threateningly grabbed her by the shirt as he lifted her one inch off the ground. "Where is she?" as bloodlust now clouded his mind. Simply he was itching at the chance to get his revenge. But the problem was he had no clues to go by as that pink b**ch could be anywhere by now. At this point he was too enraged to be told otherwise.

"I . . . . I just know her name. I don't know where she lives" "But I don't want to be causing any trouble for anyone at the inn".

The hot blooded man began to grow more impatient at her answer. "Did you try to lie to me! You just called that b**ch by name and you should know I don't forgive women or children. Now tell me the truth or I'll strangle you!"

Mayu keeping her wits about her then reached into her pocket as she dragged out a piece of paper from before as she flashed the parchment to her attackers face. "I'm in a pinch . . . ."

"What the f**k, why the pretense?"

"I'm in great danger, save me please" as Mayu looked to him with puppy dog eyes.

Bando for a lack of better words was stunned at the audacity of the victim he was both attacking and needing to save. "Are you an idiot? This is hardly the time to use that now!"

"Before . . . . You said 'you'd definitely save me' from before right? Was that a lie? You are a man too . . . ." But before she could finish emasculating him she was then thrown to the ground as she felt her head being pressed into the sand.

"Alright I got it!" as he felt peeved at how things turned out. "Shit! Get lost and I better not see you around here again, got it?" to which he then turned around to leave.

As soon as he left, Mayu picked herself up brushing any sand that dirtied her uniform away as she looked to her dog that was looking back at her worriedly. "It's alright, that didn't hurt much". She then looked to see the man clearly gone as she too turned around to leave. "Let's go home now Wanta".

But unbeknownst to her Bando watched her leave as he peeked behind the wood shed making sure the young brunette was able to get up to go home safely. "Seems like I didn't injure her", "shit" as he then decided to officially leave. For the fact was he may have been a bastard, but at least he was a bastard with some sense of honor. Although it was something he would never admit to anyone else.

Another day passed as the hot blooded man was now working as a civil servant in cleaning up the beach. Although the pay was a joke, it still provided him some income to take care of his needs such as food. However that was only second to why he would go through the trouble of cleaning up a filthy beach in the first place. For the fact was he was setting the stage for his revenge against the woman who maimed him roughly a week ago. By taking away all the trash in the area, he would have effectively gained the distance superiority over his prey as she would be forced to engage him in close to mid-range combat to which he would never give her the chance to do. But the problem now was figuring out how to find her let alone luring her to his battleground.

"Damn it! Stop contaminating the ocean you dumbasses!" as Bando filled his fourth bag that day in garbage. "Jeez, what a f**king refreshing morning this has been" as he decided to take a quick cigarette break. But out from the corner of his eye, a large object then caught his attention. "Why is there some big luggage floating this way?"

But the moment 'the big luggage' reached shore it immediately popped open revealing the contents inside.

"Where am I?" as Nana had now awoken from her long sleep.

To be continued . . . .

Author's notes: In the manga, Bando went to the university because he heard there was a cure to the diclonius virus there which of course was being developed by Kakuzawa junior. But after a heated argument between the pair, Bando decided to go with plan B which I believe everyone should know what it was.

Additionally it was said by Kakuzawa jr. that it was he who orchestrated the release of Kaede/Lucy/Nyu is chapter 26. But since he had been cut short in both the literal and metaphorical sense, he could not explain that part in this chapter. As to the reason why he released her , well . . . . it's debatable to exactly why he did it. However a theory into why he released her was so that she could create more "research material" for them to study. But as I said it wasn't ever entirely clear except it was all leading towards the end of the current human race.

Plus it's shown that the 'horn' thing has been in the Kakuzawa family for several generations. How far back exactly has never been said. But judging from the architecture depicted in the manga I'd say it goes as far back as 17th century or probably older than that. Although he says 150,000 years, he's probably exaggerating.

By the way, if you've read the manga and saw the scene where Bando saved Mayu from the 'unknown man' then I guarantee you, you'll have an all new respect for him.

Now back to the chapter, these events will only be set ups to the bigger picture that will happen later. So please be a little more patient as there will be some drastic changes later.

Snowy-Sonya – Well she's only what 5 – 7 years old. So considering her age I believe she handled it pretty well. But thank you for reading and do return back quickly after getting a bite to eat.

Dark09 – True, but I'll explain later why certain events remained the same while other things changed. But anyways thank you for reading and do drop by again.

alvarorbenavides – Actually Nana lost all her limbs in both the anime and the manga. The change here is that Kaede and Nyu gave her back two of them. But due to the lack of time they couldn't finish their treatment because they did not wish to be discovered.

TURP – Nothing like that I assure you as I really don't like to write about such things as it leaves as rather unpleasant taste in my mouth.

ForcedDj – Amen to that. For adults to behave like that is a perversion of what it means to be human let alone a parent in this event. But anyways I'll try to send you the last moments of what Kaede/Lucy/Nyu said before they died.

redrain8696 – Well I thank both you and your sister for reading, and thank you for your kind patronage. So please drop by again in the next update.

Codelyokofan23 – Welcome back and thank you for reading. I hope you drop by again in the next update.

So now I thank you all for reading this fic and also further extend my gratitude if you can review it as well.