"You bitch! My parents are dead because of you! Everyone is dead because of what you did!"

Yuka was standing there shaking like a furious little dog. Her slap had actually hurt, but Lucy wasn't about to admit it. She looked at the girl and spoke with a bored voice. "Nice to see you too."

"Bitch!" Yuka drew her arm back for a second slap. Lucy grabbed her wrist with one of her vectors.

"I let you hit me once, twice is asking for too much."

"It's nothing compared to what you deserve!"

Kouta stepped in between them and grabbed Yuka about the shoulders. "Yuka! What are you doing here? Do you know what this place is?"

His cousin looked at him and calmed a bit. "Yes, I know, I had to come here though, it was the only way for me to reach you."

Lucy let go of her wrist. "How did you get here? There shouldn't have been a slot for you." The Headmaster only brought in a single human student each year.

"Oh, I took care of that," Kahlua sang.

Both Kouta and Lucy stared in disbelief at the vampire. "You brought my cousin here?" Kouta asked.

Kahlua's head bobbed up and down. "Sure did, you can thank me as much as you want."

"Why?" Lucy demanded.

"She has yummy blood."

"Is everything about blood with you?!"

Kahlua raised an eyebrow. "You've met me before, right?"

A small crowd was gathering around them. "Why don't we go somewhere we can talk more privately?"

Yuka latched onto Kouta's arm and pressed herself close. "Anywhere is fine as long as I can talk to you."

Lucy's vectors writhed and twisted about, like snakes eager to strike. "Come on then."

She stomped away and the others followed. A minute later Sun came out of the gym. Sun looked about but didn't spot her friends.

XXX

"This place should do fine," Lucy said. "It's private enough."

"You want us to talk here?" Kouta asked.

She had led them to one of the many small graveyards scattered around the school. Lucy went over to the newest tombstone. It bore Daisuke's name and nothing else. "It should do fine, we can talk about anything here. And it's convenient in case things get out of hand." Lucy was looking directly at Yuka.

"So you're threatening me in front of Kouta. I'm not surprised."

"I don't need to threaten you. I can rip you into pieces in the blink of an eye."

"Lucy!" Kouta cried out.

"It's fine Kouta," Yuka said, letting go of his arm and taking a couple steps to stand directly in front of Lucy. "I'm glad she's showing you what she really is."

"Kouta already knows what I am. I'm his girlfriend and the one who loves and protects him."

"You're a monster."

The accusation made Lucy snicker. "If you don't like monsters you've come to the wrong place. Except for you and Kouta almost everyone here is one, that includes your little friend."

"My name is Juuichi." The little girl was standing apart from everyone else and leaning against a weathered tombstone. "Yuka already knows what I am, she saw my horns."

"I met her the day you and Kouta left, the day you warned me to stay inside." Yuka said. "She told me you were the one who let her and the others out. You caused all the killings that day. It's because of you my parent are dead, my neighbors are dead, my friends are dead, Kamakura is dead! Except for Kouta everyone I've ever cared about is gone, all because of you."

"So my uncle and aunt are gone," Kouta said in a quiet voice. "I tried to contact you when I heard the news. I couldn't find anything out so I feared the worst. I'm sorry your parents and so many others died, but Yuka, you can't blame all that on Lucy."

"Who else should I blame?"

"The people who ran the research facility and tortured all the dicloni there. They were bad men who did terrible things."

"That's certainly true," Juuichi agreed.

"Juuichi told me all about what they did to her and the others who were prisoners," Yuka said. "I agree, they're responsible too, but they didn't release all the dicloni and tell them to kill every human they could. That was Lucy's doing."

"That's a lie!" Kouta snapped. "Lucy would never do that!"

Lucy flinched. He really believed in her. How she wanted to protect that trust! Her vectors stretched out and she had to reign them back in. There were a hundred different ways Lucy could end Yuka right now, but that would destroy everything she had with Kouta.

"It's not a lie," Juuichi said sounding disinterested.

"Kouta, what did she tell you about that night?" Yuka asked. "She brought you back to the Inn and got out of there as quick as she could pack. She knew what was coming! She did it on purpose! Every person the dicloni killed in Kamakura and other places, all their blood is on her hands!"

Kouta turned to Lucy. "Tell her she's wrong."

Seeing the faith in his eyes made her hurt. I wish I could be the person you think I am. "Kouta, I swear, I didn't intend for things to go the way they did."

Lucy saw the first sign of doubt in his eyes. She wanted to squirm, she wanted to hide, she didn't want Kouta to see the real her. I am a horrible person Kouta, my feelings for you are the only good thing about me.

"Lucy, what happened that night?"

"You need to understand, you only spent a few hours there. I spent years trapped in that place being tortured and experimented on. After Kahlua helped me rescue you there was no way I was going to leave them in peace. The people in that horrible place deserved everything that happened to them."

"And what did my parents deserve?!" Yuka shouted. "What did all the people in Kamakura do to deserve being murdered? No one knew you were there! They'd never done a single thing to hurt you or anyone else. Why did you tell the people you released to kill everyone?"

"I wasn't thinking about the people in Kamakura. When I freed the dicloni and told them to kill every human they could find I was thinking about the people in the facility. They were the ones I wanted dead. The truth is I didn't really think about anything else."

"You didn't think?" Yuka grabbed a handful of her own hair and began twisting. "You didn't think? You set them free and told them to kill every human they saw and you didn't think about all the people who lived on the other side of the bridge?"

Lucy spoke to Kouta, not Yuka. She needed him to understand. "I wasn't thinking about anything but my revenge. After seeing them hurt you and after everything they'd done to me I wanted them to suffer."

"And to hell with everyone else?" Yuka demanded.

"Should I have saved Kouta and left everyone in their cells? Let those animals keep experimenting on them? Would that have been better?"

"Yes! Because my parents would still be alive along with everyone else."

"You didn't say anything about just the facility, or just the guards and researchers," Juuichi said. "When you said kill every human I thought that was what you meant."

"I also told you to get away from that place."

"You did, but you never said to stop killing."

"I was in a rush, I wasn't planning things out!"

"You were in a rush to save Kouta and yourself and to hell with everyone else," Yuka charged.

"I didn't think they would take it as far as they did! I figured the dicloni would kill anyone who got in their way, but they would be too busy escaping to try and kill everyone. When I found out what happened I was as surprised as anyone."

"Did you care? Or were we all just a bunch of worthless humans to you? My mom and dad welcomed you to our Inn. You knew them. Were their lives worthless?"

"No, but-" Lucy bit off what she was going to say.

Perhaps Kouta read the truth in her eyes, or maybe he just knew her too well. "You only cared about me." Kouta said quietly. "My life was the only one you were worried about."

"Kouta… I…"

"Is that true, you bitch?" Yuka took a step towards her.

Lucy sent the girl a dark look. "Call me that one more time and I'll show you what I really am."

Yuka halted, her fists shaking. "I already know what you are."

"A monster, right? Something inhuman and beneath you. You don't get to judge me. I've known people like you my entire life. You see me as something different and that's all you need to make my life miserable. I don't have to explain myself to you."

"What about me, Lucy?" Kouta asked in a soft voice. "Do I get an explanation?"

"Kouta, I'm sorry for what happened, I am! But you have to believe me, I never thought things would escalate like they did. I couldn't have known."

"Is that supposed to excuse you?" Yuka asked. "You poured gasoline all over a house and lit a match. Then you walked away. If the fire spreads and burns the whole city down how is it not your fault?"

"Some places need to burn."

Yuka drew her fist back and ran forward. Before she'd taken a second step something punched her in the stomach hard enough to force the air from her lungs and knock her down into the dead grass.

"Lucy, don't!" Kouta ran to kneel over his cousin. Kahlua enjoyed the spectacle. Juuichi never moved a muscle.

"I'm not going to hurt her," Lucy said. "As much as I'd like to."

"See?" Yuka gasped. Leaning on her cousin she climbed back to her feet. "Do you see what she is Kouta?"

"Kouta knows how strong I am, my abilities have kept him safe."

"How could anyone be safe around someone like you?"

Do you have any idea how easy it would be for me to rip you apart? Her vectors were whipping about above her head, responding to her feelings. "I'm not dangerous to Kouta."

Yuka responded with a hate filled glare. Kouta appeared worried.

"She's my cousin, and very important to me," he said. "I don't want anything bad to happen to her."

Lucy gave a single, curt nod. "I understand."

"Yuka," Kouta said. "You shouldn't have come here. Do you understand how dangerous this place is? If anyone finds out that you're human you'll be killed."

"I know, but I didn't have a choice. This was the only way I could get in touch with you. I had to try and protect you."

He's not the one who needs protecting. Lucy didn't say that out loud either. All this had hurt her relationship with Kouta, the last thing she wanted was to make things worse.

"Lucy," Kouta said. "I believe you didn't intend to have what happened, happen. But why didn't you tell me what you'd done when we'd found out?"

Lucy felt her palms begin to sweat. Her vectors retreated back into her body. "You'd just forgiven me for what I did to you. We were finally together and happy. I… I was scared. I was scared that if I told you I had a hand in the massacre it would ruin everything."

"So instead you lied to me."

"I didn't lie, I just didn't mention it."

"That's called a lie of omission." Yuka told her.

Lucy's vectors popped back out of her body.

"What did she do to you that you had to forgive her for?" Yuka asked.

Kouta sent Lucy an uneasy glance. "It doesn't matter, it's something we've dealt with and is in the past now."

Yuka caught the silent interaction. "What are you keeping from me?"

"It's none of your business," Lucy snapped.

"Yuka, I think there have been enough revelations for one day, don't you? How about I take you to your dorm room and I can tell you about some of the things you can expect being a student here."

Yuka nodded and slipped her arm through his. "I'd really like that Kouta."

Kouta glanced back at Lucy. "I'll see you tomorrow in class."

"Oh, sure, I'll see you then." He didn't want her to come to his room later.

Lucy remained standing where she was as Kouta and Yuka headed back towards the dorms.