Had a mild case of writers block…sorry for the delay. This chapter is going to be pitifully short, the shortest one yet, but I really wanted to post something! The next chapter is already two pages underway so I can almost guarantee it will be out before the end of this week – so just consider this an appetizer.
Disclaimer (Now in German!): Ich bekenne mich nicht Elfen Lied. So verklagen sie mich bitte nicht, der völlig nicht kühl sein würde.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kouta was freaking out.
"Nyuu!" His hands were grasping her tightly, maybe tighter than he should have given her condition. "Nyuu, say something to me! Say something!" He made no attempt in hiding the panic in his voice.
She merely gazed up at him with her glassy eyes; Kouta couldn't help but gaze back. Unfortunately, her windows were cloudy and didn't reveal anything outside of the obvious need for medical attention. The corner of her mouth made a weak twitch, an attempt to form some word or expression. Or maybe she had just lost control of her muscles, Kouta didn't know. He didn't know anything. Kouta's breath was fast and uneven. Staring at Nyuu's blood-smeared face had increased his trembling many times over and his stomach was turning itself inside out - He felt like throwing up. All the questions he had piled up inside him dissolved and became unimportant as his mind focused wholly on getting a grip.
Lucy's eyes fluttered shut. A sudden surge of fear ripped through him, but the meager beating in her neck was still there. She was alive, cold and still as any dead man, but still alive. He resisted the urge to shake her, to make her open her eyes and assure him that this wasn't a warped dream. A part of Kouta was expecting to wake up at any moment.
Here in his hands, he held the most dreadful thing he could imagine. For such a long time he had dreamed of Nyuu coming back, he had wished with all of his heart to hear her adorable voice and see her happy face again. But to see her like this, to see only red and patches of sickeningly pale white, it was horrible. Her adorable voice was broken and cracked; her happy face was hidden behind a mask of burgundy.
Yet… there was a disconcerting tinge of reassurance and security that he felt with her in his arms. Despite the scabs and the trickling fluids, the fact that she was unconscious and hurt - Kouta felt a little sick about it, but a small part of him was enjoying holding her like this. Just five minutes ago he had been sure she was dead. To just know that she was alive, to feel her pulse, Kouta felt more comforted now, with an injured and bleeding Nyuu in his arms, than he had ever felt with the perfect memory. Which isn't to say he felt okay; he just felt a little less hopeless. It was still a miracle that her heart had been able to keep her alive with the little resources it had, and everything she still had was leaking out through her head…
Kouta reluctantly, and ever so gently, laid Lucy down on the sun-warmed ground. He slid the gate closed again, not once taking his eyes from Nyuu, and gave a silent prayer that nobody saw anything. If somebody called the police, then she would be discovered and somebody would come to take her away…or finish her off…Fortunately, the streets were completely clear of bystanders. In fact, everything was eerily quiet. Kouta didn't give it a second thought – he rushed back, sat on the grass next to Nyuu's head and picked it up from its pillow of stone. He supported it as if it were an infant's; gently, cautiously, tenderly; and placed it in his lap. He was still horribly confused and didn't even know if this was even real or not yet, but he had set aside all of those things for later; even if this was a dream, he was going to have to try and help Nyuu.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yuka felt perfectly useless. Nana had temporarily…lost it, and she had just sat there, done nothing in her shock and confusion. Luckily, the girl seemed to have regained her senses with Mayu's help, but Yuka still felt scared and more than a little guilty.
I should have been able to do something more than what I did…if I can't help her with her problems, then…
"Nana…it's okay…" Mayu clasped one of her friend's hands with her own in an attempt to console her; Nana gave her a thankful glance.
"It wasn't me…(sniff)…Luh-Lucy…" She wiped away the remaining tears with her free hand and looked in the direction of the front gate. Nana was a little surprised when the second heartbeat in the back of her head actually sped up a little bit. "Lucy…"
…what kind of a guardian am I? Yuka got up and set herself down next to her two girls. "Nana…" The little diclonius looked up at the young woman and then almost immediately diverted her gaze downward towards the floor.
I hit her and yelled at her after all the help she's given me, after all the mistakes I've made, after all she's put up with; I didn't mean to, Lucy made me, but…she's going to be mad…Nana almost began crying again; she didn't want Yuka to be annoyed with her - Yuka was the closest thing to a mother she had. "I'm…I'm sorry!" Nana squeaked out.
Yuka merely placed a hand on Nana's shoulder. "Nana…" Hearing her name spoken in a gentle and unthreatening tone gave the girl confidence enough to lift her head up and face her guardian. "I'm not angry…I'm just worried." Indeed, Yuka didn't have any signs of irritation on her face; there wasn't a creased brow or a glinting eye – Nana was surprised to see that Yuka's face held only genuine concern and empathy. "I just want you to explain this to me and tell me if there's anything I can do."
"That's right Nana. If there's anything I can do, I'll try my best!" Mayu said cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. "You just need to tell me!"
Nana was stunned – she felt unworthy of the kindness she was receiving. For the life of her, she didn't have any idea what she had done to deserve such quick and unconditional forgiveness; she had to fight to keep from choking up another sob. Yuka noticed it and squeezed the pink-haired girl's shoulder a little.
"You don't need to cry again Nana…" Everyone was quiet for just a little bit as Nana fought against tears and both of the other girls tried to think of something comforting to say.
What is wrong with Nana? I really don't want her to be sad…I have to think of a way to help her…
I wouldn't be much of a guardian if I didn't solve this…it has to be serious, Nana isn't the type to joke around about something like this…
Her heartbeat…it's gotten faster…what does she want here? I don't think she wants to hurt me, if she did she would have gotten me a long time ago, but…
"…Nana…" Yuka finally ventured, "what did you mean when you said that Lucy…"
She suddenly stopped – she could hear a faint voice crying out from the front. She couldn't make out any of the words but they were but they were very loud; normally Yuka wouldn't have been able to hear anything in the front yard from the dining room. Her eyes widened a bit when she remembered Kouta; he had actually been out there for a while…
"What was that?" Mayu asked, a little concerned.
Yuka sincerely hoped that Kouta was just in an argument with a persistent salesman; she didn't need another problem. "…Mayu, stay here with Nana, I'm going to go and check on Kouta."
"Do you think anything is wrong?"
"Probably not." She removed her hand from Nana's shoulder and stood up. "But just in case, I want you two to stay right here, okay?" Without waiting for an answer she began to walk off into the maze of hallways. She was soon out of earshot.
"…We have to follow her…Lucy…" Nana wrapped her vectors around her prosthetics and stood up to give chase, but Mayu took her hand and stopped her.
"Yuka said for us to stay here, we really should listen to her." Mayu said, her face pleading.
Nana thought about it…Lucy shouldn't be in any condition to fight, or even stand, judging from the slowness of the pulse in the back of her mind. And why would she come back here to harm anybody anyway? Then again, if her intentions were hostile, then this might be the only chance Nana had to stop her; Lucy would be more than strong enough to kill the smaller diclonius if she recovered even half of her strength.
"No, I've got to at least see this with my own eyes." Nana said apologetically. "I'm sorry Mayu, but I've got to disobey Yuka just this once; I'm afraid she might get hurt…"
"But, Nana…"
"If something happened to her, I'd never be able to forgive myself; I have to go!" Nana was resolute and Mayu saw it; the little girl didn't understand why Yuka or Kouta would be in danger, but Nana sounded serious. Strange things had happened before…
"Well then, I'm just going to have to come with you." Mayu said, matter-of-factly.
"Huh?" Nana wasn't expecting anything like that. "…No Mayu, you can't…"
"I don't really understand, but I'm a little curious, too." She shot her friend a sweet little grin. "And if you get in trouble, you shouldn't have to face it alone!"
Nana blushed a little bit – What have I done to deserve this? – and gave a little smile back. Mayu shouldn't be in any danger, and Nana really didn't want to go unaccompanied. "Alright…but if Yuka gets mad, you'll get punished right along with me!" Nana warned.
"That's a risk I'm going to have to take!" Mayu responded, good-naturedly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All of you guys who are taking the time to review me are awesome. I'm so happy that I'm getting more than "OMG those ppl wer funny lol rotfl!" from you guys, getting real feedback means a lot to me.
So you get shout-outs!
IncandescentOne: My first compliment given in an Italian accent! Supoib!
Warui-Usagi: Wow. Your enthusiasm is very encouraging, as always.
Katrina-chan: I don't like cliffhangers; sometimes I just get too lazy to keep going until I get to a neutral stopping place. And you're being too humble – you have writing skillz, just look at the huge reviews you leave!
Zion-Cross: You're such a kind-hearted guy, wanting everybody to stop suffering. Makes me almost want to end Lucy's troubles. Wouldn't be very much of a story without a conflict, though – many things stand between Lucy and her man still. (I know, I'm an evil SOB.)
A still dedicated reviewer: Thanks! (Do you feel ripped off? Too bad, it's all I can think of!)
The same fanatic from before: I don't get a hug? Cause you "don't know me well enough"? You're mean! Just for that, I'm going to take my sweet time updating next time:p
IAMtheDragon: I've written enough crap to you in E-mails. :)
Laraqua: Yeah, that was an awesome line, wasn't it? And, wow, thank you for your praise on chapter four! To be honest, 'Second Heartbeat' was the chapter that I worried about most; I didn't have a lot of confidence with it. But hearing that it rocks, rocks hardest even - thanks for the reassurance!
Naruto-sama the kyuubi: Thanks, I appreciate it. I seem to be hearing that kind of comment a lot.
TimeReaper: Yeah, that ending frustrated me. A LOT. Which is why I'm writing this. And thank you.
DSJFX18: Heh…I just love to delay things:pTaki: I really appreciate that, thanks. You're compliments really made me feel warm inside. (Good thing, too…my heater isn't working right and it's 45 degrees outside.)