Well, my hiatus was taken a lot better than I expected, I'm glad you guys have so much faith in me. I appreciate it more than you know. And I'll show that appreciation by shutting up and getting on with the story.

Disclaimer: Me and Elfen Lied are like a man and a beautiful woman. He would very much like to own her, but he knows if he tries anything funny, he'll get the pants sued off him. (I hope I didn't offend anybody with that analogy.)

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"Nyuu!"

Kouta wasn't ready for the flying diclonius and was taken down, so hard it knocked the air out of his lungs, dazing him. As if he wasn't already stunned enough.

"Nyuu-Nyuu-Nyuu…" Every syllable that came out of Nyuu's mouth was practically dripping with bliss as she held the object of her adoration close. Eyes closed, so as to savor the feeling of him better, her arms wrapped firmly around his neck, almost painfully, and she all but smashed her cheek into the crook of his neck. It had been so long since she had touched him she had almost forgotten how wonderful he felt, like the softest silk, only warmer. In fact, he felt so good she tried to rub every part of her body into him. Her bare legs wrapped around him, her hands roamed around from his face to his hair back down to his neck. "Kouta…"

Kouta couldn't bring himself to move, he was rendered frozen from Nyuu's groping. A powerful blush rocketed up into his face as he felt Nyuu's chest press into his own. All attempts at talking from there on out only came out as comical squeaks.

Yuka however, had no such problems. As soon as she got over the initial shock and the image in front of her registered in her mind (Nyuu…on top of Kouta…rubbing…), she grabbed the happy girl by her shoulders and began fervent attempts to pry her off of the young man.

"Nyuu…you shouldn't be roughhousing like this…you just got out of a coma!" Yuka used her own body like a crowbar, but the newly awakened Nyuu wasn't having any of it, and held on as if her life depended on it.

"Kouta-Kouta-Kouta!"

"No, let…go Nyuu! You're, (grunt) gonna, (grunt) hurt yourself!" Yuka didn't seem to be worried too much about the girl's well being, however, as she was yanking as hard as her thin arms would allow. If anyone needed worry, it was Kouta - Nyuu's locked arms squeezing tighter and tighter around his neck were cutting off the poor guy's air supply.

"No, no, no, Kouta, Kouta!" Nyuu looked pleadingly at Yuka, to no avail. The determined cousin grabbed onto the girl's legs and started jerking but all it accomplished was dragging both tangled people across the floor.

"You…need…to…get…off…him!" Unfortunately, Nyuu was still weak from her long nap and blood loss. One last hard tug and…

"Nyuu! NYUU!" The cry of sorrow at letting Kouta slip out of her grasp was heart-wrenching. It was like a happy child had gotten her favorite teddy bear stolen away. Kouta sat up and began alternating between coughing and gulping down as much air as he could handle. Nyuu thrashed around on the floor in a little tantrum as Yuka held her tight and yelled at Kouta mercilessly for 'letting Nyuu run around in her current condition'.

Nana began giggling at the scene in front of her; she just couldn't help it. Sometimes, the naive diclonius wondered if she would ever understand why humans did what they did. Turning around and leaving her guardians and Lucy's harmless alter ego to their own devices, she ran down the hall to tell Mayu the news. Not that there was any doubt the ruckus couldn't be heard from miles away.

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After ordering Kouta to clean the gutters, mow the lawn, and weed the garden to keep him busy, Yuka managed to settle her dim-witted friend down enough to deal with her remaining injuries.

"Nyuu…you were hurt pretty badly in the head. We don't know what it was…"

She cocked her head to the side in the universal way of saying "huh?", like Wanta would sometimes do when confused.

"But you haven't bled in days, so I think it's going to be okay if you take off the bandage." Nyuu's head stayed where it was. Giving a little sigh, Yuka pointed to the gauze.

"Nyuu!" Eyes lighting up in realization, she cheerfully unwrapped the bandage.

"Be careful, you're probably still sensitive." Nyuu proceeded to reach for her left horn, but, since it was missing, her hand landed on one of her enormous scabs. For a second, Nyuu merely wondered where her horns had gone, but then tears sprang to her eyes and she began to cry.

"See? What did I tell you?" Yuka just shook her head and allowed Nyuu to sob into her shoulder. "Be careful, okay?" Nyuu sniffed and gave a little nod, using Yuka's shirt as a makeshift tissue.

"Now I couldn't wash all of your hair because I didn't want to hurt you, but you'll be able to wash all the blood out and be okay, I think. Why don't you go take a bath?"

In-between sniffles, Nyuu gave another tiny agreement.

"Okay, do you remember where it is? Down the hall to the right, then take your second left and it's the door right behind you. Remember? The big bath room?" Yuka gently pushed Nyuu away from her shoulder, and caught the hesitant look in her eye. "What is it?"

Nyuu didn't say anything; she merely tugged gently at Yuka's shirt.

"…I don't understand…"

Nyuu gave her best puppy-dog eyes and asked, "Bath…with Nyuu?" The little diclonius really didn't want to be alone, and it showed; however, Yuka knew from experience that Nyuu could get a little…touchy-feely, and she didn't feel up to any of that today.

"N-No…you can take a bath on your own, Nyuu. I think you'll be okay." Yuka crossed her arms and gave a little frown, just in case the message wasn't conveyed clearly enough through words. Nyuu looked nothing short of heartbroken, but Yuka refused to give in, she had let herself be swayed too many times with Nyuu's pouting. She was just like a child, Yuka sometimes thought, and had to know that she didn't always get her way. She'd turn into a brat otherwise.

"Kouta!" Nyuu suddenly swung from crestfallen to ecstatic at the sudden inspiration that her Kouta would make a more than suitable substitute for Yuka. He was much more snuggly anyway…

Yuka was taken aback by the sudden change in attitude but finally realized what was going on in time to begin running after her friend, who was already sprinting full speed to the back yard.

"Wait! Wait, Nyuu! I'll go with you; I'll go with you! Kouta's busy!" Sometimes Nyuu had to know that she didn't get everything she wanted, but an even more important lesson was that Kouta and bath time didn't mix. Yuka had the troubling feeling that her cousin would have a hard time refusing Nyuu's request, and the thought produced an amazing burst of speed.

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Kouta looked over the task before him and heaved a heavy sigh. The blades of grass were tall as his knee in a few bad patches, the garden was a lost cause, and all of the gutters would take hours. There wasn't any hope of finishing this today, and he didn't know how he would start. It was obviously just to keep him busy, Yuka seemed like she wanted him away for a while, or else she was punishing him for something.

Kouta considered, for the fifth time, throwing caution to the wind and going back inside to Nyuu. He wanted to talk to her when she could actually listen, play with her, laugh with her…but she probably wouldn't feel up to any of it, she was still hurt, after all. Kouta knew he needed to let her clean up and maybe rest a bit more before he bothered her…but he wanted more than anything to be around her at that moment. He believed he could help her heal…but for some reason, Yuka had decided he shouldn't be there. He had tried to fight her on it, but she had him out the door before he could say much, leaving him confused and alone in the hot sun.

Kouta told himself that if it weren't for the fact that Nyuu was still hurt, he would have turned right around and gone back in. But a small timid voice reminded him that the scary look on Yuka's face might have given added incentive. His cousin could be pretty intimidating when she wanted to be.

Deciding to make the best of things, Kouta turned towards a weedy patch of garden and rolled up his sleeves. At the very least, it would help him relieve some of the stress he had built up. He latched onto one blots on the landscape and yanked back.

Five minutes of trying to pull up that same weed quickly changed his optimistic outlook. His stress certainly wasn't going away. Repressing a stream of curses, he collapsed on the ground and winced at the pain and raw feeling in his hands. He fancied for a moment he heard the plant giggle at him, mocking his effort. He scowled at it, but the quiet laughter persisted.

"Need some help?" Nana and Mayu said, almost in unison, enjoyment evident in their tone. When Kouta forced himself to get up, he saw that they were both red faced with repressed laughter. Even the pup in Mayu's arms seemed to be making fun of him; his tiny eyes were glinting in what could have been amusement at the pathetic sight.

"Humph," Kouta scoffed in mock annoyance; "if you girls think it's so easy, why don't you give it a try?" he dared them, a grin on his face.

"What'll you give me if I pull it out of the ground?" Nana asked, still snickering.

"Hmm…" Kouta thought about it for a second while tapping his chin in an exaggerated manner – and he smirked a little when a decent reward came to mind. "If you can get that weed out…I'll give you a tickle…"

"A tickle? What's that? Is it good to eat?" Nana asked, all traces of humor gone, now full of curiosity. Kouta had just been playing; he hadn't expected the girl not to understand. And Mayu's jaw dropped at the realization: her friend didn't even know what tickling was! She was about to explain it, but was stopped by Kouta's look. It blatantly screamed play along, please; if you never do anything for me again, play along now…Of course it didn't matter anyway, Nana would never be able to get the weed that a nearly grown man had been defeated by…

"This one, right?" Nana asked, holding the weed in front of her, long roots dangling and broken like a frayed rope, which Kouta just stared at with an unreadable expression. Mayu covered her mouth so as not to lose control and embarrass her guardian, but she couldn't hold back a few sputters and sniggers. Wanta bounded over to Kouta and began licking one of his sore hands, in what appeared to be an attempt to console.

"Well?" The little diclonius teased.

Kouta tried valiantly to find an explanation, but ultimately lost much of his confidence as a man at the sight of the uprooted eyesore. He didn't think he was that weak…

"What about my prize, huh?"

The corners of Kouta's mouth twitched at that, at least he would have revenge. Giving Mayu another knowing look, he rose to his full height and cracked his knuckles. "You want your tickle, huh?"

"Yes, please." Nana said, her stomach was growling again. But her pride in the victory faltered when she saw that Kouta had a huge, devilish smile, one that was almost scary.

"Guess I'm just gonna have to give her what she wants..." Kouta shook his head as if defeated, but his smile belied his words."After all, a deal's a deal!" Kouta suddenly rushed Nana with fingers wriggling around like worms. The surprised girl was caught completely off-guard and she shrieked as Kouta pinned her down and began to tickle her ribs, underarms, neck, and stomach. When the diclonius covered up one part, he would zip to the next and torture her there.

Nana had never felt anything like this before, she wanted it to stop, yet she loved it for some reason she couldn't pin down. Her nerves seemed confused as to what they wanted and laughter bubbled out from every part of her body. Never before in her life had she felt like laughing from a touch someone gave her… and she felt warm…but she couldn't analyze it any further because she couldn't think straight - Kouta's hands were everywhere and she couldn't breathe because she was too busy laughing!

"What…is…this?" Nana managed to squeal out.

"It's tickling!" Mayu exclaimed, running up to aid Kouta in his task. Mayu laughed almost as hard as Nyuu, it made her feel really happy to see her friend like this.

"No…" Nana pleaded, "Mayu…don't help him…HELP ME!" But her friend just laughed harder, grabbed onto a squirming leg and quickly discarded her shoe.

"Get her good, Mayu!" Kouta encouraged, enjoying himself immensely.

Nana couldn't take this treatment, she felt like she was going to wet herself if it kept going, but her cries for help didn't hold much power, she was breathless and couldn't get any volume behind them. Nevertheless, she was rescued by an unexpected savior.

"Nyyyyyuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

"No, no, Nyuu! Kouta is busy! Don't bother him!"

"Koooooooooouta! Bath!" Hearing the bubbly voice, Kouta immediately forgot all about the tickle torture and shot his head up to see Nyuu running towards him, arms outstretched, with Yuka no more than a few yards behind her looking flustered and out of breath.

"Nyuu? What is it?"

"Bath!" She looked ready to tackle again, and Kouta's head still hurt from earlier. He braced himself for impact by clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, but was surprised when Nyuu just stopped, inches away from him.

"Bath!"

"Wh-what?" Kouta was understandably confused, and surprised that she had run out to see him in the yard like this. But he was elated to see her, and he nearly melted into a puddle when she closed the remaining distance between them to wrap her arms around him.

Looking up into his eyes with a loving gaze she asked, "Bath? With Nyuu?"

Kouta nearly fainted.

"Well Kouta? Aren't you going to give her an answer?" Seemingly popping out of nowhere, Yuka hissed out from behind clenched teeth and phony smile, "You don't want to keep her waiting…"

Stuttering and afraid to say anything, Kouta was painfully aware that Nyuu had begun rubbing up against him again. Thoughts of taking Nyuu up on her offer snaked their way into his head and wouldn't get out, despite the situation. Steamy, guilty thoughts that made him break out into a sweat and stutter something nonsensical.

A vein in Yuka's forehead began twitching dangerously.

Nana and Mayu gave each other the same bewildered look and both got up to get back into the house. In situations like this, situations where Yuka had that scary look, it was usually better to leave and get as far away as possible.

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Plot Development? We don't need no stinkin' plot development! Heh – I'm sorry, I just had to write a little feel-good drabble, a one-chapter reprieve from conflict and angst. Not that I've been that angsty so far…

I just had to have my fun with this chapter. :) Once again, thank you everyone who reassured me about everything and made me feel like an over-reacting lunatic.