I've…DONE IT! Over 100 reviews! In everybody's face! Oh, YES! My story is now, officially, a success. For some of those worried about my last A/N, NO, I'm not going to cut back on descriptive language too much, I'm just not going to do another chapter like Bloody Statue. An entire chapter doing nothing but description…but, maybe I should never say never…
Anyway, whatever I'm doing, it must be working because I've got over 100 reviews! The first Elfen Lied fiction to reach this milestone - I'm just so happy! Oh, and sorry about my tiny chapters. I keep telling myself to keep going, but the urge to update is very powerful. Plus, more chapters gets me more feedback!
Disclaimer: I am now the proud owner of 120 different and well-rounded reviews, but I do not own Elfen Lied. (Sob) One dream at a time.
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Kouta was slightly panicky. Yuka and Nyuu might have finished their bath by now, so his cousin could be anywhere in the house. And there was a nice roll of burnt curtain around his arm. Kouta wouldn't let any of the blame go to Nana; Yuka was frustrated with her enough, and might punish her. No, if he was caught, he would take the blame, he probably would have done the same thing to the curtains if Nana hadn't done it first, anyway. So if Yuka caught him, there would be hell to pay…
He began to sweat slightly as he searched for a decent hiding place. They were too big for the trash, they would be seen right off, the garbage truck didn't come for another couple days, and if he left the house to stash them in a far away place, Yuka would start asking him questions about where he had been. Kouta knew that he was not a good liar.
So he glanced ahead from behind corners and ducked behind furniture as he hunted for a good nook or cranny that Yuka would never come across. The living room had too much traffic, no good. She constantly cleaned the hallways and bedrooms; those were out. He couldn't go back to the kitchen…what did that leave?
The bathrooms. Yuka didn't touch the cabinets where he kept his dirty laundry, she just yelled at him to empty it every day. If he could just stash the curtains in there until garbage day…
Kouta suddenly wished he had a map. He didn't know where he was in the giant inn, and he didn't know which bathroom Nyuu and his cousin had used. Surely they were gone by now, though, Kouta hoped. Yuka always took short baths. He decided to take the chance instead of placing the curtains in an unsafe hiding place. There were so many bathrooms in the inn anyway; the chance of him going into the same one was miniscule.
But fate was frowning upon Kouta. Or smiling, it was a difficult call. The first bathroom that Kouta recognized was the largest one, the one that Nyuu and Yuka had used. And as he opened the large door, unawares, Nyuu stopped smiling at her newly found memories. She wasn't facing the door and thought the intruder to be Yuka, back with the clothes, but didn't turn around because of her shame at making the brunette feel bad. And at first, Kouta didn't even notice her; he was too involved in finding his hiding place, and she was almost hidden in a corner. However, as he drew close to his destination, he couldn't help but notice the discarded clothes that Nyuu had been wearing that day were right under his feet.
When everything clicked in his head, the red-faced man carefully backed away and made a dash for the door (Yuka never left clothes on the floor for long). Before he could even make it halfway, however, he was stopped dead in his tracks by a small, familiar, curious voice.
"Nyuu…" The young woman had dared a quick glance to see what Yuka had brought her, but had seen a tall, raven-haired man instead of what had been expected. It was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one – not at all.
"KOUTA!" Nyuu clumsily jumped up and made a series of hops over puddles towards him, arms outstretched, and only semi-decent. The little girl looked at him like he was a hot meal and she was starving, and in fact, she was. She felt hungry for Kouta; every time she had gotten close, Yuka had pulled him away for one reason or another – now Yuka was gone and her chance was here…
Kouta himself was trapped between the urge to apologize while making a hasty retreat and other urges that he was not proud of. Not being able to decide, his body froze up once again.
"Nyuu-?" The sweet girl, confused at Kouta's momentary solidification, stopped and looked him up and down for possible problems. Finding none, she decided that he must be a little cold, just like she was. To remedy that, she pulled him close to help share in her body heat, something that also strangely came to mind without any plausible reason. And even if being cold wasn't a problem, Nyuu felt like if she didn't touch Kouta soon she would go crazy.
"Kouta…" She squeezed, rubbed, and purred as Kouta got stiffer and stiffer. Normally, it wouldn't faze him too much, he had gotten used to it. But her still damp skin against his was a thrilling sensation, as was the brushing of her glistening, finally blood-free hair against his chest. He actually did feel her heat through her flimsy towel and his thin summer wear; her only barely covered body helped heat him up as well. Kouta's grip on the curtains had become very, very tight.
Finally (and reluctantly) unlatching, Nyuu stepped back to see the fruits of her efforts, and was pleased to see Kouta had loosened up. In fact, he had collapsed the moment she let go. But he recovered quickly, and turning his head away, so as not to look at the scantily clad girl, Kouta began to stammer out an apology.
"S-S-Sorry, Nyuu. I didn't know a-anybody was in h-here…"
Nyuu, smiling her smile that could melt ice, stood patiently and waited for Kouta to speak again – she usually had trouble understanding his speedy, complicated speech anyway, but when he stuttered, comprehension was a lost cause. She could still feel what he wanted to say, however, in a way. Nyuu listened to his volume, the tone of his voice, body language, tiny things that could've easily been overlooked and put them together to find what he felt and was trying to convey. In this way, Nyuu had unwittingly taught herself to almost instinctively know how Kouta felt. She had developed a kind of deeper language with Kouta, and his inner feelings were never hidden from her. Likewise, Kouta always knew how Nyuu felt. It was usually obvious (Nyuu didn't see the need to hide emotions), but there were tiny things that only he could pick up on…
"S-Sorry. I'll just…go…"
Eventually, the tongue-tied man was able to turn away and start towards the door again, but he felt resistance. The cloth in his hand didn't seem to want to go along with him; he couldn't pull it away. He wanted to look back to she what he had snagged, but didn't feel it was right so he just jerked his hand forward a few times, futilely. Frustration overcoming embarrassment, he swiveled around to see Nyuu pulling on his curtains.
"What is it?" Kouta asked, a little surprised. Sometimes Nyuu would tug on items just for fun, to have a tug-of-war, but she didn't have the playful grin she always had when she began a game. It wasn't serious, but it didn't have that mischievous quality to it either. "You want to see this?"
At Nyuu's nod of affirmation, Kouta unwrapped the drape from his arm and handed it over.
"Sure, but don't tell Yuka, okay?" He was confused, but interested. Nyuu always found such great new ways to use everyday items…
"Nyuu…" The girl looked at it happily for a moment, feeling its softness before biting down on it to hold it away from the wet floor and moving her hands to the knot keeping her towel up.
Kouta saw the movement and, on reflex, covered his eyes like a child watching a scary movie. This is not right…he muttered under his breath, not right, not right, she doesn't know what she's doing… There was an almost audible hiss as the temperature rose in Kouta's face, like a kettle left on a hotplate. However, all other sounds were drowned out by the gentle thump the towel made as it hit the ground.
"Nyuu!"
Kouta kept his eyes shut tight, afraid to even step back out of the room. He would have stood like that for the rest of the night like an ornament, but he soon felt a pair of smooth, cool hands pulling his own away from his face. In his surprise he let his eyes open, but Nyuu had dressed herself again.
"Nyuu!"
In the curtains.
"Nyuu, Nyuu, Nyuu!" The girl did a little twirl, showing her new outfit to a gaping Kouta. The charred curtain was wrapped around like the towel had been, but the burn mark had been skillfully hidden so Nyuu looked like she was wearing a colorful, strapless dress. She smiled as wide as could be as her hair flew around her face and ripples in the puddles faded around her dainty feet.
Kouta was speechless. As absurd as it was, Nyuu looked stunning in a way he had never seen before. The traditionally "attractive people": models on television with perfect curves and silk dresses or revealing negligee paled in comparison to this girl draped in a drape. The sparkling drops of water flying through the air and the tiny giggles echoing around the bathroom that surrounded Kouta created an atmosphere that would feel at home in a dream.
She was a goddess, a princess, magical, elegant, free, something unreal, fantasy. Kouta couldn't move, or breathe, or see anything but her. Nyuu spun slower and slower it seemed to Kouta, and everything around her began to distort. Her eyes were closed in the simple joy of moving and feeling something new rubbing against her skin. The cloth around her billowed out in a way that the finest ball gowns couldn't. The bathroom disappeared and was replaced by the moon and the stars that shone with blinding light, yet still looked like twinkling fireflies in comparison to the girl.
"Beautiful…" It was spoken absentmindedly, as if he was viewing her from far away.
"Nyuu!" Then she stopped spinning, the curtain fell down around her ankles again, her hair settled back onto her shoulders and the spell was broken. She clasped her hands behind her back and turned towards Kouta expectantly. "What…do nyuu…you think?"
Kouta smiled at her. "I've never seen anybody wear a curtain like that…or at all…"
Nyuu looked down at herself. "Did Nyuu…do…bad?" A small frown appeared as the girl realized that perhaps Kouta had not come to hand over her new clothes. She worried that Kouta might even scold her…
"No, no, you didn't do anything wrong." Kouta stepped forward and looked the dress up and down, feeling the cloth between two fingers. "It actually is pretty soft…I wonder why I never thought of wearing curtains…" His reassuring words helped bring a smile back to Nyuu's face.
"Good. Nyuu…Nyuu does not like doing bad…"
"And you look…" Kouta stepped back to admire Nyuu. "You look…"
"Nyuu look for what?"
"No, don't go and look for anything…" Kouta chuckled patiently. "I'm just trying to find the right word…" He wanted to tell her how she had looked to him not thirty seconds ago, but it couldn't be put into words – even if it could have, Nyuu would have an awfully hard time wrapped her head around the concept. "You look…really…pretty in that." He mentally kicked himself for the poor choice.
"Nyuu…is pretty?" The pink haired girl didn't recognize the word, but she loved the way it sounded in her ears and felt rolling off her tongue. So she said it some more. Lofty, low, swift, slow, she said it in every possible way. "Pretty… pretty, pretty, Pretty-Pretty-Pretty, pretty, PRETTY!"
Kouta also liked the way it sounded coming from her. "Yeah, you look…really pretty."
"Kouta?" She paused with her hands in the air (she had been singing it up towards the sky) "What does…pretty mean?"
"Well…" Kouta thought about it for a moment. "Pretty is when you…look good. When you…smell sweet and… you smile." He glanced over at Nyuu, who grinned sweetly at his words. "Pretty is when…your eyes shine." Her ruby reds seemed to glint in gratitude of their mention. "When your skin is soft…"
Before Kouta knew it, he was naming everything he saw about Nyuu. Her appearance, her voice, her personality, things that he knew had nothing to do with the word "pretty". But Nyuu ate it up. Everything that Kouta said, everything that he found in Nyuu, Nyuu found in him. When he was finished, she said it one more time…but thought about the meaning.
"Pretty…" It meant so much more than it had before, and she let it out slowly, almost thoughtfully. Then she squealed out. "Kouta is pretty!"
"What?"
"Kouta is pretty!" She grabbed onto him and squeezed as hard as she could while reciting all the things she heard Kouta say. "Kouta looks good! Kouta smells sweet! Kouta smiles!"
"No, no! I'm not pretty…ah!" But Nyuu wasn't listening anymore; she was nuzzling her face in his chest.
"Kouta is pretty…"
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Somehow, the two managed to push themselves against a wall and, without saying anything; they slid down together so their backs were against the wall. Somehow, Nyuu's head found its way into Kouta's lap. Somehow, Kouta's hand began to twirl around Nyuu's hair, still like silk from the conditioner she used. Somehow, they found themselves laying together, daydreaming in comfortable silence.
"Nyuu?" he said.
"Nyuu?" she replied.
"I want to tell you something."
"Nyuu…" Her eyes were half-closed. She felt so secure and warm, she felt the peace that babies feel in their parent's loving grasp.
"Nyuu…I've never felt as happy as I felt when you woke up…"
"Nyuu…"
"I don't think I realized how much I had truly missed you…"
"Nyuu…"
"I…didn't realize how much I needed you…"
"…"
"I think…no, I know that I…"
"…"
"Nyuu, I…I lo…"
"zzz….zzz…" Kouta stopped mid-sentence when he realized Nyuu had dozed off in his arms. He gave a chuckle.
"It can wait. She already knows, anyway…or…I think she does…" He frowned as he wondered about Nyuu's memory. "Would she remember the night before…?" Kouta felt a pang of loss. He knew he loved this girl, but there was something missing. Something…
"Nyuu…sorry I took so long…"
He was missing…
"Mayu and Nana needed some help in the kitchen and I almost forgot…"
Missing…
"KOUTA!" The clothes Kouta's cousin had been carrying were abruptly dropped.
All of his thoughts were blown away by hurricane Yuka. He returned to reality slowly and unwillingly, but when he did, he jumped up quickly (though carefully, he didn't let Nyuu's head hit the ground).
"Y-Yes, Yuka…?"
An eerie calm came over her features. "What, pray tell, is going on in here…?" She took a menacing step forward.
"Well, er, um…"
"A fine romance, this…" Her shadow on the floor seemed to grow and darken.
"Er, uh, er…"
"Kouta, why don't you leave for a moment and let me get Nyuu dressed…" The angry quiver in her voice caused Kouta to blanche, "…and then you and me can have a little…talk…"
"Eh...I can explain all of this…"
"GET OUT YOU PERVERT!" Nyuu sprung awake, the floor shook, Wanta howled.
A slap, a kick, and a slammed door later, Kouta found himself alone, outside the bathroom door. It was a perfect moment, he finally had Nyuu with him, but…
He gave a sigh and began thinking of the best way of explaining things to his cousin.
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I know I've been really fluffy with this story lately, it has been all feel-good and happy. I can't help myself! It has just been so much fun! This is the last of it for a while, but I made it real Kouta x Nyuu! Next chapter, Kouta is really going to have to deal with that angry Yuka. Maybe my story summary will start making sense too…