Always There: Chapter 5

Cleaning Up Confusion

Kouta simply stood glued to the spot, shaking as he held the hornless girl in a rigid embrace. He felt like he was in a dream…a very bad dream in fact, unable to comprehend the events that had just taken place. Everything was spinning and it wouldn't stop…he didn't know why…

"You can let me go now," Lucy whispered coldly. As much as she was enjoying the simplicity in they're contact, she knew she was there in Kouta's arms for all the wrong reasons. He had latched onto her not out of passion or love, but in a last ditch effort of desperation to prevent her causing any injury to his 'kiss-a-lot' cousin. But this was far from over, especially after that display from the young brunette. If there was any hope of her surviving Lucy's wrath, it had now been shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. People who had betrayed Lucy's trust never walked away untouched or rather, even alive for that matter, and even though Yuka was Kouta's cousin, in Lucy's mind she was no exception to the rule.

Suddenly the young Diclonius felt Kouta stiffen and his breathing quicken. Finally he had realized…she was still in a towel…and it was slipping. But before Lucy could even blink, Kouta abruptly broke away, stammering and looking extremely flustered.

"I'm…I'm s-sorry," he muttered while turning if possible an even darker shade of red. "I-I didn't mean to…I-I didn't mean to do…"

"I'm going to my room," the cherry haired girl announced bluntly, interrupting Kouta's stuttering and ignoring his attempts to redeem his actions. But just as she went to turn away, Kouta made a grasp for her arm, his grip slipping slightly because of her still slightly damp skin.

"Wait," he called out after her in a very unsteady tone, afraid of what she might do to him if she didn't want to listen. "Could you at least…uh…maybe…apologize to Yuka? I'm going to have a lot to explain to her now so-"

But once again, Kouta was interrupted.

You may be able to prevent me from killing her Kouta," 'for now at least,' "but don't you even assume for a second that I would even consider giving her,"— she turned to face and point at the unconscious girl currently slouched up against the wall—"the honor of my forgiveness, especially after what she did." Lucy's back was once again facing Kouta as she dare not turn to even look in his direction again for fear of losing control a second time…especially now…Kouta's questions had spurred the replay of the horrid event which she was forced to endure time and time again. And with each new start, more anger, sadness, helplessness and mainly guilt at not being able to save her friend from such a primitive species of murderous apes swirled within her very being…

She had to leave the room…now.

She didn't want to think about what she was capable of doing should she stay in the room a second longer…maybe she could dream about those possibilities tonight and then that should at least keep her sane for the next few days. With that thought, a smirk began menacingly forming on her lips as she began pacing slowly toward the doorway, humming to herself faintly as she did so.

Nana woke up a few moments later feeling incredibly dazed and her vision was horribly blurred. Although she felt too dizzy to stand, the young horned girl managed to slowly crawl her way to the dinning room, praying to God with all her heart that she didn't run into her extremely insane, hornless yet dangerous counterpart. Lucy's presence had fumbled her senses and as a result, for all she knew, she could be standing right above her, readying herself to decapitate what little was left of her original body. That fear had constantly haunted Nana everyday since Lucy's return.

While Kouta and Yuka had been happy and a little more then surprised that she was indeed alive, Nana was instantly and still remained, very skeptical. The only thing worse then having to be chopped to pieces herself was having Lucy do it to her family. She had grown really fond of them all, especially Maiyu. They were the only ones who seemed to care about her, and the thought of living with her horns…alone…in this cruel world was too scary and unbearable to even consider.

So it came down to this…

She would protect them with every ounce of strength she had…or die trying.

It was as simple as that.

Upon reaching the room and even though her vision was still slightly fuzzy, Nana let out a huge sigh of relief. Lucy was no where to been seen and although Yuka looked a little beat up; both she and Kouta were still in one piece.

Kouta gently went about the tedious task of lifting his cousin into his arms so as not to disturb her, and upon completing his task; he began to walk out of the trashed room when he was delayed by a small tug on the bottom of his jeans.

"Kouta…I'm sorry…I'm so useless…I wasn't able to protect her…" Nana muttered through a raspy throat, trying her best to keep focused on her adoptive parents form looming over her. After everything else that had happened, it took Kouta a few minutes to actually register who it was begging for forgiveness at his feet, but thankfully, it didn't take long to sink in…

"Oh my god, Nana! Are you okay? Just hang tight for a minute, I'll just go and put Yuka down and then come back for you, alright?" The pink haired girl just smiled weakly before slowly allowing her eyes to flutter close under the immense pressure of her eyelids and floating off into darkness. Kouta's heart sank to the floor. Within milliseconds, his once cautious and slow pace had manifested into an all out sprint, doing his best to keep Yuka securely fastened in his arms and not allowing her limbs to flail about. He didn't know what had happened to Nana, he had thought that she had been left out of the whole mess but apparently he was wrong. Now that he thought about it, both Nana and Yuka probably needed a doctor or a medical professional of some kind, but again it was just simply too risky. If it were Nyuu, she may have been alright now that her horns were gone, but Nana still had hers and Kouta was sure that the hunt for impossibly sweet girl was far from over. He couldn't risk exposure and so, he would just have to hope for the best…hope that a few days of bed rest, and maybe some household painkillers would suffice as a remedy.

Kneeling down gently, Kouta threw back the covers of Yuka's futon and arranged her body as best he could amongst the sheets, trying hard to get her comfortable before running off to fetch Nana. Why was all this happening? Everything was falling apart and Kouta didn't know how long he could keep everyone in his family naïve to the obvious tension between his cousin and Nyuu.

'What am I going to do?'

He sat there quietly, attentively watching the two girls as they slept, secretly hoping that the older of the two didn't wake up anytime soon as he was sure she would batter him with questions about the previous events and in all honesty, Kouta was beginning to think that he wouldn't even be able to explain. It was all just too confusing. Lucy sure had caused quite the ruckus and now he was the only one able to deal with the mess. Not to mention there was still Yuka's problem too. Although he was angry, he couldn't help but be somewhat curious, who was Yumiko anyway? Was she a friend? A sister? A cousin? And what happened to her? What does that al have to do with Yuka? Just thinking about all of these questions was making Kouta's head hurt, he sighed loudly, exasperated before throwing his head into his hands in frustration.

'I don't need all this…'

Maybe he should just ask her? Pfft, yeah right, that would be like going into a bears den with a steak as a weapon…that was just asking for trouble, especially in her current mood. Although, maybe now that she had had a few hours to cool off, she would be more approachable. Or maybe he could go in there with another excuse and hope that Lucy would start talking of her own accord. Besides, he had just remembered that the ribbons covering her horns needed changing and of course he didn't want them getting infected, right? Yep that was it, she needed her dressings changed, that was why he needed to go and talk to her.

Suddenly feeing very enthusiastic, Kouta jumped to his feat, careful as to not disturb the two girls slumbering peacefully on the floor. But upon reaching the doorway that lead down toward Lucy's room, he heard sheets and covers stirring…the last thing he wanted to happen at the moment was Yuka waking up and attacking and screaming at him for what occurred just a mere few hours ago. Instantly he froze in his spot, hoping that all she was doing was simply moving around in her sleep…silent minutes passed and nothing else seemed to move, leading Kouta to believe that his first presumption was true. Letting out a huge sigh of relief and allowing his heart rate to return to its normal rhythm, he turned once more to face them both, offering the brunette in particular a silent apology…

'I'm sorry Yuka…I just can't.'

With one last, solemn look of regret, Kouta turned down the hallway and began heading towards Lucy's room. The problem was, Kouta knew that he was going to have to say those words again when she woke up which hopefully, if he was lucky, wasn't anytime soon.

He stopped momentarily just outside her door, preparing himself to enter…he could hear nothing; Lucy's room was just as silent as the rest of the house. In fact, the only indicator he had that she was even still awake was that her light was on. He knocked quietly on her door, awaiting a response. When he received none, he proceeded to announce who it was and hoped that would entice at least some kind of acknowledgement.

"Uhhh…it's Kouta, do you mind if I come in?"

Silence…

Getting rather irritated at her lack of any words whatsoever, Kouta decided to simply open the door and hope that she had at least changed into some clothes. He felt his cheeks burning as he remembered what happened before when he found out that she was in fact, wearing nothing at all besides a small piece of while, wet cloth. Quickly pushing that notion to the back of his mind, Kouta pulled back the sliding door and was relieved to find that Lucy was sitting on the floor with her legs tucked close to her sides, arms thrown carelessly in her lap and indeed she was clothed. But she seemed to have a fairly negative aura surrounding her as she continued to stare blankly at the opposite wall with the same unreadable, emotionless face as usual.

"Hey," he said a little louder, hoping to catch her attention. It worked, but she didn't move let alone blink as she replied.

"What do you want?" She snapped coldly, "have you come here to lecture me on what I did?"

Although taken aback by her tone, Kouta just brushed it off as her 'normal' distant behavior and continued on with the conversation, ignoring her attempts to get him to leave.

"No, I just came to change the dressings on your horns," he explained to her while pointing to the ribbons on her head. The once beautiful light purple silk was now a disgusting mixture of reddish brown, creating the impression that there was indeed something dead attached to her hair. This time the only movement she displayed was a slight movement of her pupils as he noticed, she still hadn't moved, but was now looking up at him out of the top corner of her eyes. Her stare carried a similar look to her face, dull and void of all feelings, almost like two black holes swirling slowly as they devoured all traces and hints of emotion.

"I guess if you must, then go ahead. I won't stop you," was all she offered from her stationary position on the floor, her eyes turning back to focus on the opposing wall.

Thankful that he hadn't been murdered yet, Kouta chose to say nothing as he went to her dresser to retrieve the antiseptic liquid, a bucket of water, a sponge and more dressings. Applying the gloves that he'd been using when addressing her wounds, Kouta bent down close to her and went about the tedious task of picking the blood saturated material from her hair.

"Sorry if I accidentally hurt you or anything." He said sympathetically as he made the first tug on the material surrounding what was her once rather adorable horn.

'Even after all I've done to him, he still cares for me like he always does. But why? I don't deserve it…'

"Are you angry with me?" Lucy suddenly asked in the same uncaring and serious tone as she always used when speaking.

The question had taken Kouta by such surprise that he had actually stopped working on her hair for a moment before he realized what she had said. "Well…maybe a little," he answered honestly. In truth he found that he wasn't angry anymore…not really. He found that he was more interested in what had provoked an attack like that, rather then taking offense to what she had done. Kouta simply wanted to find out why she was so upset with Yuka so that balance could be restored to the family. Although he knew the troubles went much deeper, he couldn't help but hope that this was all just simple unease and unsettlement caused by Lucy's/Nyuu's surprise return.

'I really do hope that this turns out okay…'

"Actually," Kouta began to improvise, hoping that he could just straight out ask her without getting nervous for any apparent reason. "I was just wondering, why were you so angry with Yuka?"

Lucy gave a small chuckle at this, not a happy one either. It was a laugh full of spite. "That stupid girl…is the reason that my friend is dead." Kouta once again stopped attending to her wounds as his face morphed into a shocked expression. "But how can that be?" He just about yelled, unable to think that his cousin, whom he had grown up with, could even muster up the nerve to do such a thing. "Yuka would never kill anyone!"

"No you're right, she didn't directly kill Natsume," she continued without any change in her voice, "but as I said before, if she hadn't opened her stupid mouth, she might still be alive…"

'But then again, I guess that because I am what I am, I was doomed to never be happy from the very beginning.'

Suddenly, Lucy's expression changed, the apparent pain from the topic being discussed was letting hints of anger and sadness slip through the cracks in her indifferent demeanor. And as Kouta studied her expression more closely, he could se that tears were brimming at the corners of her eyes. "Aside from you, she was the only other person who was never bothered by my horns…" she began to explain, her voice muffled by her hands and sobs. "We always played together in the park, and because she was an orphan like me, we soon became good friends." The cherry haired Diclonius paused briefly before continuing. "But, at that time, I came to realize that my…activities were being traced." Kouta didn't need her to explain who was following her, he guessed she was talking about the people in charge of the supposed 'facility' that both her and Nana were members of.

"One day, when we were playing in the park that we always did, I realized that a few men in suits with guns were standing near a bench…looking for me. I decided that the best thing to do was just act normal so as to not arouse suspicion, and that's when I saw your cousin, Kouta." She turned to face him for a moment, she looked truly pathetic, tears were freely falling down her cheeks, and her eyes were full of the agony of having to recount what was obviously an appalling and tragic tale. It was only now did Kouta realize that maybe instead of worrying about his curiosity, he should be thinking about what this was doing to her…

"You can stop now you know?" He whispered fondly whilst placing a supportive hand on her shoulder, "it looks like this conversation is causing you a great deal of pain anyway…you can tell me about all of this when you're ready, okay?" Lucy gave a weak smile before completely breaking down in hysterical sobs in his arms.

"I really don't deserve you…" she mumbled through her hands that were covering her face.

'Thank-you for everything Kouta…'

Slowly she began to stir. She felt like her eyelids had been glued shut, and her head felt like it was going to explode. Through the small slits in her eyes, Yuka was able to make out that she was lying down in a futon. Kouta must have put her there.

Kouta.

Just at the thought of his name a smile began to form on her lips. He was probably sitting just right near her…watching over her to make sure her condition didn't worsen. He really did care for her. Maybe her kiss had gotten to him after all. He probably hadn't realized that she was awake yet, and so she decided to let him know.

"Kouta…" Yuka croaked, trying to make out his familiar silhouette through the miniscule opening in her eyes, to no avail. Instead she awaited some sort of movement to tell her that he was crawling closer, but still…nothing. 'He probably just didn't hear me' she rationalized, hoping thather statement was indeed true.

"Kouta…" Yuka tried again, with all the strength she could muster. Silence. Nothing. Not even the sound of a cricket chirping outside. 'Would he really leave me alone after what happened?' Suddenly furious at the thought, she flung back the heavy covers of her futon and steadily began sitting up, doing her best to ignore the pounding sensation in her head. Slowly but surely she rose to her feet, stumbling a few times and almost falling back down on the bed. Eventually though, she found her footing and made an attempt to see through the dark of the room. It was hopeless. The only thing that she could really make out was the doorway, as there was a weak light emitting from the left hand side, further down the corridor. Slowly she began to make her way over towards the hallway, using the wall and various pieces of furniture as a prompt to keep her on her feet.

'Kouta…where the hell are you?'

Gradually she managed to creep her way down toward the light, hoping that it was indeed where Kouta was. She kept her eyes steadfast on her goal as she inched a step closer every few seconds. Every now and then she had to stop to rest…she was still quite weak from her…encounter. Actually, what did happen? All she could remember was standing there one moment kissing her beloved cousin before she was whisked off her feet and thrown hard up against the wall, unable to breathe. She had felt like something was choking the life out of her. (And she wasn't too far off either!) She remembered, just before her world went black, Kouta was screaming at someone to stop, but who was it?

Was the reason she was even still alive because Kouta had gotten the person attacking her to stop?

But even so, why was someone attacking her? Was it something she had…? Something she had done? How did they get into the house?

She needed to find him…now, and get some answers to all these questions.

With new found determination, Yuka once again began creep toward the only remaining room in house with a light still left on. She almost felt like it was calling to her, enticing her forward. Finally she had found him, and she exactly what was going to happen...

She would slowly open the doors; he would turn around with a shocked expression adorning his handsome features before she would collapse from weakness into his strong arms…

She couldn't wait.

Almost instantly she felt as though new strength was coursing through her veins. She latched onto the door tightly and expending as much energy as possible, she threw back the sliding door, readying herself to set her plans into motion. An unimaginable amount of giddiness seemed to take over, despite her sickly state; she couldn't help grin widely at finally reaching him.

That was until, she looked down.

In less then an instant, all traces of happiness were abruptly erased as her facial features morphed into a look of pure horror and shock…

The image of her 'knight in shining armor' had officially been smashed to thousands of tiny, razor sharp pieces…it was all over…

'Kouta how could you…?'