Always There: Chapter 6
Miss-Understanding
"There isn't much left of you to cut off now is there?" Lucy teased, a malicious smirk creeping its way onto her lips.
"Nyuu, what are doing out here? Shouldn't you be in bed?" Maiyu asked, Wanta clutched tightly in her arms.
Lucy only looked at the brunette teenager for a second, a disgusted look painted on her features before calling on her vectors and slicing the innocent girl in half, splattering blood everywhere. The top half of the girl's body came to rest on the cold cement with a thud, a dumbfounded expression still present on her now crimson blotched face.
"NO!" Nana screamed, falling to her knees in agony as she stared at her best and only friend's now motionless body. The tears brimming at her eyes began to blur her vision, making it seem to Nana as if Maiyu was slowly fading away right in front of her, never to been seen again.
"What's going on out there?" Came a familiar voice from within the house and Nana knew who it was. The pink haired diclonius tore her gaze away from her 'sister's' corpse momentarily to prevent another family member having to meet the same gruesome end.
"Yuka! Don't come out here!" She screamed out in panic struggling to get to her feet to reach for the door.
But it was too late; Lucy vectors were much faster…
"Why not Nana? What's going-" Before the young college student could even open the door another inch to see what was happening, she was decapitated on the doorstep, her features also clenched in a confused and worried look as it fell down the few concrete steps in front of the house, slowly rolling to a stop at Nana's feet. She looked at Lucy in disbelief, still unable to fathom what had happened to her beloved family.
"Why…? Why…did you do it? I was so happy…"
Lucy grunted. "I wouldn't worry about that, besides, looks like it's your turn now anyway," she said in a rather mocking tone, before setting all four invisible arms on her pathetic looking target.
But this time, Nana made no attempt to protect herself from harm and instead merely watched as the insane cheery haired girl's weapons closed in on her at an alarming rate, eager to quarter what ever was left of her being. With her last few seconds, she cast her gaze downward onto the bloodied head resting at her feet, eyes wide and saddened.
'Why Papa…? Why do I have to forget about her…?'
Nana woke up with a start to the sound of cracking thunder outside, her clothes soaked in a cold sweat as she panted heavily…it was only a dream…a nightmare. It was over…hopefully. Taking deep breaths to calm herself, she gradually rose to an upright sitting position to survey the room. Her task was surprisingly easy as the throbbing in her head had diminished almost completely, allowing her to see quite clearly through the thick blanket of night. She guessed that mean that Lucy was also resting, putting an end to her worry for the moment. Aside from that she eventually came to the conclusion that she was in Yuka's room, the distinguishing characteristic being the large wooden dresser resting against the wall, close to the end of her futon, countless photos of her and Kouta's childhood splayed neatly across its smooth surface…
Seeing those pictures quickly got Nana thinking, thankfully wiping the unpleasant, not to mention ghastly scenes from her previous dream away. She knew that Kouta's feelings weren't directed at his cousin. They had always been (even though sometimes unconsciously) and always would be directed at Lucy and Nyuu. As much as she hated to see her adoptive mother upset, she knew that there was no changing the human heart, Yuka's feelings would never be reciprocated…she would be forced to endure and suffer the eternal burden of unrequited love.
Sighing quietly to herself under her breath, Nana pulled the covers up to her chin and gently lowered herself back down on to a yielding pillow, about to fall asleep when she noticed the identical, but empty futon adjacent to her own. Instantly she guessed that it must have been Yuka who had been lying there. The reason she wasn't still there however was a complete mystery to the young diclonius. Yuka had been beaten up pretty badly and probably needed more rest then she did. But, not wanting to pry into her private matters (Nana guessed that she was probably with Kouta) she decided that it was best to feign ignorance and promptly fall asleep. And that's exactly what she did. This time though, her dreams were pleasant…meeting with her Papa in a place without violence and discrimination. Just peace…
It was the best sleep Nana had had in long time…
'Kouta…how could you?'
Yuka stood there firmly, her fists clenching on the door so tightly that her fingers had mercilessly broken through the thin paper film covering the frame, splinters sliding easily under the skin, creating little rivets of blood that trickled down her forearm. She hadn't seemed to notice though, her eyes all too intently focusing on the scene in front of her.
It was innocent enough. Kouta had simply fallen asleep against the mahogany cabinet, his head gently resting on the cool wood. And Nyuu was curled up in his lap, while Kouta's arms were draped lazily around her sleeping form. Nothing scandalous had happened and yet, just by the mere sight of it all, Yuka felt her blood begin to boil. It was almost unbelievable…there she was, his cousin, in need of serious attention and even then, he still managed to completely ignore it and find his way back to her…a person whom he had only known for a few months. Why was it her? Why was it always her? She had known Kouta for years, she knew that his favorite food was soumen, that he preferred walking to driving, she knew the beach was his favorite place to visit…she knew all this and more and yet, it didn't seem to matter. She felt like she couldn't blame Nyuu…no, Nyuu was too innocent to appreciate fully what was happening. It was Kouta's fault for taking advantage of her abnormal and somewhat mysterious attachment to him.
Feeling the anger quelling in her mind, Yuka marched over to Kouta and abruptly kicked him hard in the side, jolting him awake within seconds. Tears began to pour down her face as she glared at him in his half asleep and confused state. His movement also awoke the girl sleeping peacefully in his lap, enticing a loud yawn as she stretched, rubbing her eyes to dispel the sleep. The raven haired young man looked up at his cousin puzzled and slightly annoyed.
"What did you do that for Yuka?" Slowly he rose to his feet, bringing with him the object of his cousin's jealousy, even if she would never readily admit it to herself.
She didn't say anything at first; she just continued to stare him down, her body quivering with the effort of having to restrain her emotions. Kouta seemed oblivious to this and opted to simply once again go back to sleep, merely remarking on her physical wellbeing as if what had just happened only hours before wasn't a big deal.
"I'm glad to see that you're okay, but you really still shouldn't be walking around…you should-"
"Just disappear?" Yuka interrupted in a mock serious tone.
"No…what's wrong with you anyway?" He interjected harshly as his senses finally managed to grasp the situation.
"You tell me!" She screamed finally, unable to hold back any longer. "What happened to me back there? And don't tell me you don't know, because I know you do!"
Kouta bit his lip, unable to decide what to say. He tried to detain the moment as long as possible, choosing his words carefully…
"Why did I feel like I was being chocked to death? Who attacked me?"
'Okay that's a good thing; she doesn't remember anything…maybe I can get out of this after all…but the question is, how?'
"Kouta…tell me something," his cousin murmured. Her expression suddenly went unreadable as her eyes clouded over, making it impossible to know what she was thinking. The sound of her voice though was enough to nudge him from his thoughts and all too glad for a subject change, he intently listened, hoping to lead her further away from the current dead end topic of her attempted suffocation. "What is it?"
Her gaze flew up and connected with his, open and earnest. "Do you…do you like Nyuu?"
'Whaaaa…?'
"Of course I like her! What's with you? I think you must have a fever or something." He began lifting his arm up, but when it came within range of her face, she abruptly smacked the concerned gesture away, knowing that he thought she was being uncharacteristically insane for the way she was talking. Just more painful-to-admit proof that since Nyuu had come back, it was as if she had never existed…
"Why…why her?" She pleaded, the anger steadily rising in her voice. Nyuu had only just recently tuned into the squabble, alerted only by the sound of her name, she sauntered her way over to where they were fighting, only to have a finger thrown carelessly in front of her face and the childlike smile that had once adorned her lips instantly vanished. "It's always about Nyuu! You don't care about me at all anymore! Even when I was nearly killed you still managed to find your way back to her…" Yuka's voice trailed off as sobs began rising in her throat, preventing her from speaking. She didn't know what to do…it didn't seem to matter what she did, nothing would get her cousin's attention…at least, not that kind of attention anyway…the kind of pure adoration he seemed to be able to give so easily to Nyuu…
"I finally know now…I know that it doesn't matter what I say, you'll never look at me the same way you look at her…"
"Yuka, wait! You don't know what you're saying-" Kouta ran after her and reached out to stop her progress toward the door by grabbing her shoulder. She turned around to face him, abruptly reaching up and punching him square in the face, almost breaking his nose. He didn't fall over, as he was half expecting that kind of typical 'Yuka answer', but nonetheless it still hurt.
"Of course I know! When she wasn't here, all you'd do was mope about the house, staring at that music box which I gave back to you! Why was I so stupid…?" She trailed off, running from the room trying desperately to cover up her sodden face while Kouta still stayed huddle on the floor, his palm clutching loosely at the bridge of his nose, assessing it for damage. It wasn't broken luckily, and apart from the usual swelling, redness and slight bleeding that he always had when dealing with a Yuka inflicted injury, he would be okay.
It took him awhile to realize, as he only saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye, but Nyuu was crouched at his side, a mixed expression of concern and fright plastered across her somewhat pale skin. Her eyes were shining in the dim light, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. She had obviously understood at least some of the events that had just transpired and as a result, her innocence and naivety had taken quite a blow. She could no longer remain ignorant to the situation taking place. Along with her learning of new words, she had also learned to interpret tones and gestures giving her a rather terrifying glance into the true nature of people's emotions.
The crimson haired mutant didn't understand everything that Yuka had said, but then again, she didn't need to. She had been pointing at her whilst screaming at Kouta…and the brunette would only point to and yell at things that she had done wrong. And so, because Yuka was pointing at Nyuu rather then, for example, a mess she had made, the adolescent diclonius came to the only conclusion that a girl with still very limited knowledge about human nature could ever come to…
She was bad…it was her fault that Kouta had been punched…
Her eyes widened in horror.
"Nyuu sorry! Kouta…Nyuu sorry!" She grasped onto his shirt, sobbing into his chest. Kouta had seen her upset before, but never this bad. She was heaving and hiccupping now, struggling to even breathe properly she was crying so hard.
"Nyuu…w-will…stay away…from…Kouta…I…bad person!" Her grip on him tightened as the patch of salty liquid grew on the bottom of his top. Quickly he placed a condoling arm around her quivering frame, attempting to calm her.
"It's alright Nyuu; it wasn't your fault-"
"Yes! All Nyuu's fault!" She spluttered out in more broken English, ignoring his attempts at encouragement and soothing. "Kouta hurt because of what Nyuu did!" He tried to speak again, but his words were lost as Nyuu's waling increased its volume dramatically. Now that she had convinced herself enough that she was the cause to the whole mess, she carelessly shrugged off Kouta loose one-armed embrace (the other hand was still pinching his nose lightly to stop the flow of blood) and also left the room, but instead of running upstairs, she threw open the front door loudly, almost forcing it out of the wooden groove that had kept it in place and ran outside into the now pouring rain, still weeping hysterically. By the time Kouta had recovered properly, she was long gone, wondering aimlessly through the dark and the inexplicably thick sheets of rain.
"Nyuu!" He called pointlessly through the white noise of droplets.
There was no point in bothering. Even if she was close by, she wouldn't be able to hear him. Instinctively, he grabbed a bamboo handled umbrella and a flashlight, before sprinting out into the darkness after her.
He was terrified. A girl like Nyuu out in a storm like this during the night…? He didn't want to think about it…but what if he couldn't find her?
Kouta shivered, and it wasn't the cold that had caused it.
He had to find her; it was as simple as that.
"Nyuu! Nyuu where are yo-" He was interrupted as a huge gust of wind caught under the flimsy waterproof film covering the frame of the umbrella, snatching it from his slippery grasp and sending it flying off into the black sky above his head. Almost instantaneously, the rain began attacking from every side, the icy water like thousands of tiny daggers piercing his saturated skin, the thin fabric of his drenched shirt offering him no protection from the onslaught of the storm. Still he persisted, forcing himself to plough through the mixed barrier of wind and water. The tendrils of his raven hair slapping him constantly in the face, along with the continued assault of the rain making it painfully difficult to see where he was going, his flashlight nothing but a mere flicker.
There was something about Nyuu that always seemed to send him to pieces, but this time, she seemed to be taking his whole 'family' with her. Protecting her always meant hurting others and he seemed to be doing a good job of that as well. She never deserved what had happened to her in the past…it wasn't her fault. Maybe that was why he was protecting her so willingly? Even as his family was torn to shreds, he ran out after her recklessly into a typhoon-grade storm, scared shitless about what he may find if he had waited until morning.
He could see it…her pale, icy body curled up in what was now only sloshed mud and debris, her expression one of pure misery and anguish, staring off into the distance…lifeless. Her chest would no longer creak with the sound of her breathing, her lips blue and wrinkled from the cold. Her clothes nothing more then loveless rags, stained with a mixture of salty tears and brownish sludge…
'No…'
He would find her…alive. He loved her…
So she would be found…
But things worse then the storm where already steadily becoming visible on the horizon…
"She isn't going to be easy to find you know," the young man complained, frustrated at having to sit down for so long. "She hasn't caused any trouble, so why bother?"
The man sitting beside him made no attempt to answer; opting to simply ignore the annoying, prying tone he was using and instead, continued to read his newspaper, taking a discrete swig from his whiskey bottle as he did so. He glanced up briefly outside the window, the first signs of a shoreline coming into view. It had only been a two hour helicopter ride from the facility. He didn't understand why his partner was being so restless, not to mention uncooperative. He shifted his gaze over to him; he was hunched over in a slouched position, with his arms crossed defiantly across his chest. His entire posture screamed annoyed and impatient.
"We're nearly there. All will be answered…soon." He mumbled, half smiling to himself.
The hunt for the unwanted was indeed beginning…