Always There: Chapter 8

Complications

A/N: Okay just a quick little message. Some of you seem to think that this is a Kouta/Yuka fic. Please be assured that it is not. It is Kouta/LucyNyuu. Whilst I don't like Yuka (and never will) I would never kill or do anything bad to her. Not because I don't want to (because seriously I do) but because it's just not in the nature of the story for something to happen to her. Lucy and Kouta though…you never know…-grins evilly-

Anyway, I just want to dedicate this chapter to Warwolf because it's his birthday today! YAY! Happy birthday!

I hope you like your present:P

"Okay…you head upstairs and run yourself a bath, alright?" Kouta urged as he stepped into the house. "Make sure it's hot and come downstairs when you're done, we need to talk." He met her clouded gaze for a moment before ushering her off. It was indeed incredibly hard to know what she was thinking at that point. Her muddied cherry locks were plastered to her pale skin, covering most of her facial expression.

He watched her head up and didn't move until he heard her turn on the faucets, deeming only then that she was physically stable enough and wouldn't need any help. It was then that he was met with another surprise; his cousin curled up by the large window at the front of the house, obviously awaiting their return. He smiled inwardly to himself as he watched her, but his positive grin instantly vanished when he noticed a small white envelope on the dark mahogany coffee table next to where she was sleeping. He took a bold step towards it and was even more shocked at what was written on the front.

Kouta.

His line of vision traveled once again over toward the brunette seemingly draped in the chair, and upon closer inspection, he managed to catch a glimpse of the writing materials strewn around her feet.

"What's this for…?" He thought aloud in trepidation as his fingers traced the seal on the back. He knew it couldn't be good…he was sure that it had something to do with the fight they had earlier tonight. He didn't know exactly why he was so nervous, but it could be that Yuka only ever wrote notes to him when she refused to speak with him directly. And the only time this happened was when she was extremely angry.

With a deep breath to calm himself, he steadily opened the letter…all written in Yuka's tidy scrawl.

But upon starting to read it, he suddenly wished he hadn't opened it…

Dear Kouta,

I'm sorry that I wasn't able to be what you wanted. I'm happy though for you and Nyuu…you both seem very happy. I know now that I never held your affections and although it has taken me nearly three months to realize this, I know now that it's true…you've always liked her and not me. I think the defining point was just before Nyuu disappeared; after I had returned form gathering soumen noodles, I saw you two…together…and heard what you said. I still denied it and waited for you to prove me wrong…but you didn't…you never did.

And although I missed Nyuu when she left, I had hope for the two of us. As selfish and horrible it was of me to even think it…I thought that now, you'd pay attention to me. But again you didn't. You wept and mourned her loss for days on end…even in death she still held on tightly to your heart. I used to get so mad watching you sit there, staring at that seashell and listening to that music box. I even started to wonder…would you cry for me if I passed away? Am I important to you? Did you ever love me? I know what the answers to all of these questions are in my heart…

Yes. Just…not the way I want it to be.

I mean after all, who would love me? I nag and get angry at you when I don't think that you're paying attention to me. I'm picky and over-protective about the stupidest of things, I cry all the time, I get jealous. Despite what Maiyu may think I would never make a good mother.

I can't bear to watch you anymore…I'm leaving. I'll start packing first thing tomorrow morning. I love Nana and Maiyu and will miss them dearly, but honest to God Kouta, this is all getting past unbearable. Watching you two flirt with each other…I can't take it anymore…I'll come by and visit the girls as often as I can and don't worry; I can make it on my own. I treasure the time we spent together as kids and I hope that it will always remain untainted by my feelings.

I love you, Kouta. Very much. And I always will.

Goodbye.

Your cousin,

Yuka.

He was furious. He couldn't believe that just because things weren't going her way, she was abandoning their entire family. Maiyu, Nana and Nyuu needed her. The delicate paper resting in his palms was instantly crushed in-between his fingers. He knew she was stubborn, but he had never thought that she would resort to this. Just when things around were beginning to calm down, this happens.

'Wonderful.'

However, there was no doubting that the words in the letter were true. Of course he cared for his cousin. But he could never, just like she had said, love her in the full sense of the word. He had only ever seen them as friends, even when they were young he had never once thought that someday Yuka would be his wife or anything. And his relationship with Nyuu?

Well that was…complicated.

That was the only way he could describe it. It was strange. He felt easier around her other counterpart, the one who had indeed murdered his family. Maybe it was because she knew full well what was going on and what had happened between them. She was…more mature. When it came to Nyuu though, there was no doubting that he loved her, but the kind of love was what was so hard to define. He felt like it was a tad inappropriate to love her any other way then perhaps what you would call 'brotherly concern' seeing as she seemed to have the mentality of a four year old toddler. She was so naïve…she knew nothing of the world and seeing as such, he constantly reminded himself not to get too taken up in her actions…she didn't know what she was doing or what it meant…

Yes. His relationship with the two girls known as Nyuu to both Yuka and Maiyu was indeed interesting…

But he would do anything for them, he was always worrying, always panicking, always talking, always feeling this compulsive need to be close by…

He was always there.

So…did that mean he loved them? It was all just so confusing…

A groan from over near the window followed by a yawn disturbed his thoughts, but also confirmed to him…she was awake.

"Yuka…"

"Hmmm? What? K-Kouta! Y-you scared me!" She announced, promptly falling off the chair and onto the hard wooden floor with a rather large 'thud.'

Without a second thought, he rushed to her side and mechanically apologized as he helped her to her feet again. She accepted it, which was not what he had expected, but it didn't take her long to come to her wits. Abruptly she slapped his hand away and took a good step backwards, maintaining the distance between them. She wanted to finish this exchange with as little damage done to her heart as possible. And that meant not getting 'emotionally' involved. But Kouta had predicted her reaction and managed to get a firm grasp on both her upper arms as he stared her down, unrelenting in his mission to convince her otherwise.

His cousin returned his intense stare equally, unfazed by his attempted intimidation. "I see you got my letter."

"Why are you doing this?" He whispered, struggling to keep his voice under control, "I don't understand."

"What isn't there to understand!" She suddenly screamed, shrugging of Kouta's hold. "It's all your fault!"

"How is this my fault? What? Just because things aren't going your way you all of a sudden decide that this family, our family. Is worthless to you?" He matched her loud tone, not paying attention to the fact that both Nana and Maiyu were sleeping just upstairs.

"How could you even say such a thing? I love everyone in this family. But I'm tired of you making me take a back seat to everything! Honestly Kouta sometimes I feel like I don't exist." She began to cry then, stumbling away from him once again in a pathetic attempt at regaining her composure.

"I was always there Kouta, and you never seemed to see what I wanted…what I needed from you."

The raven haired university student went to aggressively respond to her accusation, but then shut his mouth quickly again. This was not getting them anywhere. This was not like Yuka, there had to be another, more elusive and hidden reason as to why she was doing this, why she was acting so strange…there was no point in arguing. He had to tell her exactly how he felt, without and lies to cushion the impact. It had to be the blunt and simple truth…

"I do love you Yuka," Kouta said quietly, giving an abrupt halt to his cousin's sobs as she listened intently, trying to find out if her ears were playing tricks on her.

"Just…not in that way." He met her teary gaze and smiled weakly at her. Surprisingly, she didn't move or resume her crying…she made no move to slap or punch him. Her thin figure was bathed in the moonlight pouring in from the bay window and Kouta was reminded of just how attractive his cousin was. But…she wasn't her and never would be. She deserved to at least know this.

"You're right…I love her, and always have. But you're special to me too, Yuka. To be completely honest, I've always seen you as somewhat of a motherly/sisterly figure…even when we were kids." He swallowed hard as he prepared to inflict the final and probably the most painful for her.

"It can never be more Yuka, I'm sorry."

Although she wasn't crying, Kouta saw it all reflect through her eyes. No doubt she was crushed…it was all there, and he winced at the site. Still she smiled, wiping away her tears. "Thank-you for being so straight with me," she whispered; the sound of the crickets outside once again reminding her that it was still dark and that Nana and Maiyu were still in bed.

"It hurts but at least now I understand. I wasn't really going to leave Kouta, I never could. I just wanted you to acknowledge me for once." He nodded slowly in understanding before sneaking over and pecking him on the cheek. "Goodnight." She whispered in his ears, her voice somewhat broken. He cringed at the sound, yet said nothing. Yuka merely turned and went up the stairs to her room. She slowly opened the door, stepped inside and closed it again. Her hands still hurt from her last encounter with the newly proclaimed couple.

'It still hurts…it always hurts.'

Whilst she had done her best to sound genuine to Kouta, she was absolutely seething underneath with jealousy. But she had hidden it well, and as long as she was in the house, she would continue to hide it. Maybe from now on, she would just have to avoid Nyuu…

They came then, the hot, salty tears that stung her suddenly dry eyes. She cried…hard. His words had hurt, but she would have to hide her pain under a mask of feigned ignorance and happiness.

Livid with the idea, she jumped to her feet, her cheeks bright red with long suppressed anger and resentment. She eyed the numerous, nostalgic photographs on her dresser in extreme displeasure before briskly relieving the darkened surface of their burden, sending the innocent images to shatter the instant they came into contact with the wooden floor. Shards of broken memories lay scattered about her feet, seemingly crying as some had been torn by the glass. She fell to her knees in agony, clutching her broken dreams to her chest furiously within her shacking hands as the icy, sharp remnants of material easily pierced her skin. Blood trickled down her forearm as she tightened her hold on the crimson blotched illustrations.

She felt neither pain nor remorse for what she had done.

So she cried all night…and Kouta heard everything…

"Shit!" The sturdy male cursed at his cigarette lighter, shaking it violently in an attempt to make it work despite the light rain. "Stupid cheap piece of crap!" He soon saw that it was fruitless to keep trying and so threw it down carelessly into the sand. He sighed bitterly and followed suit, slumping down into the damp, grainy substance as he faced the sky, seemingly enjoying the cool prickling sensation of the droplets on his skin.

"Are you Bando?" The sound of another voice on the secluded beach made him jump, shattering his little interlude. He spastically threw himself away, constantly on alert for 'that bitch' who had forced him to rely on prosthetic limbs. He calmed when he only saw two men, standing firmly with authority. If they got on his nerves, he could dispatch them easily enough; he always kept a gun in the breast pocket of his jacket.

"What? Why should I tell you who I am?" He demanded furiously. Not two seconds into the conversation and already he was contemplating on how he was going to 'deal' with these annoying pests. The older one of the two men stepped forward to answer once he noticed that his partner seemed to be too scared to even breathe…it was Bando alright.

"The facility you had an association with is once again in requirement of your aid," he began unsteadily. He noticed the assassin's puzzled expression and tried to explain it in simpler terms. "The facility that deals with the mutants known as the Diclonius," he corrected and Bando instantly understood…but was less then enthusiastic with the whole idea.

"Why should I help those bastards!" He screamed in protest. "They don't give a damn about me not to mention they paid me fuck all for my services in the past."

"That's the thing," the older man countered, becoming more and more uneasy around the merciless killer by the second. "The facility's leader is more then prepared to pay you whatever sum you wish. Also, they will reinstate you with your weapons license, thereby entitling you to the latest artillery needed to deal with these…things."

He considered this only for a moment before continuing, a small malicious smirk began to play at the corners of his mouth. "So who's my target then?"

The man smiled inwardly to himself, proud in his victory at baiting with the one track minded fool. He sorted through his coat pockets searching for the photo that he had been supplied with by the director. Soon his groping hand found the thin picture and upon withdrawing it in front of Bando, he instantly began to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

He continued with his self contained humor for awhile longer before revealing why. "I know this bitch all too well." Being legitimately excited by the idea of dealing away with the girl he had been seeking revenge on for what seemed like forever AND getting paid for it seemed all too good to be true.

Ignoring the ignorant murderer's behavior, he continued with the dealings. "You'll do it then?"

Bando gave the old policeman one of his 'are-you-fucking-crazy!-of-course-I'll-take-it' looks before once again beginning to laugh. "So when do I start?"

This time, the younger partner stepped out of his older counterpart's shadow of protection and gestured toward the helicopter, "if we could, we're…we're supposed to take you back to the boss right now and get you ready for combat." Again Bando grinned whilst shoving another cigarette hastily in-between his lips.

"Well, I'm not one to hold up an operation," he said arrogantly before strutting off toward the large flying machine…already the blades were spinning. The two officers were quite surprised with how co-operative he was, especially considering the warning director Kakazawa had given them, but complied nonetheless as they followed him to the chopper. Just before they boarded, the younger one's eyes widened in realization that they had forgotten a crucial obligation that Bando had to follow. He whispered to his partner quickly and with a nod of approval, he ran ahead in front of the mercenary to tell him the news.

"Mr.…Mr. Bando sir?"

"What the hell do you want, huh?" He interjected harshly.

"Ummm…we forgot to mention one thing…you…you can't kill Lucy. The director wants her alive, sir-"

"WHAT! I ain't for a second letting that fucking bitch slip through my finger again, the first time she was lucky, but-"

"We have to go," the deep interruptive voice of the older partner rang through the air clearly despite the noise of the swooshing blades. But Bando wasn't one to take orders from people. "Don't you tell me what to do you bastard!" He yelled before razing his forearm ready punch the elderly man in the face. To both the surprise of Bando and the adolescent investigator, the senior man simply raised a strong arm to block the attack. "You can take it up with director Kakazawa when we arrive," he said callously. "In the meantime though, if you want to keep this job at all I suggest that you get on that helicopter now."

The hired killer merely 'humphed' as he boarded…

He would definitely kill that horned bitch whether or not he was 'supposed' to. Besides, when did he ever follow the rules?

'This stupid director will see things my way…I'll make sure of that.'

The helicopter landed sometime later, and as the director watched the passengers leave the aircraft, he couldn't help but laugh…everything was going exactly to his plan, with virtually no effort on his part.

Excellent…everything was going according to plan…

Now he just had to sit back and wait…

…Lucy would come to him.

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Kouta had been staring at the ceiling for a good ten minutes now, contemplating if he should check on his cousin or not…just going up there could prove to be suicidal…

"Kouta…"

He was interrupted from his inner struggle by a voice emitting from the stair case.

It was Lucy.

"Oh hey! Are you feeling warmer now?" He asked, feeling a little embarrassed. 'How stupid must I have looked just then?'

He approached her on the stairs; a rather curious expression adorned her features. He guessed that she must have heard at least some of what had transpired a little while ago. Rather then telling her, he opted for complete avoidance.

"So, ummm…can I get you anything?" A blush rose on her cheeks as she inched forward, splashing part of her beautiful figure in the moonlight. It was then that Kouta instantly blushed too when he realized what she was wearing…

Or in fact, how little she was wearing…

Her upper body donned one of his baggy red checkered shirts with long, buttoned sleeves. He mentally cringed every time he laid eyes on it whilst searching through for something to wear himself. Why had he even bought it in the first place? It looked horrible on him…and yet, she seemed to make it look so…downright sexy as it left the entire length of her toned legs exposed. He swallowed hard, determined to keep himself under control. Lucy noticed his discomfort and inquired.

"Does my…clothing bother you Kouta?" She whispered quietly. It was hard to tell if she even cared, considering she always used the same tone of voice. He simply smiled, trying to hide his uneasiness. "No, not at all…in fact, that shirt looks really good on you…"

Again, Lucy felt the rush of blood in her cheeks. Turning away and desperate for a distraction, she quickly changed the topic. "So why did you need to talk?"

"Uhhhh…"

'I just needed to see you…I don't understand it, if you're not around I just don't feel…'

"Well…I…just wanted to make sure you were…still feeling okay after tonight that's all." He lied.

'…That everything is alright…'

"I'm okay." She said simply, still not having the courage to fully face him.

He didn't say anything, just nodded at her reply. Her back still remained facing him, and at that moment he wanted nothing more then to turn her around and kiss her, but he wasn't sure if that was appropriate or not. He didn't even readily understand what he felt whenever she was around. Her entire presence was so horrifyingly mysterious and addictive…he just couldn't explain it.

Slowly he approached her, taking careful steps so as to not trip in the dark. He stepped into the moonlight along with her and placed his arms around her shoulders in a loose embrace. Speaking was difficult at this point, his extreme nervousness tightening the muscles his throat. "I really…care about you…you know?" He whispered in her ear, his voice hoarse.

She allowed herself a small, secret smile before she answered. "I know."

Slowly yet regretfully, she broke out of his loving hold and began towards the stairs. She stopped momentarily before heading up. "Goodnight Kouta." And with that she made her way to the second floor and into her room.

…And she cried.

She shouldn't be alive and she was endangering Kouta's life more and more with every second she continued to breathe. But what was she supposed to do…? She now knew that she didn't want to die…of course she didn't. But the hard truth was that she had to. That wasn't the only problem though; Kouta wouldn't let her die…she knew…he'd fight for her.

That was when she felt it…

Someone was coming…for her, and she recognized it like the familiar, painful and irritable stench that it was…

The research facility wasn't through with her.

Not yet…

A/N: So there was the new chapter, hope everyone liked it and so please review!

Also, just a quick note, I was flamed by a very unpleasant character called 'Orange-Light,' I would just like him/her to know, I don't care what you think and thanks for the extra review (even if it was a flame) because it brought me up to 70 reviews! So thanks and go screw yourself for all I care!

Warui-Usagi