Chapter 4: Death Toll

OVA I: Alucard and Kouta both killed the vampire priest and teens, and Alucard fought Anderson while Kouta was in a different part of the hospital.

OVA II: Happened the same way because Kouta was away on a mission.

OVA III: Kouta, Pip and Seras went to Brazil and Kouta fought Alhambra.

OVA IV: Alucard and Kouta both fought Rip Van Winkle and were stuck on the eagle.

OVA VIII: Alucard was the only one to go to level zero and fight Anderson.

OVA IX: Alucard and Kouta both fought Walter.

OVA X: Seras fought The captain. Integra, Kouta and Seras confronted the major. Integra never lost her eye because of this.

Hope that helps.

Kouta and Nana turned to Seras and Integra. Integra's face remained expressionless. She was wondering how Kouta was going to train her and take care of Nana at this Inn rather than the Hellsing manor. She was still confident in Kouta's abilities since he was like a second Alucard. She only let Kouta attend college here due to the increase in vampire activity in the city. Seras however had a more optimistic outlook instead. She thought since Kouta had the same powers as Alucard then Nana would be just fine.

"Will you be alright training her at this inn rather than at the manor?" Integra asked

Kouta said nothing, rather he turned his head towards her and gave a reassuring smirk.

"Very well."

"No need to worry, Miss Hellsing. I'll be here to help her out too." Yuka said.

"Thank you, ma'am." Integra turned to Kouta again. "Be on the lookout for vampiric activity in the town."

Nana turned to the uniform set out for her and attempted to use her vectors to retrieve them. She however could not summon them. She couldn't even feel them. This frightened her a bit because she felt restricted without them. She had no idea how to use a gun, let alone a one-handed M1 Garand. She simply walked over and grabbed them.

"I'm going to go change now." Nana said. She took the gear and headed the the maple inn's bathroom. She slid the door open and observed the room around her. The tub caught her eye and she was eager to try it out for herself. Back at the facility they would always just hose her down. The mirror however had shown her what she looked like now. Her eyes were the same pink color as before so she was relieved. The thing that was different about her was that she had sharp fangs now, reminding her she's a vampire now.

She lowered her head slightly. She had seen so little of the sun. The facility had always kept her underground. The sun was beautiful to her. Now she would never see it again, lest she meet a fiery demise.

"He did it to save me." Nana thought.

Nana donned the black uniform that Sir Integra had given to her. She left the duster off seeing how she was inside a warm home. Instead of a skirt, there was a pair of black jeans and combat boots. Sera's uniform was yellow and had a skirt with stockings.

Nana's eyes wandered over to the one-handed M1 Garand that lay on the counter of the bathroom. She had seen all of the guards carry around firearms and they would always point them at her whenever they fed her, but she never thought she would be on the operating end of one.

She picked it up and held it in her hand. She thought it would weigh more than that because she saw how guards had always used two hands for the MP5's they carried. She must've gotten stronger after becoming a vampire. She had no idea how to use a gun, but she was glad that Kouta was going to teach her. She saw he had two guns and a sword as well. She didn't have any melee weapons herself but she didn't give it any thought. It had only bothered her because she couldn't use her vectors. This was certainly going to be an interesting life.

Back in the living room, Kouta sat on the couch, cleaning his guns. The table had been pulled up closer to him so he could lean over the table. Seras and Integra had already left the inn. He had disassembled the Cassul and was using the brush to clean the inside of the barrel. The Jackal lay next to it, but it had not yet been taken apart. Next to Kouta was a fresh crate of Ammunition for the two pistols and one for the M1 Garand.

Lucy had switched places with Nyu so now Lucy was the one in control of her body. She couldn't detect Nana's presence so she figured Nana couldn't detect her either. She was looking around the corner at Kouta. Watching him as he worked on the guns. Noting every feature he had. She thought he had a handsome face when he wasn't laughing or smiling sadistically. His eyes were even more intimidating than her own. She remembered how Nyu had taken his hair and covered her face with it because it was so long and she was a curious girl. She saw his small smirk and wondered if he even knew who she was. Did he even remember their past together? She eyed his arms which had a mildly muscular build. She actually found herself attracted to him. She looked at her own body. Would Kouta find her attractive?

"It's not nice to spy on people, Nyu."

He had known she was there the whole time. His gaze hadn't even left the disassembled gun.

Wow, he was good.

Lucy simply stood up and walked over to the couch and sat next to him. She noted how his gaze hadn't shifted once while she was moving next to him. The cold wind of the night air had breezed into the room, sweeping across Lucy's body, causing her to tremble. Kouta actually looked at her this time. He set the gun down, stood up, got his duster and put it over Lucy's shoulders. Lucy looked at him with surprised eyes. She hated to admit it but she was shocked by his act of kindness.

Suddenly, the phone on the counter next to them started ringing. Kouta went to answer it and see who it was.

"Hello?... Okay... Fine, I'm on my way." Kouta hung up the phone.

"Who was that Kouta?" Yuka called from the kitchen as she was preparing dinner.

"It was that girl, Mayu. She apparently was injured and needs someone to go check her out from the hospital."

"That's terrible!" Yuka exclaimed. "But why us?"

"I'll ask her when I get there." Kouta said.

Kouta knocked on the door of the bathroom where Nana was. She had been cleaning herself from her earlier battle.

"Hey, kid. We're going out. Get dressed and let's go." Kouta said.

"Y-yes, master." Nana replied.

"Master… I'll have to get accustomed to that." Kouta thought.

"Master?" Yuka asked with a raised brow. Her expression seemed to say 'really?'. Her arms were folded as well. "Sounds perverted."

"Very funny." Kouta said.

Nana had put her black duster and black gloves on and holstered the One handed M1 in it as well. She stepped out from the bathroom and met with Kouta.

Kouta noticed Lucy who was watching them as they were preparing to leave. She walked over to them and handed Kouta his duster. She had a small eager look on her face but it wasn't too obvious.

*sigh* "Do you wanna come with us, Nyu?" Kouta asked.

Lucy hasn't even thought of it but since Kouta asked her, she wasn't about to pass up a chance to spend time with him. She nodded her head slightly.

"Ok then." Kouta said.

She glanced over at Nana who had just grabbed her boots. She didn't mean to hurt Nana and force her to become whatever Kouta was. (What was he? He nor anyone else had specified what he was. She was one hundred percent sure that he was a human when they were children.) It was only due to that damned DNA voice in her head. She wouldn't have even thought of hurting her if she didn't have the DNA voice in her head. Same goes for Kouta's father and sister, she never would've killed them either. She wish she never had that wretched voice. The scientist at that horrid facility had called it Lucy and in turn began to call her Lucy. She was originally was named Kaede, but she decided to go with Lucy.

Kouta gave Lucy a zip-up hoodie that he would wear during college. It was still much too big for her but it was warm.

"Yuka, we're going out now and Nyu is coming with us!" Kouta said to Yuka who was still in the Kitchen.

"Hold on, I'm coming with you."Yuka said from the kitchen as she stepped out and walked towards the living room. "You aren't ditching me this time."

"Still mad?" Kouta said with a smirk.

"I'm not mad, I just didn't expect you to run off and bring home another vampire."

"A vampire?" Lucy thought. "So that's what he is."

Kouta, Yuka, Nana, and Lucy (who everyone thought was still Nyu) left the inn.

"You don't want her to stay?" Kouta whispered with a raised brow.

"No, no. It's not that." Yuka responded quickly. "I like her, I really do, I just don't know how to take care of a vampire who isn't 'all powerful' like you.

"You won't need to, that's my job." Kouta said. "Besides, she will only be able to come out at night."

They began walking down the sidewalk and towards the direction of the hospital. The moon was a full moon so it wasn't too dark outside, plus all of the street lights were on. They were walking in silence for a few minutes until Yuka spoke up.

"So this Alucard guy… What's he like?"

"Like I said, he's Dracula." Kouta said.

"It's kind of neat that you are friends with a famous horror figure and you have the same powers as him." Yuka said.

"And I have his voice, too." Kouta said.

"That'll get confusing at times." Said Yuka. "So is he still in London with those ladies that were here earlier?"

"No." Kouta stated plainly.

"Huh?"

"It's complicated." Kouta said. "You know how London was under attack two years ago, obviously."

"I was so scared that you were hurt, I just wished I had known you were a vampire at the time." Yuka said. "Oh god, I need to stop being so obvious about my feelings for him."

"Well, it was actually an organization known as Millennium. They are the last of Hitler's third reich."

"Nazis!?"

"Nazi vampires." Kouta said. "They had tangled with Alucard and the rest of Hellsing during World War II. They had attempted to create an army out of a bunch of pathetic excuses for vampires. Alucard had killed almost all of them, but a few important people survived and they spent decades rebuilding the operation."

"So what happened to Alucard? Did he die?" Yuka asked.

"One of Millennium's creations was called Schrödinger. He existed as the 'Cheshire Cat', existing existing everywhere and nowhere. He was omnipresent and completely unkillable." Kouta said.

"That's intense." Yuka said

"When Alucard had released all of his souls from the blood he drank during his level zero activation, that left him open to attack." Kouta said. "When we were down to our last enemy, he began to flow all of the blood spilled during the attack on London. He was absorbing millions of souls. Schrödinger cut his own head off and sent his body into the river of blood. His own blood infected every single soul that Alucard was absorbing."

"I can see where this is going." Nana said.

"When the infected blood had been absorbed, Alucard began to fade into nothingness. Essentially, Alucard no longer exists."

"Kouta's life has been filled with so much bloodshed." Lucy thought.

"That must have been a tragic loss." Yuka said. "Losing your closest friend and godfather."

"He'll be back. All he needs to do is kill all of the infected souls." Kouta said. "And when he does get back, he'll have Schrödinger's powers.

"That's good to hear." Yuka said.

"Millennium didn't count on one thing though." Kouta said.

"What's that?"

"Me."

"What do you mean?" Yuka asked.

"They assumed I would be infected with Schrödinger's blood too, but I wasn't absorbing any of the contaminated souls." Kouta explained.

"They just couldn't keep you down." Yuka said with a smile.

"Heh, that's for sure."

The group had arrived at the Kamakura hospital. Yuka had stepped towards the desk and said that Mayu was a relative from out of town. Mayu had a minor head injury but she would be fine. Mayu had been sitting on the hospital bench with her puppy, Wanta, in her lap. She looked up at the group and immediately noticed Nana and Lucy.

"Wait, weren't they at the cemetery?" Mayu thought. She just assumed when she fell, she had remembered something that didn't happen.

"Are you okay, Mayu?" Yuka asked.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." Mayu stuttered.

"Come on. It's getting late." Yuka said in a manner that would make it seem as if Mayu were her own daughter.

The six of them left the hospital and started making their way back home.

"I'm sorry. I promise to pay you guys the money from the hospital bill.

"Forget about the money. You don't owe us anything." Yuka asked. "But of all people, why did you call us? Don't you have any family?"

"It's just that-well…" Mayu was fumbling for an excuse until her stomach began to rumble.

"I'm sorry! You didn't hear that!" Mayu shouted defensively.

Yuka just looked at her and smiled warmly.

"We have dinner at home. Why don't you join us?"

"Uh… sure." Mayu said. She felt like she was imposing on them.

Yuka had noticed that it was getting really late so she suggested taking a shortcut through the park. It was a shorter route than it was taking the sidewalk. They all agreed to it since most of them were really tired and hungry, except for Nana and Kouta. They were walking down a dark trail that would lead past the church. The trail was illuminated by lanterns and the moonlight. The conversation was pretty casual between them. Just Yuka and Nana trying to get to know Mayu while Lucy posing as Nyu just remained silent. Kouta was just silent as well, but only because he had nothing to say that Yuka hadn't already asked. Wanta just remained by Mayu's side as they walked. They didn't ask about her family or friends since they had a good idea what the deal was with her.

The conversation was halted immediately when they heard a rustling in the grass behind the trees. Kouta and Nana both heard a low moaning sound.

"Master, what was that?" Nana asked.

"Master?" Mayu thought

"I think it was just a deer." Yuka said.

"No." Kouta said. "It was a ghoul."

"A ghoul?" Mayu, Nana, and Yuka said in unison.

Suddenly, a rotting, shambling corpse appeared from behind a tree. It appeared to have been the ghoulified corpse of a middle aged man. The ghoul slowly turned towards the group.

"That's a ghoul." He said flatly.

"What the hell?" Yuka said. She stared down the undead corpse as if she couldn't believe it.

"C'mon, it's probably just some guy trying to scare us." Mayu said, thinking this was absolutely ridiculous.

Kouta didn't respond. He simply pulled out his Cassul from his coat and fired one round at the ghoul in the chest, causing Yuka and Mayu to jump.

"WHAT THE?" Mayu shouted.

"Watch." Kouta said.

The ghoul immediately turned to dust, covering the grass beneath him.

"A ghoul is what happens if a vampire drinks too much blood from a non-virgin. He didn't choose to become one. The best way is to put it down quickly to minimize pain."

"So that means there's another vampire around here?" Nana asked.

"Vampires, ghouls? What are you guys talking about?!" Mayu shouted.

"Kouta is a vampire." Yuka said. "So is Nana."

"I work for a corporation known as Hellsing." Kouta began explaining. "We hunt any supernatural threat to humanity."

"You're a vampire that kills other vampires?" Mayu asked in a confused manner.

"I still don't get it either." Nana said. "I just became a vampire today."

"Not only that, but apparently Kouta is the perfect vampire." Yuka said.

Mayu wouldn't have believe this hadn't that ghoul turned to dust.

Suddenly, more ghouls began to appear out from various parts of the park they were in. They were surrounded. Mayu, Nana and Yuka began to tremble.

"So what do we do?" Mayu asked fearfully.

"This vampire is probably using these ghouls to trap meals from wandering civilians." Kouta said. *sigh* "I should have Nana take you guys home, but when Seras was a fledgeling like her she was easily overwhelmed by a large number of ghouls."

"And it's late at night so he might just kill an innocent person." Yuka said. "I guess we have no choice but to kill it."

"Just stick close to me and stay low." Kouta said. "He's probably hiding out in that church over by the field."

Mayu and Yuka were terrified but they knew Kouta was right. Nana wasn't as scared, and Kouta just wanted a challenge from the vampire.

Nana drew the M1 Garand from her coat. She gripped it firmly.

"Just point and shoot, when the gun is empty, just slip a new clip in and push the slide closed."

"Okay, master." said Nana

The group began to make their way towards the church nearby, taking out any ghouls in the process. Kouta had managed to drop three in one shot, while nana had started getting used to the feeling of the M1 Garand. She was killing quite a few as well. A line of them were guarding the entrance to the church. There were five of them. Kouta wasted no time in dispatching them by using the reaper sword to decapitate them. Lucy was almost tempted to assist by using her vectors to secretly kill a few, but she knew Kouta would figure out who she was. The group approached the entrance of the church.

"What if he's expecting us?" Yuka asked.

"Don't worry, if he's using ghouls then he can't be very powerful." Kouta said. "I'm just making assumptions based on past experiences."

"If you say so."

The door was locked so Kouta had to kick it in. The interior shown it to have been abandoned recently. It had been emptied of all the pews for unknown reasons. It was dark and the walls seemed to be made of stone, very similar to the one back in cheddar.

"Where is he?" Yuka asked.

Suddenly, the sound of running reached their ears. It was fast and repetitive. The very sound echoed off of the walls.

Out from the shadows came a vampire who was dumb enough to attack them head-on. He was average sized, had no shirt on, and a cheesy blue Mohawk. He was wielding a customized chain with spikes on the ends of it. Yuka and Mayu practically broke the glass from their screams of terror.

"Pathetic." Kouta said.

When the vampire was near the group he tried to swing hard at Kouta, but the later caught the fist and delivered a sudden kick that sent the vampire flying into the steps of the altar. The vampire looked up at Kouta fearfully.

"Oh god, it is you!" The vampire shouted. "What are you doing in Japan?!"

"Not using ghouls to do ALL of your fighting for you? At least you have the decency to try and fight me, unlike 'some' vampires."

Kouta just turned back to the group and started slowly walking. Suddenly, the vampire pulled his chains back and whipped it towards the group. It was coming in at high speeds, almost breaking the sound barrier. This moment was short lived because it was caught by Kouta who still had his back to the vampire. He wasn't even looking at him. Kouta yanked the chain at a barely visible speed, breaking it as if it were glass.

Kouta followed up by materializing the Reaper sword into his grasp he simply used vampiric energy to charge the sword. He barely turned to the vampire who was paralyzed in fear. He swung the sword downwards, sending a sharp wave of red energy towards him. The wave severed his leg, keeping him floored.

"What a disappointment..."

Kouta glanced at Nana.

"Finish him kid. We need to get home." Kouta said.

"But master, I don't think I can kill anyone." Nana said.

"You won't be." Kouta said. "He's a vampire like us, he's already dead. You're just shooting a walking, talking corpse. Think of it that way."

Nana was still pretty hesitant in shooting him but she knew more innocents would die if he lived.

Well…lived as much as the undead could live.

Nana began slowly walking to the vampire, Garand in her hand. She looked at the dazed vampire who was unable to run away. She pointed the rifle at the fallen nosferatu and stared down the sights.

"I'm sorry, please don't hate me for this." Nana said.

Nana fired one single round into the vampires torso, turning him into dust.

The group looked out the windows of the large church to see that most of the ghouls had turned to dust. Some of them still remained.

"What?" Mayu asked. "They didn't all die."

Kouta gave his signature grin, showing his dagger-like fangs.

"So there's another vampire in this church?" He said. "Maybe I'll get a challenge from him."

"Don't worry, you will." Came a voice from the shadows.

Out stepped a tall man in a white dress shirt and black business pants and shoes. He was lanky and his black hair had been combed back, not obstructing his red eyes. He had carried a pair of roman short swords as his weapon of choice. The man sauntered over to the ash pile of the recently killed vampire. He gently kicked the ashes.

*tch* *tch* *tch* "Poor fellow. He was courageous, but not very bright."

The new vampire looked at the group, specifically Kouta who had turned to face him.

"You must be the great vampire Kouta." He said. "It's an honor to finally meet you, but I must say I'm surprised to see you all the way in the land of the rising sun. My name is Alec."

"I'm just here to deal with garbage like you." Kouta retorted.

"Me? Garbage?" Alec asked as if he were offended.

"You can't be that great if you're using those mindless cadavers out there."

"Don't fool yourself, boy." Alec snapped. "I just use those for trapping a good meal. I do all my fighting myself, unlike my late colleague over there."

Alec removed the two Roman short swords from the sheaths on his side and got into his fighting stance.

"Eager to prove yourself are we?" Kouta remarked.

Alec pointed the roman shorts swords at Kouta, who then noticed the barrels at the side of the hilts.

"Hmm..."

The barrels into the pair of short swords popped and four rounds were sent into Kouta's body, causing him to jerk back a bit.

"Hahaha... Pistol swords, how interesting." Kouta laughed amusedly.

Alec suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Kouta, who simply turned his head toward him and gave his sadistic grin. Alec swung one sword in a slanted arc down Kouta's shoulder towards the opposite side of his body, ending at his waist. Both halves of Kouta reshaped into a collection of black dogs and hellhounds, growling deeply.

"My god..." Alec said stunned.

Yuka, Mayu, and Nana were paralyzed in fear at the sight of the hellhounds. Even Lucy felt fear.

The collection of demonic canines disappeared into the darkness of the church. Yuka, Nana, Mayu and Lucy retreated slowly to the church doors. It would be so easy to leave, but they felt an unexplainable need to watch.

"W-where did he go?" Yuka asked fearfully.

A pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the opposite end of the stoney church, followed by Kouta's low amused laughter in the air.

"This should be fun." Kouta said from the shadows. "Tell me Alec... Why do you use ghouls?"

Alec collected himself and his thoughts.

"Just to catch a good meal from anyone who happens by the church. There's a crypt below us that helped us get started. Neither of us had expected to encounter you here. The godchild of Dracula himself."

"You should know better... Heh... I'm half Japanese. My father was english and my mother was Japanese." Kouta said with a laugh.

"Shit..."

Kouta stepped out from the darkness, Cassul and Jackal in hand.

"If you're so fast, then lets see you evade this." Kouta said in a sadistic tone.

"What?" Alec asked fearfully.

"Releasing control art restriction systems in 3...2...1. Approval of situation A recognized, commencing the Cromwell invocation." Darkness began to envelop the entire church. "Ability restrictions lifted for limited use until the enemy has been rendered silent."

Kouta made the traditional hand sign to activate the Cromwell invocation. Kouta's body turned black, save for his coat and eyes. Red eyes began to form on Kouta's shadowed body. The entire room flooded with the same red eyes, all leading to the point where Alec was standing. Red vampiric energy was flowing out from Kouta's coat.

"It's time for your to witness a REAL vampire do battle!"

A swarm of hellhounds surrounded the entire group, even Yuka, Nana, Mayu and Lucy; circling them as if they weren't about to let anyone escape from the fight. The roar of the demon dogs thundered through the area. A red pentagram surrounded by black energy outlined in a red aura appeared at Alec's feet.

Alec looked back up at Kouta who was now in his level one form while being engulfed in vampire energy in a similar fashion to when Alucard fought Luke Valentine. Alec looked back down to see that a hellhound had been forming in the pentagram at his feet, trying to devour him.

Alec jumped in the air to avoid the hellhound but was immediately stopped when Kouta caught him with solid strands of black vampiric energy. It had circled his entire body like a rope, restricting his arms and legs from movement.

"If you're so good Alec then you surely must be able to escape from this! HAHAHAHAHA!" Kouta shouted in a fit of sadistic joy. "It's just a simple trap! You can escape right?! HURRY! HURRY! HURRY! Just cut your way free with those swords! Use your ghouls to free you! Shoot me! Do something!"

Alec was stricken with fear and so was the rest of the group.

"Kouta, please...stop. This isn't you. This isn't who you are." Lucy begged in her mind, tears pouring down her face. However the rest of the group was too focused on the carnage befalling Alec. The sight of him made her sick with despair.

"YOU GODDAMN MONSTER!"Alec screamed.

Pause... The whole room fell completely silent, despite all of the hellhounds and vampire energy.

"Typical." Kouta said in a agitated tone. "Just a waste of time.

"Waste of time?" Alec said, quaking in fear while still trapped by the strands of energy.

"Pathetic piece of shit."

Suddenly, the hellhound began to swallow Alec's legs crawling all the way up to his torso. Alec screamed in fear, knowing that this was the end for him. The hound crawled up all of the way towards Alec's head, eventually encasing him.

The last thing that Alec ever saw, was Kouta grinning maniacally at his doom.

Alec was gone.

Swallowed whole by a hellhound.

The entire room slowly returned to normal, no more hellhound, demonic red eyes, or black energy. All that remained was Kouta in his Level one form. All of the ghouls had finally disintegrated into dust as well, making it safe for them to leave the area and go home. He slowly began to walk towards his companions, who had no idea if they should run from him or stay.

They chose the later.

"We should get home. It's late and I want to get to bed." Kouta said simply.

"R-right" Yuka stuttered.

Kouta returned himself to his regular form and they began to walk home again. Before the church, they had a small conversation going but this time they remained silent.

"So... What was that thing you did at the church?" Yuka spoke up. "I'm pretty sure we all want to know. It was pretty scary."

"I have my limits, Yuka." Kouta said. "That was a level one release. If a fight gets a little challenging, then I can release that in order to get the upper hand."

"Yes, it was quite a spectacle I might add." A female German accented voice said.

"Who is it this time?" Yuka asked.

"No need to be so rude, Fräulein." The voice said.

"You've been quiet, Rip." Kouta said with a smirk. "Enjoy the show?"

"Rip?" Nana asked.

"Her name is Rip Van Winkle." Kouta said. "During the millennium incident, Alucard and I had 'fought' her. She wasn't much of a challenge for us." Kouta explained. "I absorbed her. She's inside me as we speak."

"Oh come now, darling." Rip said. "I put up a good fight."

"You were crying on the flight deck right after we slaughtered your men."

"Fuck you." Rip said, annoyed.

"Another woman?" Yuka said quietly with gritted teeth.

The group was almost home, anxiously wanting to get to bed, except for Nana, should be staying up all night waiting for the sun to come up. The group was stopped at the road that was next to the stairs that led to the Maple Inn.

"Oh thank you, Integra."

Parked next to the stairs, was a black Harley Davidson classic model. It had a set of large black saddle bags and a retractable sidecar, custom made by Hellsing arms co. There wasn't a windshield either and it had a seat built for two people.

"Is that your motorcycle, Kouta?" Yuka asked.

"Oh yeah." Kouta said. "Custom Harley Davidson classic. I love this bike."

There was a note on the two-person seat.

"Thought you could use this so I had it shipped here. -Integra."

"Nice bike." Mayu said.

The group made their way up the stairs and into the Inn. Mayu had enjoyed the dinner a lot, it was so much better than the crusts she would get free at the bakery. The following bath was relaxing as well.

It was like heaven for her.

Kouta and Yuka had decided not to ask too many questions but they both had the idea that Mayu was homeless.

Later in the kitchen, Yuka was finishing the last if the dishes while everyone else slept in bed, except for Nana who was cleaning up in the bath.

The painful memory of Kouta at the church was all she could think about. She was so frightened by his maniacal laughter and sadistic pleasure of killing Alec that it hurt her heart to see the man she loved like this. The Kouta she knew as a boy would never do this. She placed her hands on the counter and leaned over the sink, crying quietly to herself, making sure she woke no one from her.

"Kouta..." She wept to herself.

She thought that everyone else was asleep and Mana was in the bath, but she was wrong. Kouta could hear her weeps of anguish. He took no pleasure in her tears. He felt guilty. Guilt wasn't an emotion that came often to him. Her cries were a harsh reminder of a terrible choice he had made to save his own life as a child.

"Something wrong, Kouta?" Rip Van Winkle asked From inside Kouta.

"it's nothing." Kouta said as he lay in bed.

Constructive criticism appreciated