Disclaimer: I don't own Elfen Lied.
Nana challenged Lucy to an actual fight in the same graveyard that they last fought at. It's scheduled for dusk the next day. Reason why? Nana loses her temper after being reminded of her failures by Lucy's insensitive phrases. Now Nana heads for the beach, seeking Bando for guidance. What will she get in return? Read on.
Preparation
Nana was just about ready to take to the window when a worst-case scenario ran through her head.
"What if I don't make it back before nightfall and Yuka finds out about my absence?" she asked herself. "Not to mention, I have homework to do!"
Yuka, the "mother" of the household, always checked on her and Mayu at nightfall to make sure that both was getting ready for bed. Nana glanced again at the clock: 6:54. She had already wasted five minutes just thinking about escaping. Then another bright idea ran through her mind.
Nana immediately ran to her chair and jammed it sideways into the sliding door in order to prevent it from being opened. Then she flicked off the lights. Using the cover of darkness, she would escape out the window.
Getting it open was no trouble, but going down posed a little problem. The slanted roof was wide and made of loose ceramic tiles. The wide length prevented her from jumping to the soft grass below, whether she used her legs, or vectors to do so. If any of the ceramic roof tiles fell off the structure and shattered, that would raise an audible alarm. The height of the building didn't worry Nana; her vectors could easily cushion the fall without injury.
"Hmmmm, there's a small wooden ledge on the edge, just before the tiles", Nana strategized. "I can creep along it until I find an opportunity to jump."
She slid along the edge of the two-story wall, using the wooden ledge as her only foothold. Looking to her right, she saw a way down: there was a gap in the roof tiles. She hurried on, but in doing so, knocked a tile loose. It began to slide down to the ground, threatening to betray her position. Using a vector, she grabbed it and threw it onto the grass.
"Whew, got to be more careful than that!" she said after breathing a sigh of relief.
After arriving at the gap in the tiles, another obstacle emerged. The light from the front door lamps of the Kaede Inn was illuminating the concrete pathway on the ground. If she were to drop down there, the light would give her away. If she used her vectors to jump and land on an area of the pathway that wasn't lighted, a hand impression would be stamped onto the concrete. The last thing needed was evidence of her departure. Nana glanced even farther up the twenty-foot pathway and saw the main gate. Her only chance of escaping undetected was to try and jump the gate from where she stood.
"But can I make it?" she asked herself. "Oh nuts. Papa save my life!"
Then she remembered what she was all doing this for: to prove her worth as a diclonius, to officially prove to Lucy that she was an equal match in actual combat. Would she let a wall get in her way? A simple physical barrier? Of course not!
"Here goes", she thought as a cold bead of sweat dropped from her head.
Nana summoned all four of her vectors to grip the wooden ledge. Using all of her mental strength she pushed off and flew through the air to try and clear the gate: she didn't.
She found herself falling, but falling towards the barrier that stood in her way. Immediately, she reached out both her arms and caught the top edge of the gate.
"Oof!" she grunted after the rest of her body hit the gate.
The impact caused a small thud, not enough for any of the other residents to hear, except for Wanta. The small dog walked out of his doghouse and stared at Nana. Nana looked directly back at him, in cold fear. She was still clinging onto the edge.
"Shhhhh Wanta, quiet", she whispered in an attempt to keep him quiet, hoping that he wouldn't bark like crazy.
Oddly enough, Wanta obediently complied and went back inside his doghouse.
Nana climbed over the gate and dropped down outside the property. She checked the time on her watch: 7:08. One look at the sky showed that sunset wasn't far away. On average time, it took her about fifteen minutes to walk to the beach. Running distance should cut the time down to ten or nine.
"I don't have long", she thought, "I've got to hurry".
Then she broke off, sprinting to the beach.
Back at the Kaede Inn…Kouta, Mayu, and Yuka sat at the table, eating their dinner with an eerie feeling surrounding them.
"Yuka-chan, can I call Nyuu for dinner one more time?" Kouta asked.
"But Kouta-kun, you might just aggravate her", Yuka warned.
"Don't worry, she wouldn't think of harming anyone. She didn't even want to harm Nana, remember?"
"Okay then", Yuka allowed.
Kouta got up and walked away. Mayu's eyes still looked empty as she stared down at her plate and silently ate. Yuka had been observing her from the corner of her eye.
"Mayu-chan, even if Nana did yell at you, she didn't mean it", she said in an attempt to comfort her.
Mayu broke out of her dismal stupor and looked at Yuka.
"She really did mean it!" Mayu said back. "I really was part of the reason why she lost her limbs!"
"Nani?" Yuka asked, puzzled. "How?"
"Well, Nana was ready to take down Lucy when I tried to-"
"I'm back." Kouta said as he returned with Nyuu.
"Nyuu!" Nyuu said in agreement.
Apparently, Lucy had reverted back to Nyuu while pouring over her own thoughts of what do. She must have felt some guilt in being the catalyst for Nana's anger that past afternoon.
"So, what happened then?" Yuka asked Mayu.
"Never mind, I don't want to talk about it right now", she bluntly answered as she picked up her plate. "Thanks for the food".
Mayu walked out and went upstairs.
"Could you call Nana one last time?" Yuka called after her.
"Fine then".
Mayu reached the front of Nana's door and knocked. No response.
"Nana-san?"
She knocked one last time to make sure. Nothing but silence. Mayu looked closer at the door and saw that something was jamming it. She must have really been ticked off.
"She must be asleep already", Mayu thought. "Oh well, I'm going for a bath".
At the Kamakura beachside…After moving as fast as she could, Nana reached the beach. Her stomach began to growl.
"Ugghhhhhmmmm, I need some food so badly!" she moaned.
The sun was starting to turn orange, a sure sign of nearing nightfall. She glanced at her watch: 7:18. Good enough, but time was still of the essence. All that was left to do was to find Bando. Nana scanned the beachside and saw a light in the window of one of the beachside shacks. That's probably him. Nana headed for the shack.
"Ugh, this is worse than melon bread", Bando complained as he filleted a raw fish that he earlier caught. "Reminds me of the old days of the SAT. Plus, I'm dead bored. No run and gun action for weeks now. Well, at least not ever since bitch Lucy defeated me a second time."
He popped a piece of the fish in his mouth and continued to grumble until he heard rushing footsteps heading for his shack. Instinctively, he reached for his .50 pistol and waited. Nana reached the doorway and was immediately jolted by the shock of staring down the ominously dangerous barrel of a gun.
"Hey, hey!" she panicked. "It's just me!"
"Oh, it's you again", he said as he holstered his weapon. "What are you doing here around this time? Isn't it usually a little late for you to be showing up?"
Nana was too busy hungrily eyeing the raw pieces of fish to respond.
"Hey, I'm talking to you, kid", Bando spoke louder.
"Oh sorry", Nana apologized. "I want to ask you something. I need your help."
"Wow, that's a change", he commented. "Usually you tell me all sorts of crap and stuff about your life, but, I'm bored anyway. So go ahead, shoot. I don't see how much I could help you though".
"Well, I've been having trouble with Lucy-oh crap!" she panicked again. "I spilled it again!"
"Spilled what?" Bando asked. "Forget about it, kid. I knew you were living with her the whole time. And I'm in no condition to take her down anymore. So what were you saying?"
"How did you do it? How did you beat Lucy and walk out alive both times?"
Bando looked down at the floor. Then he looked back up with a serious expression on his face.
"Beat Lucy? Ha!" he spat. "I didn't beat her! She ripped off my right arm in our first encounter! Second time, she did it again and left me lying there on the sand. Why did you just ask that?"
"Umm, I'm going to fight her again. Tomorrow at dusk."
Bando grinned and he started to laugh.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Oh that's a good one! You? Fight her!? AHAHAHAHAHA! Oh this is just too great! Ooh! That's a nice once!"
"I'm serious, dammit!" Nana screamed at him. "It's a rematch!"
The former SAT soldier finally stopped laughing and calmed down.
"Okay, kid, I'll tell you something. Don't fight her unless you really want to risk losing your limbs again, or some other body part for that matter. If you really must, don't get too cocky. That can be detrimental to even a combatant with the highest advantage."
"Don't get cocky, huh?" Nana thought in her mind. She deemed it as good enough advice for her.
"Okay then, thanks for the advice!" she said with a smile.
"Whatever kid", he answered.
"And my name is Nana".
"Okay, Nana, now get outta here. Oh wait, where are you going to fight her anyway?"
"In the Kamakura graveyard, why?"
"Nothing".
Nana was once again staring at the fresh fish fillets.
"Can I have one?" she hungrily asked as her stomach grumbled again.
Bando rolled his eyes.
"Fine, you're hopeless", he answered.
Nana greedily wolfed down the piece and checked the time again: 7:42. The sun was already halfway below the horizon. After finishing business, she sprinted off, back to the Kaede Inn…
Wow, all that just for three words of advice. What do the final hours before the fight tomorrow hold for everyone? Check out next chapter: Last Minute.