Disclaimer: I don't own Elfen Lied.
At long last, the fight is over. But is everything else?
Game Over
"Itai!"
Kouta had tripped on a step and nearly dropped Nana in the process. After doing so, he glanced at the hand that held her head. It was stained red. It looked like Nana was still bleeding from the wound.
"Hey, Bando, can you give me a hand here?" he tiredly asked.
"Yeah", Bando answered. "I think it's best if you let me take over carrying her. You look dead tired".
"For obvious reasons. Aww no, my back hurts. Just how much does she weigh anyway?" Kouta panted.
The concrete staircase led up to the Kaede Inn. It wasn't that far from the cemetery, but Nana's weight made the walk back seem like hours. At least for Kouta it did.
"What, she's nothing but a featherweight!" Bando said after hefting the girl over his shoulder. "What are you, a typical college loser?"
"Basically", replied Kouta with a sheepish smile. "Anyway, we've got to treat her injury once we get inside".
"Right".
After climbing the lengthy staircase, they had arrived at the Kaede Inn.
"Nice place that you have here", complimented Bando as he stepped inside. "It sure is better than the barracks and the beachside shack".
"Hey, take off your shoes!" came Yuka's voice from the hallway. "The floors were just cleaned this morning!"
"All right, all right!" Kouta said as he took off his sneakers.
"So, where do I bring her?" Bando asked.
"Upstairs, quick!"
In the meantime, Yuka and Mayu were busy tending to Lucy's wounds.
"Hand me the ice pack, Mayu".
Mayu complied and filled the container with ice. Yuka took it and immediately placed it on Lucy's bruised head.
At that instant, she regained consciousness and raised her vectors, ready to fight. The pain ran through her already beaten body and she soon fell down again.
"Relax, you're not in the cemetery anymore", Mayu reassuringly told her.
"Whew, that's good", Lucy sighed. "Oh, I feel so dizzy. My horns…"
"Don't worry about those either", Yuka added. "They seem to be growing back".
Lucy reached up to her horns and felt them. Yuka wasn't lying. The formerly jagged edges had become smoother and rounder. The horns weren't fully healed, which explained why she still felt weak.
"I wouldn't be worrying too much about my horns right now", Lucy said as she began to stand up. "What about Nana? If I can recall, she was shot in the head! Is she all right? Where is she?"
After standing up, however, Lucy managed to limp forward one step before falling backwards into Mayu's arms.
"But Nyuu-san, you must rest!" Mayu suggested. "Apologies can wait until later. Besides, you're still injured!"
"And she's not?" Lucy countered. "Nana received the worst of the injuries! Damn it, it's my fault! If I hadn't made fun of her like that…"
Mayu turned to Yuka for an answer. Yuka nodded her head and then turned to Lucy.
"All right", Yuka said. "We'll take you upstairs later. We shall see Nana-chan's condition together, but first, lie down for a few minutes. Then we will go, but slowly. We don't want you to fall down again. Besides, I have to make sure that dinner is ready".
Lucy gave her a look of reluctant agreement before lying back on the cot. Yuka hustled back to the kitchen to check on her cooking.
Upstairs, Nana lay on her bed, barely aware of what was going on. Kouta was busy trying to stop the bleeding with the already blood soaked rags. Bando wrung out the saturated rags and handed them back to him.
"Damn it!" Kouta cursed. "I thought you said that this wasn't lethal!"
Bando examined Nana's scalp, trying to find the wound. Then his eye caught the temple on the side of her head. Blood oozed out of the gash and from the look of the bright red color it came out of an artery. In grazing Nana's skull, Bando had also grazed an artery. Thankfully, it wasn't completely severed.
"Oh boy", he muttered.
"What?"
"Looks like I hit a major artery. She needs medical attention. We have to bring her to a hospital."
"No!" Kouta yelled.
"Huh, what now!?" Bando asked, now aggravated.
"You don't know what they do to anyone looking like horns…" Kouta angrily answered after remembering Arakawa's words. "Patients with horns are immediately quarantined…and…and…"
"And what?"
"They're exterminated", he finished.
"Damn, so regardless of whether or not they are born in a hospital, looks like humanity won't take its chances".
Nana began to stir and slowly tilted her head to look at Kouta.
"Pa…pa", she barely whispered. "Help me…papa…it hurts so much…"
"Don't worry, Nana", Kouta comforted. "You're going to be okay".
He pressed the rag into the wound to try and control the hemorrhage.
"So kid, what do we do?" Bando questioned. "Bring her to a hospital, and they'll kill her. Worse even, she could be returned to that facility. Leave her like this and hope for the best, she'll die of blood loss. Kuso, what a dilemma."
Just then, Yuka, Lucy, and Mayu just entered the room.
"Hey Kouta, how is Nana doing?" Lucy asked.
"Not good".
One look at the wounded silpelit's hemorrhaging head was enough to convince her.
"Yuka, do you have any medicine?" Kouta asked.
"No, my medicine chest is out", Yuka answered.
"Aren't you of the SAT?" Mayu asked Bando.
"Formerly", he grunted.
"You have to know first aid or something!" she pleaded.
"Look kid-"
Mayu immediately held up his cell phone number. Bando always hated that trump card. Wasn't she already aware that the favor was a one-time deal? Nevertheless, he really was of the SAT, although formerly. Killing people was one of the things he enjoyed, but so was getting the job done with honor. He decided to help out.
"Hmm…you're right. But my field surgery training isn't up to date. It's been years since I saw one. Besides, my right mechanical arm is still busted. Being left-handed isn't a good thing, especially in this kind of a situation…"
"Then why don't you tell me how it's done?" Kouta suggested. "You have the knowledge, I have the ability to carry it out. It's worth a try!"
"But, it's been a while…"
"Bando, this is a serious situation!" Kouta interjected. Do something! Come on!"
Bando grimaced for a moment before looking at Nana. Her hair near the affected temple was blotched with the reddish stain of gore. He nearly felt a pang of compassion at that moment. Then he looked back at Kouta.
"Fine, let's do it", he agreed. "Make sure you follow me to the letter though".
Kouta nodded.
"All right, where do we start?"
"Hey girl, do you have a needle?" Bando asked Yuka.
"I'll get it", she said before running downstairs.
Bando reached inside his suit coat and pulled out some fishing line.
"Fishing line?" Kouta confusedly questioned.
"Pretty damn strong", Bando explained. "Especially for stitching. When you live nearby a beach, you need this stuff…"
"Here's the needle", Yuka said, handing it to Kouta.
"Okay, you're going to thread the line through the needle first", Bando instructed.
Kouta complied and did so.
"Nana, I'm going to have to sterilize your wound", Bando explained to her. "This may hurt, but bear with us, kid".
"O…kay", she weakly responded.
"And you", he said to Mayu. "Bring some water. We need to irrigate the wound first."
Mayu didn't waste a moment and was soon back with a large bowl of water. She slowly poured water onto the affected side of Nana's head, washing the blood away for the time being.
Bando reached inside his other coat pocket and pulled out a bullet and a lighter. He cracked open the round and distributed the gunpowder over Nana's still bleeding gash. As quickly as he could, he placed the lighter near the wound and lit the flame. The gunpowder immediately flashed and combusted, effectively sanitizing the injury.
"A…AAAH!" Nana moaned in a stifled cry of pain.
A few feet away, the other girls saw the flash of gunpowder. It was nearly enough to frighten them.
"What are you-" Yuka started.
Lucy placed a hand on Yuka's shoulder, signaling her to stop. All that they could hope for was that the former SAT soldier knew what he was doing.
"The needle is threaded", Kouta told Bando.
"Good, you know how to stitch, right?"
"Yes".
"Start the stitch right here", Bando motioned towards the edge of the artery. "Careful kid, don't make too much of a mess".
Kouta brushed back Nana's hair and tried to find the vessel, but the blood obscure his view.
"Mayu, can you give me some water here?" he asked.
Mayu nodded and poured some more, giving Kouta just enough time to see the artery and place the first stitch. He continued with the second stitch.
"It…hurts!" Nana wailed.
"It's okay", he reassured. "I'm almost done".
His words succeeded in calming Nana down and it enabled him to place a third stitch on the vessel.
"It's working", Bando observed. "The bleeding is beginning to slow! Just two more, and we'll have it sealed!"
A few seconds later, Kouta managed to sew the last two stitches on. Some residual blood still covered the artery, so no one could tell if the bleeding had stopped, or if it was under control.
"Give me one last pour here Mayu", he said.
Mayu followed up with another rinse before Bando took a look. He turned around to break the news to everyone else.
"The surgery was a success!" he triumphantly announced.
Yuka and Kouta breathed a sigh of relief while Mayu began to cry tears of joy. Lucy smiled after hearing the success.
"Anything else?" Kouta asked Bando.
"Just place a bandage on that, and it will eventually heal". Bando replied.
Kouta was wrapping a bandage around Nana's head until she began to stir again.
"Kouta-san?" Nana weakly asked.
"Yes?"
"I'm so sorry…Gomen nasai…I didn't mean to-"
"No, Nana", Lucy interrupted. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have belittled you so brashly last night. I guess I was too full of myself back there".
Nana managed to smile, accepting the apology. But then she turned her attention towards Kouta.
"Nana, it's okay", he said. "Like I said, I have a feeling that it's not entirely your fault".
"How?" she asked.
"Your instincts", Lucy explained. "Although many diclonii are able to control most of them, they can still get the better of you. Especially when you're in a very upset stage. It's not pretty, I tell you".
"Anyways, don't worry about it", Kouta added. "Right now you need to rest. You have to recover now".
Then Yuka entered the room.
"Would you care to stay for dinner?" she asked Bando. "All the work you did must have left you tired".
"As long as it beats sushi and melon bread, I'm up for it!" he accepted.
Lucy and Mayu nodded in agreement and headed downstairs with the others.
"I'll be back with your share!" Kouta told Nana before following the others.
Nana nodded and continued to rest on her bed. Her head was still throbbing and painful. She was too weak to stand up anyway.
The Kaede residents and Bando now sat at the table, eating their meal together while Bando told his "war stories".
"And so there I was", Bando recounted. "Standing behind those metal barrels, anticipating what my vicious quarry would do next. Then I watched as the body of my comrade was hurled in my direction, followed by a motorboat. The explosions! The grandeur! BLAM! POW!"
Lucy rolled her eyes in amusement after recalling that event on the beach. Mayu and Yuka chuckled as the story unfolded.
Kouta, however, stood up to leave. He picked up a bowl with some udon soup in it.
"I'll be right back", he said to the others.
Bando nodded and continue with his story. Kouta headed upstairs and opened the door to Nana's room. She still lay in bed.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked her.
Nana lay still for a moment before rolling over to look at him.
"I'm fine", she said. "What are you doing here?"
"I brought you some soup. You have to eat to you know".
Nana was puzzled. Why was Kouta still helping her? After all she had done in the past couple of days, what right did she have to be taken back in? She had entered this place as a stranger, and Kouta was the first one to invite her in. Why? She just didn't get it all. Guilt began to set in again.
"Nana?" he asked after seeing her deep in thought.
"Oh, what?" she said, attempting to cover up her guilt.
"You still look like you're in bad condition. Would you like me to spoon-feed you?"
"What's spoon-feed, Kouta-san?"
"I'll help you eat it".
She looked at his kindness in further confusion and blushed. But she had been through enough for the day and decided to accept.
"Okay".
Kouta took a spoonful of the udon and held it up to her mouth for the next few minutes. Nana carefully chewed on the noodles before swallowing them instead of wolfing them down as she usually would.
"Mmm…" she savored the flavor. "What is it? It doesn't taste like soumen".
"It's udon", Kouta replied with a smile.
"Oh…hey Kouta-san?"
"Yes, Nana?"
"Thank you".
"You're welcome".
Soon enough, the soup was finished, and Kouta had to head back downstairs to help Yuka with the dishes.
"Good night, Nana", he said after tucking her in.
"Good night…Kouta-san", she replied.
Deep down, Nana's guilt still continued to grow. She was already granted forgiveness, why does it still hurt? She couldn't take it anymore.
Without another thought, Nana escaped out the window and ran towards the same place she had ran to the night before. Feelings were still unaccounted for. And so was business.
At the Kamakura graveyard…
Bando was right. The cover of darkness had fallen and the local police had long arrived and sealed off the "crime scene". Among them was also a different group of people. Kakuzawa and a small cadre of SAT soldiers were part of the investigation. Arakawa was also there.
"What's going on, sir?" she asked.
"The graveyard has been entirely wrecked", Kakuzawa pointed out. "Common street vandals couldn't have done this. Not to mention, this scene looks oddly familiar".
"In what way?"
"When Kurama dispatched silpelit seven to find Lucy, they fought here. And if you can recall right, that should have been her demise".
"You're still looking for her?" Arakawa asked. "There haven't been any more suspicious decapitations around here ever since Lucy's termination. Why do you want Nana? What if she's peacefully coexisting with humanity?"
"I told you to never call her that!" Kakuzawa spat. "You are to strictly refer to her as number seven! Silpelits are the worthless spawn of our ultimate species: the true diclonii! Kurama made the mistake of becoming excessively attached to silpelit seven. Do not make the same mistake, Arakawa!"
"Y-yes sir", she stuttered. "But why are you going after her if you originally wanted Lucy? Speaking of, how can you become the 'catalyst of a new species' if the queen is dead? What use is silpelit seven to you?"
"A lot", Kakuzawa answered. "We need number seven alive. But the details are not for you to know".
"What?"
"It looks like I was wrong. Sending out silpelit thirty-five to eliminate number seven was a mistake".
"A mistake, how?"
"Silpelit seven's docile nature could prove useful…"
"What do you mean?" Arakawa pressed.
"Sir!" an SAT soldier interrupted. "The police have combed through the immediate evidence and you must hear the results!"
"Fire away", Kakuzawa nonchalantly said.
"Several handprints were found at the scene, but without any kind of distinct markings. The forensics department has examined the handprints on a microscopic scale, and traces of the vector virus were found. There were also blood spatters. We managed to get the samples and analyze them further at the facility. The DNA signatures match those of number seven and Lucy!"
"Then it is as I feared", Kakuzawa said.
"What are you thinking?" Arakawa asked.
"Lucy could still be alive, and so could silpelit seven. Only now, we don't know exactly where they are! They could be halfway to Tokyo by now!"
"Or not", Arakawa corrected. "Look!"
She pointed to the distant beachside. To Kakuzawa's surprise, it was Nana!
"It's her!" he gasped.
"You're not going to mobilize the SAT again, are you?" Arakawa asked.
"Every member of the SAT that we sent after a diclonius ended up dead", Kakuzawa pointed out. "This time, she's going to lead us to her hideout.
"Hideout?"
"She may have allied with Lucy. After all, diclonii share the same homicidal instincts. Second, there is no way that she could have survived in Kamakura undetected without humans to aid her. There may be more players on the field".
"So what are you planning?"
"Arakawa, prep number six for possible combat".
"Do you mean Roku, sir? But Roku is a carbon copy of Nana! Haven't you noticed that he has refused to raise vector against anyone? Roku is yet to demonstrate his combat skills and with that vector disability of his, it doesn't look good".
"Oh, he's not going to fight. Not now. Silpelit six has several special abilities, which far surpass number seven's ability. When we return to the facility, I will update you on the details. We need to find out where she is residing, and who else is involved! For now, send some SAT units after silpelit seven. Maybe her peaceful mentality will make it easier to capture her this time".
"Yes sir, I just have one question".
"What?"
"Can I get a shower now?"
"After you find out where silpelit seven has been hiding. Then we can talk."
"Arrgh!" Arakawa grunted in frustration.
"I'm taking the ferry back to the island facility. I suggest you follow"…
At the Kamakura beachside…Nana stared silently out to the ocean. The beach was the only place she could think of going to if for some reason the Kaede Inn was unsuitable. The dull throbbing in her head was still there, and she had struggled to walk getting here. Now, only shame filled her mind. Time after time, her fear had proved itself.
"As I thought, It's not possible for me to live with others", she said to herself. "Not even a fellow diclonius".
Unable to hold it back anymore, she collapsed on the rough sand and sobbed uncontrollably.
"PAPA!" she cried out. "I'm sorry! I've been a bad girl and I don't know what to do!"
Nana stayed there and cried for what must have been a long time. That is, until she was rudely interrupted.
"Hey, you're a diclonius!" yelled out an SAT soldier. "Surround her!"
She had fully exposed herself, venturing close to the graveyard. Not to mention, she forgot to cover her horns. Dead giveaway. A dozen soldiers now surrounded her, ready to fire…
Nana runs away after feeling guilty about her aggressive action towards Lucy over the past two days. Now, the enemy has found her again. Is it another fight that is yet to ensue? Worse yet, how many more lives could be endangered? Next chapter: True Loyalties.
People, I'm considering doing a sequel following up on this fic after seeing how Kakuzawa isn't finished yet. I don't know if it would catch on, so send me a review and tell me if I should continue or not with a sequel.