Alrighty, here is chapter 5 so go and read it before I bore you with stories about the stupid things that I've witnessed today. Such as some dude walking around a 7-Eleven with sharpie marker all over his face....

Red Rose

Chapter 5

"Wow, today was one of the greatest days of my life!" Nana exclaimed.

Tommy laughed as he walked with her back to Takuya's house. "Yeah, I'm happy that things went so well for you. But keep in mind that today was only your first day of school, so it's going to get really annoying very soon."

"I didn't think that school would be this much fun," she added. "And none of the other kids made fun of me."

"Yup, no one saw your horns and you didn't have any mishaps with your limbs," he pointed out. "I'm surprised that you kept up with the schoolwork so well."

Nana smiled. "Yeah and the teachers were really nice to me. Even Mr. Okamoro, the weird one. But....why was he shaking behind his desk? I mean, why does he do that?"

"He was probably having trouble downloading porn online," Tommy said with a smirk. "Like I said, it's not unusual for him to have a seizure from behind the desk every now and again."

"Porn?" Nana had a puzzled expression on her face. "What's porn?"

Tommy leaned over to her and whispered something into her ear, not wanting to say it loudly. When he pulled back, Nana still looked confused.

"But...why would he want to look at pictures of naked women? I don't understand....." She looked at him questioningly.

The boy wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Someday, when you're a bit older, you'll learn about what a lot of men think about constantly."

Nana thought for a moment, then asked him a question. "Do you ever look at porn?"

"Ah, what?" Tommy's face turned a deep shade of red and his mouth hung open.

"Do you look at pictures of naked women?" She asked as though it was no big deal.

Tommy grew even redder. "I, uh...you see...I, um....no! I don't!"

"Okay," she replied, satisfied with his answer.

"Um...I wonder what Takuya and the guys have been up to," Tommy blurted out, desperate to change the subject. "Probably fighting over the video games again..."

The Diclonius shifted her backpack. "Why do they fight over stuff like that? They can just have fun and play the game so that everyone wins."

"Eh, there is usually only one winner in video games, so therefore, it turns into a damn competition," he said, shaking his head. "Unless they play co-op and win together."

"Then they should play co-op...or whatever it's called," Nana replied. "I don't like it when they fight."

Tommy gave her a reassuring smile. "They're never mad at each other, though. It's just a friendly competition that involves a lot of arguing."

"Humans are confusing," Nana mused. "But interesting."

The brown-haired boy smirked, then noticed that the zipper of Nana's backpack was partially unzipped. "Here, let me get that for you."

As he went to pull it up, something caught on the zipper from the inside. He gingerly tugged the item free, then held it in his hands. Nana saw what it was and her eyes brimmed with tears.

"Papa...." She took the photograph of Kurama, staring into it intently.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tommy apologized. "I didn't mean to make you upset. It was a complete accident, I swear."

However, Nana only smiled and wiped her eyes. "No, it's okay. Besides, I like looking at this picture. It makes me happy."

"Really?" Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't it kind of remind you of when you were kept in that research facility?"

"In a way it does, but it also reminds me how Papa made sure I wasn't completely alone. He understood me, while everyone else thought I was just as test animal," she explained to him. "I miss him...but I know that he'd be happy to know that I'm doing so well."

Tommy took her hand and continued his way back to Takuya's house. "He didn't like you being there, did he?"

"He never actually told me that, but I saw something in his eyes. I could kind of tell that he wanted me to be free, and I was proved right when he helped me escape," she told him.

"So, other than you and Zoe, there was only that one other Diclonius, right?" He asked.

Nana nodded. "She was only known as Number Thirty-Five. I had never seen her before, and didn't know anything about her. All I knew was that she supposably stronger than both me and Zoe. I'm so grateful that Papa stopped her before she destroyed us...but at the same time I'm sad because I lost him."

Tommy gave her a sympathetic look. "I know that I can't replace him, but I hope you know that I'll always be there for you if you need anything."

The girl stopped and looked into his eyes. "I know, Tommy. Thank you."

With that, she leaned up and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. Tommy blushed slightly, a tiny smile on his face.

"Um...let's go," he said. "And hopefully Takuya and Kouji haven't killed each other while playing video games...."

Meanwhile

Takuya yawned and stretched his arms out, slowly getting off the bed. Zoe was waking up as well, and she tugged the sheet up to cover herself.

"Damn, didn't think I was going to fall asleep...." he mumbled, pulling his boxers on. "That was well needed though...."

Zoe smiled at him. "Yeah, no kidding...."

Takuya glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "Well, Tommy and Nana should be back any time now. Wonder how school went for Nana...."

The blond heaved herself out of bed, tiredly putting her clothes back on. "I really hope that it went okay."

"Eh, I'm sure it did," Takuya replied nonchalantly. "If it didn't, we probably would've gotten a phone call or something."

Zoe glanced out the window, then squinted. "I...I think I see them coming down the road..."

Takuya looked outside as well, then smirked. "Yup, that would be them. Let's go."

"I'll be there in a second, okay?" Zoe yawned and flopped back down on the bed. "I just need another minute to wake up."

"Okay, take your time." Takuya leaned down and gave her a soft, yet passionate kiss. "But if you fall asleep, be prepared for me to jump on you and wake you up."

Zoe rolled her eyes but smirked. "I'll keep that in mind."

The brunette made his way out of the room, leaving her alone. With a sigh, Zoe rolled over onto her side, a dreamy smile on her face. The smile quickly faded however as she noticed the photograph on the nightstand. She gently picked up the framed picture, her heart aching. It was a photo of Shinya, Takuya's younger brother. The same exact brother she had brutally murdered on the train.

She didn't realize she was crying until the teardrops fell onto the glass covering. "I'm so sorry...."

Zoe vaguely heard the front door opening, followed by the sound of Nana's excited voice. She quickly wiped her face, then set the picture back onto the nightstand. A moment later, she recomposed herself and began to walk out of the room.

Killer...

The Diclonius whipped her head around, her emerald eyes narrowed. The room was still empty, yet had an ominous presence. Still uneasy, Zoe turned back to leave the room, when the same sinister voice whispered again.

Murderer...

"Who said that?" Zoe quietly demanded, not wanting to alert the others. "Who's there?"

All remained silent once again, and Zoe felt her heartbeat quicken. The voice was strangely familiar, yet was too low for her to completely recognize.

"I'm losing it," she muttered to herself. "Just...ignore it... It'll go away...."

Zoe felt a searing pain suddenly burn through her skull and she hissed in pain. She bit her lip to avoid screaming as she fell to her knees, holding onto her burning cranium. The blond fused her eyes shut, hoping to ease the pain. Instead, images flashed through her mind at lightning speed, almost too fast for her to make out. She could see splatters of blood, followed by Takuya as a child, wailing in terror.

"Shit..." She groaned, her fingers digging into the sides of her head.

The image of young naked girl flashed through her mind, and her head was mummified in a thick wrapping of bandages.

"Oh, no...Not you again," Zoe said in dismay.

'You?' I think you mean 'me'. After all, we are one in the same, the girl told her. You honestly didn't think that I went away for good, did you? I will never go away, for I am who you truly are....a murderer.....

"No, go away," Zoe growled. "Get out of my head."

Her inner voice laughed. I can't...and I won't.... Don't worry, you'll come to terms with who you are eventually. It'll take some time, but sooner or later, you'll break and accept yourself for who you really are. For who we really are, I should say....

"Zoe? You alright?" Takuya's voice came from the hallway, and Zoe knew that he was drawing closer.

All in due time, Zoe...all in due time, the girl whispered. Until next time, goodbye.....

As suddenly as the pain had come, it was gone. The blond immediately stood back up just as Takuya walked through the door.

"Zoe? Is everything okay?" He asked, a look of concern on his face.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine," she answered, trying her best to conceal her terror.

Takuya raised an eyebrow, not convinced. "Are you sure?"

"Yup, I'm sure. Let's go see how Nana's day went," she replied, hurridly leaving the room.

The brunette stayed there for a minute, puzzled by her behavior. After an exasperated sigh, he followed her into the other room.

I don't know what's going on with her, he thought to himself. But I'll find out soon enough. I hope it's nothing too serious....

"Hi, Nana. How was school?" Zoe asked the younger girl.

"Oh, it was great," Nana replied happily. "I was afraid that the other kids would see my horns, or that my limbs would fall off, or that I would have trouble keeping up, or-"

"To make a long story short, there were no mishaps," Tommy cut in with a chuckle.

Nana nodded. "Yup, everything went smoothly. And I caught on with the schoolwork very quickly for some reason. It's weird, considering that I've never learned any of this stuff before..."

Zoe gave her a tiny smile. "It's an advantage of being a Diclonius, I guess. Not only do we pick up on things very rapidly, but we can learn at a much quicker rate than a human."

"Too bad I'm not a Diclonius," Kouji muttered. "That would've helped me out big time in high school..."

"For some reason, virtually all Dicloniuses are female," Zoe explained. "The only males I've encounted have only been watered-down half-breeds. Director Kakuzawa and his son are examples of such."

"Well, Professor Kakuzawa was one," Kouichi pointed out. "He's not anymore...."

Zoe looked down sheepishly. "Yeah...."

Nana dropped her backpack onto the floor. "That thing is heavy...for some reason they gave me a ton of big books that weight a lot."

"Those are our school books," Tommy said. "We need them for homework, and to learn stuff during class."

"Wow, you guys have teachers that actually teach?" Takuya asked. "Most of mine just told the class to sit down and shut up while they looked up porn online."

Nana blinked. "That's what Mr. Okamoro does. He looks at naked pictures of women during class. At least, that's what Tommy told me."

"Uh, where would you get a crazy idea like that? Hehe..." Tommy ushered her out of the room.

"But that's what porn is, right? Naked people?" Nana asked.

Tommy dragged her into another room. "C'mon, Nana. You can help me with my homework!"

Takuya smirked. "Ah, to be a kid again. I miss those days...."

Kouji snorted. "You still act like a kid, you moron. I mean, who digs through the cereal box just to find a prize?"

"Hey, in all fairness those were cool looking prizes," Takuya shot back.

"They didn't even come in the box, idiot! You had to order them by sending in the little card on the back of the box!" Kouji practically shouted.

Takuya glared at him. "It's not my fault that they don't put them directly in the boxes nowadays!"

Kouichi chuckled. "Yeah, they say you can have a 'free' prize if you send in the little card. But only if you pay thirty dollars for shipping and handling..."

"I know, it's ridiculous!" Takuya exclaimed. "Why would they expect someone to pay thirty dollars for a damn mug?"

"Why would you expect to find a damn mug inside a box of cereal?" Kouji asked, annoyed.

Zoe and Kouichi exchanged glances, then sighed.

"This is going to be awhile, huh?" Zoe asked.

The short-haired twin nodded. "Yup...so on that note, let's go get some popcorn and watch while they argue about cereal boxes..."

"Shut up!" Takuya and Kouji shouted unanimously.

The blond girl shook her head and smirked. "Well, I'll go get that popcorn."

She made her way into the kitchen and began to rummage through the cabinets for the bags of popcorn. As soon as she found them, the voice haunted her one last time.

Killer.....

Okay, that is the end of chapter 5. I wanted a bit of comic relief but at the same time, I didn't want it to completely void out the dramatic effect, haha....

Takuya: *sarcastically* Wow, dramatic effect? You're sad...

me: Better to be sad than stupid....Anyway, please review and let me know what you think ^_^