(A/N: Things have been a little too peaceful for Lucy. It's time to make things more interesting. Lets see how she and Kaede react to Nana and Mayu's news about Kenshin.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 9: Keep On Killing

Kohta looked up nervously at Lucy and Yuka. What should be a nice quiet game of cards was turning into a hostile staring contest between the two girls. Kohta was afraid to leave them alone together. Lucy was hostile by nature, and Yuka certainly wasn't a fairy princess. They just may kill each other if left alone.

He hoped Mayu and Nana returned soon. He really had to go to the bathroom, but was afraid he would find a bloodbath when he came back. Lucy may have sworn never to kill again, but Yuka had made no such promise.

His stomach groaned in protest, informing the others of his discomfort.

Yuka glanced at him. "Kohta, are you ok?"

He gave her a nervous smile. "Y-Yeah, just fine."

His stomach groaned again. He couldn't wait for Mayu and Nana to get back; he wasn't going to make it.

"I fold." He said, setting down his cards. "Be back in a bit."

Both girls watched as he left the room, then their attention went back to each other. If looks could kill…

"I'm not gonna lose, you know." said Yuka.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. She knew that Yuka wasn't referring to the card game. "Are you now?"

"I've known Kohta longer than you. I know him better than you."

'Kill her!' Kaede told Lucy.

She ignored her alternative personality. "I have my whole life to get to know him. I want to know everything about him. And I already know enough to know that I will love him and only him forever."

Yuka threw down her cards. "I won't let you take him from me. I've loved him longer than you! I've loved him since I was a little girl!"

"As have I." Lucy replied, almost calmly. "I suffered for him, even went willingly to my death for him. Can you say the same?"

Yuka growled irritably. "He loves me, you know."

Lucy cocked her head to the side. "You're his cousin. It's natural that he loves you. You're a blood relative. Is the love he has for you the kind of love you're looking for?"

"Cousins can get married!" Yuka snapped. "It's not illegal."

"It's still frowned upon. "Lucy pointed out.

'Just kill her!' Kaede cried. 'She's your love rival. She wants to steal your mate. Strike her down. Remove all obstacles in your path.'

'Will you shut up!'

Yuka crossed her arms. "Can you even be with Kohta in that way? Can you do everything a human can do?"

Lucy glared at her. "If you are asking if humans and Diclonius can reproduce, then the answer is yes. Just as dogs can breed with wolves and horses can breed with zebras, our DNA is close enough to allow us to have children." Her eyes narrowed. "And the only children I shall ever have will be Kohta's."

Yuka was going to argue some more, but what Lucy had said sparked her curiosity. "What are you supposed to be anymore? A different race, disease, mutation."

"Evolution." Lucy replied. "It's nature's natural order. All things evolve over time. Diclonius are the evolved forms of humans." She cocked her head to the side. "Did you think that humans were the only living things that didn't evolve?" She chuckled. "That's just how life progresses. Animals evolve into stronger creatures and replace their less evolved ancestors. Are humans not descended from apes? I believe they evolved from a type of primate called an Australopithecus. You don't see them around anymore, because humans replaced them. Diclonius are the next step in evolution. That's why we have the instinct to kill humans. But unlike our ancestors, we have the intelligence to choose not to do it." Her eyes narrowed. "Humans just haven't given us a reason not kill them."

"Not all humans are bad." Yuka pointed out.

Lucy nodded in agreement. "Yes, but many of them were cruel to us. They kill us on a regular basis, so we Diclonius tend not to even give them the chance by killing them first."

"Heartless." Yuka muttered under her breath, but Lucy still heard.

"If you come across a wild animal, one that has been known to kill humans, and you had a gun, would you wait to see if it was one that would hurt you, or would you rather just shoot it and guarantee your safety?"

If Lucy was trying to justify the murders she and her race committed, Yuka wasn't buying it. "You just have an answer to everything, don't you?"

"I have had a lot of time to think." She glanced over her shoulder. "This conversation will have to be put off until later. Nana and Mayu are returning."

Yuka raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"We can sense the presence of our own kind."

"Oh, right." She had forgotten. "Fine, we'll continue this later. Just know that I'm officially declaring war on you."

Such a declaration was unnecessary. The two of them had been at war for years, with Kohta's heart as the prize.

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"We're back!" Mayu announced.

Nana tapped her on the shoulder. "We shouldn't wait. Lucy needs to know right away. And I better be the one to tell her." Her thoughts turned to that unstable dark presence in Lucy's mind. "be safer."

Mayu frowned. "Lucy won't hurt me."

'Maybe not Lucy.' Nana thought. However, that other presence.' "It'll just make me feel better. Besides, I can tell her what I sensed from him."

Mayu couldn't argue with that." "Ok, if you insist."

Nana took a deep breath and entered the room. Lucy looked up, sensing her distress. It only made Nana more nervous.

"H-Hey, um, Lucy, can I talk to you for a minute? In private."

Lucy raised an eyebrow but still got up and followed Nana out of the room. Once alone, she swallowed and turned to the older Diclonius.

"You have nothing to fear." Said Lucy before she could speak. "I said I would never hurt anyone anymore and I stand by that."

Nana sweat-dropped. 'It's not exactly your reaction I'm worried about.' She thought, thinking of that dark presence in Lucy's mind. "Yes, well, don't freak out over what I'm about to tell you, but when Mayu and I were taking Wanta for a walk, we ran into another Diclonius."

She stopped here, waiting for a reaction. But Lucy didn't seem to care about this in the least. In fact, she seemed to expect Nana to say something more.

"So? Why is this any of my concern?"

"Because," Nana cried, "they're looking for you. Kakuzawa sent them after you."

That got Lucy's attention. "I see. So he hasn't given up. Figures."

"Lucy," Nana cried, "there's something not right about this guy. He's, I don't know, empty." She held up her arms and walked in place in a mechanical fashion. "He's like a robot. Like he has no will of his own. It's really creepy. And he's strong too."

'A threat!' Kaede cried. 'Someone who wants to take us from Kohta's side. We should look into this.'

Lucy was reluctant to give into any of her darker side's demands, but she was right about this. "Very well, I will go and see if this person is a threat."

Nana gasped. "You mean you're going to go looking for him?"

"Yes, it would be better. I wouldn't want to run into him when others are around."

Nana nodded. "Ok, just be careful. He can sneak up on you."

Lucy just smirked as she opened the door. "Our kind can't sneak up on each other. We sense each others emotions."

And she left, going off to find Kenshin. Nana frowned, worried for her friend's sake; more so for Nyu than Lucy. "But… he has no emotions."

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Where the hell was this guy? It was a boy, wasn't it? Nana had said 'him'. So where was he? She couldn't sense him anywhere. It was beginning to annoy her. How much longer would she have to look? And it was beginning to look like it would rain soon, and it was getting dark.

'Perhaps he went back for the day.' She thought.

'Or,' said Kaede, 'perhaps Nana is lying. You should just kill her and-'

'Shut up. She was not lying. She's not the type of person to lie or to cause trouble for no reason. She did say something was off about him.'

The sound of someone whistling at her brought her out of her thoughts. Three boys abouther age were sitting on a bench, watching her. Lucy may not be good with people, but she could tell right away that these were not the type of people to get involved with. They were delinquents.

"Hey, pretty lady," said one of the boys, "are you looking for someone? Your boyfriend perhaps."

"Maybe we can be of help." Said another.

Lucy's eyes narrowed. The tone in his voice suggested that help was the last thing he was offering. "I am fine." She said and continued walking.

She didn't need to look back to know that they were following her, and she didn't need to sense their emotions to tell what their intentions were. She may be unfamiliar with the way the world worked, but she wasn't that naïve. A young woman, all alone in the park after dark, it was very clear what they wanted.

The boys came right up beside her. Lucy just continued to ignore them until they moved in front of her.

"Hey, why don't you forget whoever you're trying to find and come with us." One suggested.

Lucy showed no interest. "Move."

"Oh, don't be like that. We'll show you how to have a good time."

"Yeah," said another, "it'll be a lot of fun."

"We know how to treat a girl right." said the third.

Lucy was getting frustrated, and Kaede certainly wasn't helping.

'You know what they want. They're despicable. They think they can just take what they want, just like those scientists. Show them they're wrong. Kill them. Kill them all. It'll be fun.'

"I don't want to have any fun." Lucy replied, talking to both Kaede and the boys.

"Oh, come on, it'll be great. You won't be disappointed."

He grabbed her wrist. Lucy glared down at the offending hand. "Let go."

"How rude." A boy commented. "We offer you a good time, and you throw it back in our faces."

"I think she needs a lesson in manners. I'm sure that once the fun begins, she'll really enjoy herself."

'They're going to take advantage of you.' said Kaede. 'Kill them. Kill them or I will.'

She felt Kaede fighting for control. And Lucy's dislike for these boys wasn't making it any easier to keep them safe from her darker half. "I said, let go!"

She kicked the boy that grabbed her in the shin. He yelped in pain and released her. "Damn, bitch!" he snarled. He stood up again and slapped her. "How dare you kick me!"

Lucy looked up at him, her hand on her cheek. Kaede was really fighting her now. This was going to turn into a bloodbath unless she got away from them.

And so she made a run for it. The boys chased after her, shouting. Kaede continued to demand that Lucy turn around and kill them.

'You are stronger than them. You shouldn't run. Kill them. They deserve it. You know what they'll do if they catch you. Come on, fight back. Kill them.'

'If I ever kill again, it will be you whose life I take.'

Lucy was fast, but spending most of her life locked up prevented her from reaching her athletic potential, and the boys soon caught up with her. They surrounded her with victorious smirks on their face.

"Game over, sweetheart. Now why don't you just come along with us?"

"We know a nice little private spot. No one will interrupt us."

The same boy grabbed her wrist again with a much stronger grip. "Come on, let's go."

Lucy tried to pull away, but he was stronger than she was. She dug her heels into the ground as she was dragged, but unable to pull away.

'Kill them.' Kaede told her. 'Are you going to let them force themselves on you. That's what they're going to do. Let me out. I will stop them.'

'No, you'll kill them. I'll get out of this myself.'

'Don't be a fool! There's three of them. If you won't kill them, at least fight them off with your vectors.'

Lucy had tried that, but the moment she reached out with her vectors, Kaede's power over her had increased and she had nearly slaughtered them. If she used her vectors, she might kill them. Damn Kaede.

'Don't fight me, Lucy. You'll only make it harder on yourself. You may be able to resist me in normal situations, but times like this, when you yourself want to hurt others, you can't resist me!'

The boy dragging Lucy cried out. He fell to the ground, gripping his wrist, which was now devoid of a hand. He looked up at Lucy and saw that his hand was still holding onto her.

The Diclonius calmly pulled the dismembered hand off and dropped it on the ground. Then she looked up at the three boys with an insane grin on her face.

"Now it's my turn to have some fun."

She lashed out with her vectors. She grabbed the boy on the ground and lifted him up, each vector holding a limb. He screamed in pain as Kaede pulled his arms and legs out of their sockets and ripped them right off his body. His limbless torso fell, and, before he even hit the ground, Kaede struck again, knocking his head right off his shoulders.

"The fuck!" one of the other boys shouted.

They looked at Kaede in horror. She was using her vectors to lift herself in the air, making it look like she was floating.

"Lets get the hell out of here!"

Kaede chuckled. "Not leaving so soon, are you? I thought you wanted to play with me."

She struck again, slicing one of the bys right down the middle. The last boy watched in horror as the two halves of his friend fell away. With one last horrified look at Kaede, he made a run for it.

Kaede just laughed. The poor fool thought he could escape. Well just let him think that. It was so much sweeter crushing someone's hopes. Let him think he would get away, and then attack.

Just before he was out of range of her vectors, she struck. The boy cried out and he fell down. He looked at his legs and saw that his feet were missing, and bloody stumps were in their place.

Like something possessed, Kaede slowly approached the boy, his death in her eyes, a large grin on her face. "You were right, I am having fun with you."

The boys struggled to find his voice. "Y-You're a monster!"

"From your point of view." She told him. "Why don't you look at things from my perspective."

Her vectors shot out. With one clean swipe, she removed his head. And as an added bonus, she picked it up and turned it so the boy was staring at his headless corpse. Kaede knew that after decapitation, a severed head could remain conscious for 15-20 seconds. She decided to literally let the boy see things from her point of view.

"See," she told the head, knowing it could still here her as it looked at its body, "that's the result of me having a good time."

She carelessly tossed the head over her shoulder. That had felt good. She hadn't killed anyone since the escape. Lucy had been serious when she said that she wouldn't kill anyone anymore. It was so frustrating. But her hold on Lucy was getting stronger. A few more incidents like this, and taking over Lucy's mind would be a cinch.

Thunder rumbled in the sky as it began to rain. Kaede smiled and turned her face up towards the sky with her arms outstretched. The rain washed the blood away. If only it could wash away all her problems. As cruel as she was, she too felt the impact of Lucy's past. Only where Lucy wanted to run from her past, Kaede wanted to take revenge for it.

"Lucy?"

Kaede's eyes snapped open. A cruel smirk spread out over her face as she spotted Kohta staring at her in horror.

(A/N: Uh oh, there's trouble brewing. We all knw that Lucy would never hurt Kohta, but Kaede is a different story. And there are three body right next to her. So much for her promise to never kill again. Don't miss the confrontation between Kohta and Kaede.)