(A/N: Ok, it took me a little longer to update, but I started classes this week, so it took me a little while. So I won't keep you waiting anymore. Enjoy.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 10: Kaede and Kohta

The umbrella fell from his hands as Kohta stared at Lucy in horror, the rain washing the blood from her body. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. She had killed again. Killed after she had promised not to. Killed after she had said she would rather die than keep killing.

But she had lied. There, lying by her feet, were the mutilated corpses of three boys who couldn't have been older than he was. But what disturbed him the most, was not simple the fact that she had killed again, but the look on her face at having done so. Kohta had seen Lucy kill in the past, but she had never been happy about it. This time was different. She had a smile on her face that told him that she had clearly enjoyed what she had done… and wanted to do it again.

"Lucy…" he whispered. "How could you?"

The Diclonius regarded him for a minute before smiling cruelly and slowly approaching him. Kohta was rooted to the spot, unable to move even as she came closer.

"Kohta." She cooed, once she was standing in front of him.

Then, before he could react, she grabbed his face and kissed him. Kohta's eyes widened with shock. He certainly hadn't expected to be kissed at a time like this. And he couldn't help but notice that it wasn't how she had kissed him before. There was something wrong in the way she was kissing him. In fact, everything about her seemed wrong. Her features clearly showed that she was Lucy, but her eyes, her expression, the way she moved, even the tone of her voice, it all said the same thing; that this was not Lucy.

Kohta pulled away, wiping his mouth in disgust as he stared at the woman before him. "What's going on? What the hell did you do?" The Diclonius just smiled and chuckled. "Answer me, Lucy! What have you done?"

"I am not Lucy."

Her words echoed in his ears. Not Lucy? But it had to be. He knew Lucy when he saw her. He even knew when she was Lucy and when she was Nyu. But then… hadn't his intuition been telling him that this wasn't Lucy? If it wasn't, then what was going on?

"Who are you?" he asked quietly. "What are you?"

She grinned at him. "Call me Kaede. And as I said before, I'm not Lucy. But I also am Lucy."

Kohta took a step back. "What are you talking about? You either are Lucy, or you aren't? It's either one or the other! Which is it?"

"This is not a black or white situation. I reside in the gray area. I am Lucy, but not the Lucy you know." She motioned to a bench near by. "Please, sit, we have much to discuss."

She sat down as if she didn't have a care in the world, as if the rain wasn't pouring down around them, as if there weren't three bodies just a few feet away. Kohta, on the other hand, couldn't bring himself to move.

Kaede raised an eyebrow. "I can make you sit down, you know."

That snapped Kohta out of his dazed state and he slowly made his way to the bench, sitting as far away from her as he could.

Kaede smiled at his discomfort and looked up at the clouds as they poured down more rain. "You obviously have questions. Questions you want answers to. Now would be the time to ask them, while I'm still able to answer you."

Kohta wasn't sure what she meant, but he did need answers. He glanced at the bodies one last time, wondering if they should move away from them. Then again, who would come to the park while it was raining like this? And he felt as if he had been completely drained of energy and couldn't bring himself to move.

"Let's start with who you are." He said. "You're not Lucy, that's for sure. So who are you?"

"Kaede."

He glared at her. "Don't talk in riddles. Just give me a straight answer!"

Kaede regarded him for a minute before smiling. "Mt name is Kaede, and I am like Nyu. A separate identity created from Lucy's deranged mind. A third personality, if you will. Much different from Nyu though." She snickered at the look on his face. "Is it so hard to believe? After everything she's been through, she's lucky this is the only thing that's wrong with her."

"Then it was you who killed those boys, not Lucy."

Kaede's smiled vanished and she narrowed her eyes. "They were planning to rape her. She would not do what was necessary, so I stepped in. It's getting easier every time."

"Easier?"

She chuckled. "You need to understand what I am, Kohta. I am all the rage and hostility within her. I am all her instincts telling her to wipe out humanity and fill it with Diclonius. You see, Kohta." She grinned. "Lucy has been shown nothing but cruelty by human hands. That combined with her instincts telling her to kill… Well, you can imagine the affect this had on her conscience. Poor little Lucy, trying so hard to do what is right, to not give in to what she is, to what she should be."

"I don't understand."

"Her mind was split two ways. Part of her wanted to live a life of peace, another part of her wanted to destroy everything in her path. She fought against that side of her for so long. And the abuse and harassment she suffered didn't help." She glanced at him. "You've heard stories about children that have been teased for long periods of time that finally snap and go on killing sprees. In a way, this is what happened to Lucy. The only difference is that it resulted in a split personality on her part. Her, the part of her mind that wanted to live peacefully, and me, the part of her that was pure rage and instinct."

Her shoulder shook as she tried to hold back a laugh. Kohta couldn't believe what he was hearing. Lucy had a split personality, and this side of her was really sick. She was actually laughing about this.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked quietly, talking more to himself than to her.

Kaede just grinned. "Tell me, Kohta, have you heard the story of the birth of Sin?"

Kohta blinked, surprised by her question. "What?"

"I guess not. It's an old biblical story. It's said that after Lucifer was banished from Heaven and thrown into the abyss, he met a demon that was part woman, part snake. She said her name was Sin. And she was born of all his anger, hatred, and jealously. All that incarnated in the flesh." She grinned at this. "I suppose you can say I'm Lucy's version of Sin, only we share a body."

Kohta stood up. "You're sick. You're a sick, twisted, evil-"

"Be careful what you say, Kohta. After all, I owe you for my existence. In fact, you might say you created me."

Shock and horror was written across Kohta's face. "What?"

"Yes." She hissed. "It was you, the last straw, that resulted in my birth."

"What are you talking about?"

The look in her eye indicated that she was going to enjoy what she was about to tell him. "My existence was in the making for a while. The abuse Lucy went through slowly pushed her into insanity. And your lie is what pushed her over the edge."

"Lie?" Kohta had no idea what she was talking about. "What lie?"

"The answer to a question that a young girl in love asked. 'Is your cousin a boy, or a girl'? Do you remember what you said?"

Kohta's memory flashed back to that night so long ago. He had told Lucy that he was going to the festival with his cousin. Clearly worried, Lucy had asked him if his cousin was a boy or a girl. Kohta had panicked. He really liked Lucy a lot. And Lucy had said that she really liked him too. He didn't want her to get jealous or to worry that another girl was going to steal him away. So he had lied. He had told her that his cousin was a boy to spare her from worry and jealousy.

Kaede smiled. "You remember, don't you?"

He slowly nodded. "Yes. But I had a good reason for it. I didn't want her to be upset."

"She saw you." Kohta's eyes widened. "She saw you at the festival, with another girl. Not only did you lie, but you went behind her back to see another woman. You, the person she loved more than anything, who she put all her remaining faith in, betrayed her. Such despair she felt. All her faith, all her hope shattered in that moment. And that's what pushed her over the edge and resulted in my creation. I've been there ever since."

"Ever since." Kohta repeated. "So, this whole time."

"In a manner." She replied. "After my initial, for lack of a better word, birth, I have been, shall we say, in hibernation. Lucy was giving in to her instincts and anger, so I was not needed, and merely slept. Until recently, that is. After Lucy's decision not to kill anymore, I woke up to once again bring out Lucy's Diclonius' killer instinct."

"Why?" Kohta asked. "What for?"

"Because someone has to."

"Has to!" Kohta shouted. "Has to! You're talking about killing people!"

"Yes." Kaede replied. "I am a predator. I enjoy the hunt, the kill. There's nothing greater. And I'm slowly getting stronger." At Kohta's confused look, she continued. "It's just like this situation with these boys. They were going to force themselves on her. She wanted to hurt them, up her conscience and moralities held her back. So that desire to kill got stronger and stronger, giving me more power until I was able to take over." She snickered. "Everyone has a dark side Kohta. Our conscience is just what holds us back from fulfilling those dark desires. To take what you want, to do what you want, to hurt those that have hurt you. I am all these things for Lucy, and they make me stronger. Haven't you ever been so angry with someone that for a brief moment the thought 'I'll kill you' flashes through your mind, even though you'll never act on it. That single thought fuels me. And I get stronger and stronger until I am able to overpower Lucy and act upon those dark thoughts."

Kohta tried to process this. It was all too much to take in.

'Why didn't she tell me? If Kaede was there all along, then maybe she…' His eyes widened in realization. "Tell me, was it Lucy that killed my father and sister, or you?"

Kaede merely grinned and remained silent. Kohta grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"Tell me, damn you! It was you, wasn't it? Lucy's innocent!"

"Not as innocent as you think." Kaede replied. "But I did have a large part of it. When I first came into existence, I spoke to Lucy. I told her things. Told her how to make it all better. In her broken state, it was so easy to get her to go along with everything I said. All it took was a whisper in the ear, and she obeyed. She knew what was happening, she was fully aware of what was going on and could have stopped it, but it was me telling her what to do. She never would have acted otherwise."

"Then it's your fault!" Kohta shouted. "You are responsible! You made her do it!"

"She could have stopped me. At the time I was nothing more than a voice in her head, but I've grown since then. Now I don't need to persuade her. With a small push, I can act on my own." She began laughing evilly. "And it's your fault, Kohta. It's because of you that I came into being. That makes you responsible. For everything! For Lucy's misery, for the deaths of all those people, even your family's! You killed them, Kohta! It's all because of you!"

Without realizing what he was doing, Kohta wrapped his hands around her neck, his eyes wide and filled with rage. "No! No! It's you! It's because of you! You're the one responsible! The deaths of those people, for Lucy's sins and suffering, for the murder of my father and sister, you're the cause of it all!"

His grip around her neck tightened. He wasn't even aware of what he was doing as he strangled her.

"K-Kohta…"

Hearing his name made him realize what he was doing. And who he was doing it to. The girl's eyes were wide and fearful, and very unlike the eyes of Kaede.

"Lucy?" he gasped, releasing her.

Lucy coughed, trying to catch her breath. "It's… it's me…" She coughed a few times. "It's me."

Kohta looked horrified by what he had done, at how he had lost control like that. "I'm… I'm sorry. I… I didn't mean… I didn't mean to…"

She held up her hand, sucking down more air. "It's fine. It's fine." She gave him a sad look of understanding. "I know better than anyone what it's like to be blinded with rage."

The two of them fell silent, not looking at each other. Kohta couldn't even look at her. He didn't know what had come over him. One minute he had been listening to her cruel sadistic words, the next thing he knew his hands had been wrapped around her neck.

"So…" she said quietly, breaking the silence, "you met her, didn't you?"

Kohta knew exactly who she was talking about. "Yes… I met her."

She smiled sadly and looked down. "That's what I was afraid of."

(A/N: Things have changed now. Lucy is still responsible for Kohta's family's deaths, just not as responsible. How are things going to change between Lucy and Kohta? And what are Kaede's intentions? More to come.)