(A/N: WARNING! Ok so everyone knows about Mayu's past, about what her stepfather did to her, well that will be creeping up in this chapter, so I just wanted to warn everyone. Read at your own risk.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 12: Mayu's Revenge

Mayu was concerned. She had been worried ever since Kohta had returned with Lucy's unconscious form. She had known what had happened even before Kohta had explained it.

It was Kenshin, the Diclonius she and Nana had met. Kohta said that he was dead, either crushed or drowned beneath the bridge. Nana didn't seem to think so, and neither did Lucy. They never openly said it, but Mayu could tell by the way they behaved. They were worried.

Mayu sighed sadly. She didn't want anyone to get hurt. There had already been far too much pain and death. When was it going to stop?

Deep down, she knew the answer to that. It wouldn't stop until this Kakuzawa guy was dead. He was the root of all evil here. He was the reason Lucy and Nana suffered. He was the reason they were constantly hunted. And she knew that it wouldn't stop until he was dead.

'But why does it have to be this way?' she thought sadly. 'Why all this suffering? Why all this death?'

She wanted to help. She wanted to make it all stop. But how? How could she help?

Her thoughts turned to Kenshin. He too was on the list of people she wanted to help. Regardless of the little mishaps that had occurred when she, Nana, and Lucy had run into him, she didn't think that he was a bad person. Granted, he wasn't a good person either. He just… was. He was literally on the line that divided good and evil.

But perhaps that could be changed. Kenshin didn't seem to have any good or bad intentions. He just seemed to act for others because he seemed to be incapable of thinking for himself, as strange as that sounded. Maybe he just needed a friend, someone he could talk to and who could help him.

Coming to a decision, she turned to Nana, who was sitting mesmerized in front of the TV. "Hey, Nana, could you watch Wanta for a little while?"

The Diclonius turned to her. "Sure, but why? Where are you going?"

Mayu motioned for Nana's ear and whispered to her. "I'm going to go find Kenshin."

Nana's eyes widened. "YOU'RE GOING TO GO FIND-"

Mayu clamped her hand over Nana's mouth. "Shh, I don't want the others to know. They'll just be worried."

Nana moved Mayu's hand away. "Mayu, you can't! He's really dangerous. You saw what he did to the bridge, what he did to Lucy. And remember how he strangled me."

Mayu nodded. "Yes, I remember. But I think we may have provoked him. I really don't think he wanted to hurt anyone. I think we might be able to be friends."

Nana didn't share her optimism. "No, he'll kill you."

"I don't think he will. I just want to try to talk to him. I think I can get him to stop." Nana opened her mouth to say something, but Mayu cut her off. "Just promise you won't tell anyone. I don't want them to worry, or to interrupt us. Just give me a chance."

Nana made a small fearful noise. "Mayu… I don't know if I can promise that."

Mayu took Nana's hand. "Please, Nana, just give me a chance. Trust me, everything will be fine." She held up her pinky. "Swear it."

Nana looked at Mayu's finger in confusion. Slowly she grabbed Mayu's finger and shook it. The human chuckled and shook her head.

"No, like this." She curled her finger around Nana's, doing a pinky-swear. "It's a promise. If you tell, you have to swallow a thousand needles."

Nana turned paler than usual. "I-I do?"

Mayu nodded. "Yup, so no telling anyone. You promised."

She gave her a wink and then hurried away. Nana made a sad noise and looked at the finger she had sworn on. "I didn't know that's what it meant."

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It wasn't until some time later that Mayu realized that she had absolutely no idea where Kenshin was or how to find him. Running into him that first time had been a fluke. So how would she find him now? She didn't want to go around town asking if anyone had seen a boy with magenta eyes, pink hair, and horns.

"I didn't think this through." She realized.

Maybe she should have brought Wanta; dogs were supposed to be good trackers. Then again, she didn't have anything with Kenshin's scent on it. And the whole reason she had left Wanta behind was because she was afraid that Kenshin might feel threatened by him.

"Maybe Mr. Bando can help me find him."

The strange man was supposed to be good at finding people, wasn't he? Then again, she was running into the same problem. She had no idea where he was or how to find him.

"I'll check there." She decided, referring to the place she had seen him last.

True, it was doubtful that he would be there, but she had to start somewhere, she had nothing else to go by. And so she returned to the alley she had last seen him. Predictably, he wasn't there, not that she expected him to be.

She was disappointed. As cruel and as brutal as Bando seemed to be, Mayu really cared about him. She had saved his life, and such an act had created a special bond between the two of them. And a bond like that was not easily broken. Even if he did almost strangle her, and even if he was hunting one of her friends.

"I wonder if I'll ever see him again." she wondered out loud.

"Of course you will." came a familiar voice. Mayu tensed up, the color draining from her face. She turned around and saw a familiar man watching her. The man smiled at her. "After all, I didn't think I'd get to see you again, but here you are." He chuckled. "Aren't you going to say hi?"

Taking a step back, Mayu gulped. "H-Hi, Mr. Arisaka."

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She couldn't do it. Promise or not, Nana couldn't keep the promise she made to Mayu. She was just too worried. Her friend could bleeding to death on the ground somewhere; that is, if Kenshin hadn't simply decapitated her.

There was no helping it. She would have to tell. Even if she did end up having to swallow a thousand needles. Slowly she entered the room where Lucy sat reading a book. Nana gulped and carefully approached her.

"Um, Lucy…"

The Diclonius queen continued reading. "Mmm?"

Nana shifted around nervously. "Well, um, you see… It's just that… Well, I sort of…"

Lucy gave an impatient sigh, putting down her book. "I told you before, I'm not going to hurt you. So stop acting like you're walking towards your death whenever you come close to me. Now tell me what you want."

"R-Right!" She paused for a moment, calming her racing heart. "It's Mayu. I'm worried about Mayu."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "What about her?"

"Well… she doesn't seem to think that Kenshin is that bad of a guy."

"He's not." Lucy replied, surprising Nana. "He's not a bad guy, but he is extremely dangerous."

Nana nodded. "That's what I'm afraid of. She went looking for him."

"What?" Lucy jumped to her feet. "What in the hell is that girl thinking?"

Nana flinched under Lucy's anger. "S-She thinks that if she talks to him, she can get him to leave you alone, maybe even be friends."

Lucy groaned. "How stupid can you be?" She sighed. "Fine, I'll go look for her. Just don't tell Kohta and Yuka where I've gone."

Nana nodded. "I didn't want to worry them. Besides if they run into Kenshin, they wouldn't be able to do anything. That's why I came to you."

"How considerate." Lucy muttered sarcastically.

She walked past the younger Diclonius and was about to leave the room when Nana stopped her.

"Hey, Lucy, do you know where the needles are?"

Lucy stopped and gave her a confused look. "Needles? What do you need needles for?"

Nana's shoulders sank. "Well, I broke my promise with Mayu by telling you. Now I have to swallow a thousand needles."

"Swallow a thous…" Lucy groaned irritably. "No you don't, you damned idiot!" She stormed out of the room, grumbling, "Swallow a thousand needles."

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The man, Mr. Arisaka, chuckled. "Aw, Mayu, I told you, don't call me that." He grinned. "Call me Daddy."

Mayu backed away, shaking her head. "You're not my father. My real father is in Heaven."

Mr. Arisaka snickered. "How cute."

He stepped closer to her. Mayu continued to back away until her back hit the wall. She closed her eyes tightly as the man brought his face close to hers and breathed deeply, inhaling her scent. "I missed you." he said, reaching up to stroke her cheek. "I really missed you."

Mayu pushed his hand away. "Stop it! Don't touch me! Don't you ever touch me again!"

He tightly grasped her shoulders. "Now is that any way to speak to your father?"

"You are not my father!"

He slapped her, knocking the girl off her feet. "How dare you talk to me like that? I knew letting you go was a mistake. You've forgotten your lessons, Mayu. I'm going to have to teach you how to be a good girl all over again." He cracked his knuckles. "Soon you'll be Daddy's little girl once more."

Mayu sat up, her lips bleeding. "I'm not your little girl. I have new guardians now, people that actually love and care about me."

Mr. Arisaka grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "I love you too, Mayu. I love you a lot."

Mayu pulled away from him. "You don't love me! You're nothing but a rapist."

She turned to run, but Mr. Arisaka wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. "I prefer you to call me you're lover."

"NO!" Mayu shouted, struggling against him as she felt his lips against her neck. "No more! Not again! Not ever again!"

"Don't fight." He told her, stroking her hair. "You know you like it." He rubbed his cheek against hers. "You're so soft."

"LET GO! LET ME GO!"

"Yes." Mr. Arisaka hissed. "I love it when you scream. Be as loud as you want. No one is coming."

"Wrong."

At the unexpected voice, Mr. Arisaka turned to find a certain pink haired girl glaring at him from the shadows.

His eyes drifted over her curvy body. 'Too old for my taste.' He thought. "Get out of her, girl." He said, covering Mayu's mouth so she couldn't scream.

Lucy looked at him in complete disgust. "Let her go."

"I'm her father, bitch!" Mr. Arisaka snapped. "How I deal with my own daughter is my business."

Lucy's eyes narrowed. "Stepdaughter, you mean." She noted his surprised look. "That's right, I know. And I also know that you have no claim over her anymore. Both you and you're so-called wife turned over her guardianship to Kohta and Yuka."

Mr. Arisaka's eyes narrowed. "I see, so you know my little girl from somewhere." He glanced at Mayu. "A friend of yours?"

Mayu gave the Diclonius a desperate look, tears pouring down her cheeks. And the man holding her seemed to be getting off on it. Getting off by scaring and molesting a little girl. The sick pedophiliac bastard!

Mr. Arisaka chuckled. "Well, I say that she's been a bad girl and can't play with her friends right now. So move along, miss. It's time for father and daughter to spend some quality time toge- AH!"

Something grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. Mr. Arisaka cried out and released Mayu as Lucy continued turning his arm the wrong way with her vectors. Mayu hurriedly scrambled over to Lucy, cowering behind her.

"You ok?" Lucy asked, keeping her hate filled eyes on Mayu's stepfather.

Mayu rubbed her eyes and nodded. "Yes, I think so."

Mr. Arisaka continued groaning in pain. "What… what the hell is this?"

"Shut up!" Lucy snapped. She lifted him up in the air by his twisted arm, causing him even greater pain as he hung with his arm bent the wrong way. "You sick twisted fuck. You're lucky I don't rip you apart."

Mr. Arisaka's face was twisted in pain. "Stop… Please…"

At hearing his pleas, Mayu's fury ignited and she came out from behind Lucy. "You have a lot of nerve to beg. How many times have I begged you to stop? How many times have you raped me, no matter how many times I've pleaded with you?"

Feeling Mayu's anger, Lucy twisted Mr. Arisaka arm even more. The bone finally snapped. Mr. Arisaka cried out as he was left dangling in the air with a broken arm that was twisted the wrong way.

"What do you want me to do?" Lucy asked Mayu. "Just tell me and I'll do it."

There was a chuckle in the back of her mind that came from Kaede. "Really, you'll even kill him if she asks? It would certainly serve him right. Go ahead, do it. Vow or no vow, I can tell that you want to kill him. You want to give him a slow painful death. Don't bother to deny it."

Lucy had to admit it, the thought was very tempting. But she had to push those thoughts aside. Even the slightest negative intention made Kaede stronger.

Mayu hadn't replied to what Lucy had said. Finally the tables had turned. For so long she had been at her stepfather's mercy. He'd molested her more times than she could remember, he'd beaten her mother and turned her into a different person that Mayu no longer recognized. This was her chance to make him pay for everything he'd done.

"I should say it." she said quietly. "I should tell her to kill, to rip out your limbs, to snap your neck, to tear your guts out!" Angry tears ran down her cheeks. "I could do it. And you wouldn't be able to stop me. She'd do it too, make you suffer as you made my mother and me suffer. You made my own mother hate and reject me out of jealously. You put your filthy hand son me. I hate you. I hate you! I HATE YOU!"

Openly weeping now, she dropped to her knees. "I want to. I really do." She sniffed. "But I can't." She looked up at Mr. Arisaka with hate and disgust. "I won't do it. I'm not like you. I don't take advantage of other people. I don't enjoy other people's suffering." She glared at him for a moment before turning her back on him. "And I don't plan on letting you control me any longer. I've had enough. I'm letting go of my past. My real father is dead, and you'll never be him. I have a new mother, a new father, a new life. And you're no longer a part of it." She glanced over her shoulder. "I'm not afraid of you anymore."

And to prove her point, she walked past him, deliberately bumping into him hard, sending a jolt of pain through him. "Come on, Lucy, let's go."

Lucy stared at Mayu with a look of awe on her face. The young girl astounded her. She didn't know what she would have done if she were in Mayu's position. She just may have broken her vow not to kill again.

With a stern look on her face, she walked up to Mr. Arisaka, looking directly into her eyes. "Listen to me, you sick piece of shit, if you ever come near her again, then this," she twisted his arm further, "will feel pleasurable compared to what I will do to you."

She threw him against the wall, using as much force as possible. Without another glance at him, she went after Mayu, catching up with her.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

Rubbing her eyes, Mayu nodded. "Yes, he didn't really do anything to me."

"I should have gotten here sooner." Which reminded her of the reason why she had come looking for her. "Speaking of which, just what the hell are you doing out here anyway?"

Mayu looked away from her. "I was… trying to find Kenshin."

"And why would you want to do a stupid thing like that."

Mayu continued looking at her feet. "I just thought that… maybe if I could talk to him again… I didn't think he was all that bad."

Lucy sighed. Pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Even if you're right, he's very unstable. He could snap at any moment and attack you without meaning to. Listen to me Mayu, his mental state is very bad. There is no telling how he will react. He could kill you whether he wants to or not. Do you understand?"

Mayu frowned. "I guess I didn't think of that." She sighed. "I'm sorry, Lucy. I was only trying to help."

Unsure of how to react, Lucy rested a hand on the girl's shoulder. "And I appreciate it. But it's in your best interest, and mine as well, that you just stay out of this. Please, Mayu, for my sake, don't get involved."

Mayu nodded and surprised Lucy by hugging her. Uncertainly, Lucy's arms slowly came up around Mayu, returning the hug. She felt her shirt getting wet and realized that Mayu was crying.

"Thank you for saving me." said Mayu. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't…"

A strange feeling of protectiveness suddenly overcame Lucy. It surprised her, and she had to fight the urge to run back down the alley and slaughter Mayu's miserable excuse of a parent.

"We've both suffered." She said. "But soon things will turn out alright. I've come to believe that after all our pain, we will soon be able to live our lives in peace."

Mayu looked up at her hopefully. "Do you really believe that?"

In the back of her mind, Lucy felt Kaede chuckle at the false statement. But even with this dark presence in her mind, Lucy's thoughts turned to Kohta's smiling face and his warm embrace.

"Yes," she whispered, ignoring Kaede, "I really believe that."

(A/N: Yeah, so a little female bonding after Lucy saved Mayu from her bastard stepfather. I was so hoping he would die in the anime. Oh well. It looks like Mayu never did get a chance to see Kenshin, if he's even still alive. I never said that he was, just that Lucy and Nana thought he was. Se where things go from next chapter.)