(A/N: I've been getting several request from people asking for more on Kenshin, so I've decided to give in to their requests. I won't say anymore, because I don't want to spoil anything. Enjoy.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 14: Rescued and Reasoned With

She woke up several hours later. She blinked a few times, looking around her. Blood was everywhere, including all over her. A dead body with its arms ripped out of their sockets and its face torn off lay on the floor. There was no sign of the body of Mr. Arisaka, but a large pile of mutilated flesh and shattered bones that may have at one point been a body was all over the floor.

A look of horror came over the Diclonius' face. "Nyu?" she said.

She looked at her hands. They were caked with blood. Her clothes were stained red from the result of her mutilation of her latest victim.

Tears crept up in her eyes and she began looking around for help. "K-Kohta? Kohta, where you? Nyu scared, Nyu scared!"

Confused and frightened, she ran out of the house. She didn't know where she was, having never been to this part of town before. But she did see something she recognized. Not too far off was the ocean. She knew the ocean, and she knew that as long as she was by it, she could find her way back to Kaede House.

So she ran for the large body of water. Oblivious to the fact that swimming in the ocean at night could be dangerous, she plunged right in. The water turned red around her as the blood washed off her body. Bursting through the surface, she took a breath of air.

"Cold!" she cried.

But she didn't get out, not until all the blood was washed from her body. Only then did she head back to the shore, shivering from the coldness of night.

"Nyu." She whimpered, looking around.

She knew that she would get home if she just stayed along the beach. The question was which way did she go?

She frowned, not sure what to do. Finally she just did what Yuka taught her to do when she couldn't make up her mind. She chose at random. So, closing her eyes, she spun around, and pointed forward, opening her eyes to see which way she had chosen.

"That way!" she announced, and began heading in the direction down the beach she had chosen at random.

She didn't know how long she walked, but she eventually dried off, but was still left in soggy clothes. She still wasn't sure where she was. She never really went out after dark; at least not when she was Nyu. What if she was going in the wrong direction? She would be moving farther and farther away from Kohta.

"Kohta…" she whined sadly. She dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. "Kohta, where you? Where you? Nyu lost. Nyu want go home. Find Nyu. Find Nyu, Kohta."

That's when the tears began flowing. She had come to the conclusion that she was lost forever. She would never see Kohta or any of her friends again. She would be all alone from now on.

But through her tears, she eventually detected another presence. She looked up to find someone standing over her. A young man with pink hair and magenta eyes. But it was the top of his head that Nyu focused on. He had two horns growing out of it.

"Nyu?" she asked.

The boy stared at her with a blank emotionless look on his face. "Not Lucy." He stated, and began walking away.

Nyu watched his retreating figure for a few moments before she jumped to her feet and ran after him. "Nyu!" she cried, throwing her arms around him.

Kenshin stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. Nyu looked back up at him with pleading eyes. When she didn't say anything, Kenshin began walking again with Nyu still clinging to his arm.

"No go!" she cried.

Kenshin stopped and glanced at her again. "What do you want?"

"Lost." She muttered. "Nyu lost. Nyu scared. Nyu want go home. Help Nyu. Help Nyu."

Kenshin looked at her for a moment before asking, "Where do you live?"

Nyu blinked a few times and thought about it. She knew her way around based on familiar landmarks, not by street names and such. But Yuka had taught her the name of where they lived.

"Kaede House." She said. "Nyu's home, Kaede House. Help find."

Kenshin cocked his head to the side before saying, "Follow me," and began walking again.

Joy filled Nyu. He was going to help her! She was so happy. Not only would she get home, but she had made a new friend. She quickly caught up to him, smiling happily.

"Nyu!" she announced. When Kenshin glanced at her, she pointed to herself. "Nyu." She pointed at him and waited. She received no reply, so she repeated the action. She pointed to herself, "Nyu," pointed at him and waited before once again repeating the process.

"Kenshin." He replied.

Nyu beamed. "Kenshin!" She pointed to herself. "Nyu!" Pointed at him. "Kenshin. Nyu, Kenshin, Nyu, Kenshin!"

"Yes," he replied, "you're Nyu."

"Kenshin same as Nyu!" she told him, looking at his horns. She reached up and tapped one before reaching for where her horns used to be. "Nyu's gone now."

"You were lucky to survive the removal." Kenshin told her, and made no further attempt to communicate.

But Nyu did. It was a very one-sided conversation. Kenshin didn't speak unless Nyu asked a question, and even then he gave as simple of an answer as possible.

When the sun finally began to rise, Nyu began to recognize her surroundings. Her eyes lit up happily and she jumped for joy.

"Nyu know this!" she told Kenshin. "Nyu know this!" She grabbed his arm and began pulling him along. "You come! You come!"

Kenshin followed her without question. The bubbly Diclonius led him off the beach and down the familiar street that led to Kaede House. She wanted Kohta and the others to meet her new friend.

"Nyu home!" she shouted when she spotted Kaede House.

But there was something there that was unexpected. Someone was outside, sitting by the door, and wrapped in a blanket. It was Mayu, and she was sleeping all curled up to keep warm.

"Mayu!" the Diclonius announced.

The fact that the girl was asleep didn't register to Nyu as she threw her arms around her friend. Mayu snapped awake, wondering what was going on. It took her a moment to realize that she was being hugged very tightly by the person she had stayed up waiting for.

"Lucy, you're back!" She hugged her friend. "I was worried about you. You never came back last night."

"Nyu!"

Mayu blinked. "Nyu?"

"Yes!"

'She's switched personality.' Mayu realized. "Oh, Nyu, it's good to see you. You've been gone for a while."

Nyu smiled brightly. "Nyu made new friend!"

She pointed at Kenshin. Mayu's eyes widened when she saw the Diclonius. "It's you… Kenshin."

"Hello." Said the male Diclonous, as if he hadn't attacked Nana not too long ago. "And goodbye."

"Wait!" Mayu cried, Lucy's warning completely forgotten. "Stay there, I'll be just a moment." He turned to Nyu. "Ok, Nyu, I want you to go inside and get out of those wet clothes. Then go take a hot bath and go to bed."

Nyu frowned. "Nyu want Kohta."

"Kohta's sleeping right now. But the faster you get to sleep, the faster you can wake up and see Kohta."

Nyu eyes lit up. "Ok!" She waved to Kenshin, "Bye, bye," and ran inside.

Once she was gone, Mayu turned back to Kenshin, feeling very nervous. "I'm glad we ran into each other again. I wanted to talk to you."

"Why?" Kenshin asked.

Mayu gulped. "I want to try and convince you to leave Lucy alone."

"But I was told to kill her."

"You didn't though." Mayu pointed out. "You brought her home."

Kenshin shook his head. "No, that was not Lucy. I was told to go after Lucy."

Mayu nodded. "Yes, I understand that. But I want to know why you're going after her." When Kenshin opened his mouth, Mayu cut him off. "And don't just say it's because you were told to, because that's not a good enough reason." Kenshin closed his mouth and remained silent, so Mayu continued. "I don't think you're a bad person, Kenshin, that's why I'm trying to figure out why you're doing these bad things. This Director Kazu… whatever his name is, he's a very bad person who likes to hurt people. You don't like to hurt people, do you Kenshin?"

He seemed to consider it for a moment. "I don't think so."

"Then why do you do it?"

"Because I was-"

"Told to." Mayu finished for him. "I got that. But do you want to do this?"

Again, Kenshin fell silent, thinking it over. "I… don't know. I don't know what I want. I don't want, ever."

Mayu pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "How can you never want?" She asked herself quietly. "You're telling me that you never get this feeling to do something or to not do something?" Kenshin shook his head. "Then why did you bring Nyu home?"

Kenshin opened and closed his mouth, seeming to lose the ability to speak. It was something he had never considered. Why did he help her? He didn't know. He just did it, just like he did with anything he was told. He just did things without a single thought to them. He never had a reason to, because he never felt a the need to question any motives, and he never felt the need to second guess himself or to understand if he wanted to do it or not.

After remaining silent for a while, he finally answered. "I don't know."

Mayu smiled. "Because you wanted to."

"Wanted to." Kenshin repeated. "But… I don't want. I never have. Not since."

It hit him like a ton of bricks. Memories suppressed from long ago. He saw himself as a child, laughing and having fun with a man and a woman. Were they his parents? He didn't know, he couldn't remember his parents. Whoever they were, they loved him and didn't care that he was different. And he had felt something for them. Love? Was that what he had felt? He couldn't remember. For so long, all he had known was pain and suffering, and then after that, nothing, just a blank feeling of emptiness that had completely consumed him and blocked out everything else.

"Kenshin?" Her voice sounded so far away. But as she continued to call his name, he came back to the present. "Kenshin? Are you ok? You're crying?"

Crying? He reached up and felt his cheeks. They were wet with tears. He was, he was crying. He thought he had forgotten how. He thought he was no longer capable of crying. Why was he even crying?

"I don't… understand." He said. "Why am I…? I just remembered when I…" A whimper escaped his throat. "Mom… Dad…"

"You're parents?" Mayu asked. "Were you thinking about your parents?"

Kenshin couldn't remember the last time he actually thought about anything. "I… don't have parents."

Mayu frowned. "You mean their dead?" She received no answer. "But you still had parents, Kenshin. Everyone has parents." She gave him a sad smile. "And I'll bet they loved you very much."

"Love…" Kenshin whispered. "I don't remember love. What is love?"

Mayu frowned. "Love is… Well, it's um…" She wasn't sure how to put it into words. "I'm not sure how to explain it, but if you want to see love, just look at Lucy and Kohta. They love each other, very much. You wouldn't want to tear them apart, would you? How did it feel when you lost your parents?"

"When I lost my… parents."

Another memory surfaced. He had been sleeping when they came. Men dressed in black with guns. They forced their way in and took him. The man and the woman he stayed with tried to stop them. The men in black pointed their guns at them. The guns went off, and the man and the woman-

"NO!!" Kenshin shouted.

He buried his head in his hands and dropped to his knees, shaking terribly and whimpering. Mayu watched him for a moment worriedly before reaching out for him.

"Kenshin?"

An invisible hand grabbed her arm, preventing her from touching him. Mayu froze, knowing how dangerous the situation had just become. Kenshin got to his feet and looked at her. His face was once again devoid of emotion, the only evidence of his breakdown being the wet streaks down his cheeks.

Mayu worked up her courage. "Are you ok?"

"I don't know."

She sighed. So they were back to square one. She glanced at her arm where Kenshin's invisible vector held her. "Can you let me go, please?"

He released her immediately. "I'm leaving." He said, and began walking away.

Mayu frowned. She wasn't sure if she had made any progress. But she did have an idea.

"Hey Kenshin, wait." He looked back at her. "I want you to go back where you came from. Forget about getting Lucy. And you tell this Director person that you're not doing his dirty work anymore. And from now on, always do the opposite of what he tells you."

Kenshin stared at her for a moment. "Ok."

Mayu blinked. That was it? He was giving up just like that, simply because she said to? What had those scientists done to him so he would end up like this? It was cruel. It was beyond inhuman. The guy couldn't even make decisions without being told. She wanted to help him, she just wasn't sure how. There had to be some way to get him to have an opinion of his own.

'I'm no psychiatrist, but lets try this.' "Kenshin, listen to me." He turned to her again. "Concerning what I just said about doing the opposite of what you're told, I want you to make your own decisions. When someone tells you to do something, remember that I'm telling you to do the opposite. Compare the two choices and then do whichever one you want regardless of what people tell you. Ok?"

Kenshin stared at her. He seemed confused for a moment, but then his expression once again went blank. "Ok." He said, and began walking away.

Mayu sighed sadly. 'I just pray that whatever you decide to do will be the right choice.'

(A/N: Well there you go, a little more on Kenshin and a bit of his background. He actually showed emotion for a few moments. But how will things progress for him from there? And what will happen when he returns to the facility, and what will he deal with Mayu's requests?)