(A/N: We haven't seen much dealing with Director Kakuzawa and his plans. So this chapter is mostly dedicated to that. It also reveals his motives and intentions of torturing his own kind. Read on.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 15: It Comes To An End

Director Kakuzawa pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Things were beginning to fall apart. It had all begun when Lucy had escaped for the first time. That's when his plans began falling to ruin.

Damn his miserable son for letting her go. The idiot had been a selfish bastard, thinking only about himself and his own gene pool. The fool had wanted to impregnate Lucy with his own child and begin the next generation of Diclonius.

How stupid could he be? Didn't he know that their DNA was completely screwed up due to constant inter-breeding with humans? They were left with small horns, unable to sense their own kind, and no vectors. To put their genes into the generation born from the queen of their species was idiotic.

Yes, his son had been a fool. But his own goal was meant for the whole world. His aim was to create a being superior to all, human and Diclonius. That was what he wanted, to create a perfect race. Lucy, he believed, was his best chance at accomplishing this, but she had become a liability. That's why he had ordered her to be destroyed if she couldn't be caught. He wanted her for research, but he would have her removed if she put his master plan in jeopardy.

He needed to keep it quiet though. His whole operation had to remain a secret. Society didn't understand. They wouldn't condole his actions because they saw them as cruel. Didn't they understand that sacrifices were necessary? Fortunately, due to a Diclonius' nature, it was easy to get humanity to see them as an enemy. But there were those idealistic fools who thought that they were all equal, whether human or Diclonius. They would fight against his cause. So he kept it a secret. He had hoped that Kenshin would be able to pull it off, and so far things had been kept quiet, but Lucy was still out there, possibly exposing his secrets.

His phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. With an irritably groan, he answered it. "Kakuzawa."

"Sir, Number 28 has returned."

Kakuzawa raised an eyebrow. Interesting timing. He wondered if Kenshin had managed to bring Lucy back. He doubted it. Lucy wouldn't come back willingly. Not unless she had switched to that childish personality that he had seen once or twice. Either way, it was good news, and he went to greet the empty-headed Diclonius.

Kenshin hadn't changed. He even wore the same clothes he had left in. Kakuzawa grinned down at the boy.

"Welcome back, Kenshin. Did your mission go well?"

Kwnshin looked up at him with empty eyes. "I don't know."

"Of course you don't." Kakuzawa muttered. "Well, since Lucy is not with you, I assume you had to kill her."

"She resisted." Kenshin replied. Kakuzawa nodded and turned to leave. "But I did not kill her."

Kakuzawa stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly turned around and faced the Diclonius. "And why not?"

"It wasn't Lucy."

Kakuzawa's eyes twitched. "What do you mean it wasn't…" He suddenly realized what he meant. Lucy must have switched personalities again, to either that Nyu person or this new personality, Kaede.

He groaned in irritation. It was his own fault. He should have made his orders as clear as possible. Kenshin was far too simple-minded and took everything far too literally.

"Alright," he groaned, "I want you to go back out again and find Lucy, or whoever it is she has become. I don't care which personality she changes to, just find her and either bring her back or kill her. Understood."

Kenshin's first instinct was to obey. Unable to think for himself, he merely did the first thought that was placed in his mind. But for the first time since he had been able to think for himself, he was left with the choice of whether to obey or not.

"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."

That was what he was told. So while Kakuzawa was telling him to do this, Mayu was telling him not to. So which did he choose?

He didn't know. Mayu had told him to compare the choices and do whichever one he wanted. So he thought about what Kakuzawa had just ordered him. He felt no desire to follow such an order, so, in his mind, he concluded that he must not want to go and capture or kill Lucy.

"No."

Kakuzawa froze. The look on his face was one of complete disbelief. Had Kenshin just… refused him? But that would require making a decision. Since when did Kenshin think for himself?

"What do you mean, no?"

"I don't want to do it." Kenshin explained. "So, no."

Kakuzawa clenched his fists together angrily. "You don't have a choice in the matter. I am ordering you to go out and complete your mission."

"No."

Anger gripped Kakuzawa, and his fist collided with Kenshin's jaw. The Diclonius didn't react to the pain. It only made Kakuzawa angrier. Kenshin no longer reacted to pain or pleasure; that made both threatening and bribing him out of the question.

"Listen here," he seethed, "I am in charge here, and you are going to do what I say."

"I don't want to."

"I thought you didn't want."

"I don't."

Kakuzawa growled. Kenshin's mind was so messed up that there was no talking to him. He couldn't send him out again; he was too unreliable.

"Fine." He grunted. "But you said that you had at least found her. So tell me where she is and I'll have it taken care of."

Kenshin thought about it a minute. Whether to obey or disobey. There was no desire to tell the director the location, so he must not want to.

"I'm not telling." The Diclonius muttered, and began walking in the direction he knew his chamber was in.

Kakuzawa was at a loss for words. No only had the brat refused him, but now he was turning his back on him. That was unacceptable. What had happened out there to make this change in him?

"Hey, wait!" he snapped. "You look at me while I'm talking to you!"

"Director Kakuzawa!"

The director froze. He turned to find Arakawa coming towards him. Damn it, he did not need this right now. Couldn't she bother him later?

"Now is not a good time." he told her.

She glared at him and held up a folder full of papers. "You're going to have plenty of time in the future with your ass in prison."

That caught his attention. Letting Kenshin go for now, he turned to his so-called assistant. "What?"

She threw him the dirtiest look she could muster. "Remember the last time I spoke to you about the Diclonius?"

He crossed his arms. "Refresh my memory."

To his surprise, she smirked at him. "With pleasure. What I brought up was how it's not fair to declare all Diclonius as hostile when the only ones we've researched have been treated cruelly."

"Ah, yes, that."

Arakawa nodded. "Yes, that. I want you to know that I've found other families with Diclonius children that are living quite happily. Cases where there have been no cruel treatment and no murders by the children."

Kakuzawa's eyes narrowed. "You were to report all families to me."

"Why, so you can murder the parents and subject the children to torture in your so-called name of science?" She pushed the folder in his hands. "I told you I'd investigate, and I did. I even managed to hack your file."

The director's eyes widened. "You what?"

"That's right, I know all about your plans of creating a superior race. You made Diclonius out to be an enemy of mankind to justify your actions to whoever works for you. Yes, Diclonius are capable of killing, but so are humans. If you bring up an ordinary human child in a cruel and abusive environment, they would react no differently than a Diclonius would. Hell, if humans had vectors, then there would be multiple murders among children with the way kids harass each other these days."

Kakuzawa glared at her. "Putting aside what you've said, it is in a Diclonius' nature to kill humans. That's imprinted in their very DNA."

Arakawa didn't argue with that. "Yes, that's just the way nature works. Stronger animals prey upon the weak. When a stronger species comes along, they take over the weaker species. But there's one very big difference. Both humans and Diclonius have enough intelligence to overcome their instincts. If brought up the proper way, a Diclonius will be no more hostile than an average human. Morals and a conscience, that's what separates us from animals." She crossed her arms. "And even animals can be trained. Dogs are predators by nature, but they can be trained right from wrong. They can be trained to ignore instincts. It's the same thing with humans and Diclonius. But a child on the streets or even in the wild, and they'll revert to instinct alone. But brought up in a civilized manner and there is no threat."

"Enough." Kakuzawa snapped. "I won't hear anymore of this."

"Why, because you no it's true? It was all in your files. I took everything you've kept quiet and matched it with the information I've discovered. If people would just stop torturing the Diclonius race, then there wouldn't be a damn problem between them and us. Hell, I've found cases where Diclonius have had children with humans. You're a damn result of that!" She held her head up high. "It's all over. I'm exposing you and everything you've done. I'm also telling the world about the Diclonius race. Once this is out in the open, all this murder between us and them will stop."

Kakuzawa threw the folder to the ground. "You fool! If you let the Diclonius become known and they're made as equals, they will one day replace the human race."

Arakawa frowned, but nodded. "Yes, that is evolution. It won't be for many, many years, but one day humans will die out and Diclonius will be the dominant species of the planet. That is inevitable. But replacing humanity and wiping them out are two very different things. Throughout evolution, species die out, that's just the way things are. Nothing can stop that. But what can be stopped is all this pointless torture and killing. So I'm pulling the plug."

Kakuzawa moved quickly. He grabbed Arakawa by the shirt and slammed her against the wall.

"Listen to me, you stupid little bitch, you had better keep this quiet. If you breathe one word of it to anyone, I'll kill you myself!"

Arakawa showed no fear. "Go ahead. Kill me. It won't matter. I've already taken the necessary steps."

"You what?"

"Did youi think I wouldn't be prepared? Even if you kill me right here and right now, it will already too late to stop it. The whole world will soon know about the Diclonius and what you've done."

With a cry of rage, Kakuzawa threw her to the floor. He reached into his coat and pulled out a gun, aiming it at her. "You shouldn't have stuck your nose where it didn't belong. All you had to do was what you were told, and only what you were told. Put you couldn't even do that right."

Suddenly he was grabbed from behind. The hand holding the gun was grasped tightly and pointed away from Arakawa. He held onto it until whoever had grabbed him bent his hand back so far that he was forced to let go.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded. He looked around, finding himself surrounded by his own people, both scientists and security. "How dare you! I'm your boss!"

A fist collided with his gut and he collapsed to the floor.

"You're nothing but a murdering bastard." Said one of the scientists.

"You made us believe that Diclonius were an enemy to mankind, but it was us who was making them our enemy by what we were doing."

A woman scientist stepped forward and slapped the director. "Do you know how much guilt I've gone through when I put these poor children through these tests. You had me believing that it was all to save humanity, when in reality you were manipulating us to your own sick cause."

"You don't even care about the human or the Diclonius race. Once this perfect race you were attempting to create was finished, you were gonna have us all wiped out to allow them to start fresh."

"You had me kill my own son because you had me believing that he would be a danger to humanity. You made me murder my child, you sick bastard!"

"And Kurama, do you realize what you did to him? You made him a child torturer and murderer, having him believe he was saving humanity. My God, he killed newborns! He completely quarantined his own daughter for this bullshit. Do you know how many innocents have died for your precious cause? And when I say innocents, I mean Diclonius too!"

"That's enough." Said Arakawa loudly. She was helped to her feet by the other scientists. "I think we've made our point. It's all over. Director Kakuzawa, you're finished. All these Diclonius that you've used as your lab rats, are going to get the best therapy to undue the damage you caused to them."

Kakuzawa looked up at her with the utmost hatred. "Idiots, do you realize what you're throwing away? We have the chance to create the perfect being! A race superior to all."

"At the cost of what?" Arakawa demanded. "If this is what it takes to make the perfect race, then there shouldn't be one. Only nature can create a perfect race. Not people like you." There were nods and muttered agreements from the other scientists. "We should give you to the Diclonius children you've had tortured and murdered, or to the parents whose children you had killed for the so-called safety of the human race. That would serve you right." She crossed her arms. "But we won't, because we're human."

"Fools." Kakuzawa muttered. "FOOLS!!! This is all for the greater good!"

"Really? Well you can give you side to the police and see if they agree."

Kakuzawa was led away by the security guards who had been made aware of the truth of the situation. The director struggled the whole time, even though he knew he was beaten.

Kenshin watched from the shadows the whole time, listening to every word that was spoken. Unsurprisingly, he felt nothing from this turn of events, and continued his way back to his cell.

(A/N: I knew almost right away that Arakawa would play an important role. I haven't read the manga yet, so I can't say if my suspicions are correct. But I made her have a very important role in my story. But just because she brought down Kakuzawa, does not mean that things are over. So stay tuned for more.)