(A/N: I'm sorry for the delay. Things have been rather hectic, and it's just been one delay after another. But here's the next chapter. Hope you like it..)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 17: It All Comes Out

Lucy woke, feeling better than she had ever had in her entire life. A little sore, yes, but happier than ever. Kohta held her securely in her arms. His grip on her tightened when he felt her stir. Lucy smiled, she felt so good lying here in his arms.

There was only one minor discomfort. Nature was calling. She sighed in aggravation. She wanted to stay here in Kohta's arms, but she really had to go.

She tried to untangle herself from Kohta's arms, but he only held onto her tighter. Lucy smiled, and used her vectors to carefully pry his arms off her. He continued sleeping as she climbed out of the bed.

She picked up Kohta's shirt and slipped it on, then she made her way to the bathroom. After she relieved herself, she decided to take a bath. She was repelled to have to wash Kohta's scent from her body, but she needed to wash up. Besides, it would loosen her tired muscles from last night's activities.

Once she finished her bath and dried off, she wrapped the towel around herself and headed for her room.

"Have fun last night?"

Lucy topped. Slowly she turned to find Yuka leaning against the wall, her face hidden in the shadows. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm not stupid." Yuka's voice was strangely emotionless. "I know what happened last night between you and Kohta."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. So she knew, did she? Maybe that was for the best. Yes, it was. Now Yuka knew who Kohta truly belonged to. The game was over.

"Do you?" she said, feeling the need to confront Yuka head on about it. "Then you'll know that Kohta made his choice."

Yuka's fists clenched. She was silent for several seconds before speaking again. "I've loved Kohta a long time. Ever since I was a little girl. There's never been anyone besides Kohta in my heart."

"It's the same for me." came Lucy's quick response. "He's the only one I've ever loved, and the only one I will ever love." She narrowed her eyes at her former love rival. "And I'm never going to give him up. I'll do whatever it takes to keep Kohta. No matter who I have to hurt in the process." She calmly walked past Yuka, heading for her room. "And that includes you."

Yuka suddenly surprised her by grabbing her and slammed her against the wall. She held Lucy pinned there, her nails digging into Lucy's arms. Lucy let herself be manhandled, knowing that she could easily overpower the other woman if she had to.

"Just listen to me, you bitch!" Yuka shrieked. "I know you love Kohta, and I know Kohta loves you too. He may love me, but not the way I want him to. He only loves me as a cousin. That's all I am to him, no matter how much I love him, that will never changed."

She leaned forward, and Lucy got a good look at her eyes. They were filled with despair and heartbreak, tears flowing out of them. Yuka was hurting, and hurting badly, the phantom pain in her heart was worse than any physical pain she could have felt.

"No one loves Kohta as much as I do." She continued. "No one. And because I love him so much, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make him happy, because that's what I want the most, his happiness." Her grip on Lucy tightened. "That's why I'm giving him up. I can't compete with the love you two share, no matter how strong my feelings for him are. You make him happier than I ever could. So I'll let you two have your happiness." Her grip on Lucy finally relaxed. "That's all I had to say."

She released the Diclonius and slowly began walking away. Lucy remained where she was, running Yuka's words through her find.

"You're wrong, you know."

Yuka stopped. She turned around to face the Diclonius. "What do you mean?"

"About there being no one that loves him as much as you do. Because I do. I'm not claiming to love him more than you do, but at the very least, I do love him as much as you do." She turned to lock eyes with Yuka. "Kohta is my everything. He's my reason for living. I gave up everything for him. Everything. My life, my freedom, my sanity, my innocence. All for Kohta. I willing walked into death, into a life of brutal torture more painful than you could ever imagine. Kohta was the only thing I ever had. No parents, no siblings, no family at all, and no friends either. Anyone and everything I even came close to caring about either betrayed me, or was taken from me. Kohta is the only thing I have, and the only thing that truly fills my heart." She turned her back on Yuka. "So before you go off saying how my love isn't as great as yours, consider what I've had and what I've given up. Go through everything I've had, and then you can say that your love can compete with my."

With nothing else to say, she walked into her room and closed the door behind her. Yuka was left alone in the hall, with nothing but Lucy's words to keep her company.

Finally she dropped to her knees and cried some more. Not out of heartbreak this time, but because Lucy had once again beaten her.

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"Achoo!"

Mayu pulled the blanket around herself to keep warm. Kohta removed the thermometer from her mouth and looked at it.

"You have a small cold." He said. "It's not too bad, but you should stay in bed today."

Nana's bottom lip was quivering as tears ran down her cheeks. "Sh-She's not g-going t-t-to die, i-is she?"

Kohta chuckled. "No, no. She'll be fine. She just needs some rest." He looked at the thermometer. "I wonder how you got sick anyway."

Mayu grinned nervously. "Guess I picked up a bug from somewhere."

That was a lie. She knew exactly how she had gotten sick. It was from staying outside all night waiting for Lucy to come back. Still, if a little cold was the price to pay to get through to Kenshin, then it was worth it.

Kohta gave her a smile. "Well don't worry, you'll be better in no time. Come on, let's get you back to bed."

"But…" Mayu glanced at her dog. "I need to take Wanta for a walk."

"Not today." Kohta lightly scolded. He glanced at Nana. "Nana, would you mind walking the dog?"

Nana suddenly latched onto Mayu. "I'm not leaving my friend when she's sick!"

Kohta sighed. So far today looked like it would be rather troubling. Mayu was sick, Nana was worried sick, and Yuka was in her room depressed for some reason. It was just going to be one of those days.

Lucy watched as Nana fussed over her sick friend. She felt slightly guilty, knowing that she was sort of the reason why Mayu had gotten sick. She supposed this was the least she could do.

"I'll walk Wanta."

The others stared at her in surprise.

"You will?" asked Mayu.

A slight embarrassed blush stained Lucy's cheeks. "I have a… soft spot for dogs." She admitted, remembering the puppy she had once had before it was beaten to death by bullies.

Mayu considered it. "Well, if it's not too much trouble."

"I can manage. Where's his leash?"

"In the closet where the coats are."

Lucy nodded and went to retrieve the leash. Kohta followed her into the other room. There was something bothering him.

"Lucy, are you sure this is ok? What if she comes out?"

Lucy knew exactly who she was. "It'll be fine." she assured him. "She won't come out without a motive. But I'll stay away from other people anyway. We'll just walk along the beach."

Kohta scratched his head nervously. "Well, if you're sure."

Lucy suddenly grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards her, kissing him hard on the mouth. "I'll be fine. I can't let her rule my life or else she wins."

Kohta couldn't argue with that. "All right. Be safe."

Lucy gave him a smile. "I will be."

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Kenshin slowly opened his eyes. His mind was foggy, as if he couldn't remember what had happened.

'Where am I?' he wondered.

Looking around, he saw that he was back in his room. Actually chamber would be a more accurate word.

'That's right, I came back. The director was angry with me, and he…'

The memories came flooding back. After Kenshin had retired to his room, Kakuzawa had come in several hours later with his most loyal men. Kenshin had expected interrogation, even torture, what he hadn't expected were those drugs they pumped him full of. Truth serum, he remembered, was one of them. There were others, but he couldn't recall their names. He hadn't been feeling right in the head after that first dose.

What had all that been about? He knew that Kakuzawa had wanted to know where Lucy was, but Kenshin hadn't felt like telling him. And Mayu had told him not to do things he didn't feel like doing. So he had remained silent.

Was that what the drugs were for? He remembered Kakuzawa saying something about giving him one last chance to talk before they forced the truth out of him. Kenshin had once again replied that he didn't feel like telling, and that's when one of the men had stuck him with the needle. Then things got foggy.

Had he talked? Kenshin thought about it. Yes, now that he thought about it, he had talked. He hadn't wanted to, or even meant to, but the words had just flowed out of him as if someone else had taken control of his vocal cords.

So Kakuzawa knew, and he was going after Lucy. Well, that wasn't Kenshin's concern. He would just go back to sitting here, doing nothing, not moving from this spot, just like he always did, simply because that's where he was.

He closed his eyes, letting his mind go blank as it always did. But for some reason, this time, his mind didn't go blank. He once again saw Kakuzawa and his men standing over him, taking the information they needed about Lucy's whereabouts. And for some strange reason, that image seemed familiar.

Kenshin frowned slightly. Why did that scene seem so familiar? It was like it had happened before. For a moment Kenshin wondered why he cared, as he never had cared or thought about anything before. He'd always accepted everything because that's just how it was. But for some strange reason, he wanted to know why this seemed familiar, and why it seemed so important.

It felt like that time when he was talking to Mayu and that… memory had resurfaced. Something about men in black taking him away from his parents. It felt related to that.

The memory came back again. And then, like a missing piece of a puzzle, a new memory came with it, connecting the men in black taking him from his parents to Kakuzawa standing over him.

"So this is the boy?" Kakuzawa asked.

Little Kenshin coward away from him in fear, but he couldn't move far as he was chained to that wall.

"Yes," one of the men replied. "His names Kenshin Minamoto. Son of Susumu and Michiko Minamoto. Age 5, blood type A+, date of birth-"

"I could care less of such things." Kakuzawa interrupted. He bent down so he was eyelevel with Kenshin. "Don't look so afraid. This is your new home now. We're going to be great friends."

Tears ran down Kenshin's cheeks. "I want my mommy and daddy."

The grin never left Kakuzawa's face. "I'm sorry, but you can't see them anymore. But I'll be your new daddy. Now be a good boy and don't give daddy any trouble." He stood up and turned to his men. "Begin immediately. I want to see his potential."

And that's when the pain began.

Kenshin's eyes snapped open. Yes, he remembered that now. It had happened so long ago, and had become buried in the back of his mind along with everything else. He remembered the love and joy he felt with his parents, he remembered being torn from their side and brought into a life of pain so intense that he had locked away his very identity and will to do anything. And it was all Kakuzawa's fault. And now he was going after Lucy, to try and bring her back to a life of pain.

Kenshin's fists clenched. For the first time since he could remember, he felt angry. But anger wasn't the only thing he felt. A mixture of emotions he had long since forgotten surfaced.

His cheeks felt wet. Kenshin reached up to and found that he was crying. Again? That meant he was sad, right? Yes, he was sad.

Kenshin wiped his eyes and stood up. He didn't have time to feel sad. He had to leave. There was something he had to do. No, scratch that. For the first time since he could remember, there was something he wanted to do.

(A/N: Troubles a brewing. Kakuzawa knows where Lucy is and is going after you. But more of Kenshin's humanity has surfaced, as have some rather upsetting memories. Who knows what he'll do next. But onto happier news, Yuka has given up on Kohta and has given him to Lucy. Finally Lucy can find some happiness. That is, unless her happiness is snatched away from her again.)