Bloodbath
Chapter 8
"You're really unbelievable, you know that, Takuya?"
"Courtney, I don't even know what you're so mad about," he retorted angrily. "If I choose to do something, I don't have to run it past you."
Courtney glared at him. "You still should. Especially if it comes to you bringing home random girls."
"Why do you care anyway?" He asked. "Tell me how this is making your life inconvenient."
Zoe looked at the two with a puzzled look on her face. She then turned to Kouji, her face full of questions.
"Just ignore them. They're just being stupid. Well, Courtney is," he whispered the last part.
"I heard that, Minamoto! And screw you, Takuya!" Courtney slapped him across the face, then stormed out of the house.
Zoe jumped up, walking over to Takuya. She gingerly touched his reddening cheek, tears in her eyes.
Takuya smiled at her. "It's okay. She didn't hurt me. Besides, it's not the first time she's smacked someone. Right, Kouji?"
"Yup." Kouji cringed, remembering the time Courtney had slammed both him and Takuya over the head with a metal lid from a trash can for not inviting her out to see a movie with them. "Just in case someone stops by, we might want to try to cover up her horns."
"How?" Takuya asked.
Kouji picked up a package of ribbons in various colors. He pulled out two lavender ones, then set the package back onto the table. Moments later, Zoe had a ribbon wrapped around each horn, a bow tied in front.
"Wow, Kouji. I had know idea you were so in touch with your feminine side," Takuya teased.
"Dude, screw you. It worked, didn't it?" Kouji shot back.
Takuya looked at Zoe. The ribbons actually did a good job covering the horns. "Well, at least you did it so that she doesn't look ridiculous."
"And this is why I did it instead of you," his friend replied.
"Eh, whatever." Takuya sank down on the couch. "She looks pretty cute with those bows."
Zoe touched her concealed horns, curious. She smiled happily a moment later.
In the research facility
Kurama entered the room where the naked girl sat chained.
"Papa," she said excitedly. "I knew you would come back for me."
"Yes, Nana. I promised you I would," he said softly, unlocking her shackles. "I need you to do a favor for me."
"I'll do anything you need me to do," she replied.
From behind the glass, Kurama's assistant, Nina Shirakawa, looked at the man beside her.
"Why does she keep calling him papa?" She asked.
The doctor continued to stare into the room. "Number Seven has been locked up in this room since she was born. She's undergone an assortment of and painful tests, and needed some kind of support. And Kurama was a candidate. Without him, she probably would have gone insane. The only difference between her and Zoe is that she refuses to to use her vectors against a real person."
Kurama looked at Nana. "I know this is going to be hard for you. But I need you to find someone and kill them."
Nana looked down. "Papa, I can't bring myself to kill a human."
"But the thing is, the person is just like you. A Diclonius. The other day, the subject escaped and you have to power to sense her," he calmly replied. "We need to find her immediately.
"Do I really have to kill her, though?" She asked sadly.
"Well, I want you to just find her, then contact me as soon as you do. I'll take care of the rest." He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm counting on you, Nana."
Tears of joy ran down her face. "I promise I won't let you down, Papa."
Back at Takuya's place two days later
Over the past forty-eight hours, things with Zoe had begun to run more smoothly. She was slowly picking up on words and was able to speak a few of them. She had also been able to completely dress herself and tie the ribbons over her horns all by herself.
"Wow, she's really improved, huh?" Takuya asked Kouji, who was sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine.
"Yeah, she's picking up on things pretty damn quick. Must be remembering her motor skills," he replied.
Ding dong!
"Wonder who that could be." Takuya stood up, peering out the window. "Kouji, take Zoe into another room and keep her quiet. The police are at the door."
Kouji began to usher Zoe into another room as quickly as possible. He decided it would be better to ask questions later.
Takuya opened the door to find two officers, along with a man in a brown trenchcoat standing at the door. They held out their badges.
"Hello, I'm detective Andrew Donnally. I came here to ask you a few questions," the man in the coat said.
"Uh, sure." Takuya let them in, shutting the door behind him. "So what is this in regards to?"
The detective held out a photograph. "Have you seen this girl?"
Takuya took the photograph, his heart pounding as he saw that it was Zoe. "No, I haven't seen her. Is she a runaway?"
"Just let us ask the questions, young man. If you happen to come across her, contact us immediately." He handed a card to Takuya. "Call us if you see any sign of her at all."
Takuya gave them a fake smile. "Will do, sir." He watched them leave a moment later. "Wow, getting rid of them was quicker than i thought. Idiots."
He waited another few minutes to make sure they were gone, then called to Kouji.
"Kouji! You can come out now," he said loudly.
Kouji emerged into the room, Zoe right behind him. "So, why did you want me to hide her?"
Takuya looked down. "I don't know what it was. But I just had a really bad feeling about those guys the minute I saw them. And as soon as I asked them a simple question, they got all secretive. If Zoe was just a runaway, they would've just told me."
Kouji raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, but maybe we should file a police report. She might have a family looking for her."
"Kouji, we found her naked with her head bleeding. She had a bracelet with a serial number on it. Now I don't know about you, but I've never seen any type of bracelet with a serial number. Something's not right."
"Alright." Kouji sighed. "We'll wait a few more days and see if anything changes."
Takuya nodded. "We just got to keep an eye out."
Suddenly there was another knock on the door.
"Shit, is it the cops again?" Kouji asked.
Takuya glanced out the window, a puzzled look on his face. The boy looked to be around thirteen to fourteen years old and was wearing a dirty off-white sweater with a pair of cut-off shorts. "No, it's just some kid and his dog."
He walked over to the door and opened it. "Hi, can I help you?"
The boy, Tommy, timidly handed Takuya the now-folded up umbrella. "Um, excuse me, but I think this belongs to you."
Takuya smiled. "Wow, never thought I'd see that again. Thanks."
Tommy nodded. "I found it on the beach two days ago, but it took me awhile to find out where to find the address. Sorry."
"Hey, it's fine. You didn't have to search all over the place just to return this to me. But I appreciate it. Thank you."
Takuya noticed how dirty Tommy's clothes were, and could faintly hear a rumble beneath his sweater.
Tommy turned red from embarrassment. "Sorry about that. I haven't eaten yet." He turned to go.
"Wait," Takuya abruptly said. "Come on in and have something to eat. It's the least I could do for the kid willing to walk two days to return an umbrella."
"No, it's okay. I'm fine," the boy said quietly, cursing himself as his stomach groaned again. "Dammit........"
"Alright, that settles it." Takuya moved out of the doorway. "Get your ass in here and get something to eat. Your puppy can have something, too."
Normally Tommy would've declined the offer out of shyness, but it had been almost twenty-four hours since he had eaten.
"Okay." Tommy tied Wanta's leash onto a small nearby tree. The dog laid down, resting his head onto his small paws.
Takuya led him into the house. "Hey, guys. We have a visitor."
Tommy stepped into the room and smiled. There was a black-haired boy with a bandana on the couch.
"What's up?" He asked Tommy.
"Nothing much," Tommy replied.
Takuya smacked his face with his palm. "Oh, crap. I forgot to get your name."
"It's Tommy. And my dog's name is Wanta," he sheepishly added.
"I'm Takuya, the emo kid in the corner is Kouji, and the girl is Zoe."
"Hi!" Zoe said happily.
Tommy turned and looked at the girl. To his astonishment, it was the same girl who had ran past him two nights ago, just before he saw the wounded soldier.
"It's you," he said quietly, his eyes wide.
yay, im done with this chapter. the next one won't be as boring and the one after that won't be as boring either. read and review ^_^ laterz and i didn't know this at first but the name nana actually means number seven in japanese (yeah, i know.....dont make fun of me)
