XXI

Emotions

Given that there was nothing on the TV Kyou let out a sigh of boredom as she looked up at the ceiling, she had finished the homework early and while she wanted to enjoy a moment to relax and calm down it was hard to do so without anything worth watching.

As she heard the doorbell ringing she was ready to get up when Ryou came in telling her that she would go instead, being okay with it she nevertheless kept listening to make sure that whoever it was at the door that they wouldn't pose a problem for Ryou.

'Since Ryou went to answer the door I guess it's somebody we know, ah likely it's just oto-san coming back. I hope oka-san comes back soon as well.' She waited to listen but as the normal greeting she was expecting whenever one of her parents came back home wasn't heard she got a little curious as to who exactly was at the door. Spending a moment to listen to the voice coming from the door she definitely found it to sound very familiar to her.

"Hey, I know that voice," she mumbled to herself as she got up from her place and slowly made her way towards the hallway, she didn't want them to notice her coming. Stopping at the doorframe she carefully peeked around the corner. She could see Ryou standing there, seeming to be at ease which made Kyou feel a little more at ease.

If somebody was going to be stupid to make her little sister cry then she would make certain that they wouldn't get to live to regret it, nobody harmed her little sister and got away with it.

Just moving her head a little further she caught sight of the person standing at the door, it was none of other than Kouta herself. Joy and excitement seized her heart as she saw him, she didn't know why he would be here but she was glad that he was. "… Onii-chan is here?" she whispered, keeping her voice down despite her excitement as she didn't want to be noticed just yet.

"This is so great, I need to greet him. Onii-chan expects that of me," she giggled with her excitement rising, this certainly made up more than enough for having been bored for most of the day. Looking down at herself she was reminded that she was still wearing her pajamas, she hadn't even had the chance to have changed her clothes yet. That wasn't much of a problem to herd, this was a perfect opportunity to show and impress him.

Oh her heart was beating with sheer excitement at the mere prospect of it; oh she was feeling so happy about him having come to see her today. Making one last peek to make sure of it she made her move, dashing from the cover she stormed towards the front door, building up both speed and momentum before making the big leap.

"OOOONNNNNNNIIIIIIII-CCCCHHHHAAAAANNNNN!" She yelled at the top of her lungs just as she used her vectors to launch herself at full speed into him.

Having no time at all to react Kouta could do little more than to take the full brunt of an incoming Kyou, taken by surprise he couldn't even brace himself for it, the impact of which was more than enough to knock him clean of his feet.

Grunting in pain he looked up though as quickly as he did that a powerful hold wrapped itself tightly around his neck and chest, he knew instantly that he was trapped into another one of her affection hugs though to him it felt more like a stranglehold that kept squeezing him tighter by the second.

Having grabbed, latched on and now maintaining pressure Kyou was hugging him for what it was worth. "Onii-chan?!" She smiled at him, her cheeks red as she did. "You came to see me? To see your super cute Kyou-chan? Did you bring a present for me and Ryou as well?"

Grunting from exhaustion, not to mention that his chest felt more like he had been hit by a truck Kouta returned the smile. "…K-Kyou-chan…," he gasped in exasperation. "I hadn't seen you coming, sadly I don't have a present for you, I actually came here to ask if you two would like to come the inn with me. Your father called and said that he couldn't come home early so I came to pick you up. W-Would you like that?" he wondered if it had been a good idea to ask them anyway but here he was, he had asked the girls now he was going to have to go with the consequences.

Kyou shot up straight as she heard that, loosening her grip. "Onii-chan, you're asking me on a date?! Off course I will go out with you!" Given one last tight hug she jumped up and left him there, making bounds of joy and sounding like an overexcited child around as she disappeared the corner

"Onee-chan seems to be very happy," Ryou remarked as she watched her sister leave before turning back to face Kouta. "If I may ask Isuzu-san what exactly is a date and why is onee-chan so happy about you asking her for one? Is it fun? If so I too would like to go on a date as well… if that is alright with you…?" Slightly blushing as she asked him the rather awkward question she avoided his gaze, how was he even going to explain that to her?

Letting out a desperate sigh Kouta just rested his head back on the stones and kept staring at the blue sky above him, this was another fine mess he had gotten himself into. He had just come here to have them stay for the night at the inn, not to find himself become entangled in some kind of twisted love affair, oh he already regretted having agreed to coming here in the first place. Could this day get possibly any worse?

As they were walking up the stairs that would lead them towards the inn Mayu kept asking herself if and how they were going to bring this news to both Kouta and Yuka, a part of her felt that it might be better to keep quiet about it since nobody had gotten hurt but then she was also feeling guilty and wanted their advice on what she and Saeko should do.

"Saeko-san, are you feeling any better? If we want to keep this from Kouta-san and Yuka-san then you need to wipe away your tears, they'll notice it when they look at your face."

Keeping to herself as she had been for the latter part of their walk Saeko didn't give her an answer or even showed that she had heard Mayu's question in the first place.

"Saeko-san did you hear what i said? Please, I want to help you but you need to let me know what you want. Saeko-san if you go inside like this then they will find out about what happened," Mayu said to her, expressing her own concerns. Still there was no reply from her and Mayu wondered what exactly had to be going through Saeko's mind to make her become so secluded. It was making her grow worried the longer it went on.

Maybe it would be better to just let her for the time being, Mayu didn't feel like pushing to get through to Saeko and there was no telling how the young Diclonius would react to that. Perhaps it would be better to leave her alone for a while and just hope that she could guide Saeko quickly towards her room without anybody noticing it.

About to grab her by the hand Mayu halted as she heard Saeko mumble something.

"…B-B-Bad girl… I-I-I'm a b-bad girl… a bad girl… bad girls deserve to be punished… harshly… I deserve… to be punished…," Saeko started to shiver in response at mentioning the word punishment, likely she was already dreading what the reactions and the subsequent punishment was going to be for her.

"… I-I-I… don't want to be… punished… I-I don't… don't…punishment… b-bad… g-girl… m-m-master…" Uttering the last word she seemed to suffer a mental breakdown as Saeko sank through her knees and dropped to the ground, crying and screaming hysterically.

Lying there on her side on the cold stony steps, her eyes wide in absolute horror Saeko couldn't stop crying and screaming as finally the true realization of what she had done sank in with her. The weight of her actions beginning to crush her already delicate sense of guilt.

Although startled by this sudden outburst Mayu didn't stand idle as she dropped to her knees as well and started to do what she could in order to help Saeko come back to her senses, she couldn't leave her sister like this out on the street though she could really use some help.

"Saeko-san! What wrong, Saeko-san?! Saeko-san!? Saeko-san?! Saeko-san, please snap out of it! I need you to calm down, it's alright I'm here," Mayu said, wrapping her arms around Saeko's shoulders as she did so. Mayu felt torn over having to see her sister like this, this was just too cruel for words having to witness her sister breaking down in such a way.

She didn't respond to any of it, she kept on crying as her body trembled. "I'll be a good girl…I'll be a good girl, so…" she kept on mumbling over and over.

"Saeko-san?!" Mayu pleaded her, this was becoming something that she just couldn't handle on her own, she needed help but being all alone on the stairs there was no help. "Saeko-san, please get a hold of yourself!" She was being faced with a difficult decision, either she could stay here with Saeko and hope that help would arrive quickly or take the risk of leaving her sister alone for a couple of minutes while she went to the inn for help.

Neither seemed to be a good option but she couldn't leave her like this either, Saeko needed to be brought inside and it was even possible that she might need some medical help, oh she hoped that Mako would come right away. They couldn't call for an ambulance or a doctor.

What was she going to do? Wait for help that might not come? Or take a risk and get help inside? Then she couldn't just leave Saeko alone, not in the condition she was in now. If somebody were to come and try to take advantage of her then she wouldn't be able to defend herself. What if she were to be abducted? Mayu couldn't live if that were to happen, the guilt of being responsible for that would be too much for her to bear.

Mayu sighed, she had to make a decision, and she had to make it now. Saeko couldn't move on her own like this, and without any help she wasn't going to make it back to the inn on her own.

It had taken some time but by now they were well on their way towards the inn, Kouta felt relieved that after a couple of moments both of the girls had gone back inside the house and had starting packing or in the case of Kyou getting changed.

He expected that within twenty minutes they would likely be at home, already he was looking forward to it if just for the sole reason of actually being able to put some distance between himself and the twins, especially Kyou There was just this uneasy feeling that he couldn't fully explain which just wouldn't go away.

Walking next to him Kyou was starting to feel being ignored with all the attention that Kouta was given to her sister, honestly why did they need to keep talking all the time during this walk. Still with the nice weather outside and actually being able to leave the house for a while, even if it was for only the walk towards the inn, did nevertheless wonders for her mood. She was really enjoying herself and it reflected in her beginning to humming a song.

Back at the inn she could even play in the backyard given it was large enough, even being again with the others of her kin sisters and best of all some time to spend with her precious onii-chan, Kouta.

"Excuse me, Isuzu-san," Ryou mentioned as she gently pulled on his sheeleve. "Did they say how long it was going to take for either oto-san or oka-san to come back home?" she asked, making the question that was keeping Kyou busy as well. As far as they both knew it their mother had told them that if she were to come back today it was going to be very late. As for Dai it seemed that he didn't expect to come back anytime soon which was also why as a precaution they had packed their pajamas as well just in case.

"I don't know Ryou-chan, but from what Nana-chan told me it seemed like he was expecting it to be pretty late, you shouldn't worry as I'm sure that when he's done he'll come to the inn to pick the three of you up. Still are you sure you have everything you need for Sei-kun?"

Nodding her head in response Ryou explained to him how she always kept a special set ready for just these kind of cases. "Oka-san showed me what I needed to pack just before she left."

Although listening to it Kyou just moved in closer and then suddenly grabbed his hand, all this time he hadn't made a single comment on how she looked, not even with her donning her newest and in her mind her prettiest clothes. And she was fed up with it, pulling herself up she yelled at him. "Onii-chan, you're a baka! A big stupid idiot!"

Taken by surprise twice now Kouta stopped as he looked at her, blinking with his eyes as he tried to figure what exactly she had meant with that? He wasn't really certain, hell he had even allowed her to execute one of those extremely tight holding hugs she always tried to get him in. This time he hadn't even objected to it in the first place but he must have done something wrong. What had he forgotten now?

"Onii-chan you're such a baka," she mentioned as she took a few steps back and leaned forward a little as she looked at him. "You haven't said a single word ever since we left the house. I got all pretty just for you and you haven't even complimented me on it. No praise, no nice words, nothing from you onii-chan! Don't you like me anymore onii-chan?!"

"... Kyou-chan? What are you talking about? Don't be so silly? You know that I really like you just as much as I like your sister, you're both the cutest twins I have ever come across." About to give her a patting on the head his hand was abruptly brushed aside by her.

"Onii-chan! Why aren't you looking at me? I put on my newest clothes just for you!" she yelled at him and stomped her foot several times giving of the impression that she was upset.

Kouta starting to get really uncomfortable about where this was going to head to next. It didn't make any sense to him. Why was she even bringing this up now of all places? Already she was making a scene and it had already caught the attention of other people, honestly he couldn't use this now.

Her hands reached down as she bent over slightly. "My brand new boots that oka-san wouldn't even allow me to wear yet. I put them on just for you onii-chan." Creeping up even further with her hands along she almost caressed the dark grey boots that she was wearing all the way up to just below her knees.

Starting to get a little red in the face as he followed her hands Kouta felt embarrassed, he let out a sigh of despair as her hands went even higher.

"Onii-chan?" she whispered to him, her voice taking on a sultry tone all of a sudden. "Do you like my new socks, they have this really cute frill at the top. Onii-chan do you love how they go all the way up my legs?" Going past her knees and to almost the top of her legs her hands gently went over the black thigh high socks she was wearing, the tips of her fingers loosely pulling on the frilled edge as she said it. "They even have this little bow to the side."

The palms of his hands were becoming sweaty, his breathing irregular and his heart was beating like it was about to explode. His nerves were being strained as he fought hard to try and keep his composure, if he were to lose it now then God knew what would happen next.

"Even my skirt is brand new, I took it out of its packaging for you onii-chan." As her hands reached went up even further, slowly caressing the small piece of skin between her socks and skirt Kouta felt his breath got caught in his throat. "K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-…," No matter how hard he tried or even wanted to the words just couldn't get past his tongue, he wanted to shout, to scream, anything that would make her stop with this antic and yet he couldn't utter a single word, not even her name could get past his tongue.

His body felt almost paralyzed as if she was holding a spell over him, he was trapped in a panic mode but with no way to do anything about it. 'Oh… my… god… Kyou… why are you doing this to me…? Why are you tormenting me this way…? Can't you see the scene you're making…? Calm down Kouta, compel yourself. Why? Why? Why?'

With his thoughts running rampant he could only offer a prayer that neither Yuka nor their parents were here as he was going to have it. '…Please Kyou… please for our sake… stop doing this… I'm begging you… do you know… how painfully embarrassing this is…'

"Onii-chan!" Her voice being deceptively loud as she had both of her hands holding her skirt. "I even got something else new for you. You want to see them onii-chan?

She didn't need to say more, with the way she was holding her skirt he could well imagine what it was though he certainly didn't want to see it. Not here in the middle of the sidewalk with all of these people around them. For God sake she was still a little kid, barely past the age of seven even if the bodies of her and her sister more represented that of a fifteen year old. He was way older than her, about to reach twenty-one in a couple of months.

"Onii-chan! Why aren't you paying attention to me now?! I thought you really liked me! You told me you did when we were at my house onii-chan!" She yelled as loud as she could, attracting the attention just about every other person on the sidewalk. All this while Ryou was standing there with her hand covering her eyes in shame.

As they felt the carriage slowly starting to move Mako could for now allow herself a moment to relax, it hadn't taken all that much or they would have missed this train.

"Thank God we made it in time, I honestly thought there that we were going to miss it," she said as she leaned back and allowed her head to rest against the rest.

Sitting in the opposite chair of her and starting to become visibly affected by the painkillers he had taken Bando let out a tired groan. "I wouldn't have minded it, I could have used the extra rest it would have given me for sure." Turning on his side he faced away from her.

"You're a jerk but you already know that so I'm not going to waste my time on explaining that. Just answer me this, what exactly happened when you and Dai were out that night? What caused my husband to wake up screaming in the night soaked in his own sweat?"

Bando just casually shrugged his shoulder but other than that he didn't say a word or offer any other reaction to her question.

"What was it that you two encountered there, why were you two so beaten up? I deserve to know what my husband went through, my daughters and son deserve to know what their father had to endure. What exactly happened that night? Bando! I'm asking you a question and you had better answer it!" Irritated by his reluctance to answer she shot forward and slap him on the knee though she had made sure that it had been his good leg.

"Just drop it, knowing what happened there isn't going to help," he growled in response, visibly annoyed by her. "You should also stop asking him about it as it's clear the man prefers to forget what he saw there. You're his wife but that doesn't mean that you're entitled to know everything he goes through. Now leave me alone."

Mako did want to object but for now she would stop pressing the matter, Bando's stubbornness would only get worse if she kept depriving him of his sleep. With a good rest and some coffee later she would likely have a better chance of him being willing to tell her what exactly had happened. Until then she would try and get some rest for herself.

"A shame that he couldn't give a straight answer, I had really wished that I could go to the inn and tell them the good news," she told herself, she had really wished that she could have. Having to have left without a clear answer had left her feeling disappointed, she knew that the people at the inn were all counting on her. She wished that she could give them a better answer than having to wait.

"You're too damn loud, keep it down," Bando snapped at her, his lips curling back in response. "Besides why are you even blaming yourself for it? The only ones to blame for all of this were the fucking bastards who did this to her in the first place," he remarked still keeping his eyes closed though with his sunglasses on it was difficult to say for sure.

Mako tilted her head a little to look at him, so he was still awake to some degree. "I thought you wanted to get some rest? Wouldn't it be better for you to just close your eyes and get some sleep? I doubt we'll get into any trouble on this train."

He chuckled at her question. "As if that would be possible with you thinking out loud. Besides if we were to get into trouble then I would have picked a train myself as well as there are less exits for the target to escape."

Frowning a little Mako had to admit that he had a point there but even so she found it to be another one of those cases where his paranoia got the better of him. She could make a retort or a snarky remark about it but right now she wasn't in the mood for it.

Her head resting back she gazed out the window, even though it was already starting to become rather late outside there was still pretty of daylight. Letting out a sigh as she had a quick glance at her watch and with that knowing that she wasn't going to be home until much later she hoped that Dai was already at home taking care of the kids.

"What I would give to be with them now, I wouldn't mind for Kyou to be busy in the kitchen with one of her meals," she said underneath her breath, the thought of being with her family again taking away some of the pain and disappointment she was feeling. Closing her eyes she found herself becoming sleepy as well, perhaps a quick rest would be in order. Even as she opened them one last time she hoped that Bando would keep a watch on them both, right now he was the only person that she could rely on. She had to chuckle for herself at the thought of that.

Seeing countless eyes staring back at him Kouta was becoming aware that he needed to take action and be quick about it as well, if this kept on going any longer than God knew that at some point somebody would call the police to have him arrested.

Kyou was making him seem like some kind of perverted sicko which wasn't really helping them at all, on the contrary they were all going to be in so much trouble if that were to happen. He needed to deal with this in a way that wasn't going to end up in more trouble.

Ryou was still holding one of her hands in front of her eyes while keeping little Sei up with her other arm, he had hoped that she would have addressed a few words to her sister but she seemed to be as confused if not even more than he was.

Kyou needed to calm down as well, she needed to stop with this act of her. He still hadn't even figured out why she was even doing this to him, besides even if she had been wearing these clothes just to impress him Kyou had to be aware that they could never be a couple.

She had to be aware of this herself and while he was used to her being a bit rather affectionate towards him in her choice of words it had never reached this kind of level, she was just way too young for him anyway.

Then it started to slowly dawn on him, this had to be one of those moments where she just simply wanted to tease him, it made sense as she was that kind of person. Likely she hadn't meant any kind of harm with her little stunt but a bit more consideration could have been given by her as to the where she wanted to do this.

Letting go of Ryou's hand he took a few steps forward until he was standing in front of Kyou, taking a deep breath he reached out for her, grabbing her with both of his arms he pulled her towards himself and folded his arms across her. Taken by surprise it seemed that she couldn't get a word past her lips, he felt a little better knowing that he had found a way to make her fall silent for now. That was until she was able to push her head towards him.

"Onii-chan!" she gasped with an equal mix of delight and excitement as she now pressed her body even firmer against his. "Onii-chan you're holding me. Do you want to feel them so badly onii-chan? You could have just asked but I'm all yours now. Can you feel them onii-chan! Onii-chan, you really do love me!" she cried out loud with barely restrained joy and ecstasy as she was revelling in the opportunity presented to her.

Hearing her say all that made him consider this situation to be pretty awkward, if these people didn't think of him as a pervert already they most certainly would be by now. Dammit this wasn't how he thought for this to happen, he had thought that by giving her a big hug that she would stop with this little tease of her and just come with him quietly.

'Kyou, why do you keep tormenting me like this? You're a sweetheart but at times like these you just pick the worst possible moments. I'm so going to need to do a lot of explaining.'

He had ample of reason to be angry with her, ample of reason to give her a slap on the cheek but as painful as this situation was he also knew that she had never meant any harm in it.

Right now they needed to get away from this place and these people as well and the sooner the better as far as he was concerned. With a lump stuck at the back of his throat he leaned in closer to her face and whispered something in her ear.

As they were finally able to close the door to Saeko's room Mayu let out a sigh of feeling relieved that it had all ended well for them both. It had been lucky for her that Nozomi had actually come to the nn as well, and with her help she had been able to get Saeko back on her feet and guided her inside.

"Nozomi-san thank you for your help. I don't know what I would've done without you." Making a bow Mayu was grateful, she was already feeling a lot better now knowing that Saeko would be able to get some rest and hopefully she would feel better in a couple of hours.

Returning the bow with grace Nozomi made it clear that she didn't need to thank her, after all she too was a member of this family and it only normal for her to help where she could.

"Mayu-chan if I may ask? What happened exactly to Saeko-chan that has caused her to be like that? It almost seems like she is having a breakdown. Did something happen in school?"

Nozomi asked her, well it shouldn't have come as a surprise that she would have noticed that something was wrong given how it must have looked to her.

Mayu did wish though that she hadn't asked the question, honestly Kouta and Yuka would have been the people of choice she had wanted to discuss this with first, then again maybe it wouldn't be so bad to tell Nozomi what had happened and ask for her opinion. Mayu would need to leave out some of the details to what exactly had happened as the young woman hadn't been informed on the vectors, it was considered in her best interest to leave her unaware of this as well as the whole Diclonius affair.

"It did, Saeko-san got into a fight while trying to help another female student that was being harassed by a boy, he did get a little hurt but it wasn't severe though."

Nozomi fell silent as she listened, it was a shame to think that boys would still pick on girls, a shame that there wasn't a teacher nearby to have taken care of that bully. "Did it have to do with her horns? I know that she's very sensitive about those. Honestly it's terrible that boys would still stoop so low to start picking on a girl. Yuka-san needs to inform the teachers of this." Nozomi made it clear how she felt about this, that bully needed to be ashamed of himself. It was obvious that she felt upset at hearing about this.

Mayu shook her head, no it was fortunately not because of the horns. If it had been then their troubles would have been far greater than what they were right now, it was only a small relief as Saeko had still used her vectors in anger against another person.

Besides if they were to go with this to any of Saeko's teachers or her counselor then there was a chance that they would find out about the incident today, they couldn't use any more attention. Certainly not if that was only going to mean even more trouble for Saeko.

"Well if it's alright with you I'll go downstairs to the kitchen and start working on dinner already, if there is any chance in her condition or you need any help then please let me know Mayu-chan." Nozomi made a bow as she took her leave and went down the stairs.

Looking at the door Mayu was left wondering if she needed to stay up here or not, well there didn't seem to be anything wrong physically with Saeko but that didn't mean that no complications were going to arise.

Well at least she wouldn't be alone in there, Saori was with her as well though it had been kind of hard to explain to her what was wrong with her big sister. Mayu even wondered if the little girl had actually understood what she had told her, well she had asked her that should it appear that things were going wrong that she needed to come and call for help immediately.

The chances of her doing that was pretty low, Saori hated to go outside of her room and much more preferred to just keep to herself.

In her mind Saori's life was already over as with the way she reacted to others there wasn't a high chance for her to even get to enjoy a happy life, still it was impossible for Mayu to determine what the exact future was going to be, perhaps in time Saori would come to see that she needed to change as well. But given her mental handicap that seemed difficult.

Giving it one last thought she went down the stairs as well, Nozomi was likely going to need some help to get the extra plates ready as Nana had told them that the twins and Sei were going to be coming over for dinner tonight. Well that was certainly going make this evening more lively.

Sitting at the table as he took in deep breathes of air, his hands still trembling and his mind still haven't fully settled down Kouta felt like he had aged by a good ten years after what Kyou had made him go through. Letting out an exasperated sigh his body felt tired.

He still couldn't believe it that they had managed to get away from that crowd and without even somebody being able to call the police, likely he had used up all of his luck for the rest of the year.

He felt like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, after having been told by Mayu what had happened to Saeko he wished that he could have come back sooner. Not to mention that Mako would also get back as fast as possible from her journey as he definitely felt that they could need her expertise. A message had been left on her cellphone but even if she were to hear it right away who knew how long it was still going to take before she could be back here. Burying his head in his hands he shook his head in disgust and anger, anger at the school for having allowed this to happen and disgust to think that a guy would stoop so low to pick on a girl. Saeko was a kind girl, she didn't deserve to be treated like this.

For now there wasn't much that any of them could do about it other than to keep a watch on her, as for himself he really needed to calm down after what Kyou had made him gone through. He didn't mind her little teases every now and then but she had definitely gone too far this time with the stunt she had pulled, if they got back he fully intended to tell it to her parents.

"Kyou, why do you keep causing trouble? You're a kind girl with a good heart and yet you can get people into trouble at a whim. I really wish you hadn't done this, if there was anybody amongst that crowd that knew me. I don't even want to think about the consequences of that."

The cup in his hands was nearly empty, getting up from his seat he went to grab what remained of the bottle of sake that Nana had bought so long ago. He didn't like to drink though right now he needed to calm his nerves though he felt that it was a poor excuse.

"… Onii-chan?" Kyou's voice slowly drifted towards him, her tone very different than what it had been before. "… Is it true that I caused you a lot of trouble…? … Was I being bad… ?"

Turning his head around he could see her standing there, leaning against the framework of the door. Her arms folded behind her back, her head cast down and the fiddling she was doing with her fingers made it clear that she was feeling ashamed.

"… Onii-chan… hates me now, right…?" Dragging one of her feet across the floor from left to right he could tell that she had to be feeling really nervous, seeing her like this he found it incredibly difficult to remain angry with her. Gesturing for her to come forward and set next to him he sighed before he took one more sip.

"No, No. I don't hate you. I don't think I could ever hate you despite the trouble you put me through. Kyou-chan, I understand why you make these antics at my expense and while I'm actually fine with that I do ask if you could pay a bit more attention to where do it."

She didn't say a word, she just kept staring at the table. Avoiding his gaze at all costs she even shirked from him as he tried and reached for her.

"Listen I'm really sorry if I didn't compliment you on your clothes, you looked really cute in them and I mean that but why did you have to go and make such a scene of it? People were thinking that I was some kind of pervert. You know what happens to such people in society right?"

Nodding her head Kyou spoke as she lifted her head up to look him straight in the eyes, now he could also see that she had been crying a little, her eyes stained red by the tears "… S-S-Sorry onii-chan, I-I-I didn't mean to cause you any trouble. I-I just wanted to have a little fun and tease you a little. I-I'm sorry onii-chan, I'm really sorry for having caused you trouble, I didn't mean it like that. O-Onii-chan can you forgive me, please?"

Seeing her like this reminded him that Kyou while being a little rough, and somewhat direct in her approach, on the outside could also have a very timid and sweet side to her if she wanted to. It wasn't that often that he also got to see this rare side of her as well, that side of her when she finally understood that she had done something bad and needed to apologize.

Leaning towards her he wrapped one of his arms around her though he hoped that it wasn't going to backfire. "Off course I do but you have to promise me not to pull such a stunt again. Having some fun is fine and all but not at the expense of somebody else. Now what do you saw we keep this between the two of us, I won't talk about this to your parents and you'll promise me to be a bit more considerate, alright?"

Pulling his arm back he reached out for a handkerchief and started to gently wipe away the tears from her face, this close to her he noticed that she had a surprising sweet scent around her. "No further need for you to cry alright? You look way cuter when you're smiling anyway," He said the words without even being aware of them, guess in some ways Kyou did remind him of Nyu, she was overly honest not to mention she also had her fair share of antics. Oh the things she's done to Nozomi, she wasn't likely going to forget those either.

Kyou could only whisper a few mumbled words but their meaning was lost on him, still she kept sitting there allowing him to gently wipe away the tears. After that she just sat there looking at him while slowly a smile beginning to appear again on her face.

Kouta couldn't help but smile as well. "Ah there is the cute Kyou-chan that I like so much, why don't you go to your sister and try to do some homework along with her. I'm sure that there's plenty for you if you want to go school. You'd like that don't you?" As he turned away from her he looked down at the cup, still half-filled, he didn't feel a need for it anymore now.

Slowly getting up on her feet Kyou took him by complete surprise as in a sudden move she bend over towards him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you so much, onii-chan," she whispered in his ear and just as quickly she sprinted out of the room leaving Kouta there confused and wondering if he had done the right thing after all. Perhaps that last bit left in the cup was going to be needed.

A bump caused her to wake up, slowly opening her eyes Mako noticed that they were still on the train. Dazed and not yet fully awake she had a quick glance at her watch but it took some time before it finally dawned on her that they had only done maybe like half of their journey, guess this trip was going to last a little longer.

"I see you're finally awake." Hearing that rasping voice she turned her head in the other direction, at first she didn't notice it but as she forced her eyes open she was shocked to see that there was no trace of Bando. He wasn't at his usual spot and an unsettling feeling started to come over her. If he was gone then who knew what had happened, this wasn't like him.

"Oi, Takebe." The voice sounded again this time coming from behind her. "Stop making such a scared face and have some coffee."

Appearing from the corner of her eye Bando was holding two large cups, a lid on top making sure that nothing of the coffee within was going to be spilled. "Dammit woman, you keep waking up that way and you won't live to get past forty. That said you and Hirano really deserve each other, you're both way too nervous for you own damn good," he grumbled as he reached out with one of his arms, offering her one of the cups. "Here."

Reluctantly accepting the coffee from him she watched as he said down before she removed the lid. Taking a quick sip from it she could tell that it wasn't the best coffee she had but it would have to do for now, the second sip didn't taste any better. "So for how long have you been awake?" she asked him as she forced herself to take a third sip of the foul tasting coffee.

"Long enough. Besides I'm a light sleeper. Now you said you wanted to know exactly what happened that night right? I'm going to tell you but you had better not tell this to fucking anybody. You hear me?"

Taking another sip of the coffee Mako nodded in agreement, she likely wasn't going to get another chance like this. Once emptied the last of the filthy coffee she placed it next to her and leaned in closer to make sure that not a single word of what he was going to tell would get lost.

"We went to what was supposed to be an abandoned factory complex just north of Koshigaya, well it turned out it wasn't so abandoned after all. We found way more than we bargained for, stuck in one hell of a shithole."

She had kind of expected such an answer, honestly they had to have been stuck in a lot trouble given how they both had appeared before her when they came back. Still nothing could have prepared her for what she was about to hear next as Bando continued with his explanation.

"We found them, dozens of kidnapped kids, all teenage girls chained and strapped to the inside of a heavily modified cargo-trailer. Somehow it seems to have been constructed especially for getting them past checkpoints and other locations where a search could be possible," Bando said as he went into finer detail, describing the features of the trailer.

"Modified in what way exactly? Seems like an awful lot of trouble."

Bando shrugged his shoulders, he wasn't an engineer, he could only mention the things he had noticed and that caught his attention. Other than that he could only say that it all felt suspicious to him, even somebody like him could tell that this wasn't a normal trailer. Finally after he had finished the whole story though he did leave out one very important aspect, namely the unidentified creature that had attacked them, he wasn't sure if she was going to believe that. Besides was it really going to add anything other than making her hysterical?

Mako after hearing all this and what Dai must have been through was left speechless, she had a vague idea but certainly nothing that could have come close to what Bando had told her. "I don't know what to say, all of those children… and they just killed them like that… it's…"

"Horrible? Terrifying? Downright disgusting?" Bando named just a few of the words that would have surfaced for a person after experiencing that. "Pick your poison. It makes no difference. They killed those kids in cold blood, no changing the fact. Hirano didn't seem to take it so well, guess I shouldn't blame him for it."

By now Mako noticed that the train was starting to approach the station, looking at her watch she learned to her surprise that Bando's story had taken up the remainder of their journey. As slowly the train began to slow down she found herself feeling eager to get home.

"Let's get off this damn train, I could use a good rest," Bando growled as he got back up on his feet and already made his way to one of the exit points.

By the time Yuka had come home she found herself facing a rather unexpected situation, nobody had found it necessary to inform her that they were going to have a few guests extra for dinner tonight apparently. Even though she had expressed her concerns for if they had enough they were found to be unfounded as there was still plenty left in the supply room.

But what she really found most disturbing of all was that Saeko appeared to be suffering from a mental breakdown though to the exact cause of it nobody was certain yet. Kouta had fortunately already been kind enough to give Mako a call but the best he had been able to do was to leave a message for her. Not what she had hoped for to hear.

Sitting down on the opposite side of the table she asked the question that needed to be asked. "So Kouta what are we going to do with her? We can't simply leave her like that."

He agreed, nodding his head. "No we can't but until she comes back from the trip there isn't that much that we can do other than to keep an eye out if it doesn't get worse. We can't take her to a doctor and the hospital is also out of the question, I could try and give Arakawa-san a call but you know how I feel about her coming here."

Yuka was aware of that and in part she felt the same way, given her past involved if was only naturally for them to make sure the amount of contact she would have with the girls was kept to the bare minimum. There still existed some tension between them and her.

"Is there anybody upstairs keeping an eye on her?"

"There is, you don't have to worry about her," Kouta replied, Nana had already gone upstairs earlier and for now she was keeping an eye on Saeko as well as making sure that Saori would keep calm as well. Somehow the sight of her older sister in that condition seemed to have a profound impact on her. "If something changes then Nana-chan is going to tell us, we just need to decide on what we do tomorrow. Do we keep her home just to be safe or do we want to take the risk and let her go back to school tomorrow?"

Yuka fell silent thinking about it, honestly that decision should really be left up to Saeko as she was the one who could tell them if she was feeling up to it or not, if they had to be the ones making decision then she really would have preferred for Mako to have been here. She could at least have told them if in her mind that Saeko would be up to it, both physically and mentally.

"Do we really have to decide on that now," she said underneath her breath. "Wouldn't it be better for us to wait until tomorrow morning and see how she's doing." Was the answer Yuka came up with, in her mind there was no reason for them to decide on it right now. In her mind she felt that it would be better if they were to wait before making a decision.

"For now let's have her have some rest, besides we should also make sure to get enough rest as we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. On a different note will they be staying here for the night as well? If so I would need to get a room set up for them?" Yuka changed the subject as she asked about what they were going to do about the twins and Sei.

Kouta wasn't so sure of that, according to what Nana had told him Dai would try and come as soon as possible but he hadn't specified a time so he couldn't tell. "Maybe it's better if we just get a room and some futons ready for them anyway, that way if he does get late then they can stay the night here."

Yuka could agree to that, besides it was not like setting up some extra futons was going to be a time consuming affair. "Then I'll get their room ready, just make sure they go to bed at the same time as the others. No exceptions even for them, alright?"

He gestured for her to get going, sure he would keep a watch on them but for now he wanted to have some rest and besides he had his own homework to see too. Well once he had finished here then he would withdraw to his own room and get to work, after that and he didn't expect to having to spend too much time on it he would come back and keep an eye out on the girls.

The following morning it was decided by Kouta and Yuka that it would be better if Saeko were to stay home for the day, nobody was certain if she was feeling better and not willing to take any unnecessary risks she would stay at home.

'It feels so odd to be walking to school on my own again.' For Mayu it was a reminder as to how it used to be, she didn't really like that anymore, these days she really enjoyed the walks she would have with either Saeko or even Mei as they went to school. Being with friends made the walk so much more pleasant though there wasn't much she could do about it now.

'I need to think on what I'm going to tell her friends, I'm sure they'll come looking for me once they notice that Saeko-san won't be in class. Well I should probably tell them the same as what Yuka-san has told her counselor, that should avoid trouble.'

She wouldn't be surprised if those two would already be waiting for her at the main gate, they both seemed to be pretty worried about how Saeko was doing at that time. Well she was hoping that they would, that way she would know if they really cared about her.

'What am I even thinking? Am I so worried about her being alright in school now that I've become so suspicious of people who want to be her friend? Maybe we've all become a little too suspicious of other people? Perhaps it would be better if I were to give them the benefit of the doubt, besides if they really are her friends then they will prove that to me.'

Mayu had to giggle at that thought, honestly she really hoped that her suspicions were just a silly mistake, that way she would have one less worry to keep herself busy with. Besides that she was wondering when she would get to see Mei again, it had been some time alright since they had last spoken to each other and unfortunately she didn't get to see Bando last night.

'I'll ask him when I get back from school, I'll ask for his help and hopefully he can find out where Mei-san currently is. I'd feel so much better knowing that she is alright.'

That sounded like a good idea, once school was finished she would head straight for the beach and wait there for him to show up.

She also wondered how late it would be before Dai would come to pick them up, it seemed that by the time he had arrived back from work it was already well past bedtime and along with Mako who had also arrived home pretty late they had decided that for the night the kids could sleep at the inn.

It was likely that either Dai or Mako would be there right now to pick them and to offer their thanks for having looked after them on such a short notice. Well Mayu had enjoyed having them over, honestly it was actually a lot of fun doing her homework along with Ryou who seemed pretty eager and willing on the material she was supplied with.

'If she were to be able to go to school then she'd likely be the best student of her class, she's smart enough for that, she'd do great I know it.' Off course that didn't mean at all that Kyou was dumb, on the contrary she was just as smart as her little sister. It was just that she seemed to lack the motivation of doing her homework in the first place, Nana had the same issue as well. Again she wasn't stupid or so but they just seemed to lack the motivational drive to try and ready themselves for school or was there perhaps a different reason for their lack of motivation? Were they perhaps already aware that going to school for them was simply not possible due to the curse of their bodies, because of what they were?

Mayu couldn't help them with that, it was something that lied beyond her capabilities. No, this was something that needed to be left to adults and people who were experts.

As she pushed away such thought and focused her attention again on the main entrance she was somewhat disappointed to not see the two girls standing there, honestly she had really hoped for both of them to be standing there asking her how Saeko was doing. If she was going to be fine? When they could expect to see her again?

The area in front of the entrance was also devoid of them, no matter how hard she looked for the two girls. Had she been mistaken? Had she thought to highly of these two girls? Maybe she had been overly optimistic, it was a real shame as she had hoped that what they had said was true.

Approaching her shoe locker she stopped and gave one last look around, there was nobody in sight, at least not anybody she was looking for or expecting to see. Exchanging her regular shoes for her indoor ones she let out a quick sigh, well she would just have to look for them during her break. Maybe she had just missed them, she really hoped she would get to see them.

"Good morning Mayu-chan." A familiar voice suddenly called out to her, as she turned her around to gaze over her shoulder she was surprised to see her standing there, Mei.

Author's note: Hey all, first of all I would like to apologize to you for the absence, it's been a while longer than I would have actually wanted and I'm really sorry about that.

Unfortunately I ran into a big issue with the two beta's who have been working for me and the issue was basically that they simply left without telling me, it took me two months to get into contact with one of them and only then could she tell me that she couldn't beta anymore.

Never heard a word from the other one despite numerous messages.

I've then been hard at work trying to get new beta's to work on the story but sadly this proved to be one setback after another and the two months that this process consumed where some of the worst if not to say most depressing I've had since writing fanfiction again. Some people are simply not dependable, they can't follow simple agreements or answer a simple PM and the near constant worrying when I again heard nothing for weeks on end was almost enough to make me quite writing as it erodes one's creativeness and desire to write.

With that I came to making a difficult decision and not one that I feel happy about having to make in the first place and that is to go on without beta's to check the chapters for me on mistakes and such. Given that English is only a secondary language to me there are bound to be mistakes and going on without a beta means that it's more likely such mistakes will make it into the chapter. I deeply apologize for that already in advance but this is the only way I see that I can be able to post regular updates again but also regain some peace of mind.

Please enjoy the chapter, feel free to let me know if I made any stupid mistakes. I hope you'll enjoy it and I'll do my best to make sure that the next one will still be out before the end of the month. As always looking forward to your thoughts.

Elfenliedfan, sorry for the absence, I hope the above explains it to you. I did come close but I want to continue and see this through to the end. I'm still going to post a ton of chapters so don't worry too much. Thanks for the kind words.

Take care and I hope you all have a good weekend, cheers. Till then.