XXXIX

Happening

Gazing away from his school papers for a moment Kouta had a long look outside, the class had only just started but already he found himself struggling to keep his attention focused on what his teacher was explaining to class. There was just too much running through his mind.

'Kyou-chan really scared me yesterday, thank God she didn't do anything else after that. I think that Yuka would have skinned me alive if she had found that Kyou in my room.' He would feel a lot better if Kyou were to refrain from did any further perverted acts as he would be the one that was going to be in trouble, a lot of trouble at that. He was definitely going to miss out on school for a couple of days if Yuka were to really want to punch him.

'I'll just have to be a bit more cautious in the coming days, once they're back home I'll explain it to Yuka and make it up to her. I probably already hurt her feelings enough as it is.'

Briefly, he wondered if she was going to believe him? He hoped she was going to as she had experienced with it as well given Nyu's antics in the past and she also knew that Kyou was a little mischievous when the young Diclonius wanted to be but never meant ill. She was a kind-hearted girl who also was pretty curious and kept exploring her boundaries though more often than not she crossed them.

'Well at least she keeps the place lively, man it felt weird hearing them talk about going to school, I don't think that I have seen her so fired up for anything.' For that matter, Nana seemed to be pretty excited about it as well which had actually surprised him given that she had been pretty bored when she had gone along with him, Yuka, and Nyu a long time ago. Then again it might just be different if she was in class with people of her own age, it seemed only normal to him that Nana was going to be more enthusiastic about that.

And then, of course, she already knew a good amount of people going to the same school so again it made sense to him that Nana was feeling far more excited about going to the same high school as her friends and kin-sisters than to this university. 'As long as she enjoys herself I'm fine with it, Nana-chan deserves to have some fun in her life as she has kept herself locked in the house ever since she stumbled into our lives. It would be good for her to come into contact with more people.'

He couldn't help but smile at the thought of that, it was going to be quite a spectacle to see, no less than four horned girls attending school. It was something that he could barely imagine, what were those people going to say who all claimed that humans could never live together with Diclonius. He felt pretty confident that both Kaede and Nyu would have been very proud if they had been here, this was something that both of them could have only wished for.

'You two would have cheered for those girls, more proof that what those people have been saying is false. You girls aren't the monsters that people made you out to be, you didn't want to become that, it just happened because people were so arrogant and short-sighted…'

Still lost in his own thoughts he didn't notice it when his teacher called out to him the first time, he certainly didn't hear it the second time and he really did not notice it when his teacher was practically standing next to him.

That was until he slammed his hand on Kouta's desk. "Isuzu-kun! Don't tell me you're spacing out in my class?! Your grades aren't high enough for me to permit you slacking off or spacing out in my class!"

Shook awake Kouta stared at him, confused at first and unsure of what to say to the man.

"M-My apologies sensei!" He shot up from his desk and bowed as quickly as he could compose himself. "I 'm terribly sorry for this, sensei! My deepest apologies!" He made another bow to emphasize his apology, this was one of those subjects that he was still having trouble with so it was not going to do him any good if he got on bad terms with this particular teacher. "My sincerest apologies for not paying the proper attention to your explanation, sensei!"

"Just don't let this happen again or it will reflect on your grades, Isuzu-kun. I won't warn you again the next time nor will I accept an apology from you. Continue from where I stopped and do not dare to stop until I tell you to." With that, his teacher left and resumed his place back at the front of the class.

"Yes sensei," Kouta replied as he took his book and leafed through it, luckily their teacher hadn't really gotten that far for which he was grateful as he was quickly able to pick up from where their teacher had left. Standing up from his desk he scraped his throat and read out loud.

After a couple of minutes, he received a nod from his teacher gesturing that he could stop there, with that he made a bow and sat down again in his seat. For now, he was safe, but he told himself not to lose attention again in this class for the coming weeks.

Yuka, still being unable to get up on her feet, crawled backward across the floor, trying to get away from the man, to put as much distance between herself and the apparition in front of her. She still could not believe her own eyes, it simply was not possible and an utter feeling of dread washed over her as she saw him taking a step forward. The wooden floor creaked and groaned underneath his thread as if it was protesting as well against his very presence.

Even as she saw him standing there a part of her kept telling her that this was only a bad dream that she was living, it had to be, there was no other explanation in her mind.

"It would appear that my sudden appearance is causing you some difficulties. I can assure you that I am not a figment of your imagination, I am as real as the very air that you breathe though I can understand that my presence might be incomprehensible to you." His hand reached out for her. "If I am of inconvenience to you then I will take my leave."

Staring at his outstretched hand Yuka pondered on what to do if she were to accept it and touch his hand she would know instantly if he was real or just a mere imagination. Slowly, carefully but with certainty, she accepted his hand and as she was lifted back to her feet she felt how strong his grip was. Even through the leather of his glove, she could feel the warmth of his hand. He certainly was real, the person in front of her was not a ghost, he was a living person.

Coming to the realization that he was very real something changed inside Yuka, the disbelief and fear that she been experiencing making way for anger and resentment. Without even becoming aware of it, her hand formed a fist and reared back, she hit him as hard as she possibly could, yelling at him. "Y-You JERK! H-How dare you to show up?!"

They stood there, neither of them moving. Yuka was overcome by a sudden wash of guilt as the rush of anger faded, feeling ashamed over what she had just done. "I-I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I-It was just that…!" Memories came to the front of her mind, images of that terrible night where this man had killed so many people and showed what he was capable off, the fear returned. The fear that he might do to her as he had done to them.

"Do not be, I will permit this transgression as you have every right to despise me, to hate me. I am certain that my presence here will have given rise to a great many questions on your behalf, questions that demand answers. I will not hold it against you."

Never once did his face betray any sense of anger, it was just a cold, emotionless expression that was staring back at Yuka, something that she found even more unsettling.

"But it would seem that my coming here has caught you at an unfortunate moment, I will take my leave and return at a more suiting moment." He was about to turn around when Yuka called out to him. He stopped, his back turned towards her.

"Why…" She stood there, daring for him to turn and face her. "Why did you have to come back now of all times? Why has it taken you so long? Where have you been? Why did you?" As she asked those questions she felt her anger flare up again as she thought back to all the pain, suffering, and misery that Saeko had to go through following his apparent death.

"To think that you have been alive all this time! To think of all the pain that she went through, thinking that you were dead! How low must one be to make a little girl go through that?! Do you even have any idea what she had gone through?!"

Gritting her teeth she again felt the overwhelming urge to just punch him as hard as she could, it was going to be nothing compared to what Saeko had been through but at least it was going to make Yuka feel a little better. "You're just a jerk! You harmed her more than those people ever could have! You lied to me! You lied to my family! And worst of all you lied to Saeko-chan!"

She fully expected him to make some kind of excuse, anything in order to avoid the truth that he had lied to them all and failed to keep his promise. Her family had suffered because of his failure, she would not accept any excuse that he could make. "H-How dare you?!"

"I am fully aware of my past failures and I will not deny that whatever events transpired against your family was due to me being at fault. However you mistake me for someone else, I am no longer that being." With those words spoken, he turned around and looked her straight in the eyes, to Yuka it became clear that he had meant those words. "If you wish for me to leave these grounds and never return then so be it. I will respect that."

Yuka fell silent, the anger that had been so present recently was drained from her. Somehow she couldn't bring herself to see him any further. "Leave my house! Don't ever dare to show your face again to my family! Stay away from Saeko-chan, you hear me?!"

His head made short nod. "As you wish, I shall not intrude on your family again. Take good care of them and thank you for having done what I could not, to take care of her. You have my gratitude."

He turned back and walked away from but as got to the door Yuka yelled at him. "I don't want your gratitude! Nobody wants that! Don't act like it has any meaning anymore!"

He gave her one last look. "It would appear that coming here has been a mistake on my behalf, I should have reconsidered coming. Take good care of your family." And with those words, he vanished.

Yuka was alone again though she wasn't so sure if she should feel elated about it, she was now aware of a terrible truth, known to only her, and she questioned if she could find the courage of confronting Saeko later today. What was she going to do? Could she bring herself to tell Saeko? How was she going to bring this news to her family? Or would it be better if she kept quiet?

"Wel, to be honest with you, Isuzu-senpai. We sadly don't know who those girls are, we've only seen their faces, we haven't heard their names, and apart from them being second years, there isn't really much else that we know about them. I am truly sorry," Azusa bowed as she apologized for not having been able to provide Mayu with more information about the identity of the three girls that were currently targeting Saeko. It was unfortunate, and the dark haired girl was feeling terrible about not being able to do more.

"You don't have to apologize, Azusa-san. You're already doing more than enough by being friends with her. I'm sure that all of you must be pretty upset that those girls can get away with this as well. Oh, speaking of Saeko-san where is my sister actually?" Mayu looked around trying to see if she could find her sister but there was no trace of the girl to be found.

"Ah, she needed to go the toilet along with Yuzuka-san and Saten-san, they felt that it was better that somebody went along with her. Just in case, you know," Azusa informed her, explaining to the older girl that after what had happened on Saturday they felt that it was better for Saeko to always have at least one other person, or preferably two, with her.

"I see, that's very kind of you all. Thank you," Mayu offered Azusa her thanks for them having been so foresighted, it was reassuring to see how far Saeko's friends were willing to go to help her and Mayu couldn't help but offer a silent prayer for them having met. She felt more at ease knowing that two of her friends were with Saeko.

"That reminds me, I believe that the senpai from Saten-san's club might actually know those girls. If I recall correctly she used that to make them go away on one of their attempts, oh and also last Saturday there was also this older boy who seemed to know them. Sadly we don't know who he is either, my apologies Isuzu-senpai."

"It's okay, well then it seems I should go and have a talk to the senpai of Saten-san then. I hope she knows a little more about those girls. Oh, Ichinose-san do you know to which club she belongs? It would save me a lot of time if I knew which club I should go to and could you also tell me the name of her senpai?" Mayu didn't want to waste too much time, the faster she had a talk with this person the sooner she hoped to gain a better understanding as to why those girls were after Saeko.

"Sakuraba-senpai, she's the senpai of Saten-san and the one that you should ask for. She's a member of the sewing club. If you want I could ask for Saten-san to introduce you to her?"

"You shouldn't," Mayu informed her quickly, it was a kind offer but that also meant that she would need to wait for the girl to return and that also meant to see Saeko. The last thing she wanted right now was for Saeko to learn what she was doing. "I'll visit her on my own, but thank you kindly for the offer. I do have a small favor to ask of you, Ichinose-san, please don't talk about this to Saeko-san? Could you please do that for me?"

Azusa bowed. "Of course, Isuzu-senpai, I hope you're able to find out who these girls are and put a halt to their actions. Isuzu-san is really struggling with this, it'd be a lot better for her if they just stopped with it. Good luck senpai."

Saying their goodbyes Mayu left. Feeling better now knowing that Saeko was in good hands and with friends who really cared for her, and looked after her to make sure that she wasn't going to get hurt. Mayu could leave her sister alone with a clear consciousness and reassurance, they would after the young Diclonius while she was away.

She knew where had to go to but as her next class was about to begin in a couple of minutes she would have to wait until after, in the meantime, she was going to have to come up with how she was going to deal with Mei's situation as well.

She hadn't heard from Bando since she had gone to ask him for help but then it was not so abnormal for him to be gone for a while and then to just show up all of a sudden. Mayu was convinced though that when they were to meet again that he would have found out what was going on, until then it was going to be up to herself to learn as much as she could. Of course, she was going to have to do just that without giving her intentions away to Mei.

"Yuka-san, we're home. We've brought some sweet with us," Nozomi mentioned as she entered through the front door, Kyou and Ryou were already ahead of her taking off their shoes as they climbed up the raised floor with the bag holding the sweet they had brought along. They had been pretty eager to get back home, for obvious reasons.

"Could you let Yuka-san know that we've brought these with us, I'll go to the kitchen and get the water set for the tea," Nozomi said as she took off her shoes as well, watching as the girls nodded and went further into the hallway, leaving the dark haired girl all by herself at the entrance.

"We'll go ahead and get everything set up in the garden," Kyou mentioned as she was the first one to disappear around the corner, her younger sister Ryou followed swiftly after leaving Nozomi alone in the hallway. Looking around she wondered why Yuka hadn't come out to meet them.

"Maybe she hasn't heard us? Well, I suppose that could happen as she's rather busy, perhaps she's already outside. I guess I should go and check up after I've prepared some water." Going in the other direction she headed first for the kitchen, once she had set the kettle she could go and check up on the lady of the house was outside or not.

Outside Yuka was sitting there on her own, huddled up and her legs pulled up, she was just staring at the ground in front of her, feeling uncertain on what she was supposed to do next she let out a deep sigh. She felt conflicted about what she was going to do, she was even scared of telling this to Kouta, she did not even know how to tell this to him.

"Ueda-san?! Yuka-san?!" Voices called out to her, pulling her away out of her thoughts and back to the tranquil setting of the garden. Looking up and towards where the voices had come from Yuka was pleasantly surprised to see Kyou and Ryou standing there, waving towards her and holding up a plastic shopping bag.

"Ueda-san, we brought some sweets from the bakery with us. Do you want to have the first pick?" Removing a cardboard box from the bag the younger girl opened it and presented it to Yuka as she asked which one she wanted to have. Her older sister next to her appeared to be a bit more impatient, the look in her eyes leaving no mistake, she wanted the cake now.

Staring at the bag the young woman felt humbled by the gesture, already she was starting to feel a lot better but in her mind, it was not fair for her to have the first pick, as far as she was concerned the two girls deserved that. "Oh, that's so very kind of you dears, both of you. But I think you and your sister deserve the first pick. Go on, dear," Yuka mentioned to them and was about to get up from her chair when Nozomi came outside as well.

"Ah Yuka-san, have the girls already told you about the sweets we brought with us. I've already put some water in the kettle for the tea. I did look for where you've put the box with the blends in it but I couldn't find it," she informed the young woman as she began to push some of the chairs closer together.

"Oh, that's right," Yuka mentioned as she pushed herself up on her feet. "I'm sorry, you see I actually made myself a cup this morning and then I forgot to put it back in the closet. Let me go and get it, I'll also bring a couple of dishes with me, no point in getting our hands dirty from the sweets you brought with you." Going back into the house she did stop for a moment to ask if the two girls could already get the chairs sorted so that everybody had a place to sit when she came back.

"Do you need any help inside?" Kyou asked but she was quickly turned down by Yuka who told her that it was kind to offer to help but that she could do it on her own.

It was not that she did not want the help but she had her reasons for rejecting the girl's offer, least of which was that she quickly needed to hide the letters to make sure that nobody was going to see them. She had kept them hidden from Kouta and others as she wanted to surprise them with the good news but now, after having read them, she felt actually somewhat ashamed of herself, ashamed of having been rejected by all of these companies.

She didn't really want to tell anybody about it, she felt so stupid looking back at it in hindsight. The least she could do right now was to hide the letters and at the next opportunity get rid of them, that way she would prevent the others from seeing them. Well, a nice moment with the girls and one of her best friends could likely help cheer her up or help her forget about her problems for a little while.

She sighed thinking about it, her mind was still in turmoil as she picked up the letters and quickly hid them in her own room, it felt as if a part of her life was already over before it could even begin. Letting out an even deeper sigh as she closed the door behind her and wondered what there was going to be left for her in the future.

Going back to the kitchen, she was trying to shake off those thoughts. Spending some time with Nozomi and the twins were going to do her good, and right now she really needed it.

"Uh... Ueda-san…?" Ryou appeared suddenly behind her. "Are you alright, you seem a little absent? Did something happen while we were gone, did you hurt yourself?" she asked.

Yuka couldn't help but smile at the young Diclonius' question, Ryou was always so kind, so caring for others. "I'm fine dear, I'm just a little tired that's all. I've been rather busy in the house you know." She had to lie to her and she felt terrible about doing it but she just couldn't bring herself to tell them what was troubling her. "Was I taking a little too long for you girls? My apologies, still given that you're here would you care to help me carry the dishes?"

Ryou nodded, smiling at it. "Of course, Ueda-san, should we perhaps also bring some forks with us?" She asked, suggesting that otherwise, it might be a little difficult to eat the sweets.

Yuka patted her on the head. "That is a good idea, dear. Let me just get a few for you."

Opening one of the drawers she pulled out a few forks for them to use, some spoons as well and apart from the box carrying the various blends of tea and dishes there didn't seem to be anything else that they were going to need. The water wasn't yet boiling so she would have to come back for it but for now they could have everything set up in the garden. "Let's go dear, I can imagine that your sister must be pretty impatient about getting to eat her sweet."

A quick nod from Ryou confirmed the woman's suggestion. "Onee-chan is always having trouble with having to wait for sweets and stuff she likes but she did promise that she would wait for us, we decided to share our sweets."

"Is that so?" Yuka could not help but smile, already she was beginning to feel much better.

"Sakuraba-senpai, thank you kindly for having taken the time and effort to talk to me about this. I really appreciate it," Mayu said before making a bow and offering her sincerest thanks to Sakuraba for having made the time to talk to her about the problem.

Sakuraba had been surprised at first when she saw Mayu appear in the club room but she had kindly accepted her request once she had heard the explanation of the younger girl as to why she had come to the room in the first place.

"Not at all Isuzu-san, it's my pleasure though I"m sorry to hear that your sister is being the victim of those girls. You're right to come see me as they have to be stopped."

Mayu nodded her head in agreement, she was planning on achieving just that and now with knowing who these girls actually were she could go and confront them. Of course, that was easier said than done and she was going to have to plan this carefully, the last thing that she wanted was for this to backfire on Saeko.

"It's a shame they have decided to resort to that, if you need my help then please don't hesitate to come ask for my help or let Saten-san know. Your little sister is a kind girl, I certainly enjoyed talking to her and even if she seems a little strange she's somewhat unique in her own way," Sakuraba told her in return, it seemed that she had found Saeko to be a very charming and likable girl though Mayu wondered when the two of them had actually met. Anyway it was irrelevant and far more important was the information about the girls' their identity and the offer from Sakuraba to help her. "Thank you for everything, senpai. I hope that after this I'll be able to return the favor. Please let me know if there's something that I or my sister can help you with. It would be our pleasure to help you."

Sakuraba giggled in return, a warm smile gracing the features of her face as she said, "Not at all, it's my pleasure as well to be able to help the fabled honor student Isuzu. Perhaps once this has been resolved we can meet again and perhaps talk about more pleasant topics. I'll be looking forward to that, I wish you good luck, Isuzu-san."

"As do I, Sakuraba-senpai. Goodbye." As the door closed and Mayu walked away she felt a wave of encouragement wash over her, what she had planned for had come to pass. Sakuraba had told her everything that she had wanted to know save for the possible reason as to why those girls, in particular, were after Saeko but that did not matter, she was going to find that out anyway when she would confront those girls.

Sadly though the senior girl had not been able to tell her anything about the boy who had been, apparently, also present at the last encounter but then that would have been a little overly optimistic to hope for. It was alright, she could always go and see her again tomorrow.

Right now she needed to go and find out which class those girls belonged to and what their roster was. "I have their names, I can find out what class they are in now in the school records. The only question is if I can be allowed to view those. Then again I could also go for the school yearbooks, Sakuraba-senpai did mention what class they were in last year, hmm perhaps…"

"Yo, Mayu-chan." Mei appeared from out of nowhere, taken her by complete surprise. "What are you doing? Must've been really important if you haven't heard me calling your name several times? I haven't even gotten to talk to you the whole day, so how are you?"

Mayu didn't know what to say, honestly, she had failed to notice or hear Mei coming, let alone expect for her to be greeted like this by her friend. "Well… I… erm…"

"Mayu-chan?" Mei looked at her. "You aren't trying to do what I think you are, right? You shouldn't put yourself in danger, please leave this alone. I don't want to see you get hurt," she cautioned Mayu, telling her that she needed to drop this. Mei had pleaded with her for a good reason, these people were simply too dangerous to cross. She did not want to see her friend get hurt.

As it finally got through to Mayu she realized that Mei was talking about her own problem and instead not actually about the issue with Saeko, perhaps she had not been aware of it yet though if that was the case then this represented a golden opportunity.

"No, Mei-san that isn't it. Actually to be honest…" Mayu gestured over for them to have a seat in order to have a quick moment alone with her and besides other students did not have to hear this. "You see, my younger sister, Saeko-san is being picked on by a couple of older students. I went to see a senpai who might know more about those girls and she was kind enough to tell me about them. So, I-."

"Am going to the school records to look for information on which class they are, I presume the yearbooks, right? Oh, that's so smart of you but then you're an honor student, should've expected nothing less from one of the smartest students in the whole school." Mei giggled, even though she had kind of interrupted Mayu mid-sentence she had certainly guessed it right.

"Yes I am, I don't know which classes they are in now but if I know which class they have been in then I can easily find out in which class they are currently residing plus I might also be able to find out why they are picking on her."

Mei stood up. "Then I'm going with you, I might be able to help as I know a few people who work there. You don't mind me tagging with you, right?" Mei asked, looking at her.

Giving a smile in return Mayu got up herself and wrapped her hands around those from Mei. "I would really like it if one of my best friends were to accompany me, thank you Mei-san, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much, it means a lot to me." Even as she spoke the words they left a rather bitter taste in her mouth, Mei had offered to help her while not accepting any help for herself. It was an unpleasant feeling that she was experiencing.

"Shall we go then, Mayu-chan? If we're quick then we might just be able to find them before school's over. Come on!" Mei pulled on her hand, dragging her along.

Mayu focused her thoughts, for now, she would concentrate on helping Saeko but once she was home she would spend some time in figuring out on how to help Mei.

"You know, I'd gotten a little worried about you lately given you seem so occupied, I thought that you had ignored what I told you but I'm really glad that you're just helping your sister."

Mayu felt happy that Mei believed that, it would allow her to hide some of her actions.

That said it was going to remain to be seen for how long Mayu was going to be able to keep up that front, once she had dealt with those girls she could no longer use it as an excuse. Well, that was going to be a worry for another day.

A knock on the door caught her attention but despite that Arakawa did not feel any need to go answer it, she even felt a little irritated by this sudden interruption, not even looking away from the microscope she just mumbled something about the person going away.

Then came a second knock. Like the one before it, again she refused to bother and stop with her research, what she was looking at now was far more interesting than answering the door, regardless of whoever the person was standing at the door. Nothing, nobody, could bring her anything that was more exciting than what she was observing this very moment.

She knew it was a risky gamble, but the lab here was the only place where she had access to an electron microscope and right now she really needed one. It was worth the risk, the potential of this outweighing the possible consequences. "This is simply marvelous, I wonder how you achieved this? I really need to get a fresh sample, a piece of tissue would be nice."

"Achieved what actually Arakawa-san?" A voice asked from right next to her. "You're going to have to explain that to me as I don't really understand what you mean with that?"

"K-KYAAAAAAAAHHH?!" She yelled at the absolute top of her lungs as she flung herself away from her desk in a blur of movement, and from the person next to her. Slamming into a desk somewhere behind her she stood there, her breathing heavy and irregular, her eyes wide with an equal mix of surprise and fear etched in them, her heart beating frantically inside her chest. "Y-YOU?! H-H-HOW D-DARE?! I-I COULD'VE DIED FROM THE SHOCK YOU KNOW?!" She howled in frustration and anger as she saw Kouta standing there, just as surprised if not even more than she was. Lit with rage she felt like she could kill him.

"I-I'm terribly sorry!" Kouta dropped to the floor, saying over and over how sorry he was to have scared her like it, it had been anything but his intention to have scared her, but it seemed that it had just happened. "B-Believe me I-I didn't mean to! Y-You didn't answer the door so I just assumed you were busy! I-I really didn't mean to scare you! I'm really sorry for what happened, Arakawa-san!" He was nervous alright if anybody else had heard that scream of heirs then people might get the wrong idea about him. The last thing he could use was being charged as a sexual molester, or worse. "P-Please Arakawa-san, calm down?!"

"AS IF I WOULD?! DO YOU EVEN HAVE THE FAINTEST IDEA HOW SCARED I WAS?! I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE! I NEARLY HAD A HEART ATTACK! IF I DON'T ANSWER THE DOOR THEN IT'S FOR A DAMN GOOD REASON! DON'T EVER DO IT AGAIN! JERK!"

She yelled and ranted as she continued to stomp her feet on the floor, it was pretty obvious that she was pretty upset at this point alright, and likely it was going to be difficult, if not impossible, for her to accept his apologies no matter how well meant. He needed to calm her down and he needed to be quick about it.

"Y-Y-YOU JERK! YOU UNBELIEVABLE ASSHOLE! Y-YOU DID ON PURPOSE, RIGHT?! YOU SCARED ME ON PURPOSE, DIDN'T YOU?! A-ARE YOU GETTING SOME SICK KIND OF TWISTED SATISFACTION OUT OF IT?! YOU DEPRAVED SICKO! SCARING A WOMAN LIKE THAT! OH, YOU'RE SO GOING TO PAY FOR THAT! YOU HEAR ME?! YOU, SICK, DISGUSTING, PERVERT!" She ranted on and on, not giving him Kouta the impression that she was going to let this die down anytime soon.

He himself was just dumbstruck, he was left without an answer for this problem. Honestly, he did not have a single clue what she was ranting about now or why the Hell he was being accused of being a sicko or a perverted; how were those things even related to this was beyond him. Maybe it would be better if he were to just leave for today and allowed her to calm down on her own, perhaps he would have more luck with her tomorrow.

"A-Arakawa-san, please just hear me out?! I only came here because there was something I wanted to ask you! Can you please calm down before somebody else comes and this escalates?! Please, it's really important!" He was getting a little desperate not to mention pretty jumpy at getting out of here real fast if she would not calm herself down this very moment.

Her breathing was still irregular but it did seem that his words were finally getting through to her as she began to calm down, leaning on the desk behind her she took a few deep breaths.

"A-Alright, you're right. I-I just need a moment, could you perhaps get me a cup of coffee?" she asked him, her voice all hoarse. Which not come as much as a surprise to Kouta after the ranting that the woman had moments earlier unleashed on him.

"Ehm yeah, sure," he said before he turned around and made his way over towards one of the desks where there was still a large can of coffee standing. He just prayed that this was going to work.

"Ah, it feels so good to be done for today, I just want to go home and have a bath," Yuzuka mentioned as she let out a long drawn out yawn, stretching her arms a little she felt rather sore after PE class. "Ah school can be so exhausting, we also didn't get to go outside with the boys. I really wanted to see if there were any good looking ones amongst them you know?" She winked.

Leaning against her shoe locker opposite of the complaining girl Azusa watched, giggling as she took off the shoes intended for inside the school. "I don't think you should say that Yuzuka-san, besides we did get a good workout today. Also, you shouldn't spend too much time looking for a boyfriend, true love will find you when you least expect it. When you don't go looking for love it'll come looking for you."

Saeko stood there, listening with captivated interest, to every word that Azusa was saying. She hadn't given it much thought but now when she had heard her friend say that it began to make sense to the Diclonius, she had never looked for a master but he came, she had never looked for the joys of this world but they came. Still, it was a rather confusing subject to her, how was she to know when she was least expecting it? What did she need to do in order to achieve that?

"Azusa-chan, what exactly did you mean with that?" Saeko approached her carefully, asking the question with a cautious tone in her voice. She wanted to know more about this, even if she did not fully understand it at the moment, she still wanted to know more about it. "Can you explain that to me? I'd really like to know, please?"

Azusa smiled in return as did Yuzuka who came next to her, opening her mouth before the dark haired girl had the chance to answer that question. "Saekorin, I don't think you need to ask. I get the idea that it's already found you," Yuzuka giggled, her hand in front of her mouth as she pointed towards Saeko's shoe locker; she had already opened it but she had yet to pick her shoes from it.

"You really should have a look inside it Isuzu-san, I think that love has found you already." Azusa had noticed it as well by now, pointing at her locker as well. "See for yourself."

Facing towards her locker Saeko watched in disbelief as another letter was resting on top of her shoes, feeling hesitant about what it might contain she took a step backward.

"I-I-I…" she muttered, the words barely managing to get past her lips.

The others were behind her, spurring her on to grab the letter and open it. "Go on Saekorin, I so want to hear what it has to say! Another love letter! Oh you and your admirer, I feel so envious of you! Go on and read it!" Yuzuka kept saying, she was pushing Saeko the hardest. It seemed that she was actually far more anxious to learn about the contents of the letter than that Saeko herself was.

"Yuzuka-san, you shouldn't push Isuzu-san so much, if she doesn't feel like reading it here then we should respect that," Azusa chimed in, pulling the brunette back a little which gave Saeko a bit more room for which she was grateful.

Being honest Saeko was feeling a little reluctant to read the letter, she was actually scared of it, because of what it might say. It could be another love letter but then it can also have been sent by those girls and if that was the case then there was doubt in her mind that the letter would contain a lot of nasty insults aimed at her.

"We're here if you want to, Isuzu-san. You can also open it on the way home to make sure those three won't get to show up. You take it with you," Azusa mentioned, her hand resting on Saeko's shoulder as she gestured to her friend that it was alright if she wanted to open it later instead of right now, much to the disappointment of a certain brunette. "Given that Saten-san has to go to her club do you want to wait for her or do you want to go ahead and go home?"

True Hinami had gone to her club which meant that it was going to take a few hours before the girl would be finished with it and could join them, now they could certainly wait for her to come so they could all go home together, but that also meant they would risk of having another run in with those girls and right now Saeko was not really feeling that much for it. What if they were to get their hands on the letter? What if they were going to make fun of her again because of it? What if they would go after the person who wrote the letter? She did not want for them to find out but she felt really sorry about not being able to have Hinami walk along with them. Reaching out with her hands she took a hold of the letter, holding it tightly in her trembling hands. She would have preferred it if somebody else had gotten this instead, maybe Yuzuka, or Azusa, or maybe even Hinami but not her.

"C-Can we please go… I-I don't want to stay here…?" she asked them, her eyes filled with fear.

Both of her friends nodded their heads in agreement, they understood why Saeko wanted to go home and neither of them could blame her for it. "Let's go then, shall we?"

By the time he was able to leave Arakawa's office Kouta felt like he had aged for maybe ten years, it had been such a handful in getting her to calm down and when he had finally managed that, it seemed that Arakawa had just dropped on the couch out of exhaustion and passed out right in front of his eyes.

"I can't believe she did that to me, sure I can understand that she was feeling a little tired but to pass out like that on the couch in the middle of a conversation. Maybe I should come back tomorrow and try again?" He wondered if that was really going to help him all that much, if the same thing was going to happen again then it would be just a waste of his time. One full hour and he had gotten absolutely nowhere, he had not been able to bring forward the subject of Anna which had been his main reason for coming.

"She used to work at that place for a while, so I thought she might have met Anna-san before. I had hoped to have a chance to talk about her with Arakawa-san but I guess I'm out of luck for today. A shame as I could really do with knowing a little more about Anna-san, I need to know what kind of person she is," he mumbled, his head resting on the back of his hands. Well, there wasn't much left for him to do, likely it was going to be better if he was just going to walk home and get some rest.

Of course, there was always that other option available to him, pulling out his phone he found himself staring at the phone number that was being displayed on it. He could give her a call, it certainly was a viable option but he was experiencing a sense of hesitation about calling her so soon already. There was still so much uncertainty surrounding this woman, her real motives were a mystery to him, and that made him hesitant to call her.

"I wish that I could believe you, Anna-san, a part of me likely does but I can't ignore what your father is been responsible for. Kaede-san and Nyu-san both died because of him, my family was hurt because of him. I'd guess that countless others also suffered at his hands."

Staring at the ceiling of the room he decided to get up and go home, he had already spent enough time here and if he wanted to ponder about Anna to himself then he might as well do it while walking home, at least he could spend some time that way.

"I should get going, by the time that I get back the rest of them are likely already at home. I do wonder in what bizarre way Kyou-san is going to greet me today? Ah, knowing her it's bound to be something that's going to stay with me for a while. Still, I could use it today."

Even if it was likely going to end up with him being on the receiving end of an angry Yuka he certainly would not mind something to help take his mind off the subject of Anna Kakuzawa.

"Maybe I should go and give Dai-san or Mako-san a call, I'm sure that they might be able to provide me with a bit more information on her. At the very least they can help me make up my mind if I want to go through with this or not, I can't decide this on my own."

He placed the phone back in his jacket, if he was going to make that call then he would not do this on his own. Everybody else in his family deserved to give their opinion on this matter, they had a right to their opinion to be heard. This was something too important to gamble with, their lives were at stake, and if any of them were to get hurt because of him making a rash decision he would not forgive himself for it.

"Anna-san, we're definitely going to have that talk but not until I'm sure that I can trust you. Too much hangs in the balance here, I won't risk the well-being of my family. I simply can't," he told himself, letting out one deep sigh he slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way towards the exit of the school. Right now he just wanted to be home and have a chance to order his thoughts.

It was likely for the best if he would first talk about this with the Hirano's and then his family.

That way he was at least going to have a bit more information to share with them before he would ask them for their opinion. "I guess it can't be helped, I'm going to head over towards the Hirano's right now. Everybody else, you don't have to wait for me," he said though it wasn't aimed at anybody in particular. He was going to give Yuka a call to let her know, there was not much point in letting her know and then nobody is home.

"Alright then, let's go and see if they're at home." He set off, taking a different turn than what he usually took.

"Well, I guess they must've left the school already and gone home," Mayu mentioned with a mild hint of disappointment apparent in her voice, she had hoped to get the chance to confront those three girls but it seemed that they had already left. It should not be much of a surprise given that their last class actually already earlier by nearly an hour, nothing in their records also mentioned that any of them were members of a club. "I just hope that they haven't gone after Saeko-san, I'll just need to trust in her friends to keep her safe."

Mei had already left for home as well, though she had been quite a help in finding the right book for Mayu to go through. There the two of them had been able to learn in which classes those girls were, furthermore it appeared that all three of the girls in question were in the same class which made it easier to know where they were.

But there was also less fortunate news for Mayu, their class almost always finished earlier than hers, which only made it more difficult for her to confront them and it certainly made it a lot harder for her to prevent them from getting to Saeko first.

With the unlikeliness that any of the three girls were still present at school, there was little reason for Mayu to stay any longer as well, there was no need for her to be at the club as she had asked for permission to be absent from the club president. "I should go home then, there's not much point in me staying here. It's a shame that Saeko-san isn't here otherwise we could've walked home together. I would've loved to hear how her day has been."

Taking one last look back she turned and left, going towards the main staircases that would bring towards the shoe lockers and the main entrance. Looking at her watch it was with some delight that she noticed that if she quickened the pace a little then she could still make it to the bus stop in time to catch a ride home.

Going down the stairs in a hurry she was not as careful as she should be, noticing that some of them were wet, no doubt some of the students had been busy in cleaning them recently but had not bothered to dry them properly. Gazing at her watch again she noticed that while she could still make it was starting to become a bit tight given that she would still need to fetch her shoes from her locker.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs she made a sharp turn to the left without even bothering to take a look where she was going. Promptly she slammed into another person knocking the both of them to the ground.

"Ow, ow, ow," she whimpered as she landed hard on her butt with a loud smack, that really did sting. Her bag dropped on the floor, her books spilling out from it and others smaller items skittered across the floor, the clattering sound echoing through the empty hallway. The first thing that sprung to her mind that she was going to be left with a bad bruise, the second that she could likely forget about making to the bus in time, the third and last was that she needed to quickly apologize to the person she had just run over. "I'm terribly sorry, please accept my apologies!"

There came no reply and Mayu feared that the person she had knocked down had been insulted, or even worse, injured because of her. She was starting to feel terrible.

"Hey, why are you even apologizing? I'm the one who wasn't looking where I went, besides you look to be in an even worse shape than I am. Are you alright?" A voice called out to her.

Mayu looked up, opening her eyes the first thing she noticed was an outstretched hand held up in front of her and beyond it, there was a boy with, to her, an unfamiliar face. In her own confusion, she barely registered the words that he had just said to her.

"Hey, I asked you if you were alright, did you somehow managed to bump your head as well? Don't go spacing out on me." His hand still hung there, waiting for her to give him an answer. "I'd expect for an honor student to have a bit more manners than this, guess having expectations is a bummer," he remarked and Mayu noticed there was an element of sarcasm in his tone. Given his rather sloppy appearance, she wasn't really sure what to make of him or if she should feel insulted by what he had just said to her. Still, it was going to be rude of her if she were to keep him waiting, she reached out and grabbed his hand, allowing herself to be pulled up.

Standing back on her feet she had a closer look at him, sure he certainly did not leave her with much of a good impression given the way he looked, with shaggy cut dark hair, the dress shirt top button unbuttoned and untucked with the tie loosened. Likely he was one of those youngsters that just rebelled against authority or was one who often got himself into trouble.

Even then he seemed to also be a nice person, something about the way he acted.

"Thank you, my name is-." Mayu was about to tell him her name when he gestured for her to be quiet. Given that she already had a reputation and was in the top five of students it was very likely that he had already heard of her.

"I know pretty well who the fabled honor student Isuzu Mayu is, our teachers like to brag a lot about how good you are. Being honest here, I couldn't really care about it but it gets rather annoying. Supposed to be an example to all of us. So you're it, eh? To be honest you're not really what I expected. Need any help with picking that up?" he asked as he pointed towards her books and other items that were still scattered across the floor.

"Ah, ehm well yes, some help would be very kind of you…? What's your name if I may ask? I do would like to properly thank you but that it's a bit hard when I don't know your name."

He shrugged his shoulders in response. "I don't think knowing my name is going to change that much, besides isn't it better for you if the honor student isn't seen with the likes of me? There's no point in me telling you my name, won't do either of us any good."

Mayu looked at him in confusion at first, not really sure what to make of what he had meant with that, and somehow she did not appreciate the tone that he was using. "I see, well then thank you kindly for your help," she rebuked though keeping her tone polite. Kneeling down quickly she grabbed her belongings as fast as she could, perhaps it was going to be better to go home as quickly as possible, after all. "Once more my apologies and take care of yourself," she mentioned as she got up, making a quick bow and just as quickly she turned and left. Not even looking over her shoulder she kept on walking, quickening her pace. Like he had said there wasn't much point in it.

Being on her own again Saeko was starting to feel a little more at ease, the letter which to this point remained unopened was clutched firmly against her chest. She had found it impossible to gather the courage and open it, truth be told she was actually terrified of it.

Halting for a moment she looked down at her chest where the letter was, staring at it, she was actually considering tearing it apart and scattering the pieces. Everything about it felt wrong to her as she dreaded what could be written inside of it.

"I-I don't want to read this… I wish that I'd never gotten this… Yuzu-chan, or Azusa-chan… deserve it much more than I do… why would anyone… ever love me…?"

Those girls were right, she was a freak, once people understood what she was, once they had seen her horns, they would all label her as a monster. It was likely the very same for the person who had written this letter, if it was really another love letter, then that person was likely going to abandon her the moment he found out and yet she could not deny that she wanted to be loved. To experience that sensation again that she had felt inside of her, deep inside she longed for it.

"… Being loved… being able to love somebody… and to be loved in return… don't I deserve that… as well… master never said he loved me… master never told me once… and yet he did… I loved master… no, I still love master… but I..." She felt so conflicted about this as she continued walking, doing her best to make use of the many shortcuts she had learned. If she were to open the letter then she was going to know for sure what it said but she was also really scared of it. "… W-What if it does say that…? What if like Yuzu-chan said it is a love letter… that somebody really likes me… what am I supposed to do…? I-I'm scared…"

Tears were starting to well up inside of her, the palms of her hands sweaty, her fingers trembling, and just like that the first tear ran down her cheek and dropped, staining the envelope. Her throat felt dry, swallowing became almost impossible as she brought up her finger to tear it open.

There was hesitance, if she opened it then there was going to be no return for her, she could not pretend any longer that she had not read it or was unaware of the letter's content. Somewhere in her mind, a part of her was screaming for somebody to show up and stop her, to take this letter away from her and just run away with it. She opened it, letting out a deep sigh as she silently began reading the letter.

Author's note: Hey folks, the newest addition to the story for you to read and, hopefully, enjoy. If you've got any comments or question about this chapter, I'd love to hear them, and you can hit me up in a PM or leave a review here. No need to be shy.

Elfenliedfan, almost forget to answer your question. It's tricky recommending a series as I don't know what you prefer but a series that I enjoyed a lot simply because of how relaxing it was is the anime 'Flying Witch', another great one is 'New Game!' and currently the 2nd season of this shows is airing.

Not much else to report, so I'm leaving it at that. Have a good week and take care.