XLI

An Unexpected Visit

Daring to look up at the person whose voice she had just heard, Saeko's body beginning to feel numb as all of a sudden she found herself gazing into a stranger's eyes. The eyes belong to a boy, he appeared to be older than Mayu but she wasn't entirely sure of it. "... Who…?"

He held out his hand for her to see. "Please, allow me to help you get up on your feet, it'd be rude of me not to aid a lady in need. I guess I should count myself lucky to get this opportunity to meet you in person," he said as he took a step forward. "To be honest with you my dear Isuzu Saeko-san, I've been trying to get a chance to talk to you for a while now, ever since I had the pleasure of laying my eyes on you at the opening ceremony. You've got to be the most charming girl I've ever met, ever since that day I have been captivated by your beauty and grace. I'm really glad I finally got the chance to meet you today."

"... I-I-I…" she stammered as to Saeko it was all becoming a little bit too much, she wasn't expecting this, least of all for her to meet the person, if it was as he had claimed, who had written those letters so soon.

How much she was wishing right now for Yuzuka and Azusa to have stayed with her instead, she didn't know what to say or if she should say anything. Her body no longer responded to any of her thoughts, she could only sit there watching as this person talked to her, even if she had wanted to she couldn't move at all.

"… I-I-I…" Was about the only thing that she could get past her lips before she slammed shut, the boy was gazing at her eyes and somehow she kept listening to what he had to say. For some reason that she couldn't explain he was able to keep capture her attention. Even just now she felt something in his gaze, it wasn't that the young Diclonius found it unpleasant but she didn't want to feel it for long. She didn't know what it was, and that made her feel uneasy.

"Please allow me the honor of escorting you to your classroom, it'd reflect poorly on you for being late in class and I can't allow for that. I'll escort you back to your classroom."

Saeko could do little more than to just stare at him in confusion, this all felt so strange to her, beyond anything she had been expecting, and yet it also felt nice to her. Slowly but steadily she reached out for his hand, carefully accepting it before allowing him to pull her back up.

"Now I know that we're in a bit of a hurry but a lady such as you shouldn't need to rush herself. Please, tell me a bit more about yourself while we go, I'm really keen to know a little more about you Isuzu Saeko-san, I've heard quite a bit about you but I'd like to hear more."

Without even being aware of it she followed his words and walked along with him, his arm locked around hers, preventing her from getting away but somehow she didn't mind it. There was a certain sense of nostalgia about it, something that stirred certain memories within her.

"Ever since the opening ceremony you've been on my mind, but to be honest and this sounds a little embarrassing, I was a little unsure of how to approach you. So tell me, have you thought about your reply to the letters I sent you?" he asked her, his head leaning in rather close to her, as he appeared to be waiting for a reply from her.

Saeko didn't say a word, too afraid to mention that she couldn't think of what to say in return, she just didn't know what she was supposed to say. Again she wished for her friends to be here at her side, how much she longed for them to give her advice. How badly she yearned.

Letting out a deep yawn as he got off the bus Kouta felt like he had been through hell and back, thanks to the actions of Kyou the previous night and the little argument he had with Yuka this morning, he hadn't been able to get much if any rest at all. Even when the long-haired Diclonius had vacated the room he had struggled to close his eyes simply because he couldn't risk her coming back into his room.

"I just want to go home or find a nice place for me to sleep. Oh, I so hope that our teacher is sick or something. Oh, they're going to scold me if they catch me sleeping in class again." He let out another yawn as fatigue and exhaustion were getting the better of him, even managing to get into the right classroom now would be a miracle for him.

"I need to ask her to stop doing that, one of these days I'm going to get a heart attack if she keeps this up, that or Yuka is going to kill me herself when she finds out. Either way, I'm dead if this keeps on going for any longer," he let out a sigh of desperation which did earn him a few disgruntled looks from others but then they didn't have this kind of problems to deal with.

How fortunate those people were, in a way Kouta almost envied them, none of them had the problem of having to deal with a little Diclonius who just loved to tease you and who was going through puberty right now. Well at least the good news was that she wasn't going to be an issue here at school so he was going to have some time to recover from his recent ordeals, just a shame that he also needed to attend the classes otherwise he could try and grab some much-needed rest.

"Maybe I should go and see if I can convince our teacher to let me work in the lab with Arakawa-san, with any luck she might be absent or just as tired as I am and leave me alone," he muttered underneath his breath though he knew that the chances of that were just as slim as him getting any rest at all, last thing he needed was another incident like yesterday when he had come to visit her. No, that was just going to ruin any and all chance to catch any rest.

He could take his opportunity but was that going to be worth the risk? As the school bell could be heard ringing in the distance he pushed those thoughts aside, right now he needed to focus again on getting into class first and make sure that their teacher didn't catch him.

Of course, he was also going to have to face seeing Yuka during the break, he had felt a little relieved when he had found out that her first class had been canceled which had meant that he had been able to avoid her for most of the part back at home. Hopefully, she had managed to pull herself together.

Setting foot inside the main hall he was surprised when he heard his name being called out through the speakers. "Isuzu Kouta, please report to the principal's office. I repeat. Isuzu Kouta, please report to the dean's office."

Well, that was rather unexpected and also something he couldn't really use right now. Somehow he was getting the awful feeling that perhaps the world itself was conspiring against him and his attempts at getting his rest. There wasn't much that he could do about this right now, the best thing to do was to head to the principal's office and just hope to get it over with as quickly as possible. With any luck it was just something minor which wasn't going to take up too much of his precious time, he sure was hoping that it wasn't going to be anything serious.

"Oh well, I guess I should get going then. Ah, this day is just off to a perfect start," he remarked in a sarcastic tone, wondering what else it was going to have in store for him.

"S-S-Saekorin, what was that all about?! Why did you come into our classroom at the arm of Miyamoto-senpai?! You know who he is, right?!" As they closed the door behind them Yuzuka and Azusa were staring in utter disbelief at Saeko, perplexed by the sudden scene that had happened, demanding to hear an explanation for what the two of them had just witnessed.

By the end of her class Saeko was still recovering from all that had transpired, but before she had the chance to put it all into order a familiar pair of hands came to rest on her shoulders.

In a blur of movement, the blinding speed with which Yuzuka and Azusa had grabbed their friend the moment the bell had rung, signaling their first break, and had stormed right to their usual spot on the roof was an altogether unique spectacle in itself.

"Saekorin, we really need to talk," Yuzuka said as she and the dark-haired girl kept up their pace, they needed to talk somewhere, somewhere where they could talk in peace without being overheard. "Just how exactly do you know him? I've never seen you talking to him before? C'mon, when did you and Miyamoto-senpai hook up?"

"Wait?! You're telling me that Isuzu walked next to him or do you really mean their arms were interlocked?!" Hinami asked, appearing next to them without prior warning, responding quickly to the burning questions that Yuzuka asked only seconds before her. They were all very keen to get some answers. "Are you serious about this? Where did this come from?"

Even Azusa added her opinion on the matter. "I must say that I'm a little surprised by this."

"... I-I-I... just…" Was all that Saeko could get past her lips before the combined stares of her friends silenced her, she wasn't sure but somehow she was getting a strange impression that she had possibly done something, terribly, wrong? "... H-H-He... just... came over… and... I-I-I…"

Kneeling down in front of her and placing her hands on Saeko's shoulders Yuzuka asked her the big question. "Saekorin, tell us? Is he the one that sends you those letters? Are the two of you a couple? Have you already kissed? When did this happen?! Tell us?!" By now the brunette was in such a state that she was actually shaking Saeko from left to right.

"Yuzuka-san, please stop with this. Can't you see that Isuzu-san is troubled by this as well?"

Azusa stopped her then and there, it wasn't going to help them get any answers if Saeko were to be frightened. "You're going to scare her if you keep up with this, please give her a moment and allow her to explain it at her own pace. If you will, please, Isuzu-san?"

Yuzuka snapped to the attention and was all too quick to apologize. "Ah, Saekorin, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!" Letting go of Saeko's shoulder she wrapped her arms around said girl and started to cry little. "I didn't want to scare you, I just got lost in the moment… I'm sorry…"

"… M-Miyamoto-senpai…?" Saeko uttered, staring at them in confusion. "… Who is he?" To be honest she had never heard the name before and she didn't know if he was somebody that she needed to be aware of or not. Was he a kind person or was he the kind of person that she needed to avoid.

"Wait, Isuzu, you're telling me you don't know who he is? I think you should sit down and listen to what we've got to say, there is gonna be a lot that we'll need to tell you," Hinami mentioned as she sat down next to Saeko and waited just long enough for the others to sit down as well she began to tell everything that she knew or had heard with regards to Miyamoto. "Oh damn, I don't even know where to get started. Well, I suppose we should-."

"I'm sorry to interrupt you Saten-san but if I may suggest we should also keep in mind that we still have our bento to finish before class begins," Azusa mentioned, holding up her hand as she placed the bento of herself and Yuzuka in the middle of their little group. "Please help yourselves."

Doing the same Saeko and Hinami placed their own bento also in the middle of everybody so to share what they had with the others. With that Hinami was given the cue that she could continue.

"Alright then, let's take it from the top," Hinami loudly proclaimed before snatching an egg from Saeko's box. "Hmm, the fried eggs your guardian makes always taste so good! Miyamoto Kurato, he's from class 3-A, much like your sister he's sorta like an honor student.

I've heard people say that his family's pretty rich and that they've got some really high positions within the local government. His father also has a lot of influence on this school. And he's also very popular with the girls," Hinami continued with her story, telling them about everything that she had heard either from other students or from her senpais at the club. As was to be expected of somebody who knew about what went round in the school Hinami had a lot to tell them.

"Wow, you sure know a lot Saten-san, I'm really impressed by how much you have gathered. I knew that he had a younger sister but I didn't know that she attends a private school," Azusa said, pointing out that Miyamoto certainly had a lot of connections and that she could see where the influence came from.

Yuzuka smiled as she punched the air with her hand, talking with excitement. "Saekorin, this is great news! Did you hear what Hinarin said? If you and he were to date than those girls wouldn't dare to pick on you anymore! And he said that he's interested in you as well?!"

Azusa shook her head in disagreement. "I think it would be wrong for Isuzu-san to accept Miyamoto-senpai's offer for such a reason, she shouldn't do it because of that," she voiced her objections and gave other reasons why it would be wrong for Saeko to accept what Miyamoto had asked of her just to be free of those girls picking on her.

Even with her friends giving her all kinds of information and advice the troubled Diclonius still didn't have a single idea on what she was supposed to do, and with what she had been told it seemed that the only thing it had achieved was to make her feel even more confused about it.

Her hands resting against her chest she was feeling more uncertain than before, she was questioning herself if she could even bring herself to come face to face with that boy again, let alone being able to make up her mind and give him an honest answer. Then again, after all of the trouble he had gone through she couldn't help but admit that, at the very least, he deserved that. With her anxiety growing and her confidence shrinking all that she wanted right now was to go home. She was going to need some time to think this through.

Sitting on the opposite side of the desk, Kouta kept asking himself how he had managed to get himself involved in this awkward situation, that the was the first thing he asked. The second was how the girl standing on the opposite side of the desk had even managed to get the dean to agree to her request. Honestly, he could already guess that it was due to her family.

After the initial introductions, they had left the man's office and had sought out one of the more private counsel rooms where they could talk without being further disturbed.

"Is something the matter Kouta-kun, you don't mind me calling you that?" she asked him in a polite tone as she lifted up the cup that was standing in front of her, giving him a puzzled look as she did.

He still found it hard to believe that upon entering the dean's office that he was introduced to Anna, this was definitely something that he had not expected to say the least. Still uncertain on what resources or assets she had used to get to see him and have the dean of the school do it for her. His natural skepticism reached even greater heights when he was being excused from class for the day in order to provide her with a tour of their school.

Being polite in return he said, "Nothing serious, I'm just surprised to see you Kaku-. I mean Anna-san," he said, quickly correcting himself there, he made a quick mental note that she preferred to be called by her first name rather than by her family name. Of course, he had seen the reaction of her when the dean had addressed her by the family name, she didn't like it but she accepted it due to the circumstances.

"Well then, please show her around the school Isuzu-kun. I'll be counting on you to act like a student of this institute behaves. Feel free to call upon any of the teachers if you need anything," the man mentioned, and with that, said his goodbyes as he excused himself. Given that he still had other obligations to uphold he would leave the two of them for the time being.

She blushed once the door had closed. "I would prefer if you would call me Anna-chan instead, Kouta-kun. It sounds more endearing don't you think, using san sounds so formal, doesn't it? I can imagine that I must have surprised you by coming to your school, my sincerest apologies for that but it was the only way for me to see you again on short notice and without alerting my aunt."

His eyes narrowed a bit as that caught his attention, he had heard about her aunt from Dai yesterday and now he was getting curious as to why exactly Anna didn't want to alert her aunt. Something else was going on here, something that she wasn't telling him.

"Excuse me for asking this uhm, Anna-chan. But is your aunt forcing you to do something against you will? Is there a way for me to help you?" He asked, leaning forward.

Finishing her tea she gently placed the cup back on the table. It is not like that, Kouta-kun, it is just that my aunt is very protective of me after what my father has done. You see there are still certain people within the government who hold my entire family responsible and those people might seek out other means to get what they want." She grew silent suddenly, both of her hands folded around the cup and her eyes averting his gaze.

"You probably think that I'm being a little dramatic with this, don't you? Claiming that people within our own government would go so far as to kidnap me in order to make the rest of my family comply to their demands. Do you think that I'm being paranoid?" It was a sincere question and one that Kouta hadn't seen coming.

"Well, I uh..." He didn't really have an answer ready for that one, scratching the back of his head he thought of what would be the best thing to say to her in return. After a few moments, he decided to go with was the most obvious; the truth. "It does sound like that. To those who have no idea what you're talking about at least, but I've learned the hard way that there are people out there who'll do anything for their own personal gain, even at the expense of others. So no, I do believe that you're right. I do believe you when you say you have your reasons to be afraid when being outside."

Hearing his answer made Anna blush as she was feeling relieved that there was a person who believed what she said and didn't judge her because of her family.

"That said I do have a question. With it being so dangerous why go out without telling your aunt? Surely she must have more, and better means than what I have to keep you safe?"

Anna just looked at him and gave him a smile in return. "I'm sure she has the best resources and connections to guarantee my safety but that would also mean for me to be locked up in a house all day. Can you imagine how lonely that is? I also need to learn if what they say is true or not. I can't do what I set out to do when I'm stuck inside a house all day. Also, it'd lonely."

It gave him something to think about, it was also very likely that with her aunt being a high profile person and that meant that she attracted a lot of attention. If Anna were to stay close to her for protection then it also meant that others would have it easier to observe and plan.

Then again she was at a considerable risk as well being just out here with maybe the just two or perhaps three men she had with her, knowing that he wasn't feeling exactly happy with her being present at the school.

In his mind it was simply too dangerous for her but then he couldn't think of another place that would make him feel safer being with Anna and the inn certainly wasn't an option for multiple reasons, no they were going to be stuck here. "So if I may ask, why did you come, Anna-chan? Why did you go through all of this trouble just to have a chance to meet me?"

"Isn't that obvious, Kouta-kun. I have come to see if you have given some thought to what we discussed the last time. Being honest with you I must admit that I'm feeling just a little impatient as I really want to meet them," Anna explained to him, reminding him about her desire to meet those few remaining Diclonius that had survived and were leading a relatively normal life.

A big puff of flour was sent into the air as Nana couldn't hold back anymore and sneezed to the point of her arms popping off. Dazed for a moment she also lost control of her legs and toppled backward. As the white cloud came drifting downs again everybody and everything in the kitchen got covered by it.

"Ah Nana-onee-san, are you alright?" Ryou came rushing forward already with a towel and one of Nana's arms that had managed to land on top of the red bean paste she had been making, spilling the sticky goo across the floor. "You should be more careful Nana-onee-san, you could've hurt yourself with that. Ah, we need to find your other limbs."

"Ah! I can't believe it! You actually ruined it!" As concerned as Ryou was with what Nana's slip, so frustrated was Kyou when she screamed in frustration at seeing the mess Nana had made of the dough she was supposed to make. "Why did you have to sneeze right into it? That's so gross! Ew! We can't use that anymore, oh that's so disgusting! We need to throw it away!"

She didn't put in any effort into trying to mask the frustration in her tone, but given she had been busy in the kitchen for a good two hours that was hardly something for her to be blamed for. "That was the last of the flour that we had left! Now we've got to go shopping again and buy a new pack, thanks a lot for that. And I don't even know if we can still use the red bean paste thanks to your arm making it go splat! Aaargh, I don't believe it!" All the time and effort that she had put into making it had gone to waste. She was reaching her boiling point.

Looking down at her shirt the long-haired Diclonius got another reason to be irritated. "Ah just great! Now I've got this crap all over my shirt as well, and this one was brand new! I'm going to get changed and you can clean this up!" With an angry tone, she spun on her heels and stormed out of the kitchen, not even giving Nana a chance to say that she was sorry, or give Ryou an opportunity to try and calm her sister down.

"I guess we should give onee-chan some time on her own so she can calm down a little, I'll help you with getting this cleaned up, Nana-onee-san…" she mentioned as she offered Nana the arm that she had still been holding. "... And… oh, I can't seem to find your other arm… where did it go?"

"I'm sorry, Ryou-san. I should've been more careful when I poured in the flour, I ruined the buns for all of you. You should go and get yourself cleaned up as well, I made this mess so I'm the one who needs to clean this up," Nana said in return, forgetting that she too was covered in flour and of the three of them likely needed to get herself cleaned up the most.

"No, you should get a bath first!" Kyou's voice came out from around the corner, her tone betraying that she was still upset. "You've got flour all over you, honestly get yourself cleaned up first while I and Ryou will take care of the kitchen instead!" Appearing in the opening it was clear that she already had donned herself a new shirt. "Now go or do I need to make you!"

About to stand up Kyou stopped the other Diclonius as she made one other comment. "Oh, you're going to need this one as well if you want to get yourself cleaned up, I already drew the bath for you." From behind her back, she pulled out Nana's other arm which apparently had been flung with such speed that it had managed to find itself in the hallway.

"… O-Onee-chan, I don't understand…" Staring at her sister Ryou was a bit confused at first, but also happy at the same time that her big sister showed such understanding. Together the two of them watched as Nana left the kitchen and disappeared from around the corner.

Holding up her hand Kyou turned to face Ryou. "I'm still upset about the dough and the red bean paste having gone to waste but that isn't enough of a reason for me to stay mad at one of my kin-sisters. Now come on, let's get this mess cleaned up first and then ourselves."

Ryou wanted to say how proud she was of her big sister but she wasn't given an opportunity as Kyou made it very clear that they needed to hurry up because they still had to go to the store in order to buy new ingredients if they still wanted to make the red bean paste buns.

"Onee-chan, thank you so much…" Ryou whispered towards her, reaching out as she got a hold of her sister's hand, gently squeezing it. And with that they went to work, cleaning up the mess that had been caused by the flour and the sticky red bean paste that seemed to have gotten everywhere. It was not the way that either of the twins had thought they would get to spend their morning.

Leaning back in his seat Kouta thought of what to say in return, honestly, he had hoped for Anna to have given him a different answer but it seemed that she had gotten right to the point.

"I have, I've thought about it a lot lately. To be honest, I'm even having trouble sleeping at night because I keep thinking about what you showed me back then," he said with a straight face, honestly, he could have done with her having come here for a different reason but much to his own expectation she was still after the girls alright. "It's not an easy choice to make."

A warm smile caressed her face. "I am really glad to hear you say that, Kouta-kun, because it means that you care a lot for their well-being while also being honest to me as well. I can imagine that they must be really fortunate to have come into contact with such a kind-hearted person such as yourself, that makes me happy."

"I don't understand…" he mentioned, looking at her as if trying to figure out why she was actually happy about that. It didn't make much sense to him but then there was more to Anna than the side of her that she allowed people to see. Perhaps there was some truth to what she had told him before but even so, it was still a risk to take.

"You are still worried about their safety aren't you, Kouta-kun, I did tell you before that I have no ill intentions towards those girls. What I want is to find out what the truth? These girls have been branded as monsters because of my family. I want to know, no, I must know if that is a lie or not. I need to know if it's possible for us and them to live together."

It certainly were words that he wanted to hear or better said wanted to believe and as much as he had plenty of reason to believe her for the time being, there was also still this little voice nagging at the back of his mind, telling him to remain cautious and not give in.

"They're kind words, I'm almost inclined to believe them Anna-chan. That said I can't forget all the suffering that those girls had to endure at the hands of your family. I'm likely going to pay the price for doing this but for now I can't let you come anywhere near those girls," he said, hoping that this wasn't going to turn out even worse. Damn, he couldn't believe that he was actually thinking this but he sure could use Bando right now.

"You are right, it would prove to be very unfortunate for you, your family and those girls if I was planning on doing something terrible to them but I don't. I hold no feelings of revenge against them nor do I want to see them hurt, I told you that I want to learn the truth." Much to Kouta's surprise, Anna began to speak and she spoke clearly on how under no circumstances she wanted to see any of the girls get harmed. Having them get hurt went directly against what she was hoping to achieve.

"I'm sorry to say this to you but that all sounds too good to be true. Anna-chan, you're coming with this offer at a very good moment, actually, I would almost say that your timing is a little too good." Barely had those words left his lips or he took a sip of what remained of his tea, draining the last of the cup as he needed to calm his nerves as his anxiety was steadily growing the longer this conversation went on. "You're right in that we can certainly use the help of somebody with your influence, the biggest problem those girls face at the moment is getting the right kind medical help; we can't go and just go see any doctor or go to the hospital should something serious occur."

It was something for Anna to think about, at least he hoped it was. "I see, that is indeed a big problem. If I may say so Kouta-kun I hadn't actually thought of that so far, I guess you people must have learned a lot in order to keep them healthy. Still, I can imagine that the help of an excellent pediatrician like Takebe-sensei does help a bit."

There was a different type of smile on her face all of a sudden, and Kouta grew nervous as he noticed it, damn, so this meant that she was also aware of the involvement of the Hirano's. It shouldn't have come as a surprise given that she had photos of the twins in her possession.

"Who is she may ask? Is this Takebe-sensei somebody I should know?"

Anna had to chuckle. "Kouta-kun, if I were like my father then I would have been insulted by you pretending that you haven't heard of her. I know that two of those girls have been adopted by the Takebe-sensei and her husband, you are good friends with them as well."

A few drops of sweat ran down his neck, she definitely knew. Well so much for pretending to be ignorant. "Alright, Anna-chan, you got me. Yes, you're right in that we know her pretty well as one of the girls who is staying with us is also her niece." He swallowed.

"Oh, I didn't know that," Anna remarked, her expression changing once more, curiosity edged on her face as she leaned in a little closer to him. "If I may ask, which one is it exactly? Don't tell me it is the girl who also attends high school? That truly is amazing, please Kouta-kun, I beg of you to let me meet them?"

This close to her Kouta noticed that Anna was really a very beautiful young woman and not to mention also, very, attractive, even the scent of her perfume was very pleasing to his senses.

As their eyes locked for a moment it made his heart skip, suddenly it was getting very warm. Without a doubt, she was making him blush but so far it seemed that she had not yet noticed it.

"Ehm Kouta-kun, are you alright?" she asked as she raised her right arm and placed the palm of her hand against his forehead. "You seem to have a high temperature, do you have a fever?"

"I… ehm… no... I don't. It was just something else. I'm fine, it's just a little warm inside here." He pulled back from her, he hadn't expected such a gesture from her and although her gentle touch had been surprisingly pleasant even though he shouldn't have.

"My sincerest apologies Kouta-kun, it seemed that I made you blush. I want to apologize for that, it wasn't my intention to make you feel uncomfortable. I'm sorry for that," Anna mentioned underneath her breath as she quickly turned away from him, but it wasn't in disgust but rather a feeling of shame and uncertainty. Hidden from his eyes she brought her hands up and placed them against her chest, somehow there had been a strange sensation stirred within and to Anna it made her feel uncertain as this was one sensation that she hadn't experienced before. "Perhaps it is better if we were to leave, Kouta-kun would you be so kind enough to show me around town? I would feel a lot better if I had an able guide with me," she smiled. "and besides, I would feel a lot better knowing that a strong man is there to keep me safe should anything happen."

To Kouta, it sounded like a bad idea but he couldn't come up with a good enough reason to decline, so he simply shrugged his shoulders and accepted her offer, at the very least they could get out of this office. Hopefully, it was only going to be a short trip as he wasn't exactly keen on the prospect of having to spend the entire day with Anna. Not because he didn't like her or found her unattractive, far from it, but what he truly feared was for Yuka to learn that he was out on a trip to town with a very, beautiful, woman.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Ryou? I don't like having to leave you here all by yourself, what if something bad were to happen?" Kyou expressed her concern for her, she and Nana were all ready to go shopping for the items they needed but now it seemed that Ryou had decided to stay at the inn and Kyou wasn't fond at all of leaving her younger sister behind. It did not sit well with her, least of all was that she hated being separated from her sister.

"I know that onee-chan, but somebody also has to stay in the house and take care of Saori-chan, it's better if you go with Nana-onee-san to go shopping while I stay here. Don't worry onee-chan, I'll be careful and keep the doors locked while you are gone," Ryou said as she did her best to reassure her sister that she was going to be alright, but even so it was still rather painful to either of them, neither of them willing to let the other go but it was the only way for them to both get the missing ingredients and have somebody watch over the house.

"Kyou-san, she's right. You can't go out on your own as you don't know your way around town like I do and you're the only one that knows exactly what ingredients we need. I don't like leaving Ryou-san alone as well but she's the only one that can stay here."

"But-!" Kyou was about to rebuke, raising her voice already when her hand was taken by Ryou who returned her a smile, comforting her sister by letting her know that she had nothing to worry about. "Please, onee-chan, the sooner you go the sooner you can come back, right? Just make sure to bring along some sweets for us to enjoy when you come back alright." Ryou winked and then slowly started to walk back as she knew that unless she did this her sister was going to stay where she was. "Have a safe trip, onee-chan, and come back quickly for me."

"Right! Nana, we're leaving, now!" In one fell move, Kyou spun on her heels and walked away from the front entrance at a considerable pace. "Don't you dare to hold me back, we're going this instant and we won't stop until we get back home understand! I don't want this to take any longer than it has to! Am I clear?!"

Nana had to chuckle as she knew exactly what was going on, picking up the pace herself she quickly caught back with Kyou, who kept a murderous pace, as the two of them went down the stairs.

Kyou was in kind of a hurry but then Nana couldn't really blame her now could she? After all, she would likely react the same if it were Mayu of Saeko but even then she guessed that it went even deeper for Kyou and Ryou as they were twins, she couldn't imagine how deep and intimate their bond truly was. This was different than how it was between Nana and her adopted sisters, sure it might come close, but it would never equal to what the twins had.

"Kyou-san, slow down a little. You're going to slip if you keep going down these stairs like that. Ryou-san is going to be alright, it's not like she's in any kind of danger you know. She knows how to numb vectors so she can take care should Saori-san try something."

It took a while before her words finally got through to Kyou who came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs, still, it was obvious that she was not happy at all with leaving her little sister behind. "I can't leave my little sister alone for long, not after what those bugs did to us all those years. As her big sister, I need to be there for her, I need to protect her. I must make up for all of those years that I wasn't at her side." As Kyou turned around Nana could see that she had been crying a little. "Do you even understand what it's like to finally find that what you have been missing for so long?! No, then don't even dare to try and understand! We go buy those ingredients and then we get back as quickly as possible and don't even try to talk about something that you don't even know anything about!" She snapped at Nana.

The short-haired Diclonius just shrugged her shoulders in response. "I know that you don't want to leave her on her own, but you have to learn that at some point the two of you will sepa-."

The sharp crack of Kyou's hand striking Nana's face silenced her before she even had a chance to finish what she was trying to say.

"Don't you ever try that again! You hear me?! Dare to say that again and I swear that I'll hit far harder next time! I don't want to hear a single word of it! Don't you dare!"

Her left cheek burning, Nana was dazed by it, to think that one of her own kin had struck her. Bringing up her own hand she was painfully reminded that she couldn't actually feel anything with it, the only feeling she got was the sting of her cheek.

In front of her, Kyou was visibly shaking, her hands trembling and the tears streaming down her face, her lips moved but the words that came out didn't make sense because of the grief.

Then without warning Kyou just leaped forward, dropping the bag she had been holding, and wrapped her arms around Nana as she cried out loud. "NANA, I'M SO SORRY! UWAAAH! UWAAAH! UWAAAH! UWAAAH! UWAAAH!"

Tapping her fingers on the desk Yuka was feeling a little impatient as she was still waiting for Kouta to show up, by now it was well into the second break at school and there was no sign of him. "Oh, you had so better have a good excuse for this when we meet," she remarked, the bitter tone of her voice giving away her true feelings about the matter.

"I take it that neither of you has seen each other today then?" Arakawa asked, her curiosity piqued, as she brought a tray with two mugs of coffee on it. "I know that you normally don't prefer coffee but I don't have any tea in my office sadly."

"It's alright," Yuka mentioned as she accepted one of the mugs, these weren't really that suited for drinking coffee but it seemed they were all that Arakawa had in her office. It was alright as she doubted that having tea was going to help ease her mood. "And yes, I haven't seen Kouta yet, he had to go to school earlier than I did so we didn't get to come here together. Still, we did agree to meet each other for the first break but he didn't show up and with him still not showing up I thought that he might be here with you."

Arakawa let out a chuckle as she sat down as well. "Sorry to disappoint you but he hasn't shown up here today, I guess that he might still be put off by what happened the other day. If you were to see him then tell him I'm sorry, he just caught me at a bad moment."

Yuka nodded, she would pass on Arakawa's apology if she were to come across Kouta. "So if I may ask, Arakawa-san, has there been any luck with finding a cure for Saori-chan? You were working on a few things, am I right?"

She shook her head. "Sadly none of it seems to work, I don't know how they manage to increase the aging of her cells and I don't have a clue as to how I might be able to slow it down. I'd say we can be lucky if can manage to get her aging rate to be like the other girls, and that is already pushing it, I'm not really optimistic about our chances here."

Not even taking a sip from the mug she placed it back on the desk and continued with her story. "Nearly all of the work that was done on those clones was lost when the facility collapsed, other than a few very rudimentary pieces of information we have nothing to go with. It's the same problem that we have with that ajina device on her head."

Getting up from her seat she turned her back towards Yuka as she walked over towards one of the big piles of papers that seemed to litter her office. "Ah, here it is," she mentioned as she turned around after some searching and held up a large case file for Yuka to see. Placing it in front of her she said, "This is everything I have on it, go ahead and take a look for yourself. I think you'll agree with me that it is pretty depressing if you catch my drift."

Picking it up Yuka did as she was told and opened the case file that she had been handed, sure enough inside there were but maybe ten pages of material and even that seemed to hold no further clues than what she already had heard from Mako.

"This is terrible," the younger girl uttered and then promptly placed it back on the desk, she didn't feel like reading any further through it. "Nothing that we do for her is there? Oh wait, Mako-san went to see a professor, didn't she? I believe it was in Matsumoto City, has there been any word from him? Mako-san said that the man needed some time to come with an answer."

"I'm afraid not, from what Takebe-sensei told me he might have some possible ideas but he needs more information which is why Takebe-sensei has me working overtime trying to find any more leads that might help. If you ask me it's a lost cause, we might be better of with focusing on the other girls who don't have so many problems with their health."

Yuka was upset when she heard that, to actually think that Arakawa was even suggesting for them to abandon Saori to her fate was beyond her. "I'm sorry, Arakawa-san, but I can't agree with you on that, if we were to do just that then we would be no better than the people who abused those girls. I won't turn my back on any of those girls and neither should you." She finished what was left of the coffee and got ready leave. "I'm sorry that I wasted your time," she remarked before closing the door behind her.

"I can't believe that she even dares to say such a thing, after all of the efforts that we have already gone through. Still, there might be some truth to what she just said…" It was true but that didn't take away that it was still a horrible suggestion and one that Yuka prayed that none of them were going to have to make.

"Wait, where did you hear that, Saten-san? Please, I need to know, this is really important." Mayu leaned in closer towards Hinami as she wanted to hear more of what she had just been told, frankly, she found it a little hard to believe but then Hinami didn't strike her as the kind of person to just lie to her

"I'm telling you what I heard from Isuzu herself, senpai. She really got a love letter from Miyamoto Kureto and he even came to their class with her at his side. I thought it would be best if I were to let you know already," Hinami answered her and Mayu felt grateful for the dark-haired girl being so honest, at least this way she knew what was going around the school as it seemed there was already some talk about it.

There first whispers of it had already been circulating by the time of Mayu's first break though at that point she wasn't fully aware of yet, it wasn't until Hinami had come to see her that she had learned of what had happened this morning.

Of course, the buzz wasn't caused by Saeko this time but rather because of the boy she had been with, everybody in this school knew who Miyamoto was and older students also were aware of the influence of his family, to Mayu it all felt like a mixed blessing.

On one hand, she did have to agree that with such a person like Miyamoto it was possible that those girls were going to stop picking on Saeko, and in that respect she was glad, next was also that it would be good for Saeko to have more friends of her own age or a boyfriend.

But there was also the issue that Miyamoto was a high-profile student in this school and everywhere he went he would attract a lot of attention, and Mayu was firmly aware on how much Saeko disliked that kind of attention. "I didn't know that she had gotten a second letter, when exactly did she get it? She didn't tell any of us about it."

"Ah, she got it yesterday and she seemed rather nervous about what to do with it. I'm a little surprised that she didn't come and to you about it, senpai. I can only guess that she must have felt rather embarrassed about it then."

Mayu nodded as she answered to Hinami and explained to her that Saeko wasn't really that good when it came to dealing with experiences that were completely new to her. This whole affair with the love letters, the bullying, and now Miyamoto certainly must have shaken her, who knew what Saeko had been truly feeling about all of these sudden events or how she was trying to cope with it.

It was going to be important to keep a close look on her to make sure that nobody was going to take advantage of her confusion and unfamiliarity. "Saten-san, as one of her friends can I ask you for a favor?" Mako asked, her tone serious. "Will you and the others please look after her whenever you can? I can't keep an eye on her as much as I want. I just want to be sure that there are others looking out for her, my sister can be in need of help at times," she added to her request. She hated herself for having to go after Saeko's back but she felt that she had to.

Hinami winked. "Of course, senpai, she's a friend of mine so I'll deal with anybody who dares to lay a finger on her for sure! I'll also be sure to pass it on to Ichinose and Kayano for you, given they're in Isuzu's class as well."

Mayu couldn't help but smile, visibly relieved, feeling so grateful for Saeko having such wonderful friends. "Thank you, you can't imagine how glad I am to hear you say that. I do feel a little ashamed that I have to ask this of you instead of looking after her myself. As her big sister, that really is my responsibility, you know what I mean right?"

Hinami nodded her head, she had a younger brother so she understood what it meant for a big sister to look after her younger siblings. It was what a big sister was supposed to do. "Isuzu-senpai, can I ask you something in return?" Hinami asked all of a sudden. "Did you have any luck with finding out who those girls are who are picking on Isuzu? I heard from Sakuraba-senpai that you came to visit her but that there wasn't much that she could tell you."

Mayu hadn't given it much thought to be honest, once word had started to go round about Saeko being spotted together with Miyamoto she had kinda forgotten about going after those girls but now that Hinami had reminded her she made a quick mental note for herself to go and look for them after school.

"Yes, I do know who they are and in what class they are. Sadly though I haven't been able to meet them in person yet and find out why they're after her but I won't give up so easily."

"That's good to hear, senpai, if there's anything else that I can help with or if you need to see Sakuraba-senpai, then please let me know. I'll do whatever it takes to keep my friends safe but I'm afraid that I've got to go now, class is gonna start soon. Take care, senpai." Hinami made a bow to her and then left, disappearing from Mayu's sight at the end of the hallway.

Turning around herself Mayu was sure that at some point she was going to need their help again, but for now, she had enough to work with for the time being. "I certainly will, Saten-san. Please look after Saeko-san and keep her safe." Saying those words she went back to her own class. After the next few classes, there was going to be time again to see if she could manage to track down those girls. Until then she was just going to have to wait.

She let out an exasperated sigh as there was just so much for her to worry about, already she had enough on her mind with Mei, the girls bullying Saeko, and now she also had to think about how she was going to deal with Miyamoto. "I really hope that things will work out for you, Saeko-san. If he can keep you safe in school then I'll feel a lot better knowing that somebody who really cares about you is looking after you. I just hope that he really does."

Thinking about it out loud she wondered what kind of a boy Miyamoto really was, she also started to think back to that other, rather rude and cocky, the boy she had met yesterday as well.

She didn't hold much of an opinion on him but something about him had caught her sight. Well, it was likely nothing, maybe a figment of her imagination, and besides she had to focus on her family, friends, and school first, and most certainly not on the type of guy who skips class because they feel like it.

They were walking side by side but even so, Kouta was feeling somewhat uneasy, not to mention restless, about the whole affair, it wasn't that Anna made for bad company as she had been simply exemplary in her behavior and manners.

She has been polite, patient, and in general breeze of fresh air compared to when he went together with either Yuka or Kyou, Anna had much more in common with Nozomi as she already carried that aura of being a refined lady without coming over as being arrogant.

All in all, he couldn't deny that he was actually enjoying this walk together with Anna but in doing so he was reminded again of viewing her as a pretty attractive young woman.

"Kouta-kun, I must thank you for having accepted my request of escorting me out. I certainly am having a great time with you, thank you kindly for granting my selfish request. Still, I see that this city has a long way to go before all of the scars that stain it has have healed," Anna mentioned as she came to a halt in front of a building and looked up at it.

Looking back he didn't notice it at first but when he did he quickly got back next to her, craning his neck up he looked in the same direction that she was and saw what she was referring to. The building itself was damaged, large portions of it were missing, pieces of debris littered the ground surrounding it, to him it was clear what had caused this kind of damage.

"It does but time does heal most wounds, still I can imagine that some wounds might just be too deep for one lifetime. Some people might remember what happened that day while most will likely forget about it." He was talking not about what had truly happened that day as only a select few knew the actual truth, but rather what the government had told the masses, an elaborate cover-up story that had been created; a severe freak storm that had come without warning and had ravaged the Kamakura area before it dissipated, leaving a trail of destruction and many death or wounded amongst those who had been caught outside when it had erupted. The masses simply believed what they were being told.

"It does but it is for the best if as few people as possible knew the truth otherwise it would be that much harder for those girls to have a chance at living a relatively normal life. People won't accept them if they were aware that all of the deaths and suffering that day was caused by one Diclonius." Anna said to him in return, even though she nodded her head in agreement, in time the city and the country itself was going to forget what had happened.

Kouta had to agree with that, prejudice was quick to come from people if somebody could be accused of being responsible for the death of others. Didn't matter if any of the girls hadn't actually hurt or killed anybody, just because they had horns and one of their kind had caused so much suffering would be more than enough for them to be labeled as monsters.

"Can we please change the subject, Kouta-kun? I would rather talk about the good points in life, there is already too much suffering as it is. So please, Kouta-kun," she whispered towards him as she wanted to enjoy this moment outside and not waste it on depressing thoughts. "I can imagine that you likely avoid this kind of conversation with those girls am I right? To make it easier for them to live their lives without having them feel guilty over something that they are not responsible for? You truly are a kind man, Kouta-kun."

Kouta couldn't help but blush in response to hearing her say that, Anna certainly had worded it rather nicely. "I think that you're giving me a little bit too much credit here. I just want for those girls to be happy, that is all I care for. That and the happiness of my family of course." He added to it quickly as well to make sure that she would not get any strange ideas about him.

Anna gave him a warm and endearing smile. "Of course. You really are a modest person, Kouta-kun. I like that about you, I also appreciate it that you are being honest with me."

Kouta wanted to say something but before he got the opportunity to let a single word get past his lips a resounding noise drowned out out everything else. "ONII-CHAAAAAAN!"

Author's note: there it is folks, latest chapter for you all to read and enjoy. Sorry for the little delay in I got knocked down by a nasty case of the flu last week which basically prevented me from doing any kind of editing or writing for that matter.

Fortunately that is all over now, and even more good news, I finally got my long awaited leave from work. It's only 3 weeks but those are 3 weeks that I badly need in order to get some much-needed rest, of course, I do not plan on resting on my laurels as I want to use this time to also get a bit more edited as I hope to get this story up to ch50 by the end of the year. So with a little bit of luck, you'll get to see the next chapter pretty soon, I hope.

Take care folks, see you around next time.