XLII
In a Pinch
The attack came with such speed and ferocity that Kouta didn't have any time to react accordingly. He could hear other people speak or scream, honestly, he couldn't make heads or tails out of it, somehow the world seemed to be spinning around in slow motion.
"Ouch!" With a loud whack, he landed on his back, barely avoiding having his head smack against the pavement. "Ow, ow, ow," he whimpered, rubbing the back of his head and offering a silent prayer for not having hit it.
"Onii-chan! Out of all the people out here I just had to run into you! Isn't that great?! I'm so happy I got to see you~!"
Though when he tried to move up he learned that there was a heavy weight on his chest keeping him pinned down, opening his eyes he saw what exactly that weight was. "K-Kyou?!"
She was the last person he had expected out here, why wasn't she back home at the inn? Why was she outside? Why did it have to be her of all people? Honestly, he couldn't afford this right here.
Grabbing onto him she started to hug and squeeze him tightly to such a degree that Kouta was even having trouble to catch a breath of air. He didn't dare to imagine how bad this must look to other people, let alone to what kind of impression this might give off to Anna who was seeing all happen before her eyes.
But before Kouta could take control of the situation Kyou beat him to the punch as she stared him in the face. "So onii-chan, are you as surprised to see me as I'm as delighted to see you?"
He scraped his throat, oh she had most definitely caught him by surprise. "Ah, uhm, y-yeah, y-you definitely surprised me there Kyou-chan, ehehehe" he laughed nervously, trying to move he found that his body was still pinned down because she was still sitting on top of him.
"Ehm, Kyou-chan, would it be possible for you to get off me?" he kindly asked her as by now it was starting to get a little painful for him. "I'd like to get back up on my feet."
"Why? I'm sitting rather comfortably…" she whispered towards him, her voice taking on a sultry tone, which gave him plenty of ground for concern. Without a doubt she was doing this on purpose, and as he told himself that, she gave him a quick wink. "Unless you want to make me."
Kouta found another lump stuck in his throat, she was definitely doing this on purpose but now he needed to come with a good reason for her to get off him and one that she would agree to. Well, how was he going to do that, just telling her was going to achieve the opposite.
But then it came to him, it was so obvious that it almost made him feel silly that he hadn't thought about it any sooner, he was just going to ask her.
"Kyou-chan, would you please get off my chest. It would mean a lot to your onii-chan if you would be so kind to do that for him. I'll even treat you to something really tasty." Smiling as he politely asked her to get off him he also returned her wink.
She blushed instantly, her face taking on a few extra hues of pink. "… O-Onii-chan… y-you…" she stuttered, the words rolling off her tongue with an almost child-like clumsiness. "… A-Alright then, onii-chan…"
And just as she was about to get off from his chest things went sour.
"Ehm, excuse me, Kouta-kun, are you alright? Did you hurt yourself? Are you alright, should I call a doctor for you?" Anna asked and despite her best intentions in doing so, she had unwilling drawn the attention of both Nana and Kyou onto herself.
As the two surprised Diclonius exchanged some confused glances with each other, they both turned their attention back to Kouta and by the expression on their faces they did not seem to be happy about this sudden development.
"O-Onii-chan…" Kyou gasped before she grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt with both hands. "... Onii-chan, who is this? Is she just a classmate? Are you close? Do you have more girlfriends? I'm sure I'm wrong, but to be really sure, you two aren't dating, are you?"
It was at that point that Anna, made a horrible mistake when she answered that question when she said, "We're just acquaintances. For now."
"So Yuka-san was actually here this morning?" Mako asked in a surprised tone when she was told of Yuka's brief visit to Arakawa's office. "A shame that she had to go to class, I wouldn't have minded to ask her how the girls were doing though knowing them they're likely just fine," she continued though it seemed to be lost on Arakawa who was by now going back through her usual routines.
"I was as surprised to see her as you are, it's usually the kid who comes to see me and then it's only when he needs to talk to me about something. Well, from what I heard he's out, apparently he got called to the dean's office though I've got no idea why," Arakawa remarked without even so much as bothering to look up from her computer, far too busy with her work.
"So tell me, did you find any more additional information with regards to the ajina device or the surgeries that were performed on the clones? I certainly can use anything else you may have when I go to see the professor."
Looking away from her research, but not without letting out a sigh, Arakawa just shook her head, signaling that other than what she had just given Mako there was nothing else left. "Other than that we've got nothing, and even that new material just repeats what we already know. I doubt that this professor of yours is going to find a solution with having so little to work with. Sorry if I sound a bit like a pessimist but to me, this looks hopeless."
"I know what you mean, you're not the only one." Being painfully aware of that obvious fact Mako nevertheless felt a need to go back to Matsumoto City and talk to Kogorou to see if they could not further what they already knew, it was a slim chance but one that she needed to make. "It's a small chance but it's the only one that we've got, if this doesn't work then I've got no clue on where to go next. I know that it's a gamble but I can't give up on that girl."
"I won't stop you if you want to go, but if you ask me you're just wasting your time by going. The only place where they had the technology and the knowledge to do this kind of surgery was at the DRI and you saw what remains of it, it's a complete mess. Nobody even knows what happened to the doctor who was in charge of those clones."
Arakawa was right, the man that had been responsible for the creation and exploitation of the clones; a doctor called Nousou had simply vanished without even so much as a trace. There was nothing reported on his fate after the disastrous attack on the inn by forces loyal to the chief himself. For all intents and purposes, it seemed like he had simply vanished.
"It certainly would've made things a lot easier for us but then I doubt that man would've been willing to cooperate with us, we couldn't even ask him about the device without exposing ourselves."
Arakawa nodded as she listened to it, she had never met the man in person but then given his work and the ways of the devious maniac he had worked for she was under no illusion that the good doctor would have likely refused to provide them with any help and threatening him wouldn't have helped either. That man would have held all the cards then and he would definitely exploit that to the fullest extent. "I don't want to get into any more trouble with the government than I already am. They're real jerks to work with, you know that," she remarked bitterly as she began to stress out exactly what she had to endure during her time being held by Saseba and it was not an experience she was keen to repeat again.
"I can't blame you for that and believe me, I'm not going to let that happen. If the government were to ever find out that some Diclonius have survived then that witch-hunt would begin anew." She looked down on Arakawa, making sure that she too would understand what the consequences would be for them if that were to happen ever again.
None of them could afford it as they were the ones that would be charged with abiding with the Diclonius and would likely face being found guilty of committing high treason.
Placing the last of the papers in her suitcase Mako decided that it was about time for her to go, it was going to be a long drive for her. "I guess I should get going, should you come across anything then please let me know. Hopefully, this will do but I'm having my doubts," Mako said as she let out a deep sigh born of frustration as she understood that this new material was rather meager and it barely contained anything that they didn't already know with regards to the device.
"Not much else that we can do about it, hopefully that professor of yours is as brilliant as you say he is, because otherwise, you're going to be pretty disappointed," Arakawa pointed out to her as she pushed herself away from her desk, getting up from her seat she made her way over towards Mako and the suitcase.
Looking at the other woman she gave her one last warning, feeling that it needed to be said, to make sure that the other woman was firmly aware of what the consequences could be. "I still have my reservations about letting one of those clones of the device's control, without it they become bloodthirsty monsters bent on killing every person in their sight." She had experienced it herself, it was an experience she prayed that she was never going to have to go through again. Somehow whenever the topic of removing the device came up she was left with the impression that these people simply forgot about what could happen.
"I really hope that you know what you're doing because if this goes wrong then a lot of people might get hurt or worse," she added to her earlier warning. "I don't want to be anywhere near that clone when it goes wrong, so you'd better make sure that it doesn't happen."
Mako nodded, they had all heard the story from Arakawa before on how a clone, who went by the name of Diana, that she had encountered at the DRI, turned out to be possessed by a murderous instinct once she had been released of the device's influence. It was possible that the woman was going to unleash a monster upon this world and her family if it were to come to that she asked herself if she could then find the strength to do what was necessary.
"Onii-chan?! Who's that?! Why is she allowed to call you that?!" she spat in frustration, her sneer directed at the woman. "And what did you say? What are you to my brother?"
With her eyes twitching as she sized up the woman, Kyou was feeling less enthusiast about the sudden sight of seeing another girl standing there and addressing Kouta by his first name. Least of which was the way in which she clung to his arm which annoyed her to no ends.
This was something that she simply could not understand, and found even harder to tolerate, her hands gripping tightly on his shoulders, the tips of her fingers almost digging into his skin.
"What am I, huh? I wonder," Anna said in return, before her giving a little teasing glance back to Kouta. "Kouta-kun, I thought that your little sister died several years ago? Who is she?"
The unfortunate boy could do little but let out a surprised "Huh?"
"What is she?!" Kyou yelled, her grip on Kouta's shirt tightening.
Nana tried to intervene. "Kyou-san! Stop it, you're gonna hurt Kouta-san!" She struggled to pull Kyou away from Kouta, doing her utmost best, but the other girl was fighting every moment of it. "Please stop it, Kouta-san's going to get hurt if you keep this up! Just listen to me!"
"Wait a moment..." Anna remarked as she had a closer look at Nana, her hand trembling as she was pointing at the ornaments in the short-haired girl's hair. "...I recognize you, I've seen you before. I can't believe it y-you're… you're both… of the surviving Diclonius…"
Both of the two Diclonius just stood there motionless, they had clearly heard the last word that Anna had just said to them. Diclonius, the word that betrayed them for who they were, for what they were, and now it seemed that there was another person who was now aware of their real identity.
Recovering from her initial shock Kyou's demeanor changed dramatically, a terrifying gaze in her eyes as she seized up Anna and asked her, "Where did you hear that, bug? How do you know about us? Tell me, are you one of those white-coated bugs from that place? You'd better answer me, bug!"
Even Nana who stood next to her could tell that the other girl had a murderous intent in her eyes, it was obvious that she was going to resort to violence depending on the answer she was going to hear, question was, how violently she would be.
"Kyou-san, enough!" Nana yelled and in a sudden move that surprised all of them she placed herself firmly between the other Diclonius and the target of her malevolence. "Stop with this right now! I mean it! This isn't the right thing to do! Don't do it!"
Kouta was quick to stand next to Nana, he knew that Kyou had an intense hatred for those people associated with the institute, those responsible for the suffering of her and her sister. He would not dare to imagine how she would react if she were to learn that Anna was the daughter of the director of said place.
"So I was right, you look just as you do on the photo," Anna mentioned as she turned to look at Kouta. "I'm a little disappointed in you Kouta-kun, I would've thought you would be a more cautious after my warning to you. You should've worked harder to hide their horns, well I guess it can't be helped. Still, I'm really grateful for the opportunity."
Gritting her teeth it was taking all of Kyou's will to restrain herself. "Just answer my damn question, you bug! Or should I just turn you into a big red smear across the pavement instead?! Maybe I'll just do that anyway, just to make one of you for what you did to me and my sister!" she howled, her clenched fists trembling.
"I know you're mad at me, and I can't blame you for that. Because of what my family believed in a lot of you had to suffer such a cruel fate, I know that my words might sound hollow after all that you have been through but I want to make up for that. I'm really sorry," she bowed towards the two Diclonius.
"Bah," Kyou spat in response. "You actually think that I'm going to buy those sugar-coated words of yours, bug! You think that I'm still that stupid?! Don't dare to treat me like I don't know any better! You treated me and those like me as dirt, like our lives meant nothing, like we were nothing!"
Even Nana was by now, getting a little worried about where this was going, although it seemed like the woman wanted to apologize for what had happened to them she found it a somewhat bitter pill to swallow. Too much had simply happened, to many of their kin had suffered a horrible fate, mere words would simply not suffice at this point.
Kouta was aware of that fact as well, no matter how hard Anna might try and apologize it would always just be a hollow gesture as the Dicloinus had all been through so much pain and suffering, so many of them had died, and the few surviving ones still bore the scars of their ordeals at the hands of the people of that place, of Anna's family. Words would never be enough to atone for all of the misery and suffering the Kakuzawa family was responsible for.
"I know that, but please you have to understand that what happened-."
"Lies! Lies! Lies! Stop lying, you filthy bug!" Kyou yelled at the top of her lungs, her tear-stained eyes still firmly locked on the object of her hatred. "I don't want to hear any more of your lies! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
"Kyou, that's enough!" He understood that he needed to act and fast otherwise this was going to get even uglier but how was he going to get the point across to Kyou that this was not the time to let her anger and hatred get the better of her. She wasn't going to listen to any reasoning, she was in a far too emotional state right now, he needed her to get her to calm down.
"Onii-chan, you idiot!" Kyou snapped at him, as she lunged forward and locked her arms around his waist, trapping him in place while still appearing to be agitated and unnerved about Anna's presence and statements. "Can't you tell that I'm worried about you. She's just toying with you. You'll only get hurt if you go out with her."
"Kyou..." Kouta gasped as he looked down and saw her tearstained eyes gazing back at him. "... I know it must hurt to see her here but please listen to what we have to say." She looked so fragile to him as if the merest touch would be enough for her to shatter into a thousand pieces.
By now Nana's attention had shifted towards Anna, now that Kyou was for the moment distracted she felt that it was upon her to make sure that this woman would refrain from causing harm. If what she had heard was correct then it seemed that she was connected to some people with considerable influence on the former institute, which was enough reason for her to be wary of this woman, even if she was hesitant about using her vectors against another person she was determined to protect her family at any cost.
"You don't like me, do you? Well, I guess I should've seen that coming," Anna remarked, keeping where she stood she was thinking on how to make the most of this sudden encounter. She had not expected to have a run-in with the surviving Diclonius so soon already, and as such she was left somewhat unprepared for this. "You're number 7 aren't you? That is what you were called there, am I right? Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Kakuzawa Anna, and it is my pleasure of finally getting to meet you."
Her arms loosening their grip on Kouta Kyou slowly turned her head towards Anna. "What did you just say?! She hissed underneath her breath, a murderous intent apparent in her eyes. "What did you say your name was, bug?! You've had this coming!" Barely finishing her sentence she lashed out for the woman with her vectors, lifting her firmly from the ground. Watching the woman struggle in vain Kyou felt nothing but excitement. "Now go die." And she flung Anna's body around, like an oversized ragdoll, before slamming said woman into the nearest tree.
"Anna!" Kouta cried out as he watched her simply crumble before his eyes before her limp form landed with a soft thud on the pavement, her body appearing lifeless.
"Hehehehehe," Kyou was grinning from ear to ear at the sight of the woman's state, somehow taking an almost sadistic delight in her misery. "Lucky for you, my parents told me not to kill a person though if I ever see you again you won't be that lucky."
"Kyou!" Kouta snapped at her, the sound of his hand slapping against her cheek echoing. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! Did you lose your mind?! Don't you ever do something as stupid as that again! Now get out of here! Go home!"
"K-Kouta-san, she's unconscious," Nana led out as she stopped him. "I think you should go and look after her, I'll handle Kyou-san… We'll be going then…"
Watching the two Diclonius leave Kouta would concern himself with the unconscious Anna, offering a silent prayer for Kyou having shown some measure of restraining, he lifted her up, counting himself lucky as she seemed to be lighter than he had thought. He could not believe what had just happened, he was going to have a firm talk with the long-haired Diclonius once he was home, he just hoped that he could salvage as much as possible from this mess. "I can't believe this… I'm going to have a word with her. How am I even to solve this?"
Outside in the garden, it was nice and quiet, so quiet in fact that Ryou was lying on her back, and enjoying this tranquil moment alone with one of her favorite reading books. She had already made her last check on Saori a scant few minutes ago and from what she had seen the condition of their little sister hadn't changed at all, as unfortunate as that was.
It was a shame as she felt that with this weather outside she wouldn't mind for the opportunity to get to read a story to their little sister but it wasn't going to happen, she couldn't wait for her little baby brother to grow up as well so she could read stories to him but she was going to have to wait a few years for that. "A shame as I think you might have even liked it, Saori-chan. Still, there's not much any of us can do when you're sick, I really wish that I could help you." She let out a sigh, craning her neck back as she gazed up towards the clear blue sky. Resting her feet in the pond she liked the cold feeling that engulfed her feet, and then there was the odd ticklish sensation she got whenever the fish decided to nibble on her toes.
Leaning back further so she was lying firmly on the blanket that she had brought with her she took in the sight of the sky above her, the sound of a gentle breeze caressing the trees audible in the background. Somehow it felt like such an idyllic scene, and yet it was also so real to her.
"It's so beautiful, you really should be able to see and enjoy it. I wish more of our kin sisters could've had this chance, I pray that mom can make you be better again," she said underneath her breath as her thoughts went back to their sick little sister. Just like her other kin sisters she wanted to see Saori get better so they could all spend more time with her. "There's so few of us left, we need to look after each other, we don't have many people to rely on other than the few people that are on our side."
She had heard her mother talking about another man who might be able to help them, he was according to what her mother had said a very brilliant man so if anybody was going to be able to do it than it simply had to be this man. Offering a prayer for Saori's recovery she began to think about those happy times when all of them could go outside together.
"You have your own onee-chan just like I do, I'm sure that she'll want to make sure that you get better as well so she can then take you out to see for yourself how many nice things there are for us in the world. I think Saeko-onee-san would want for that to happen more than any of us."
Lost in her own thoughts the book slipped from her fingers, landing on the blanket with a soft thud. She didn't notice it at all, too much immersed within her thoughts as she imagined all sorts of joys and delights that she wanted to experience not only for herself but for all of her kin sisters.
She was pulled out of her thoughts all of a sudden when a tingling sensation ran up her feet and legs, getting up quickly and looking down she was surprised to see that some of the fish had started to nibble on her feet. As they kept on nibbling she found it harder to resist the ticklish sensation, as they continued she was unable to hold back any longer before she started to giggle, followed soon by her laughing out loud as the tingling sensation was becoming far too much for her to bear.
"If... o-onee-chan… were to be here... s-she'd likely… have jumped… on me as well… and tickle me all over…" she gasped as it was still hard for her to stop laughing even when she had by now pulled her feet out of the pond, she was pretty sensitive to being tickled but then so too was her sister but she never got a chance to exploit that as she was always going to come out second when they were having their little moments together. It was their little secret.
Finally managing to pull herself together and coming back to her senses she looked over her shoulder as she began to wonder why Nana and Kyou were taking so long to come back from the market. Had something happened on the way back, had they met with some unavoidable delay? So many possibilities that existed. "... Onee-chan sure is taking her time."
She wasn't even thinking anymore about the sweets that Kyou had promised to bring along as she just wanted for her sister to come back, that is all she wanted. "Please be careful onee-chan and come back safely." She whispered quietly before turning back to her book, even though she could stay for a while on her own but in truth, she never liked for those moments to last longer than a certain amount of time. After that, an unpleasant sensation began to creep up on her as she feared that somebody might be coming after her.
"Or maybe I'm just too used to having onee-chan around me all the time…" she said before letting out an exasperated sigh, it was true that she and her sister were together almost all the time but then they really enjoyed each other's company, they wanted to be together, and they wanted to do things together. It made her wonder how it was going to be when the two of them would eventually attend school, would they still be with each other in the same class, or would they have to face the cruel reality of being separated from each other. "... It scares me…"
"Ah, be careful now. Don't overexert yourself there. Just take it easy, alright? Are you hurt?"
She could just make out a man's voice speaking to her as she slowly opened one of her eyes, a hazy face greeted her but the details of it were too blurry for her to recognize to whom it belonged. "...W-Where… am I…?"
"You should stay still until you feel better, honestly you had me worried there for a moment, Anna-chan. You should be more careful the next time you're planning on crossing the street."
She heard the voice again and this time it sounded pretty familiar to her but she could not yet place it, for that matter had something happened? Had she been caught in an accident or something? As much as Anna tried she couldn't remember any of that happening, had she hit her head? Why could she not recall what had happened to her?
"Anna-chan? Do you still remember what happened, does it hurt anywhere?"
With her eyes finally starting to adjust the face she had been staring at began to take on a more familiar shape, details were falling into place until finally, she was able to recognize the face as belonging to Kouta.
"…K-Kouta-kun…?" she gasped in surprise while letting out a soft groan as she tried to straighten herself up. She didn't feel any pain, although she could defiantly feel that her back and head were sore, which she took as a good sign for the moment. "… W-What happened… I don't remember… anything…?" she asked, looking to him for an answer to explain her sudden situation. "I don't recall lying down here, could you be so kind as to tell me what happened?
"Odd that you don't remember, guess you must've hit your head harder than I thought. Maybe I should get you to a doctor and have you checked out, I'm actually worried about you, you took a nasty hit," he said to her, gently and slowly helping her to sit up straight. "Alright then Anna-chan, what is the last thing that you can still remember?"
Bringing up her hand she held it against her face, what was exactly the last thing that she could remember before she woke up here? She didn't know honestly but then neither did she have an idea on how she had ended up here. Reaching out for the back of her head with her other hand she felt, what likely was, a nasty bump, so she had hit her head, of that she was certain. "… I can't… remember…"
As she looked at his face she could see the concern etched on his expression, he also gave her the impression that he was waiting for her answer with baited breath. Guess it would be rude of her to keep him waiting but she also had a burning question for him as well.
"I know that we went for a walk and that we ran into some people, a pair of girls I believe but after that I… I don't know… Tell me, Kouta-kun, did anything happen? How did I get here?"
He scratched the back of his head quickly. "Are you sure that you don't remember what happened? Don't tell me you lost your memory? Well, I guess these things kinda happen when you were in your situation. You see, we did run into a pair of girls but they simply asked for directions though while I was explaining it to them you got a little too close to the edge of the sidewalk and you got hit by a jerk speeding on his bike. You really scared me there for a moment, I'm just glad that you're okay."
Anna couldn't help but allow a smile to caress her face as she thought of being carried here by Kouta, it was a very gallant gesture of him to have done so. "Thank you kindly, Kouta-kun. Like I thought, you truly are a kind person. I hope I wasn't of any inconvenience to you while I was unconscious?"
"Don't mention it, I'm just glad to see that you're back up again. I got a little scared there for a moment. Well, now that you're awake, do you think that you can stand up? Just be honest with me. We can stay here a little longer if you need the rest, don't try to push yourself."
She nodded as she calmly replied, "I will try, I wish to say that I'm sorry for causing you to go through such trouble on my behalf. I really do appreciate your kindness, Kouta-kun."
He laughed nervously. "Don't say something so silly, I'm pretty sure that you'd do the same if you were in my position. Now, I know I just said for you take it easy, but is there someplace we can go to or can we perhaps call your staff to come and pick you up?"
She gently shook her head as she explained to him why she would prefer not to. "I'd rather not, if they were to have to pick me up here than my aunt is likely going to find out, if possible I would prefer it if we could go back to your school and call them from there."
Kouta let out a distressed sigh after hearing that, which Anna took as a sign that she was likely asking a lot from him right now, but she had her own reasons for doing so. "I hope that it isn't too much of a burden for you?" She made the question sounds so innocent.
"We can certainly go back to school but it might take us a while to get there, though if you think you can manage a long walk then I guess we could give it a shot. Though I'd feel better if you didn't try and force yourself, I'd rather go and have you see a doctor first. Well, I guess I've got little choice but to call a taxi. I hope you don't mind."
Reaching for his pocket he pulled out his phone he looked for one of the many taxi service numbers that he could call, so far was going better than he had hoped for but he wasn't entirely sure if she had forgotten what had happened when she had met the girls.
She returned his question with a smile. "But of course, Kouta-kun, that is fine with me though I do hope that you won't leave me on my own when it arrives. I could certainly use your help until some of my staff can arrive. That, and I would like to have some company, being by myself is pretty lonely you know."
Making the call he waited for the person on the other side to pick up, after having informed them of his location and asking how long they expected for it to arrive he hung up. "Well it should be here pretty soon, let's wait here until it arrives then," he mentioned as he sat down next to Anna who all of a sudden took his hand and before he even knew it he found himself staring into her eyes.
Leaning against him she reached out and whispered into his ear, "I really enjoyed this walk, Kouta-kun… thank you..."
"What the Hell?! I can't believe it! I refuse to do so! You've gotta be kidding me!" Kyou almost screamed as she lashed out with her right leg and kicked over a trash bin in her frustration. "Why does that filthy woman gets to stay with onii-chan?! A woman?! A bug?! With my onii-chan! Arrrggghhh! She pisses me off! That stupid wench, daring to seduce my onii-chan! He's mine! You hear me, mine! I should've killed her instead of knocking her against that tree, that stupid wench!"
Nana could do little but shake her head, she had tried to reason with Kyou and get her to calm down once they had left, but as soon as the short-haired Diclonius made any mention of Kouta staying behind with that woman Kyou would go into a frenzy. Already Nana had told her several times as to why that they had needed to leave was exactly for the reason that Kouta had given them, they could not be seen by that woman. In truth, Nana was less than thrilled by it either, not exactly keen on letting Kouta be by himself with a woman who could be so dangerous to them, but she didn't have much of a choice.
To think that woman was somebody associated with the institute, it was a galling thought and it sickened her to think that Kouta had not seen fit to have informed her about this sooner. There was no telling what she was planning to do to any of them and as much as it pained her to admit this, somewhere deep in her mind she had actually wanted for Kyou to have killed that woman, that way at least she would be sure that her family would be safe. But then, she really did not want to see any of her kin-sisters having to kill anybody, so she was also somewhat relieved that the other Diclonius had merely knocked the woman out cold.
"Kyou-san, we had to leave, there's no other choice. You heard what Kouta-san told us, right? That woman knew who we were, that we're Diclonius, if we had stayed we might've gotten into a lot of trouble. Still, I don't think it was a good idea to knock her out, you should be more careful. I just hope that Kouta-san can sort it all out." She gave it another shot as Kyou really needed to calm down, she was making too much of a scene out of this. If she were to keep this up then at some point somebody might call the police. "I don't like it any more than you do but we don't have a choice here. We need to trust Kouta-san. Even if it might have been better if she was dead there's not much we can do about it. We should just go home. "
Right now it would be best for them if they were to go back to the inn and wait there for Kouta to show up. He could also then tell them how it had gone, if his plan had worked, beyond that there was not much else that they could do. It was a risky plan and one that she did not fancy, but they were simply with any other option, if Kouta were to have run off with them then certainly there was going to be more trouble later on. With that in mind, he had decided to stay behind and look after Anna to prevent things from escalating any further.
"But onii-chan!" Kyou rebuked with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to leave onii-chan behind with that bug! What if she's going to hurt onii-chan?! I'll kill her if she does so! I won't-!"
Nana got a hold of her, letting her know that the other girl wasn't going to do anything that stupid in the middle of the street, Kouta was going to be just fine and when he would come back to the inn, and she stressed that he would, he was going to tell them that everything was fine.
"Kouta-san is going to be fine, he's been through worse. Now let's go home and make sure that nobody notices us. Besides, I think that Ryou-san's likely waiting for us to come back."
"Y-Yeah…" Kyou muttered, thinking of how her little sister was waiting for her and Nana to come back from shopping and bringing some sweets with them as well. "R-Ryou… is waiting for me…" She wiped away the remaining tears from her eyes but they remained stained red by the tears, it was alright and Nana felt relieved that the mention of Ryou had finally enabled her to get Kyou to come back to her senses.
"Yes, she is, we shouldn't keep her waiting any longer. Let's go then shall we?" Nana slowly began to guide Kyou back in the right direction, making sure not to make any further mention of the woman that was with Kouta. They needed to get home, to get away from this place, briefly, she also wondered what this was going to mean for them in the near future.
Even though she had told Kyou that Kouta was going to be alright within her own heart she was having doubts herself about whether or not that was going to be true. She really prayed that Kouta was going to be alright and that she was just worried about nothing but she could not help to shake the uneasy feeling she had about that woman, something about her felt wrong.
She was going to have to wait for him to come back but if that woman had done anything to him then much like how Kyou was feeling at the moment, she too felt certain that she would exact some measure of revenge. Nobody would get away with hurting a member of her family. Never again was she going to allow anybody to cause harm to her family again, it was a promise she had made to herself following that horrible night, never again would she allow for that to happen to her family. She would protect her family, no matter what.
"Say, Nana-onee-san, do you think it's alright if I were to take a bath when we get home?" Kyou asked her all of a sudden, her tone rather soft and timid, much to the surprise of Nana who hadn't expected this.
She didn't really understand it but there was a lot to her kin-sisters that she still did not fully understood even with all of the time they had gotten to spend with each other over the past years. "Sure, just don't use up all of the hot water as I think that Saeko-san might want to take one as well tonight, she usually does when she comes home from school." Nana smiled as they kept on walking. Right now she just wanted to be home, home with the rest of her family.
"So Isuzu, do you have any idea on what you're going to say to Miyamoto-senpai when he shows up again? I think that you've been lucky in that you haven't run into him again at school today," Hinami remarked as she walked beside Saeko, they had already split with Yuzuka and Azusa at the crossing earlier, which now just left the two of them for the time being.
"Well, I guess you must be pretty nervous about it, still I don't think you're going to be able to avoid him any further." She mentioned as she heard Saeko letting out a deep and troubled sigh, not that she could blame the pinkette as most girls would have likely reacted the same way. The dark-haired girl let out a chuckle as she told herself that most girls would have actually done far worse than Saeko had been doing. "I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you, you'd either like the guy or you won't."
Saeko just kept to herself, feeling too scared to either say something or react to Hinami's words. She was still trying to fully understand what had happened today but it was all so confusing to her, she didn't have any experience when it came to something like this. Nobody had told her about it or help her prepare for such an event. She was confused, unnerved by the sudden presence of the boy, and his revelation to her.
Not even certain if she had done a bad thing or not she didn't know who she could turn to for advice on what she was supposed to do. And the words from her friends hadn't really helped.
Maybe she could ask Yuka or her aunt but she felt so ashamed about it that when the thought surfaced she quickly rejected the idea. She could try and see if Nozomi would be willing to offer her some advice but then she wasn't sure when she was going to visit the inn again.
"Yo Isuzu, did you hear me?" Hinami was suddenly in front of her, waving her hand in front of her friend's face. "Are you alright? You kind of looked like you were spacing out, you know? Ah well, can't really blame you with all this stuff about Miyamoto-senpai. Maybe putting some distance between yourself and him isn't such a bad idea, at least you'll be able to find out that way if he was actually sincere about what he said to you, am I right?"
Saeko froze on the step as those words got through to her. Was it true what Hinami had just said to her, could that really be a way for her to find out if Miyamoto had been serious? If so then she would know and if she would know then maybe she could think of a suitable answer right?
"Of course, it might just be that he won't be happy with you avoiding him, guys usually don't take it that well, if you know what I mean. I guess it'd be easier if you just got sick, at least then you'd have a good excuse for it," Hinami summarized along with a number of other ways for Saeko to put some distance between herself and Miyamoto as well as offering her a few hints on how to avoid him but to Saeko most of them sounded somewhat odd.
Still, she had to find a way or at the very least gain some extra time that would allow her to learn what she was supposed to do in this situation and reach a decision before Miyamoto was going to confront her again. If he were to just surprise her like he had done this morning then she might even faint or do something else that was going to embarrass her.
"H-Hinami-chan…?" Saeko whispered underneath her breath, her hands beginning to shake as she fought to gather enough courage to ask her for some advice. "C-Could you…" she stuttered, finding it harder and harder to get the words past her lips, feeling so embarrassed.
"… Y-Y-You, see… I-I was w-wondering if y-you… c-could t-tell me something… about… y-you… know…" Saeko's wavering voice betrayed her uncertainty, the way she was fiddling with her fingers made it even clearer, and to a person such as Hinami, was pretty sharp to notice when it came to these things, it didn't take her long to figure out what Saeko had wanted to ask her.
"Sorry, Isuzu, I can't really tell you that much as I haven't had a boyfriend either. But I think it's best if you just stay yourself, don't go and change yourself just to be more to his liking. That's the only advice I can give you, sorry." Hinami shrugged her shoulders, there wasn't much else that she could do or say in this situation, it was pretty new to her as well. "Still it might be better if you asked Kayano or maybe your older sister, they know more than me."
Saeko fell silent after hearing that little bit of advice, she honestly lost any desire to want to talk about it any further. "…C-Can we please go? I just want to go home…"
"Sure, let's get you home then," Hinami remarked as she wrapped one of her arms around Saeko and comforted her. Apparently, the topic of boyfriends and such wasn't really one that her friend really liked to talk about, she could fully understand that and she would respect that. It was going to be someday tomorrow, she prayed for her friend's sake that the boy wasn't going to show up. Hopefully, he could be a little understanding. Maybe she would go and talk to him about it, try and see if she could get him to back off for a couple of days.
Making his way towards the main entrance of his school, Kouta was feeling more at ease now that some of Anna's staff had come to pick her up, still feeling elated that his little trick seemed to have worked he could only hope that Anna wasn't going to visit the city anytime soon. Despite his best efforts to convince himself there was still an element of doubt at the front of his mind, not that it was a bad thing per se, it kept him sharp and alert.
"That was such a close call, to even think that I'd bump into Nana-chan and Kyou-chan just when she was with me. That really freaked me out, even more so than Kyou's usual antics."
He was going to have to talk to them about what had happened and make it pretty clear that if they were to see that girl ever again then they should do their best to avoid her.
"I hope they'll understand, even though Anna-chan says that she has no ill intends towards any of the surviving Diclonius, I don't want her to come into contact with the girls yet. Still this might just be a futile gesture as she can easily go to Saeko's school and arrange to meet her there," he told himself, letting out an exasperated sigh as the dark realization of that sank in with him and made him question if he had actually done the right thing or if he had made a huge mistake instead.
Anna was certainly going to be upset when she would learn that he had blatantly lied to her, well that was going to be a problem that he would deal with when that happened. There was little point for him to worry about the possible consequences of it now, if she wanted then he would give her his reasons and tell her the truth as to why he had lied to her.
"I don't know if you'll accept an apology then but I'll put my trust in what you told me then. I'm sorry, Anna-chan, but I simply can't take the risk of letting you meet the girls just yet," he said to himself, that was how he felt about it and that was what he was going to tell to Anna when she would demand an explanation from was all he could give her, the simple truth and nothing more. "Guess all that's left now for me is to go home, I'm pretty sure that the others are there already." With that, he set off.
Barely had he reached the main gate when his name was called out from behind, as he turned around to see who it was that was calling him he saw much to his own surprise and joy that it was Yuka. "Yuka, I didn't expect to see you here? Didn't your class end about an hour ago, don't tell me you stayed here waiting for me?" he asked while he waited for her to make her way over towards him.
"Well, I actually did stay a little longer in the hope of having the chance to see you again. You're a bit mean to me though, Kouta, making it sound like I shouldn't have," she answered his question with a warm, gentle smile, before giving a quick kiss on his cheek. "So Kouta, how was your day. I was told that you were called over to the dean's office this morning. Is everything thing alright? Did anything happen?" Yuka asked as she informed him over what she had heard when she had arrived at school this morning, it had been quite the surprise for her, and for a moment she had actually been worried that something might have happened to him. She certainly hadn't been able led it go when he remained absent from the school.
"Ah no, it wasn't, it was just that the dean called me because he had a favor to ask of me," he stopped there, thinking about whether or not he should tell Yuka about having spent most of the day with Anna. Yuka did know about her but that didn't mean she had to like it.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to give her the news right now instead of her having to find out when she got and home and Kyou would make certain that everybody in the house would know of him having gone out with another woman whether he wanted it or not. Right now, was the best opportunity he would get in order to do some damage prevention.
"Well, I'm glad to hear it, I guess that both of our days must've been relatively simple then. You can't believe how boring it was in class without you. I even went and spent my break with Arakawa-san but she wasn't really much of good company if you know what I mean."
He did know what she meant but it wasn't that important.
"Yuka, actually there's something really important I need to tell you, it's the reason why I was called to the principal's office. I think it's better if you hear it from me right now than to find out when we get home," he said, quick and direct. It was better if she was told right now and he also wanted to get it off his chest. "Yuka, she was there. Anna-chan was waiting for me in the office." And then he began to tell her of what he had done all day while being in the presence of Anna; where they had gone, what they had done and even the almost disastrous running into Nana and Kyou. To say that Yuka wasn't exactly happy about him having spent the day with another woman would have been a considerable understatement and Kouta could clearly see that she was biting back her resentment, pretty understandable though he hoped that she wasn't going to take it out on him.
In a surprisingly calm sounding voice, she asked him, giving voice to her concerns. "Did it work, did she really lose her memories from before she hit her head? Didn't she have any suspicion about what happened? If I'm honest it sounds a little too good to be true."
He wished he could give her an honest yes but he still wasn't entirely sure of it, he certainly had a good feeling about but without being absolutely sure he preferred not to give any false hope so he simply shrugged his shoulder. "I think we've got a good chance but just to be on the safe side let's keep the girls inside the house for the next few days. With a little luck, we might just be able to continue with our lives."
Nodding her head in agreement she went with him as the two of them left the school grounds, their long walk eventually taking them to the maple inn, the place that they called their home.
"Ah, agent Hirano. How fortunate that you are here. Can I have a quick word with you?" Mizuno said as he entered Dai's office, politely knocking on the door though as the man's senior commander he was by no means obliged to. "I just got back from a meeting with command and there are some matters that need to be resolved."
Looking up from behind the paperwork he was going through Dai wasn't really sure what to make of this but if it came from higher up then he expected that it had to be related to the Kakuzawas, which was not something that he was really looking forward to. As far as he was concerned they could carry on with their meeting without him, given that his opinion or his recommendations on the matter were never taken into consideration whenever command made another decision he felt that his presence was not all that important. Even so, he could hardly send away a superior officer, so with some reluctance, he would listen to what the man would have to say.
"Ah Mizuno-san, can I ask you what exactly they want us to do? As you can see I'm a little bit tied to work so unless it's important I can't really leave my desk," he mentioned, hinting at the stacks of reports that littered his desk. There was still so much red tape that he needed to go through and then, of course, there was his own little private investigation going on into the ship reported by Bando but that one was proving to be rather difficult..
Mizuno did not seem to take kindly to it. "I can assure you agent Hirano that this is most certainly an important matter and not one you should make jokes about. The rest of your work can be wait while this gets resolved first, come with me to the briefing room."
The way that Mizuno said it didn't make it sound like a request but rather as an order, if the expression on the man's face was any indication then a simple no was out of the order. Guess there was no other choice for Dai other than to come along and hear what Mizuno had to say. As much he resented it he got up from behind his desk, leaned forward as he turned off his pc and closed those files he had been working.
"Alright then, let's go and find out what they have in store this thing, I can hardly wait," he remarked in a somewhat sarcastic tone though strangely it seemed to fly by Mizuno as he made no comment on it, in his thought he just hoped this wasn't something that somebody came up just because they felt that his department wasn't pulling their weight or had too much time on their hands. "I'm really interested to hear what command has come up with this time, no doubt it'll be every bit as good as the last dozen ideas they came up with."
"You should not be so quick to judge a matter without being aware of all the facts, agent Hirano. Perhaps that is why you were passed up for promotion when it came for this department to have a new commander appointed. A shame as you showed much potential."
Dai decided to let that one slide, he wasn't planning on taking the bait that Mizuno had just hung in front of him. He had more pressing concerns with which to keep himself busy, and besides he was pretty satisfied with his current position, somebody else could have all of the problems associated with being in charge of this department.
During their walk toward the briefing room there remained an uneasy silence between the two of them, one for which Dai felt rather grateful as he wasn't much in the mood for talking.
Up ahead the door that would lead to the briefing could be seen but even from here Dai could already make out several voices, more people than just him and Mizuno appeared to be present there, and that was something which didn't bode all that well for the nature of the matter that Mizuno wanted to discuss.
But before Dai had a chance to enter the room Mizuno held out his hand in front of the man, preventing him from going any further. Giving him a stern look the man said, "I would like to stress out that this needs to be resolved quickly or it might reflect badly on the reputation of this department, I don't need to inform you that such a reflection will lead to consequences and I'll not permit any of those while this department is under my supervision. Am I clear about this, agent Hirano?"
Hearing that Dai would hazard that if it had been Bando standing here instead of him Mizuno would have likely been busy in picking up all of his teeth from the floor by now, or he would have his head stuck in either the walls or the ceiling, possibly even the table knowing Bando. Over the past weeks, the man had really started to become an irritation, biting back his growing resentment of the man Dai simply nodded his head, signaling that he understood Mizuno's words.
"Perfectly, now if you'll permit." He gestured for the other to move out of his way. He wanted to get inside, get this meeting over with and then get back to his office, right now he felt that he needed to give Mako a call and see how she was doing.
Entering the room Dai wasn't surprised by the number of people present but what did catch his interest was to what branches they belonged to, it seemed that somewhat was going on.
"Ah, I see that the people of the second Saseba branch have arrived. Now, if you all will take your seat than this meeting can begin." A well-dressed man at the head of the table spoke. "Gentlemen, I will inform you all that the contents of this meeting are for your ears only."
Briefly scraping his throat as Dai leaned back in his seat, making himself as comfortable as was possible as this was going to be another one of those meetings. He was going to be stuck here for a while alright much to his chagrin.
"Hmm, it smells good," Mayu mentioned as she had a caught a whiff of the smell that was coming from the stew that Yuka and Kyou were working on in the kitchen and although she had gone and offered to help them once she had finished her homework, her offer had been politely declined by the two.
"It does smell good but then onee-chan is really good at cooking," Ryou commented in response, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear as she did, though as she looked up from her books and caught the smell as well but there wasn't really a need for her to say that as everybody knew that Kyou had quite the talent when it came to cooking, somehow she just appeared to have a natural gift for it.
Nana mumbled at hearing that. "She sure does, wish I could be as good as she is." Displaying a hint of envy in her tone. "I'll manage to beat her one of these days, you can count on it."
"Oh Nana-san, you shouldn't say that when you yourself know just as well as we do that Kyou-san is always going to be better at cooking that you are. You don't need to feel ashamed about her being better, that is just how things are. Just like how Ryou-san is so much better at doing her homework than you are," Mayu jested which prompted an immediate reaction.
"Mayu!" Nana rebutted. "You're being mean you know that? Meanie! Meanie! Meanie!"
"Please Nana-san, you don't need to get upset about it. It simply is that way and it isn't your fault, there's always going to be a person out there who will be better than you in one aspect of your life whether it is cooking, school, music, or wealth. That is just how it is."
The short-haired Diclonius' irritation subsided as Nozomi entered the room.
"Good evening everybody, it's nice to see you all back together. It has been a while since you and your sister were here isn't it, Ryou-chan? So how are you doing?" she asked as she sat down next to Ryou and had a look at the homework that said girl had been dutifully working on.
"Oh that looks pretty intense," the older girl remarked as with a closer look she could see that this was some pretty heavy material for somebody of her age to study. "I'm really impressed that you can even manage this, you must be pretty smart, Ryou-chan."
Ryou blushed at hearing that praise. "I… I'm just doing my best, when onee-chan and I can go to school next year I want to make oka-san and oto-san proud of us. But if I want to do that then I need to study hard…"
"Well seeing how hard you're at work I'm sure they are already proud of you, as a reward what do you say if we were to practice singing together after you've finished your homework and we've had dinner?" Nozomi looked at her and even though she had asked Ryou the question she felt fairly confident that Ryou was going to answer her with a yes.
In Nozomi's mind, it was important to study hard but also to know when one had to stop studying and spend some time with either friends or to do those things one enjoyed. Both the body and the mind needed their time to rest as well, if one didn't unwind and relax at times then a person might just risk losing all they had worked for.
"Would you like that, Ryou-chan. Of course, I wouldn't mind if your sister wants to join us." She then raised her head and looked at Mayu and Nana as well. "Naturally the two of you are also welcome to come join us if you want. It's been awhile since we have a practice session with all of us together so what do you say of it, are you interested in it?"
Mayu and Nana exchanged a quick glance with each other and then in unison they closed their books and made a bow towards Nozomi, expressing their gratitude for the kind offer, of which they were only too happy to oblige "We'll gladly accept your offer, Nozomi-san. Thank you very much. To be honest we were hoping you were going to suggest it."
Nozomi couldn't help but let out a short giggle, with a smile caressing the gentle features of her face she returned the bow, saying that she was very happy to hear them accepting her offer. Still, they were going to have to wait just a little longer as they still had some time left before dinner would be ready to be served.
"If it's alright then with you girls I'll go to Yuka-san and see if I can find out how much longer they think they'll need before dinner ready to be served. I'll let you know when I get back. Till then," she winked before leaving the room.
Author's note: there you go folks, next chapter is up. I hope you'll all enjoy it, if you do please let me know as I'm eager to read your thoughts and opinions.
I had hoped to have been able to get this one posted yesterday but sadly I got a little side-tracked as I had to watch over my little niece. So while I had actually planned to spent yesterday's afternoon on a good amount of editing, fate (read little 18 month old niece) dictated that I would spend my afternoon drawing ponies and wau wau's (that's what she calls dogs)
I hope you all have a good weekend, and I'll see you again soon. Take care.