It was around evening. The sun was pretty much just an orange speck in the western distance, leaving the sight of many a person in the city of Kamakura. Most people were already in the illuminated warmth of their homes having returned from either work or leisures, while a few still remained in the chill summer outdoors. The iconic chirping of crickets permeated the grassy and forested regions of Kamakura, while the still sands of the beaches were darkened and left be, with sloshing ocean water for company. The vrooming of several motorcycles could be heard somewhere in the city, being that it was the best time for them to go wild. Sirens would usually accompany them - some folk were apparently not happy about it.
In a certain Maple Inn also not filled with happiness, the residents were sitting around different areas of the old building: Mayu hugged Wanta while she sat beside Nana outside; Kouta sat on the stairs with despondence, occasionally looking towards the direction Lucy last ran off to on the second floor; Yuka hugged herself in the living room, looking over the table full of half-eaten plates of food. 'Quietude' was likely the most appropriate word for this lengthy moment, even with the occasional breathing, hiccuping and gentle, but troubled, footsteps.
Nozomi leaned on a wall in a hallway, her belongings still inside the backpack and briefcase beside her.
She in particular had many conflicting thoughts - she was pretty close to making the decision to leave for her own safety, but she knew that she came here with a purpose. And she thought that abandoning that purpose would eventually take a toll on her, emotionally. Not to mention having plenty of new and unanswered questions regarding her new roommate's circumstances.
Thus, with new-found confidence, Nozomi stood up and went over to where most of the other residents were, non-verbally telling them to come with her with the wave of a hand. They all knew what she wanted, and followed her.
Nozomi, Kouta, Nana, Mayu and Wanta went over to where Yuka was, who was now looking up at them entering the room and sitting on different sides of the table - Kouta beside her; Nozomi on one side; Nana, Mayu and Wanta opposite her.
Nozomi began to speak. "Yuka-senpai...everyone...what's going on?" she looked at all of them in concern.
Yuka looked back at her, then decided to utter her first words since the last few hours or so. "It's a long story, Nozomi...we still don't even know everything," she sighed.
"We would have told you eventually, but...we weren't sure how we were going to," Kouta said, eyes on the table.
Nana, with a sudden drive to contribute, felt like this moment was appropriate enough for her to give a much needed clarification.
"Well...I'll try to explain. But," Nana spoke as she kept looking down. "I don't know if anyone will want me or Lucy-san around here anymore..."
Kouta and Yuka looked at her in worry, with Nozomi only staring in a mix of perplexity and perturbation.
In contrast, Mayu took Nana's hands with a strong, but tender grip. "I trust you, Nana-san. I always will. You're my best friend. And we won't leave you. Nor will we leave Lucy-san."
"Mayu..." Nana gave a sad smile.
"Please, Nana-chan. Tell us," Yuka said in a soft tone.
"I really want to know, too," Kouta nodded. "Lucy told me some bits about her story, and I want to hear yours as well."
Nana looked at all of them and her smile widened a bit - she knew that she could trust her new family with this explanation.
Nozomi looked at the four of them and saw that a tight bond had been formed, from which she internally felt relieved. Therefore, she bowed her head and said, "I promise I won't tell anyone."
"...Okay," Nana nodded, gripping Mayu's hands tight. Then, she unwrapped her headband around her horns with her vectors, revealing them to Nozomi.
Nozomi's dark eyes went wide, gawking at the sight of something invisible moving the cloth, then seeing the horns on Nana's head, pale white like most animal horns.
"H-How...did you do that? And...a-are those actually horns?" Nozomi said quietly, impressed but also scared at the sheer lack of normality.
"Yes. They are the horns of a Diclonius," Nana responded, blank look on her young physiognomy. "And we Diclonius have powers that are greater than a human's."
And so, Nana explained.
The existence of the Diclonius race; the abilities of Diclonius; the Diclonius research facility and its purpose; the horrible torturous experiments made on young Diclonii girls; the usage of Diclonii as super-soldiers; the Silpelits; her Papa dying together with another Diclonius recently; Lucy's appearance and purpose along with her split personality; the killer instincts of Diclonii manifested as inner voices and all around persecution and discrimination by humans toward the Diclonii.
At first, Nana kept on her blank facade. But, she eventually softened considerably the more she explained in detail, reliving some memories she didn't want to.
"...and that's all I know," Nana finished her story as she was crying uncontrollably, hugging Mayu for dear life.
Kouta felt like he was going to puke his intestines out. Yuka just stared in awe at nothing as she tried to process this information. Nozomi was left a sobbing wreck from hearing it. Mayu was left shocked as she held on to Nana, but unlike earlier with Lucy, she needed to be strong for Nana.
'Oh, my God...' Yuka thought as she put her hands on her head. 'How could this have happened all along...?'
"I didn't know..." Nozomi whispered as she hugged herself while she breathed shakily. "I'm so sorry...I didn't know..."
Kouta growled as he slammed a fist on the table. The thunderous sound of it startled the rest.
Yuka looked over at Kouta - he was definitely beyond angered, shaking with one hand gripping the table tightly as the other sat on it as a fist. He looked like he wouldn't care if he broke the table. Yuka could only continue to stare at him in his furious state, while she breathed in and out slowly, trying to control her hiccups.
However, after a few moments, she looked away from him, and she suddenly stood up. She wordlessly began to leave the room, her eyes looking empty.
Kouta quickly looked up at her as he was starting to calm down. "Yuka?" he said, standing up in concern for her.
"Don't worry, I just...I just need to think. By myself. You understand, Kouta," she semi-whispered as she left the room. Kouta didn't object. How could he?
"Excuse me," Nozomi said as she left the table as well, now full of answered questions, although with new ones having popped up in her head. She hadn't decided on leaving the Inn, yet.
Mayu observed the others and stayed silent as she hugged a sniffling Nana, Wanta beside them.
Kouta could only look at the table, with the state of the half-empty plates pretty much telling him how he and the others felt right now. He looked back at Mayu and Nana, who were both now looking up at him - he couldn't say anything to comfort them. As much as he tried, he simply couldn't - he was in need of some comfort himself. He eventually left the room, too.
Both of the youngest were now left alone.
"Mayu...did I ruin everything now?" Nana said, now dispirited.
"No, Nana-san," Mayu smiled. "I know that things will be better for us after this. Thank you for telling us."
"I hope so...and thank you, for listening," Nana smiled back as she let go of her best friend.
"I'll always be here for you, Nana-san," Mayu said as she wiped off Nana's tears. "I'll help both you and Lucy-san. And so will the others. Even Wanta."
Wanta looked up at them, noticing them both smile at him. Then, he moved around both of the girls in sheer joy, panting.
"Wha-Wanta! Careful, you shouldn't move so quick! You'll hurt your leg!" Mayu yelled at him gently...right until she noticed something, along with Nana.
"Wait...how are you not yelping? Doesn't it hurt, Wanta?" Nana said, her drying eyes blinking.
Mayu and Nana would begin to examine his leg in doubt and disbelief. 'There's just no way he would heal up that quickly...' both of them thought collectively.
She felt like Hell came back and nearly took her away.
She kind of wished it did. She felt deserving of it.
And now, she had to deal with someone else. Thankfully, a certain third party still wasn't around, which made this easier.
"I don't want to face them," she whispered, sounding defeated. "I can't face them. Not now," she took a deep breath. "Please."
The other one understood. She was ready to come back, ready to help out her friends - her family. But she still wanted her other to continue to share her happy experiences.
Even if things went wrong, she could still make them right. She already began doing that, in fact.
All she needed was encouragement. The motivation to see that through.
But that would be for later. Now, she had a request to fulfill.
In the Diclonius facility outside Kamakura which is still under attack from international forces, Spec Ops Team 7 and their informant, Katsuo, were waiting for two of the team members to return with the provisions requested by the captive Diclonii girls.
During that time, neither party said much of significance, besides one of the Diclonii girls asking Katsuo minor details about himself to which he obliged - something involving computer hacking and computer dismantling, which left the girl curious, even if the others were left confused or annoyed. Or in some cases, uncaring and impatient...
Thankfully for most of the individuals in the chamber, the food cavalry has arrived - their hooves clopping with little difficulty.
"Lead! We've got some food and drinks! Thankfully, they're not expired," they put down a box full of them.
"Nice work, you two," Team 7 Leader smiled.
"Has Team 1 cut the power?"
"No, not yet. If they already had, then the facility's backup power would activate. Which it hasn't."
Katsuo grabbed two apples from inside the box. Slowly, he walked toward the Diclonii girls.
"Okay. Now...I know how long each of your vector ranges are. Considering that you still do not trust us completely, I am going to throw these apples from here and at least one of you will grab them. Is that all right?" he said. Some of the girls nodded while others kept glaring, almost wishing they could get those apples right off of his hands, limbs be damned.
"Okay, here goes!" he exclaims as he threw an apple in their direction. And then the other.
From Team 7's perspectives, they saw the two apples stop in mid-air then move towards the girls as they began to eat them while they were still in chains. Needless to say, they were left impressed. Scared, perhaps, but nonetheless impressed.
"Holy shit, he was NOT kidding..." one of the members said in awe, gawking.
"Guess we better do as he says. If they can do things like that, then I'd rather be friends with them."
"Agreed. These research sickos were only putting off the inevitable," Team 7 Leader joined in.
"In more ways than one, Team Lead," Katsuo said to them. "You'll understand more soon."
At the same time, the staff member taken prisoner began to get up after recovering enough from the gun-based beating he took earlier.
"Why are you doing this?!" the prisoner yelled. "They're the enemy of humanity!"
"Oh, you're still here. Good," Katsuo half-muttered, then motioned at the team members to grab the prisoner as he turned over to the girls. "Do any of you recognize this man?"
"Wait, what are you doing now?!" the prisoner yelled, already pissing his poor, beige pants.
The girls looked at him, a mix of shock and anger on their faces.
"Oh. Yeah. Him," one girl was seething.
"Y-Yes...I do," another looked away from the prisoner on sight.
"Did this man do anything to you?" Katsuo glared at the prisoner.
"He...he tried doing awful things to me," another cried. "It was horrible...he just wouldn't stop..."
"He planted a tiny bomb on some of us as part of his experiments. The results are over there," she pointed her head to the girls with their brains out of their skulls.
"NO! I did no such thing!" the prisoner yelled out. "It was one of my colleagues! He has always had this violent streak that we were forced to tolerate! Please, don't listen to them! I-"
Katsuo grabbed his collar. "Are you telling the truth?" he said as he raised an eyebrow, fist at the ready. His eyes looked dead straight at the prisoner's, with the latter shivering in quick breaths.
"Of course I am...!" the prisoner tearfully whispered. "I have to tell the truth, otherwise I'll be killed!"
"And what does the camera footage tell me?" Katsuo calmly said, with the prisoner's water-flowing eyes widening. "It tells the story of a man and his toys getting destroyed because of a simple, curious desire that the man had."
Katsuo punched him in the cheek, the sound of it echoing around the wide, pale room.
"The desire for toys only doing what he wants them to do. Anything else they do is subject to removal with no care having been there in the first place. And they were never even toys to begin with."
The prisoner could only cough and spit out some blood, slowly looking back at a stone-faced Katsuo in terror.
"Never lie to someone who knows how to do their job."
Katsuo rubbed his punching fist for a little while, alleviating the small feeling of a sting. Then, he looked over at the Diclonii girls, who were left either unamused or shocked.
"If we let you do whatever you want to him...will you let us help you?" Katsuo gave a smirk.
"Not a bad idea...Katsuo. Not bad at all," one of the girls said as she was smirking back, evilly. The rest of the Diclonii either nodded in agreement or looked down in fear, their eyes closed shut. Some of them wished they could shut their ears as well, but it was not gonna happen. They had to bear with the coming experience.
"I don't want him to do those things to me again. Please...do it," one girl was still crying, but also frowning.
"Not a problem," Katsuo said. Almost immediately, the team members grabbed the prisoner and forced him to stand up.
The prisoner began to rapidly move around, trying to get away. "NO! NO! PLEASE! I CAN APOLOGIZE-" he got butt stroked on his head.
"Too late for that, buddy. See you in Hell," Team 7 Leader said. The team members who grabbed him then threw him over to the girls.
He was in vector range.
The prisoner could only do so much as he screamed while getting lifted up into the air. He was slowly being torn apart limb from limb, organ from organ. Buckets worth of blood poured out of him and painted the pale floor in pure crimson as he continued screaming. Then, he gargled in his own blood as he rolled his eyes back until his head popped off of his limbless torso. What was left of his body was just a mangled mess on the floor, pooled in red liquid with the remains of his clothes and many of his torn organs.
Some of the team members whistled, while others couldn't bear to look. Katsuo simply watched without pause, his smiling expression not changing.
"Oh, my good Lord," one team member whispered in horror.
"God. Damn. These girls are brutal," another one from the team gawked.
"You know, I'm starting to agree with trying to be friends with them," a third team member nervously said. The rest nodded silently, a couple of the younger operatives still trying their best not to lose their stomach contents for the second time today.
"Friends? With a human?! Ridiculous!" one of the girls huffed, clearly annoyed and baffled at the idea.
"Well, we're trying not to be hostile."
"And so far, you're doing a surprisingly good job of it."
Katsuo cleared his throat, bringing attention back to him. "There you have it. You finally got rid of that monster. So, will you trust us now?" Katsuo raised an eyebrow.
The girls looked at each other. Clearly, this man and his group have done nothing so far but help them, unlike the other humans who have only treated them as caged animals and even killed off some of their kind. They still had doubts about whether they were doing this as a temporary facade, and were going to capture them and then treat them in exactly the same manner as the facility people. However, they decided to take this chance - whatever happens afterwards, they will deal with it.
"Y-Yes. We will," one of the girls smiled.
"But only for now. You let us go after this, and you don't follow us," another girl said, while she glared at her saviors.
"Of course. You're free," Katsuo smiled. "But on one condition," his expression suddenly went serious.
"Ugh..." one of the girls rolled her eyes. "Fine. What is it?"
"You do not kill any more humans. I am saying this, because if you do, you will only make it worse for yourselves. There are more peaceful ways of solving your problems."
"Considering our own lives and how humans normally react to us, I'd have to say that the word 'peace' isn't part of our vocabulary," one of the more jaded Diclonii responded. "Besides, we were born to kill humans. These bastards here and the voices in our heads tell us so."
"But...I don't want to kill humans..." one of the more optimistic Diclonii also chimed in, with some of the other Diclonius glaring at her in annoyance and disapproval.
"We'll make sure that will not be a problem for you. It will take some time, but we will find a way to remove that violent aspect of you. For now, just try not to kill unless it's absolutely necessary."
"No promises," a Diclonius shook her head.
"That, I can understand," Katsuo sighed as he closed his eyes. "I break way too many promises, myself. But still, try to keep that violence to a minimum - at the very least. If you have no other reasonable choices left in a volatile situation...well, you know what to do."
"Um...I-I'll try to...I can promise that," one of the girls nodded.
"Just let us go already!" another Diclonius impatiently yelled out.
"Loud and clear," the Team 7 members and Katsuo said collectively. The team members slowly went over to the girls, avoiding the bits and pieces of the prisoner's remains. They carefully removed the chains without doing anything else that would seem suspicious.
As they went free from the chains, the girls looked at them as they put their hands up.
"T-Thank you...so much..."
"Hmph. Thanks, I guess."
"I should tell you this by now - you're the first group of Diclonius out. Now we have to free the rest, so that they can also get out with you," Katsuo said. "That is, unless, you are the competitive kind. I know how Diclonius normally interact with each other."
"In this situation, we just want to be out of this torture chamber," one Diclonius said. "We'll help you free the others...but only if you follow our commands now."
The Team 7 operatives looked at each other nervously - this was kind of expected, but it did not mean they had to like it. For their own survival's sake, they had to force themselves to agree.
"Got it," Katsuo responded.
"Now, show us the way," one of the horned girls ordered him, taking up a leading role.
The Team 7 members and Katsuo began to move slightly ahead of the girls, with their hands still up. The food box, weapons and equipment left behind were then taken by the girls with either their vectors, or their own visible hands.
One team member looked back, but this irritated one of the Diclonius.
"Keep moving. Unless you want to be full of holes. Or in pieces," she said as she pointed a gun at him, with his and his team's own weapons taken and the girls' vectors at the ready.
"We said we won't do anything to you."
"Yet."
A downcast Yuka was sitting near the Maple Inn gates, looking at the dark, black sky filled with tiny, white, glowing spots of light.
She could barely wrap her head around the information revealed to her. To think that there was actually a whole different species of humans with minds set to kill other humans, not forgetting the fact that the humans who do know about them only did harsh and cruel experiments, which only escalated their hatred and desire to kill.
She also realized that young Diclonii children could only live through misery, as they had to bear with being bullied and tormented, along with the fact that they killed their own parents and other children their age, which gave incentive for the research groups to use law enforcement and military personnel to capture them and take them in for their experiments.
'A really tragic existence,' she thought.
There was one thing that Yuka was morbidly curious about.
"Just how many did she kill...? Who did she kill...?"
As she muttered this out, coming close to another realization, she heard stone-laden footsteps coming near her.
It was her hopeless though lovable cousin, looking just as downcast as her, but with a hopeful glint in his blue eyes. Yuka always liked the color. It always gave her a sense of familiarity.
"Kouta, please. I thought you understood," she sighed.
"I do. But, you really don't like being alone, right?"
Yuka stayed silent, not looking at him. Taking that as a 'yes', he sat down close to her, looking at the stars. He wasn't one for recognizing constellations, but he nonetheless found them interesting enough.
"I'm scared, Kouta," Yuka whispered out. "To think that this world's harsher than I thought it would be makes me so afraid. Just thinking about what they went through just to survive...it gives me shivers."
Kouta touched her hand - warm, but shaking. Eventually, the shaking stopped.
"Is the world screwed?"
Kouta looked away from the stars and into the umber eyes of his cousin.
"It is, isn't it? Lucy is the 'Queen' who will bring ruin to humanity."
"Yuka..."
Yuka looked away from him, closing her eyes.
"She'll have no choice but to kill us all in order for her to be even remotely without pain."
"Yuka, look at me."
The moment he finished that sentence, she did exactly that in only a second. 'Uncertainty' and 'terror' on her face were written all over.
"She doesn't want to do that anymore. She never did. All she wants now is to live in peace with us."
"How can you be so sure?" she muttered.
"Did she ever go out and kill anyone recently? More specifically, since she came back? It would have been in the news."
"Well, now that you mention it, no. She stays in the Inn pretty much all the time. That, and Nana-chan can still sense her at times, even if it's muddled. But still, I'm sure she gets the urges."
"Maybe she does. But right now, she's doing a good job suppressing them. As much as she dislikes you, Yuka, she won't kill you, because she knows that's not the right way. Heck, I haven't even seen her and Nana-chan fight each other at all; they mostly just make playful banter and harmless competitions," Kouta grinned at the last part of his sentence.
"Heh, yeah," Yuka smiled. "I still remember Nana-chan trying to beat Lucy at shogi a couple days ago, even though they both have zero knowledge of the game. And they were both playing so badly, it was like watching a different game being played!" she said, chuckling a little.
"What's funnier is that Lucy played along with it, not caring about the game and just having some fun with Nana-chan, who was still confused about the game," Kouta giggled.
"Ahh, now that was a good time."
"Sure was," he nodded.
As their giggling died down, Yuka's thoughts were set in. Kouta's intervention, as weak as it is, was enough to bring Yuka in a happier mood.
"You know, Kouta..."
"Hm?"
"We're already letting Nana-chan live here and I help her out with her education. So, for Lucy, I'm gonna let her stay, too. She already helps me out with the chores. That, and Nyu-chan is part of her, too," she scratched her head. "Well, that last part makes her stay here mandatory, anyway."
Kouta smiled. "I'm glad to hear that, Yuka," he said as he stood up, taking Yuka's hand to have her stand up, as well.
"I'm not gonna let you stay here alone, either, understand? Not with Nozomi, either!" she stated as she bopped his nose with a finger.
"Yes, I know, 'Mom'."
Yuka could only grin at being called a mother, even if Kouta was being playful. She hugged him tightly, startling him a bit until he eased into the hug.
Suddenly, both heard another set of footsteps coming, quickly looking at the source.
They saw Lucy, but she looked a little different, yet still familiar.
"Nyu?" she said.
Her eyes were rather puffy - no surprise, given that her Lucy self cried earlier today.
"Nyu?!" Kouta and Yuka both exclaimed in surprise.
"Y-You're back? But...why?" Kouta stuttered, blinking in confusion.
"Nyu-chan, are you all right?" Yuka said in concern, but also relief.
Nyu looked at them, giving a sad grin. "Nyu give Kouta...and Yuka...hug? Nyu?" she said as she stretched her hands out.
Kouta and Yuka looked at each other, then smiled as they looked back at Nyu.
They both entered her embrace.
"It's good to have you back, Nyu-chan."
"Nyu...love hugs," she smiled.
They wished the others would join and stay like this forever.
Nyu wished Lucy was here receiving the hug, instead.
In the Diclonius research facility, the Team 7 members and Katsuo kept moving towards the elevator that was set for going through the upper floors, formed in a line with the group of Diclonii girls having taken their weapons and now being held at both gunpoint and vectorpoint. They managed to free a few other Diclonii from their cages along the way to the surface - they joined the group, which now consisted of over a dozen Diclonii. It was a rather rare occurrence for so many of them to appear together.
As they got closer to the elevator, the power went out suddenly for a moment, making everything go pitch-dark. A few seconds later, the backup power came on, with the lights around the facility not being as strong as before.
"What was that?!" a timid Diclonius girl said.
"Don't worry. It's just one of the teams of our strike force cutting the power to this facility."
"Oh. I see..." the timid Diclonius responded.
"Keep moving," ordered one of the more testy Diclonii girls, pointing her gun forward at the human group.
They went to the elevator, with the girls going in first. The Team 7 operatives went in after them. It was rather cosy, even though the elevator walls were cold. There was just enough room for all of them to fit in - and of course, it was awkward as hell.
"We'll have to go no way but up," Team 7 Lead pointed out.
"Take us there," the Diclonius leader - designated as Number 20 - demanded with a curt tone.
One team member pressed a button for the upper floors, elevator doors closing in response.
The cheesy jazz elevator music that came on did not really help alleviate the situation much. Nobody was in the mood to talk, unless necessary. The music did, however, spark the curiosity of some of the Diclonii, who were rather enraptured by the sounds of the slow saxophone.
After a minute or so, the elevator suddenly stopped moving - the music's sudden leave made the curious Diclonii dissatisfied, wanting to listen to more of it.
"Hey! What is this?!" one of the Diclonii yelled at Katsuo.
"Ah, shit. Elevator bugged out on us. Talk about faulty..." Katsuo mused in calm annoyance.
"Guess we gotta call for backup, then," one of the Team 7 operatives said calmly.
"Um...we can help," one of the Diclonii girls meekly exclaimed with her hand out.
"What are you saying? They got us here in this mess, plus, we can get out by ourselves!" another girl berated her fellow escapee.
"True, but we can't leave them here. It won't look good for us when we get out," said another, pragmatically.
Number 20 was thinking about it. After a breath-halting moment, she closed her eyes and nodded at the others.
"Open it up," she pointed upwards.
Vectors grabbed the elevator ceiling and tore it open. The team members were left wide-eyed as the girls floated upwards.
"Come on, let's go."
"Woah, crap!" one member shouted in shock as he felt something invisible grab him and pull him up to the elevator's top. "Damn...thanks," he breathed out in nervous appreciation.
"Y-You're welcome," the girl shyly nodded and smiled.
"Let's not waste time. Pull the others up and let's open those doors," Number 20 gave the others commands and they complied.
"How much further, Katsuo?" one of the girls questioned him.
"We're pretty close, actually. Just another floor above and some hallways left to go through," Katsuo smiled. "Soon, you'll have the freedom you desire."
'Let's hope so. Don't know how much longer I can take this...' thought one of the younger Team 7 operatives, sweating buckets from both his gear and the Diclonius' tense presence.
In the Maple Inn living room, Mayu and Nana were playing with Wanta. The two young girls were giggling in relieved elation, with them having examined Wanta's leg and confirming that it had somehow healed miraculously quickly. The question as to how that was possible would be looked into later, as they just wanted to enjoy the fact that Wanta was okay now.
They heard a pair of soft footsteps enter the room - Nozomi's.
"Did something happen?" Nozomi said.
"Oh, Nozomi-san," Mayu smiled at her. "We found out that Wanta is all better now."
"Ah, that's good to hear," Nozomi responded in calm joy, but raised an eyebrow. "But what did he have? An injury?"
"Yeah! We don't really know how, but it got healed up!" Nana shouted.
In addition to hearing the dog's condition improving, Nozomi was glad to see Nana happy, considering all of the rather...heavy stuff that she said a short while ago.
Even after thinking a lot about it for the past thirty or so minutes, she was still more than terrified at what she now knows about the Diclonius. Thankfully, her sympathy was winning out in her mental battle - as long as things didn't go terribly wrong all of a sudden, that is.
"Are...you okay? Nozomi-san?" Mayu spoke to her.
"Yes, I am. Somewhat," Nozomi looked down on the floor.
Nana gently moved over to the new resident, deciding to give her thoughts and try to reassure her.
"You don't have to worry about us. I am not like the other Diclonius. But, as for Lucy-san..." she looked aside, still having her own doubts. "I'm not sure yet. Though, at least, she's not acting that way right now. Hasn't been for a while. She's trying to be better...for what its worth."
"I see," Nozomi nodded at the Silpelit. "I...thank you, Nana-chan. For telling me this."
Nana smiled, then looked back at Mayu, who was still holding Wanta in her arms with a look of delight.
"Are you going to stay?" Mayu turned over to Nozomi.
"Um..." Nozomi fidgeted. "L-let's wait for the others first, so I can tell them, too."
The younger two agreed to that without a word. Looking over at their food plates, they believed that they might as well finish their long-forgotten food. With or without an appetite.
Shortly after, footsteps are heard coming into the living room. Kouta, Yuka and Nyu popped out, all three wearing much lighter expressions compared to before.
"Nyu!" Nyu spread her arms out proudly.
"Huh? N-Nyu-san?!" Mayu and Nana shouted out in surprise.
Nyu ran over to Mayu and began glomping her in excitement. "Mayu, Mayu!"
"Wha-Nyu-san!" Mayu said in shock as Nyu's strength quickly came back to her memory. "Wait! You're c-crushing meeeaagh!"
Nozomi blinked at this behaviour - was this who 'Nyu' was like?
Nana had her eyes widened at first, but then kept them back at a normal level, her eyes watching Nyu with a sense of suspicion. In her arms, Wanta - in contrast - was happy to see the pink-haired woman.
"You three okay?" Yuka said to Mayu, Nana and Nozomi in concern. They nodded in response, with Mayu barely escaping Nyu's deadly hug. "I apologize if I worried any of you..." she rubbed her right arm.
"It's all right, Yuka-senpai," Nozomi smiled.
"Yes. We're just glad you're fine now," Mayu said, cheerily relieved.
"I got this big, skinny lug here to thank for lifting me up," Yuka pointed at Kouta.
"Aw, come on. I'm not that skinny...or big..." he rolled his eyes. The others giggled, except for Nyu, who didn't get what they were talking about, though she was nonetheless happy for her family cheering up.
"Oh, by the way, Wanta's leg is all healed up!" Nana said.
"Wait, already?!" exclaimed a baffled Yuka and Kouta at the same time. They both went over to feel his leg - after a few moments, they've deduced that his leg has indeed healed.
"But this makes no sense," Yuka pondered, rapidly blinking in thought. "Usually, a sprain like that takes a few weeks to heal completely. Seeing it heal in a shorter time than that is just...weird. I know we've seen some weird stuff, but this is on another level of weird..."
"But Wanta's okay now! Isn't that what matters?" Mayu said.
"Well, I suppose. But still..." Kouta half-agreed.
Still holding Wanta, Nana could only guess as to how this could happen. Even she would agree that this couldn't happen naturally. Something was quite off here, and it wasn't the smell of the pancakes she baked yesterday. She'd rather not remind herself of it now.
As 4 of the residents theorized, one other resident - Nyu - stared at another - Nozomi. The raven-haired woman stared back.
"W-what is it?" she responded as Nyu went over to her.
Nyu then tried to feel Nozomi's hair, with a curious, innocent look to her.
"Um, N-Nyu-san?"
"No..zomi..." Nyu said, barely above a whisper, yet everyone heard her. "Look...familiar..."
"You said that earlier, too. Well, in your Lucy self," Nana observed.
Nozomi was still rather confused as to how this person knew her. She wasn't one to go out into public areas and make herself known - she preferred the outdoors and the sea. However, she knew one thing that she wanted to happen right now.
"P-Please let go of my hair," Nozomi stuttered, looking straight at Nyu.
Nyu widened her eyes and immediately let go of her dark locks, intimidated by Nozomi's shy glare. The others tried their best to hold back a chortle, with Yuka in particular puffing her mouth and almost losing control.
"That reminds me...Nyu-san," Mayu looked at Nyu, who was smiling back at Mayu.
"Nyu?"
"How and why did you come back?"
Nyu's expression turned downwards. She did not even answer, but Mayu persisted.
"Is Lucy-san all right? Is she the reason?" she put a hand on Nyu's shoulder.
At this, Nyu looked over at Mayu, and then at the others, quite somberly.
"Lucy...not okay."
The others could understand that, especially with what she said earlier.
"Lucy sent Nyu out."
"I would ask how you - or rather, how she - did that, but...more importantly, why?" Mayu blinked. Beside her, Nana kept looking blankly, already knowing why.
"Lucy want alone. She says she want Nyu with you. She says...she not deserve you," Nyu closed her eyes, her voice wavering.
"Because she feels guilty, right?" Kouta questioned Nyu. She looked back at Kouta, her red eyes making non-physical contact with his blues, dismal expression not changing. That told him what he needed to know.
Kouta sighed - he just knew this "changing and bettering" thing wasn't gonna be easy for Lucy. Especially not with the things she did. But, for her sake and the others, he was gonna stick by her and help her along the way.
"Nyu. We're glad that you're back," Kouta said with a grin, moving over close to Nyu. "But, are you happy staying with us? As yourself?" he told the horned, steadily learning lady.
"Nyu is happy. I am happy to be back," Nyu nodded. "But...Lucy also deserve to be happy. And...not alone."
"If you can see her next time, in your mind...tell her we'll wait for her. And that we'll help her," Kouta smiled, patting Nyu's pink head. "Okay?"
Nyu smiled, nodding with a more lively look as she took Kouta's hand with hers in a small hug. A sense of pride enveloped Kouta's gentle insides, and he was more than satisfied. Unlike the times when he had to cook something complex and fail at it.
The others felt the same as Kouta, while Yuka looked at this and...actually didn't mind it, for once. She was just happy seeing Nyu happy - simple as that.
Kouta turned over to the rest. "I think we should all take a night's rest. Today got pretty...heavy, so to speak."
The rest nodded at him with somber expressions as Nyu stood up.
"Yes, you're right. I was getting kind of sleepy, anyway," Mayu agreed.
As she observed, Nozomi's thoughts were calming down, starting to settle into a decision.
"Wait! Um...I have to tell all of you something," Nozomi nervously said.
The others waited for Nozomi's answer as she took a few moments to compose herself.
"For now...I am going to stay here, in the Maple Inn. I'm willing to give both Nana-chan and Lucy-san a chance."
An internal sigh of relief came out from the others, Yuka in particular feeling very glad with her friend. Nozomi was usually indecisive, so to see her take a more definitive action after being apart for a while gave her a sense of pride.
"Good to hear that, Nozomi," Yuka smiled at her as she grabbed her hand in approval. Nozomi had both of her hands around Yuka's one hand, her nervous, but brave grin obviously showing.
After showing a satisfied grin, Nyu yawned, putting a hand over her open mouth. The rest followed suit.
"Well, I'm going to bed," Nana put Wanta on the floor as she got up. Before she left, she suddenly stopped, remembering one thing she had to do. She looked at Nyu for a bit, took her hand and then she went out of the room with her. "Good night."
"Oh, yeah!" Yuka reminded herself. "Nozomi, we set up this system of daily turns on who gets to sleep with Lucy, who is Nyu-chan at the moment. Basically, it's so we can keep her close company. Or - knowing Nyu-chan - when she wants something during the night, like nature calls. Today's Nana-chan's turn."
"Oh, I see," Nozomi nodded. "Not sure if I can agree to it yet, though..."
"I might as well go to bed, too," Mayu got up, taking Wanta with her to set him back at his doghouse. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said as she went out of the room, as well.
"Hey, uh, Nozomi? If it's okay with you, we can sleep together," Yuka said to her, smiling.
Nozomi tried her darnedest to fight off a blush at the implication of that sentence, even though she knew Yuka didn't mean it as something else. Thankfully, no one noticed, and so she gave a polite (if secretly reluctant) response.
"N-No, no. I can find my own room, Yuka-senpai. Thank you," she bowed.
"Well, all right," Yuka then looked at Kouta. "I'll see you tomorrow as well, then. And thanks for handling Nyu-chan."
"Yeah, no sweat. Good night, Yuka," he patted her shoulder. She smiled at him as she left the room.
Kouta and Nozomi were the only ones left in the living room.
"Sorry for the sudden revelations," he said. "We won't mind if you still want to leave later."
Nozomi only shook her head in response as she smiled. "It is all right. I'll get used to it, hopefully."
Then, she quickly went out of the room, uttering a quick, "Good night."
Kouta stood there in thought for a while, before leaving the room himself.
"Never thought my life would get this...interesting."
On one of the floors that led outside the Diclonius facility, Special Ops Teams 1 and 4 were regrouping, having respectively finished their objectives on cutting off the main facility power and capturing as many staff members as possible.
Team 1 Lead decided to get out a water bottle and drink it, before speaking with Team 4 Lead.
"How many you got?" Team 1 Lead asked, taking a sip.
"Ninety-seven," Team 4 Lead answered.
"Hey, not bad," Team 1 Lead grinned in pride.
"Yep. We got them locked up in some of the offices for the rest of the task force to take care of. Most of them just dropped down their stuff and practically threw themselves into our hands. A few put up a fight, but they surrendered, too."
"How many did you take down?" Team 1 Lead said, taking another sip with a more serious tone.
"Thirty-three. All of them from security," Team 4 Lead responded with a sigh. "Thank God the rest of them hadn't decided to commit 'armed hostilities' on our asses."
"Thirty-three, huh? That's pretty high. More than your last mission in Europe, right?"
"Yeah. And it's still kinda annoying that some of them thought they were smart enough to take us on with low-tier weaponry and basic 'eight bucks an hour' security training," Team 4 Lead shook his head, using an American term. "Even though a couple had anti-tank rifles specifically for Diclonius, they weren't enough for us. Not in the amateur way they used them, anyway."
"How much was eight dollars in yen, again?" Team 1 Lead asked one of his team's members, who was Japanese.
"Over a thousand yen, sir," the Japanese operative answered to him in fluent English. "Honestly, not that good of a pay rate for such a...boring, yet secretly life-threatening job. Especially when it involves the fate of humanity."
"You said it," Team 4 Lead agreed. "I bet even the scientists here don't get paid that well. Kakuzawa must be a cheapskate."
"Eh, I don't know about that," Team 1 Lead said doubtfully. "We know at least one of the top scientists had millions of yen. We found out he transferred the majority of his money out of pocket once to some unknown party weeks ago. Not sure why; we couldn't trace them. Plus, let's not forget the other places of interest on our radar that Kakuzawa was transferring his money to."
"They'll be taken care of, for sure. I hope soon," Team 4 Lead nodded, before patting Team 1 Lead's shoulder. "Anyway, good job on cutting the power."
"Thanks," Team 1 Lead said. "A little hard to see right now, but it's nothing compared to my mission back from last year. We do have NVGs, but it ain't that dark here."
A moment later, both teams heard distant, collective footsteps that echoed from a nearby hall. Readying their weapons, the operatives aimed at the direction of the sounds.
"Lightning!" Team 4 Lead yelled out, deciding to use a countersign challenge.
"Strike!" came out an answer from someone, as the collective footsteps got louder and closer.
One person came out first - Katsuo. Holding his hands up and looking at Teams 1 and 4 with a calm, but slightly nervous expression plastered on his face.
"It's the informant," Team 4 Lead said, lowering his weapon with the other operatives doing the same. "What is the situation?"
"Put down your guns. And put your hands up. Now," Katsuo said, still holding his hands up. This of course, only raised a few eyebrows.
"Where is Team 7?" Team 1 Lead asked. "Don't tell me..."
Right then, all of Team 7 slowly came out one by one without their masks, along with a large assortment of young girls with light hair colors, horns and malnourished bodies that held Team 7's weapons and a floating box of food supplies.
Teams 1 and 4 widened their eyes as they saw the Diclonius. A second later, they saw their weapons and equipment being taken away by invisible hands, startling them.
"Did you not hear him?" one of the Diclonius girls said in annoyance. "I can't believe we have to do the work for you."
One of the Diclonii decided to break apart an MP5 sub-machine gun piece by piece, in front of Teams 1 and 4. This, of course, scared a few of them, mainly the younger operatives.
"Holy..." one of the operatives said in shock.
"Katsuo, is this your idea?" Team 4 Lead said in an uneasy tone.
"Mostly. Just...listen to what they say, and follow me," Katsuo responded.
"So, this is how it is?" Team 1 Lead questioned this situation. "I guess we shouldn't be surprised..."
From the response of several of the Diclonii glaring at them and one of them breaking one of their MP5s apart, Teams 1 and 4 raised their empty, gloved hands up.
"That's better," one of the Diclonius said, smiling.
As needless as it is, Number 20 had to silently agree that this method convinced these other humans to comply.
Team 4 Lead turned his head over to the informant. "Katsuo...you better know what you're doing," he muttered in nervousness.
"Please, just trust me on this one," Katsuo said.
Upon joining Team 7 in the "hands up" crowd, Teams 1 and 4 followed Katsuo with the Diclonius girls right behind them.
"We need clothes," one Diclonius girl said, shivering again. "I feel so cold..."
"I think I know just the thing. Team 4?" Katsuo turned his head to them, hoping they got the message.
Outside in the leading aircraft carrier, the Rear Admiral and his Lieutenant anxiously wait for any radio responses from the Special Ops Teams. It's been over 10 minutes for Team 7, longer than the set interval where they were supposed to report their status. Not to mention Teams 1 and 4 being quiet on their end, too.
"Rear Admiral...do you think they..." the Lieutenant/Leader 5 asked his superior.
"It's very likely," the Rear Admiral sighed, closing his eyes. "As much as I doubt it, I hope they're not-"
Suddenly, a radio transmission is heard in front of the Lieutenant's communications station, with the two officers along with a few other crewmen quickly turning their heads towards it.
"This is Team 7...and we're alive. We, along with Teams 1 and 4, have completed our objectives...and we require immediate transport. Over," Team 7 Lead's voice came through, with nervous pauses evident.
"Team 7...are the Diclonius with you right now? Over," Leader 5 said, hesitatingly.
"Well, Leader 5...why don't you see for yourselves? Over," Team 7 Lead responded.
In the next second, another voice came in to provide some news.
"Uh, all Operation Leaders? This is Sniper Team 4. We have eyes on Special Ops Teams 1 through 7, and uh...they have a few-dozen-large group of young girls wearing lab coats pointing their guns behind them. Over."
"This is Leader 3. Do those girls match the description of the Diclonius? Over."
"Uh...they have light hair colors, horns on their heads, pale skin, floating box of yummies and equipment in the air around them, glares that can kill just by looking...I'd say yes, sir. Over."
"This is Leader 1," the Rear Admiral joined in. "Is the informant there? Over."
"Yes, Leader 1. The informant is alive and unharmed. Over."
"Roger that. Team 7, give a comm-link to the informant. Over."
"Affirmative."
Team 7 Lead complies with the order, giving a comm-link radio device for Katsuo to put on his head, like a one-sided headphone.
"This is Katsuo, over."
"Leader 1, here. What is your status? Over."
"We're doing fine, Leader 1, but I don't think you should dawdle. Get those transports here, ASAP. Have two of them be empty for us to leave on and the others filled with troops to secure the whole facility. Over," Katsuo said quickly.
As Katsuo finished his sentence, he and the rest on the facility with him had to wait for a few minutes.
These few minutes were spent by the Diclonius satiating their curiosities.
"Wow, it's so much warmer out here! Especially now that we have clothes!" one Diclonius cheerfully exclaimed as she rubbed the white cloth with one hand.
"Too bad we only got their coats. Rest are too big for us," another muttered annoyingly. "Still better than nothing, though."
"I never thought I'd wear clothes again...not since me and my parents were separated," a third Diclonius looked down.
"You are welcome," Team 4 Lead responded while sweating from the pressure, but keeping his calm.
"So...this is the outside world?" one young Diclonius said, looking around in awe and wonder at the sight given to her. "That's the...'sky', right?" she asked one of the human operatives.
"Yes, that's right," he nodded, giving a nervous smile, feeling slightly amused yet sad at the Diclonius's limited knowledge.
"Why is it blue? What are those white things?" she asked him as the light of the Sun was blinding her and most of the other Diclonii, due to their eyes not exactly adjusting to it in years. "Ughm...and what is that light? My eyes are hurting..."
"Well...it's part of how our planet works. It would take too long to explain," he responded. "To keep it simple, those white things are called 'clouds', and they contain a lot of water. And the blue color of the sky is because of the Sun - which is that glowing white star in the blue sky. Don't look at it directly unless you have eye protection," he added in more detail. "The sky gets very different at night, though. It turns black and the Moon shows up, which doesn't blind you. Depending on where you are in the world, it can be a sight to behold."
"What are those grey things over there? They look so huge! How are they on the water?!" another Diclonius asked, her eyes widening.
"Those are ships. Specifically, military navy ships. For one thing, they are used to transport hum-um, people like us. It's how we've arrived here," another operative answered. "And yes, they also have weapons. Very big weapons. For defense."
"Hmph," one of the more jaded Diclonii - designated as Number 31 - scoffs. "I get the idea that you need them for defense, but why come here with this much firepower? That doesn't seem necessary for what you are supposed to be doing here."
"Do you really want that answer?" Katsuo chimed in.
"Yes."
Katsuo sighed, already thinking how the girls are not gonna like it. "Well, to put it blunt-"
Suddenly, one Diclonius yelled out, "Hey, look! Look!" she pointed up at something in the sky. "What is that?!"
The others realized she was pointing at a large flock of birds - seagulls, to be precise. Most of the Diclonius saw the seagulls and stared at them in awe, as if they discovered a new form of life.
A younger Diclonii asked one of the human operatives. "What are they?"
"They are birds. Animals of this world that can fly with their wings," Team 7 Lead responded. "They consist of many different species. Those in particular that you see right now are called 'seagulls'."
"They look so...free," one Diclonius whispered. "It's like they can go wherever they want..."
"Well, yes. In a way, they can," Team 7 Lead added with a half-smile.
As the minutes of waiting passed by, most of the uneducated horned girls kept giving questions to the operatives as the only other sources of noise came from the sea water, splashing on the island's rocky surface. The rest of the group who didn't contribute to the extension of knowledge (some of them already knew during their times on the outside) either felt anxious, annoyed, and at worst, impatient.
Eventually, the air-based transports were in sight.
One of the girls noticed and pointed at the approaching vehicles, seeing them as small, moving black-grey shapes that quickly got bigger in size as they got closer. "Hey, look over there! Are those the 'helicopters'?!"
"Correct," Katsuo answers. "Good timing, I say."
One of the four Chinook helicopters lands down on the facility's helipad, close to where the Diclonii-human groups can feel the constant wind gusts of the helicopter's rotors move their hair and clothes rather wildly.
"Ah!" a few of the Diclonius girls yelped as they felt the strength of the wind gusts, some of them keeping their heads down.
"Don't worry! As long as you don't fly with your vectors up where the rotors are spinning, you'll be just fine!" Katsuo yelled out.
The chopper slowly lands down, rotors continuing to spin. In the cockpit, the pilots could see the groups in a mix of sheer horror and awe - one of them couldn't resist pinching his cheek.
With the chopper having landed and its rotors slowing down, its metallic rear cargo door slowly opened in a matter of moments.
"Two of these will be enough for this whole group," Katsuo said. "Me and Team 7 along with 2/3rds of you girls will go inside this first one. The last 1/3rd of you girls along with Teams 1 and 4 will be on the second."
"Um...do we really have to go in there? This scares me..." one Diclonius said very anxiously.
"Hey," Number 20 gave her attention with a comforting tone. "We agreed to this. We have to. You don't want to stay here, right?"
From her leader's answer, the anxious horned girl could not disagree. After a moment of thought, she put on a braver face, showing her willingness to go through it.
"Alright, good," the leader nodded at her with a small measure of pride. She turned to Katsuo. "You go in first."
Katsuo does so, walking right up to where the pilots where as they looked over at him in worry for their lives. Katsuo could tell, even with their sunglasses on.
"Relax. It's under control," he smiled at them to bring comfort. It had little effect. "Once we're full, fly up and wait for the second chopper to take the rest of them in it. Then, we'll go together to where Leader 1 is."
Then, Number 20 walked up to them with a calm, reasonable expression. "We won't harm you, if that's what you're worried about. As long you don't do anything stupid."
"What she said," Katsuo stated.
"U-Understood," one of the pilots nodded at the both of them.
The Diclonius and Team 7 were entering the first Chinook, managing to bring the box of food supplies inside. Needless to say, it felt pretty cramped, which was to be expected. Neither side of the group felt comfortable being this close to each other.
"Are we all here?" Katsuo said, looking over to the back side of the chopper. It felt like there was enough people in here already. "All right, take off," he turned to the pilots, who instantly agreed and started their procedure.
As the chopper began to fly in the air over the facility, several of the Diclonius looked out from the circular windows, opening their mouths in wondrous awe at the size of the world. It seemed small to them, yet it was big all the same.
"We're flying...we're flying! This is so amazing!" one of the Diclonius exclaimed, eyes shining.
"I've never felt like this before...look at all that water!" another pointed. "It's like it goes on forever! The Sun is even shining the water!"
From hearing the girls, the two pilots felt something inside which filled them with a sense of calm, as if they knew that the girls were still, to a certain extent, innocent.
"Welcome to Earth, girls," Team 7 Lead said with a smile. "There's plenty more things you haven't seen yet."
Most of the girls turned to him quickly. "Woah! Like what?!"
As the others continued on with their questions, Number 20 couldn't help but smirk a little bit. Even she stared out one of the windows, but she tried her best to control herself. Nevertheless, she did want to see more of this world, too. If things went smoothly from here on out, of course.
Meanwhile...
"Rear Admiral," one of the fleet's Captains (call sign "Leader 2") arrived at the carrier's command room, where the Rear Admiral/Leader 1 was stationed in command of the fleet. The Captain saluted the Rear Admiral.
"Captain Lockhart," the aged veteran saluted the officer back. "I assume you have who we need here?"
"Yes, sir. At the moment, we'll have to wait for those from the facility to arrive," the Captain says as he turns over to the Lieutenant/Leader 5. "Any estimate on their arrival?"
"2 minutes, Captain," the young officer responded. "The Sniper Teams are watching the transports as they're flying over here."
"Good, good," the Captain nodded. "If by chance things don't work out...it was a pleasure serving with you all."
"Likewise," the Rear Admiral smiled at him. "And you never bought me that whiskey you owe me."
"For after hours, I hope, sir?" the Captain smiled back at him.
"Oh, come now. You know I will retire soon, Lockhart," the aged officer chuckled. "I want to go tend to some tomatoes and cucumbers, you know?"
"Can we visit, sir?" the Lieutenant light-heartedly interjected.
"As long as you don't bring any of those modern music players. Only vinyl," the Rear Admiral patted the Lieutenant's back. "But enough of that. We'll have to see if we can live through this, first."
Right on cue, the radio picked up a transmission from one of the Sniper Teams.
"This is Sniper Team 4. Anyone respond?"
"Leader 1, here. What's happening, soldier?" the Rear Admiral responded.
"Two of the Chinook transports are half a minute away from landing at the carrier. The rest have dropped off troops at the facility to secure it, as was the plan."
"Roger that. We're going out to meet them. Over."
"We'll be on standby, if anything dicey happens."
"That would be helpful, but considering what we're dealing with now, we have something else in mind. Do you understand?"
From the other side, Sniper Team 4's radio guy was silent for a moment. "...Understood, sir. We wish you the utmost best of luck in this."
"Thank you, soldier," the Rear Admiral said with a slightly heavy tone in his gruff voice. As the transmission cut off, the senior officer pulled out a device he had in his pocket, grimacing as he closed his eyes with a long-held sigh.
He turned over to the two younger officers with him.
"Let's go."
The officers prepared themselves as they ascended the stairs to the outside, ready for whatever is to happen with this group of horned, powerful girls.
Nana was still holding on to Nyu's hand as they went to the former's room. After they entered it, Nana let go of Nyu's hand. The smaller girl looked back at Nyu with a soft expression.
"Nyu-san."
Nyu stared at Nana a little expectantly. A part of Nana didn't want to push this on, but she still felt that she had to do this.
"I know this might be too much to ask of you right now, but...can you please get Lucy-san out here?"
"Nyu?" the taller girl blinked at Nana in worry and confusion. "But...Lucy not want. That what she say."
"It'll only be me. I want to talk to her. Please."
Nyu stared back at Nana with raised eyebrows, as she didn't want to fulfill the request. But from the genuine look on Nana's face and her soft tone of voice, she couldn't exactly refuse.
"Nyu...Nyu will try," she nodded in sadness as she closed her eyes.
"Thank you," the Silpelit smiled.
Nana could only see Nyu calmly standing there, as she appeared to be concentrating while her eyes were hidden behind her closed, twitching lids as they moved around. It probably looked pretty disturbing, but Nana had to set that aside.
After a few moments, a surprised Nana saw the older woman suddenly holding her head in pain and gritting her teeth. Eventually, she stopped and let her arms fall down slowly besides her. Then, the woman looked at Nana with a much darker face.
"Lucy-san?" Nana said, with a raised eyebrow. "It is you, right?"
Lucy's face gave the idea to Nana that she wanted to beat the Silpelit to a pulp with her vectors, even though that wasn't really what was going through Lucy's head right now.
"I'm sorry that I made you go through that...it doesn't look to be pleasant, much less feel."
"...I've felt worse."
Nana gulped as she tried to convey her next words, but Lucy continued to speak.
"I guess this...'mind switch' thing ain't exactly a secret anymore."
"Well...thinking about it, it kind of wasn't already," Nana replied. "You did say you could talk to Nyu-san in your mind at any point you wanted to. A deliberate mind switch wouldn't be much of a surprise."
"You're smarter than I thought," Lucy smiled a bit. "What, did the slave driver's lessons improve your common sense, too?"
As much as Nana gladly wanted to respond to that, she had to say her other words.
"I think you know why I called you here."
"Is it about my other voice?" Lucy said.
"Well, yes," Nana nodded. "That'd be one of the three things I wanted to speak to you about."
"I haven't heard it ever since that night I left. That's all I can honestly say."
Lucy looked straight at Nana, not looking away in order to emphasize her honesty.
"I suppose that's good news."
"Don't know if it is," Lucy shrugged, then changed her look at Nana with a slight worry. "Do you hear yours?"
"I...don't," Nana paused for a moment, her brows creasing. "Not often."
"It still tells you to kill whenever it can, right?"
"When it does that, I tend to block it out. I just don't want to listen to it. I don't want to kill anyone," Nana shook her head. "I think it's what Papa would have wanted. He told me to live a good life. I guess what he also meant is to not bring unnecessary violence."
Lucy looked away from Nana upon mentioning Kurama. The young Silpelit noticed this.
"That's right, you and Papa had history. I shouldn't have mentioned him."
Lucy looked back at Nana, who had a bit of a regretful look on her face. Indeed, she and Kurama had pretty sour and hate-filled history, but in a way, she did kind of respect him for making Nana into who she is now. Which in turn, inspired Lucy into changing as well. For that, she supposed she'd let go of old grudges momentarily.
"He gave you a headband once to cover your horns, right?"
"Huh?" Nana looked a bit amazed at seeing Lucy wanting to continue this about her Papa. "Yes, um, he did. But it was lost with him."
"He did see you as a daughter. I guess for him, that's something to respect. Also, it wasn't really a headband he gave you. You know that?"
With that, Nana felt the need to indulge in one bit of info. "Yeah, now I do. I learned it's called a 'tie', thanks to Yuka-san teaching me. Something that men and boys wear for various reasons. Mainly for work."
Lucy listened, internally chuckling as both of them were obviously going a bit off-topic.
"Anyway...the second thing?" Lucy questioned.
"Ah, right," Nana nodded as she cleared her throat. "It's about you, Lucy-san."
Lucy closed her eyes, exhaling through her nose.
"All of us heard what you said to Mayu today," Nana continued. "I know we agreed to this confession thing, but...that one was a lot for a first confession."
"The others aren't any better," Lucy still didn't look at Nana. "It's how my life went. You have to accept that."
Nana wouldn't disagree to Lucy's words, so she changed the direction of the topic a bit.
"How long can you keep this up for? I mean, living with us?" Nana's tone changed more with every sentence. "How long until you actually kill someone again?"
The purple-haired girl paused, not looking away from Lucy.
"Until you leave us again?"
Lucy did not answer, her opening eyes looking down on the ground.
"What even made you come back?"
"Besides the soldiers seemingly giving up on me?"
Lucy didn't say anything for a few seconds, then exhaled as she put on a somber expression, now looking at Nana.
"I felt like...this place...and the people who live here...Kouta, especially...made me feel like I belonged here."
"Even Yuka-san? Even me? But I thought you disliked us."
"In your case, I feel like I want to make things up somehow."
"You almost killed me," Nana growled a little bit, letting some of her repressed anger and problems with Lucy come to the surface.
"...I know," the red-eyed woman looked away again.
"And now I'm forced to live with these fake arms and legs that I have to control with my vectors for the rest of my life."
Nana's tone got more venomous, which she herself started to notice. She felt that pang of guilt, but began to care less and less about it the more she tapped into her repressed hatred.
"How can you ever make up for that?"
Lucy decided to look up at her, with a hint of what looked to be hesitation.
"I know that apologizing will never be truly enough. It goes for both you and Kouta," Lucy uttered through a depressing tone. "But, I...I found another way. At least, for you."
Lucy paused her words, while Nana's building rage quickly began to simmer down as she heard this. She'd replace her hatred for confusion and fascination for the words she would hear next.
"Though...it could kill me."
Author's Notes:
Welp. Uh. I'm back. After exactly a year.
Yeah, I know what you're gonna say. "What took you so long?" "We thought you gave up or died!" Something like that.
Well, the gist of it is that I lacked motivation to write for a long period and that I was occupied by more pressing things in my life, like looking for a job and going back to continue my college classes. Now, I did have the rare thought about ending this story prematurely, but that was only on my worst days. I'm thankful I haven't went ahead with that and disappointed not only you folks, but especially myself.
Besides - no consistent release schedule. Shouldn't forget that. It's because of things that can happen like what was said above.
For now, don't you fellows worry. I'm still here, and I'll still work on this story. No matter how long it would take me or how many other stories I have in my head to write out on the never-ending click-clacks of a keyboard.
If you waited for as long as it took for me to have this chapter to come out, I applaud your patience immensely. And thank you.
See ya next time!
P.S. - Go and enjoy a sandwich, or something. Trust me, you will appreciate them in some way, depending on what happens in life.
P.S.S. - Go check out fellow writer and friend "Crossoveraddict67". He has been a huge help to me.
