Note: This chapter includes sexual content
-Faith, Love, and Forgiveness - Chapter Nineteen: Influence-
Kaeda House - Six months later
When Nana came home and announced she met someone while out applying for jobs, her family was surprised, but happy for her. That night over dinner she told them all about him.
His name was Taru, he was twenty-two, and lived in an apartment by himself.
"What does he do for work?" Yuka asked.
"I'm actually not sure. I haven't asked that yet."
"Does he have any family?"
"I'm not really sure."
Yuka nodded, not wanting to push too hard.
"When are you going to invite him over?" Kouta asked.
"I'll ask him next time I see him." she promised.
His answer would confuse and mystify the young Diclonius, and like many other elements of their relationship, she wouldn't
Setiyori Apartments - Apartment 351 - Two weeks later
"Kouta wants to know when you're coming over to meet everyone."
"Uh... I don't know baby. I'd rather spend my time with just you."
"I get that, but they're important to me, and I want you to meet them."
"Soon... alright?"
"Alright..." Nana relented.
That settled, the two got comfortable on the couch and Nana hit play on the remote.
The movie wasn't really the kind of film she liked. It seemed to be one of those "gangster" films that had more sex and getting high than actual plot. Still, Nana was happy to finally be spending time with a guy.
As they reached the halfway point of the movie, Taru asked her if she could move a little bit closer. She happily complied, and didn't seem bothered when he put an arm around her. The movie had about ten minutes left when Taru turned to her and asked if she was having fun.
The Sipelit wasn't even finished speaking when he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.
Nana had never kissed anyone, or BEEN kissed, so it was all new and exciting to her. She went home that night happy, believing she'd lucked out and found someone who would love her the same way Kouta loved Lucy.
She was very mistaken.
Setiyori Apartments - Apartment 351 - Four days later
When she was invited back over, Nana expected it to be pretty much a repeat of their first time, maybe with a little more kissing. Instead, she got borderline sexually assaulted. It'd be years before she had the maturity and experience to recognize she was receiving what some refer to as "grooming".
This time, things turned physical five minutes into the movie. One moment, she was sitting there beside him, enjoying the movie, and next he had his arms around her, kissing her lips.
She was really starting to get into it, and didn't think twice when he pulled her onto his lap. Nana wrapped her arms around his neck and happily made out with him.
Then, she felt his hand start groping her breasts.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
Taru looked at her with a creepy grin. "Calm down, baby, I'm not gonna hurt you."
"I know, but I don't think I'm ready for that kind of stuff."
In response, he did it again, but this time he was a bit gentler as he squeezed and groped her.
"Feels good, doesn't it?"
"Well, yeah... but I don't really feel comfortable with it." Nana said. "This is all new to me, and I don't want to rush things."
Her sleezy boyfriend kept doing it, ignoring her concerns and kissing her to shut her up every time she attempted to talk. Nana took a deep breath, telling herself she was over-reacting to the situation. He was her boyfriend, after all, why WOULDN'T he want to touch her?
Besides, it was starting to really turn her on.
"Do you like it?"
The purple-haired girl shyly nodded. Suddenly, she felt his hand slip under her halter top and grab her bare breasts. She gasped faintly, trying not to have an anxiety attack on the spot.
"You've got the smoothest skin I've ever touched." Taru said as he fondled her. Nana blushed, torn between wanting him to stop, and wanting him to continue. She felt him stick his tongue in her mouth, which she hesitatingly reciprocated. With his free hand, he reached behind her and untied her top.
"Let's take this off. I don't want to rip it or anything."
"Don't you think we're moving a little quick? I mean, it's our second date and you're already trying to get me naked."
"Have you looked in a mirror lately? With a girl as beautiful as you sitting on their lap, what man WOULDN'T want to get you naked?"
"Y-You mean it?" she asked.
Taru nodded, giving her a comforting smile. "It's just us, baby. Nobody's going to see you but me, and I ain't got no hidden cameras or anything like that."
"Well... alright... but I'm not having sex with you." she informed him.
"That's cool, baby. Ain't no reason to rush things." he told her smoothly.
Within the hour, he had her completely nude. Nana was far, FAR out of her comfort zone, but everytime she showed any hesitation, he had an excuse as to why there was nothing wrong with what he was doing.
The tipping point came when he started pressuring her to go down on him.
"Taru, stop being so pushy. It's too soon, I don't want to do it, ok?"
"Baby, come on..."
"I said no." she replied. "Trying to pressure me into it isn't going to help."
Frustrated that he couldn't get her to do it, but not wanting to scare her off, he proposed they compromise.
"What if you just, like... use your tongue for a minute? You don't even have to put it in that beautiful mouth of yours." he asked.
She kinda wanted to just walk out and ignore him, and in hindsight, that's exactly what she should have done.
Looking at him in irritation, she sighed heavily and tried to calm down a bit.
"Just for a minute... ok?"
Grinning like the sick little douchebag he was, he hugged her, giving her a quick kiss on her forehead.
"You're so beautiful, baby. Thank you." he told her as he pushed his boxers down.
He might be a dirtbag, but he wasn't stupid enough to actually try to force her. Well aware she was a Diclonius, he knew trying something like that could potentially get him killed, so he went the safer route and stuck to talking her into it instead.
"Umm... how do we do this?" she asked.
"Would you mind getting on your knees?" he gently coaxed.
The Sipelit blushed, but complied, reasoning that this position seemed to make sense given what she was going to do.
"Ok, baby... you go ahead and do whatever you're comfortable with. No pressure."
In all honesty, the concept DID sound interesting to her.
'Maybe I can talk Lucy into letting me watch her and Kouta do this sometime.'
After she gave him several reluctant, insecure licks, Nana defied her better judgment and let him inside her mouth for a few seconds. It was actually... kinda neat. She could definitely see why most couples like doing it.
Taru stroked her hair as she awkwardly attempted oral for the first time. It was an extremely short-lived attempt, but at least she was open to doing it again sometime.
"You're so amazing at this..." he lied. "You've got to be the most beautiful Di... Dicon... um..."
"Diclonius."
"Right!" he grinned as he helped her up. "The most beautiful Diclonius ever."
"Thanks, but Lucy's got that title and she's never gonna lose it."
"Lucy? Oh, you mean that girl with pink hair you told me about."
Nana dug her smartphone out of her purse, showing him a picture of her and Lucy taken the day they completed the Cohabitation program.
"That's her."
'Oh my God, I'd drop this bitch in a heartbeat for that piece of ass!'
"She's cute, yeah... but you're still sexier." that lying asshole replied.
Nana blushed and shook her head. "Lucy gets hit on constantly. It's kinda funny if you think about it."
"Why's that?"
The Sipelit held up three fingers. "One, she hates the attention. Two, she's engaged to Kouta. And three, most guys would stay VERY far away if the knew how dangerous she could be."
When pressed for details, Nana gave him the condensed version of her past:
"Lucy was an orphan, killed a lot of people, got caught, escaped, killed more people, moved in with Kouta and Yuka, killed even MORE people, left Kaeda House, came back six months after leaving, started dating Kouta, and now they're engaged."
"So, she's some kind of serial killer?"
"She was, but stopped doing it."
He nodded, giving her a strange look as he asked if all the people like her went around killing people.
"Of course not. Lucy just... she's had a really hard life, that's all."
"Just be careful. I don't want anything happening to you, you're too important."
'Bitches fall for that line every single time!' he thought.
As soon as Nana left, he settled back down on the couch. "Won't be long now..." he said outloud to himself.
One month later
It didn't take long for the residents of Kaeda House to notice a change in the young Sipelit.
When she protested his constant drinking and smoking, he simply told her if she did it too, it wouldn't bother her. It wasn't quite the outcome Nana had wanted, but she was afraid if she made too big a deal out of it, she'd ruin their relationship. So, she started doing it too, but at least she only did it at his place, and never at Kaeda House.
Of course, this didn't stop her from coming home smelling like a run-down bar, but at least it kept her from doing it around her family. It also didn't stop her from coming home later and later until finally she started sleeping at his place a couple of times a week.
By this point, she had mostly given in sexually, with the exception of actual intercourse. That she was still refusing to do, and she could tell he was losing patience. Naïve as she may be, it was starting to become clear to her that he was going to keep pressuring her until she finally gave in and let him fuck her.
She was seriously considering it, too. After all, she'd already given in about oral, and as soon as she did, he started wanting it every time she came over. Sometimes, she would show up, give it to him, and then be told he didn't feel good, or was too tired to spend any more time with her.
Nana knew something was seriously wrong with this picture, but couldn't quite figure it out by herself.
Kaeda House - Two months later
When Nana returned home one night and went straight to the bath, it didn't take Lucy long to figure out why. While she was bathing, the pink-haired girl walked in on her by surprise.
"Lucy! Um... I-Is everything ok?"
The older girl's silence was starting to scare her, so it was an immense relief when Lucy finally nodded her head, and told her she just wanted to talk.
Sitting on the floor, she bluntly asked the Sipelit why she started smoking and drinking.
"I... I don't really like doing it, but I couldn't get him to quit, so..." she quietly said.
"Nana, I don't think this relationship is good for you."
"Come on, Lucy... a lot of couples smoke and drink."
"It's not just that. There's also him pressuring you for sex."
Nana looked stunned. She initially tried to deny it, but Lucy wasn't buying her explanation of events. She told the younger Diclonius how she'd overheard her having arguments with him over the phone about her reluctance to "put out" as he called it, and Nana finally admitted to her that he had indeed been pushing for her to have sex with him.
"Have you?"
"Not yet..."
"Are you going to?"
"I... I don't know..."
Lucy waited for several seconds before she slowly got up. "You do whatever you feel is best, but Nana, you're making a grievous mistake being in this relationship. This guy is just using you, ok? He doesn't give a shit about you, you need to get out of this."
"I... I know."
After Lucy left her alone to finish her bath, the Sipelit just sighed. She didn't want to believe the older Diclonius was right, but the more she thought about it, the harder it became not to.
She didn't like it, but it seemed like Lucy was right.
Then, one night, she came home around 3 am, more than slightly intoxicated. She couldn't fully remember what had happened, either. Her and Taru had been watching a movie on the couch, and offered to get her another drink. After that, the next thing she remembered was being in front of Kaeda House. She knew it was late, and wanted to get to her room without waking anyone.
The moment she walked in, she realized Yuka had been waiting up for her.
"Nana, where the hell have you been?"
"Taru's..." she answered, though Yuka could have guessed that one on her own. "Why?"
"You're staying out way too late, it's starting to worry us."
Nana just nodded and walked right by her. Yuka watched her with a very irritated glare.
"Hey, are you listening? Nana, I'm serious... you're really starting to scare us."
"Well, quit being so scared! I'm fine!"
Things very quickly got heated, but didn't reach boiling point until Nana told her to mind her own damn business and stop being such a nosy bitch. This prompted Yuka to slap the Sipelit so hard, she momentarily lost control of her vectors and hit the floor.
Nana knew immediately she had crossed the line. If the slap hadn't made this clear, Yuka's warning that her and Kouta were going to be having a discussion about whether she gets to keep living there certainly would have. She tried to call to her, but the older girl just coldly ignored her and went back to her room.
"Oh God... what have I done?" Nana asked outloud as she started to cry. Of all the people living at Kaeda House, Yuka was always the first one to respond if she needed something, or wanted advice, or even just needed to vent about something.
Now, there was a very good chance she was going to get ejected from her home and family, and for what? A guy that she just met a couple of months ago? Somebody that, deep down, she knew was just using her to get off? Was he going to give her the support, comfort, and love that the others did?
She already knew the answer to that one.
Too emotionally broken to even stand up, she curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep right there on the floor.
Watching from down the hall, Yuka decided this little scare tactic of hers had run it's course. If Nana had been a little bit less drunk, it might have occurred to her that, if they weren't going to kick Lucy out (and she had gone around murdering people) they certainly weren't going to kick her out for coming home drunk and having an attitude.
As quietly as she could, she picked the Sipelit up and carried her to her bedroom. As she was trying to lay her down, the young girl stirred and woke up.
"Yuka?"
"I'm right here. Go to bed, we'll t-" she tried to say, but was interrupted when Nana clutched onto her and started crying.
"I'm so sorry! It was wrong of me to say those things! Please! Don't throw me out!"
'Ok, maybe I should have worded things a bit differently...' Yuka thought.
She held the young Diclonius as she cried hysterically, swallowing a lump in her throat as she listened to the purple-haired girl literally beg for forgiveness.
"Nana, it'll be alright... ok? Go to bed, we'll talk tomorrow."
"Stay with me..."
"Wha...? I... I think you should..." Yuka tried to say, but clearly the young girl was desperate.
"Please... please stay... "
"Ok, ok... just calm down."
"Thank you... Yuka, I'm so sorry! Please... please give me another chance!"
"Nana..."
Yuka hadn't meant to traumatize the poor girl, and now was having a very hard time keeping herself from crying and apologizing.
She crawled in bed with the Sipelit, who immediately clutched onto her like she was scared she'd disappear if she didn't.
"Nana, relax... ok? I won't leave, I promise. I'll still be here when you wake up."
'I'm sorry... I was just trying to scare you.' she thought to herself, waiting until the Sipelit was asleep before quietly shedding remorseful tears of her own.
There's nothing wrong with taking a "scared straight" approach, but threatening to kick her out of the only home she's ever had went wayyyyyyyyy too far over the line, and Yuka knew it. To make things worse, she had dragged Kouta into it without his knowledge, and she had a feeling he was going to be REALLY pissed off when he found out.
She moved over a little closer and held the Sipelit comfortingly until she herself fell asleep.
The next morning
Sitting around the table, the other four residents of Kaeda House listened as Nana told them the full truth of what had been going on; how Taru had coaxed her into picking up bad habits, ignored her concerns that they were moving ahead too fast, pressured her into going further and further sexually than she was OK with, the times he invited her over just for oral sex and then had some excuse why he couldn't spend more time with her as soon as it was over.
Yuka and Mayu looked horrified when the heard what happened, but Lucy looked straight-up pissed off, both at Taru, AND the Sipelit.
"Nana, why didn't you just tell us about this sooner?" Kouta asked.
"I... I was embarrassed. No... I was ashamed. Lucy tried to tell me I was making a mistake, and so did Mayu, but I didn't listen to them."
"What happened last night? You've come home drunk before, but never THAT drunk." Yuka asked.
"I don't know... I remember him getting me something to drink, but the next thing I knew, I was home." Nana answered.
The cousins looked at each other, greatly alarmed by the young girl's words.
"You don't remember anything else? Are you sure? Think, Nana... this is important!" Kouta urged.
"I'm sure. He got me a drink, everything went fuzzy, and the next thing I remember was being out front."
The Sipelit had seen the way Kouta and Yuka looked at each other, and didn't like it one bit.
"Nana, listen... we're going to take you to the hospital and get some tests run." Kouta said.
"But...!"
"Nana, I don't want to hear it. Get up, we're going." Yuka interrupted.
"Can I at least change my clothes?"
"No. We need you to keep them on." Kouta answered.
"Can I at least take a quick shower befor-"
"NO!" Kouta and Yuka yelled in unison.
Realizing that whatever happened last night must have been terrible if it was scaring them this badly, she wisely ceased any questions and followed them out.
Kamakura General Hospital - Emergency Room - Forty-five minutes later
"I don't understand. I'm not sick, so why do they want a blood sample?"
"They need to run some tests, and they need a blood sample to do it." Yuka explained.
Motioning Kouta over, Lucy whispered something in his ear.
Kouta turned to the nurse waiting to draw blood and quietly told her Nana's arms and legs were prosthetics. After she proved this to be true, the nurse consulted with the doctor. He had a look for himself, and told the Sipelit it had to be drawn from her groin, armpit, or her neck.
Unsurprisingly, she chose armpit.
When that was finally over, she again asked for an explanation of why she was having tests done. When the cousins dodged the question, she told them rather bluntly that if they didn't answer her, she was leaving.
With other patients within earshot, Yuka whispered that she may have been drugged, leaving the part about her possibly being raped out of the conversation for the time being.
Shortly after, the doctor moved her from Triage to a room in the back of the ER. As they were afraid of, the test was positive for GHB. Upon hearing this, Yuka began to cry, and this greatly alarmed the young Diclonius.
"What the hell is GHB?! Is it like cancer?! Am I dying?!"
As the nurse tried to calm the Sipelit down, everybody except Yuka walked out. Right before they did, Yuka quietly told Kouta if it turned out Taru really did rape her, she was going to kill him herself.
"Not if I get him first." Lucy coldly answered. Nana might be a clumsy, naïve girl, but she was also family, and the closest thing the Diclonius Queen had to a little sister.
"Nana, there are some tests that the doctor needs to run, but we need to get you out of your clothes first, ok?"
"All of them?"
"Yes. We'll give you something to coverup with."
After the doctor closed the mini-blinds on the window, Yuka helped Nana out of her clothes, trying to explain what the doctor was going to do in a way that wouldn't scare the Sipelit into changing her mind.
"Yuka, I don't like this... what's he going to do to me?" she asked fearfully as the nurse gave her a clean, white sheet.
"The first thing I'm going to do is have you lie down, ok? Don't cover up, I need to be able to see you." the doctor replied. Nana laid down, fully exposed for everyone to see. Suddenly, the nurse turned the lights out. Moments later, a portable UV light clicked on.
"Nana, what I'm doing is looking for traces of bodily fluids, ok? If there is any, they'll glow, and I'll take samples for testing."
The doctor slowly scanned her with the UV light. "Open your legs."
He then told her to roll over, and carefully scanned her back-side.
"Negative for fluid."
The nurse turned the lights back on so the doctor could write notes for his reports.
"Go ahead and flip over." the nurse instructed. The Sipelit rolled onto her back and sat up, watching in dread as the doctor opened a sterile bag and removed a plastic speculum.
Seeing the obvious fear on her face, the doctor reached over and comfortingly put a hand on her shoulder.
"Calm down, Nana. I'm not going to hurt you, ok?"
"What is that thing?" Nana asked.
"It's a device I'll need to insert inside you when we do the internal exam, ok? I know it looks scary, but I'll only be using it for a minute or two. Can you handle that?"
"I... I'll try."
Speaking in a soft, non-threatening voice, the doctor gently asked her to put her feet in the stirrups at the front of the table.
The young Diclonius looked from him to Yuka. "Do I have to do this...?" The brunette shook her head no. "We can stop and go home if you want to, but it's really, REALLY important that you let him do this."
"Why? What's the point of doing an exam like this?"
"We think you might have been raped. In order words, we think whoever drugged you forced you to have sex." the nurse explained.
The Sipelit went pale, a horrified expression on her face. "You mean... he..."
"We suspect he put the GHB in your drink, waited until it took effect, then had intercourse with you against your will." the doctor explained.
"And this test thing you want to do can tell you if he did?"
The doctor nodded at the frightened young girl. "It's your call. No one's going to be mad if you can't go through with it."
After a moment of hesitation, Nana let Yuka help her put her feet in the stirrups.
"Nana, I need you to slide as close to the edge as possible, ok?"
The purple-haired girl cooperated, then further followed his instructions by lying on her back and spreading her legs. As the nurse moved a bright lamp over to the exam table, the doctor slipped on a pair of exam gloves. Yuka held the Sipelits hand to help keep her calm.
"This won't take long, I promise." the female nurse assured her. "We'll start by examining the outside, and go from there. Remember, you don't have to do this. If it becomes too much, all you have to do is say so. Ok?"
"Ok..."
The doctor checked the exterior and found no sign of sexual assault, but as soon as he started checking out the interior, he abruptly stopped and motioned the nurse over. After a moment, Yuka became curious, and walked over to have a peek for herself.
Nana blushed as Yuka, the nurse, and the doctor all had a look between her legs. She was fine being naked in front of strangers, but this was a level of exposure she'd never felt before, not even at the Institute.
"Hey... " Yuka spoke up. "Is that what I think it is?"
Outside of the exam room, Kouta, Lucy, and Mayu waited patiently for them to finish.
"What are they doing to her in there?" Mayu asked, putting Kouta in the unfortunate position of having to explain what a "rape kit" was.
Thankfully, he didn't have to. The door opened a couple of minutes later and an embarrassed Nana walked out as Yuka was trying to comfort her. At first, Kouta thought she had refused to let him do the exam, but it was explained that certain parts were intact that wouldn't be if he had actually violated her, and since they found no fluids, the rest of it was cancelled.
"She WAS drugged, however. Whoever she was with when it happened, she should probably not be around them again. I don't know why there was no "follow through", but she may not be so lucky next time." the doctor told them.
As they walked out of the hospital, Nana had already made up her mind that her and Taru were going to have a VERY long, uncomfortable discussion. She had asked the doctor several times if there was some way she could have taken the drug by accident, or in any other way aside from being given it intentionally.
"This isn't the kind of thing you give someone by accident. In almost every case, it's given as a way to facilitate sexual assault." After realizing the young Diclonius wasn't exactly "getting it", a nurse told her, "When you give this to someone, it makes them easier to rape because it can lower inhibitions and make things much harder to remember."
That struck a nerve, and it finally dawned on the Sipelit that what most likely happened was he had become impatient with her refusal to have sex, and decided to take what he wanted by force.
"Nana..."
The purple-haided girl Iooked at Yuka, who had a very strange look on her face. "Is something wrong?"
"I want to apologize for last night..."
Kouta and Lucy looked at each other in confusion, then the older Diclonius asked what she was talking about.
"I... We had an argument, and I lost my temper and slapped her..."
"You mean... you spanked her?" Mayu asked.
Yuka shook her head as her voice wavered. "I slapped her face... and I... I told her Kouta and I were going to have a talk about whether or not she can live with us anymore."
Everyone looked at her in disbelief.
"Why the hell did you tell her something like that?! What's wrong with you?!" Kouta yelled, causing his cousin to break down in tears.
"It's my fault, not hers! I was really rude to her, and when she got mad, I called her a nosy bitch. That's the only reason she hit me!" Nana responded as she also started to cry.
"That didn't give her the right to threaten to kick you out!"
Kouta was appalled she would do something so spiteful to the young Sipelit over an insult, and angrily berated her for it while she cried. When he asked if she had anything to say for herself, it took her a few seconds to get the words out.
"Kouta, I... I think maybe it'd be best if I moved out. " Yuka said. "I was out of line, and she's already been through enough without me making it worse."
"No!" Nana begged, clutching Yuka against her as she started sobbing. "Please! I need you... I love you... Please don't go..."
Lucy felt her lower lip quivering as she held her tears back. Mayu had already lost that battle, and Kouta wasn't faring too well either.
At a loss as to what to say or do, Yuka hugged her tightly, gently rubbing the Sipelit's back as she said the only appropriate thing she could think of.
"I'm so sorry, Nana..."
"I'm sorry too... I didn't mean to call you that, I was just mad, and I took it out on you..."
As Nana and Yuka cried on each other, Kouta walked over and hugged them both, followed by Mayu, and finally, Lucy. That group hug was exactly what they all needed at that moment; a reminder that they were a family, and families stick together.
It was moments like these that reassured Lucy, Nana, and Mayu that choosing to live at Kaeda House had been the best decision of their lives.
"I'm sorry, Yuka. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that." Kouta said, his anger dissipating in the wake of the girls' emotional reconciliation.
"No, you have every right to be pissed. I shouldn't have said what I did, and I definitely had no right to drag you into it like that."
The noise of air brakes caught their attention and the five of them turned to see the bus had arrived.
"Come on..." Yuka said. "Let's go home."
Kaeda House - Late that night
Alone in her room, Nana lay in bed staring at the ceiling, asking herself how she could have ever been so stupid as to let him talk her into doing the things she did.
'I should have stopped at kissing. Actually, I probably shouldn't have ever went out with him to begin with...'
Having never had a boyfriend before, she had no reason to think he was lying when he said that groping and sticking fingers in places were just as common as holding hands.
"Nah, baby... that's how you're supposed to show your love."
"If he drugged me, I wonder why he didn't... go all the way..." she said outloud. If she were to ask him this, undoubtedly he would claim that it was proof he wasn't the one who did it. This, Nana had to admit, did kinda make sense. What's the point in giving somebody a "date rape" drug if you're not going to rape them?
A soft tapping at her door got her attention, and she yelled for whoever it was to come in.
The door opened and the Sipelit knew who it was before she even looked.
"Are you alright?"
Looking up at the older Diclonius, Nana just shook her head. Lucy sat down beside her, giving her a look of concern, though there did seem to be at least a miniscule amount of "told ya so" in there as well.
"Don't say it, Lucy, I know... I should have listened."
"I'm not here to rub it in, I'm here to check on you."
Nana sat up, sighing quietly to herself. "That's very kind of you, but I'm alright. I brought this on myself, after all... I don't really have any right to complain."
Lucy shook her head. "Nothing you did justified him doing this to you."
"Maybe if I'd just given him what he wanted, he... he wouldn't have done this." Nana said quietly.
"Your body is just that; YOURS. What you do with it is your decision."
Nana nodded, pondering this for a moment.
"I know this is a very personal question, but I'm asking for a reason. How far did you go?" Lucy asked.
The Sipelit looked at her in embarrassment. "I already told you, so why are you asking?"
"You said you gave him oral sex, but you never said HOW."
"Does it really matter?" Nana asked uncomfortably.
"Did you ever let him finish in your mouth?" Lucy asked. Nana started to object to Lucy asking something that personal, but the pink-haired girl just told her it was important.
"Yes, I let him..."
"...Did you swallow it?"
Blushing in embarrassment, Nana nodded, unable to look her in the eye.
"Not every time, but..."
"Why didn't you say something about this earlier? Not sure if you know this, but you can get STD's from doing that."
"STD's?"
"Sexually Transmitted Diseases." Lucy explained. Suddenly, she began to think maybe having Sex Ed in the Cohabitation program would have been a good idea after all.
"I... I didn't know that..."
"You should think about going back to the doctor, just in case." Lucy suggested.
Nana nodded. "Umm... I have a favor to ask of you."
"What?" Lucy asked in surprise.
"I know this is sudden, but I want to go confront Taru about the... GED?"
"GHB."
"Right... Will you come with me?" Nana asked.
Lucy scoffed at the idea. "It's a waste of time. You think that asshole's going to tell you the truth?"
"Well, maybe not by choice..."
The Diclonius Queen just shook her head. "Nana, this is pointless. Even if he gave it to you, what then? Are you going to kill him?"
"I'd certainly like to..." she said quietly.
"What if he DIDN'T give it to you? Will you continue seeing him if he had nothing to do with it?"
That one actually gave her pause. If it turned out he didn't do it, would things go back to the way they were before she and Yuka argued? Would that make the emotional reconciliation they had all for nothing? Kouta and Yuka were planning on paying for her medical care, but what if it happened again? Or a third time? Isn't it selfish to expect two college students to keep footing the bill for something entirely preventable?
"I-I don't know... To be honest, Lucy, I don't know what to do. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, I... I just thought maybe this was my chance to have someone who loves me the way Kouta loves you..."
The pink-haired girl just sighed, looking sympathetically at the young Sipelit as she reached out and squeezed her hand. Nana squeezed back, and the former enemies turned sisters sat quietly for a few minutes.
"What do you think I should do?"
After giving it some thought, the older Diclonius just shrugged. "I guess there's no harm in just asking him to tell you the truth... not that I think he'll actually do it."
Nana reached for her phone and dialed Taru's number. At the other girls suggestion, she put the call on speakerphone so they could both hear it. After several rings, he finally picked up.
"H-Hey babe. Uhh... Is... I mean, is something wrong?"
Lucy had never met the guy before, but could immediately tell something was wrong with this picture.
"Are you home? I want to come see you."
"Like, right now? Umm... I'm home, yeah... but I keep having to run back and forth to the toilet, and it's just... It's a bad night to come over." he replied.
"It's OK, I understand. Will you call me tomorrow?" Nana asked.
"Yeah, of... of course. Well, goodnight."
The Sipelit hung up with a sigh. "I'll just have to ask him tomorrow."
"How far away does he live?"
Nana looked at Lucy in confusion. "Um... it's not far. Why?"
The elder Diclonius gave her the textbook definition of an "evil smile".
"Get up. We're making a surprise visit."
Setiyori Apartments - Fifty minutes later
As they walked up to the apartment building, Nana still didn't know why Lucy suddenly had such an abrupt change of heart.
"Why did you want to come here tonight? Didn't you hear him say he wasn't feeling well?"
"Of course, but that's not all I heard."
Nana might have missed the barely audible female voice in the background, but Lucy heard it clear as day, and instantly knew what was really going on. As simply as she could, she explained her suspicions to Nana.
"You think he's cheating on me? Are you sure?"
"No, but we're about to find out."
The two Diclonii silently made their way up to the third floor.
Nana pulled out the spare key Taru had given her and quietly opened the door. For several seconds, the two girls heard nothing. Then, they heard giggling coming from the back of the apartment.
It didn't feel right to invade someone else's privacy, but if Lucy was wrong, they'd leave and he'd never even know they were there. As they moved through the apartment, they heard voices coming from the bedroom. One was Taru's, and the other was definitely another girl who was obviously not the one he was supposed to be dating.
With the door mostly shut, they couldn't hear what was being said until they were right next to it. Nana silently opened the door a bit and, sure enough, Taru was unmistakably having sex with another girl. Lucy gave the Sipelit an apologetic look, and gestured for them to leave.
Nana, however, had other ideas. Instead of silently leaving, she simply opened the bedroom door.
The expression on Taru's face was priceless. The other girl went full "deer in the headlights", and Nana shook her head when she tried to get up.
"It's cool, I'm not here to interrupt. You guys go ahead and have a good time, we'll just see ourselves out." Nana smiled cheerfully. She turned to leave, but then looked back at the girl her now ex-boyfriend was having sex with.
"Oh, by the way... I'd be very careful if he tries to give you something to drink. I went to the hospital earlier and they found GHB in my blood sample." she added, holding up the ID band the nurse had attached to her right wrist.
The girl looked at Taru in disgust, and pushed him off of her. Without a word, she grabbed her clothes and walked out naked, following the Diclonii out into the hallway.
"I'm so sorry, he told me he was single." she apologized as she got dressed.
"Well, he is now." Nana answered with a smile.
Lucy looked fondly at the younger Diclonius. "You ready to go home?"
The purple-haired girl nodded. "Yep."
Giving the other girl a friendly wave, they parted ways and started home. As soon as they started down the stairs, they heard Nana's ex-boyfriend yelling for them to wait.
The girls looked at each other, then at Taru.
"Come on, let's go."
"Hang on, Lucy. I want to hear what excuse he came up with."
The ex-boyfriend struggled to get his pants back on and jog at the same time. He finally reached the two Diclonii, half-naked and out of breath.
"Baby, listen... that wasn't what it looked like."
"Really? Because it looked like you were having sex with another girl." Nana replied.
Taru shook his head. "I had sex with her, yeah, but I didn't do it willingly."
"Are you saying she raped you?" the Sipelit asked.
"She threatened to expose your address to one of those anti-Diclonius groups. I was trying to protect you, baby."
"Let me get this straight... the girl we just caught you cheating with told you she was going to give Nana's information to an anti-Diclonius group unless you had sex with her? You're even dumber than I thought." Lucy retorted.
"What about the GHB? Did she make you drug me, too?"
"I don't know anything about that, baby." Taru answered.
"Do you really think I'm that stupid? You're lying your ass off right to my face!"
"Nah, girl... I'd never lie to you. Matter-of-fact, I'd take a polygraph right now if we had one."
Lucy leaned in and whispered something to Nana, who smiled up at her.
"You're aware that Nana is a Diclonius, right?"
Taru nodded, then nodded again when the pink-haired girl asked if he knew she had vectors.
"Interestingly enough, a Diclonius can see a person's memories if their vectors make contact with the person's Hippocampus region." Lucy explained. "So, we'll make a deal with you..."
"What deal?" he asked nervously.
"Let me have a look at your memory. If you're telling the truth, I'll go back in with you and from now on, we can have sex anytime you want." Nana offered.
"Uh... I mean..."
"Tell you what... If that girl really did threaten me, and you're really not the one who tried to drug me, I'll even move in with you. If you're telling the truth, you have nothing to hide."
"Well?" Lucy asked after an awkward silence.
Kaeda House - One hour later
By the time the two Diclonii returned, it was after 2 am.
As soon as they walked inside, the atrium light clicked on to reveal Yuka, who had waited up for them.
"Are you two ok?"
The girls nodded their heads. When Yuka asked if he had been honest with them, Lucy told her, "Nana offered to move in with him if he'd let her take a peek at his memories and find out if he was telling the truth."
"Did he?"
"Of course not!"
The three girls laughed, not the least bit surprised at the outcome.
"What happened then?"
"Nana dumped his ass. It wasn't really a hard decision, especially since we walked in on the little prick having sex with another girl."
Yuka smiled proudly at the young girl. "You did the right thing. I hope the next guy you meet treats you like you deserve."
With that, the brunette yawned, bidding them goodnight before heading upstairs.
"Goodnight, Yuka." the Diclonii answered in unison.
After the brunette returned to her room, the two girls sat on the floor and had a talk that, had Nana not lived at the Institute her whole life, would have already happened by now.
"So a guys... umm..."
"Semen."
"Thank you. His 'semen' can carry diseases?"
Lucy nodded her head. "If he's infected with something, swallowing or allowing him to finish inside you can spread whatever he has to you. If you're not 100% sure he's disease-free, use a condom, and don't let him talk you out of it."
For over an hour, the pink-haired girl went over everything sex-related she could think of in an attempt to help prepare the Sipelit for the inevitable future sexual activities she would no doubt be engaged in sooner or later.
"Since we're on the subject, what do you and Kouta like to do?" she asked innocently.
"We're not talking about me and Kouta, we're talking about you."
"Come on, Lucy... It's just us, and I'm not going to repeat anything you say."
The older Diclonius sighed in irritation. "What do you want to know?"
And just like that, the floodgates were opened. Strangely enough, Lucy found that the more questions she answered, the more comfortable she became. Nana asked her every personal question she could think of, and Lucy sat there and gave her an honest answer to all of them.
"No, I'm usually lying in bed when we do that, not on my knees."
"Yes, we've had sex here in places other than our bedrooms."
"No, he's never put it... THERE... but I'd let him if he ever wanted do."
It didn't escape her notice that Nana was blushing far more than she probably was.
"Are you done?"
Nana thought for a moment, knowing she probably wouldn't get another chance to be this nosy without pissing the older girl off. Finally, she nodded her head in confirmation.
"Good, because now you're going to tell ME something."
Nana immediately started getting the feeling that grilling Lucy over her sexual preferences might have been a bad idea.
"Um... what?"
"You used to get in trouble on purpose, didn't you?"
The Sipelit blushed, which pretty much answered the question before she even started talking. "Why would I do t-that?"
"Don't play stupid with me, Nana."
She sighed and reluctantly nodded her head. "Yeah... but it wasn't ALWAYS on purpose."
"Why?" Lucy asked. She was already aware of why the Sipelit kept getting in trouble, but she wanted to hear it for herself.
"I... "
After nearly an entire minute, Lucy finally took pity on the girl and answered for her.
"You like being spanked, don't you?"
"...Sometimes." she answered shyly.
The pink-haired girl laughed teasingly. "Yuka owes me ¥5,000!"
The younger Diclonius blushed. Ironically, it was more embarrassing to know her family had been taking bets on whether or not that was the reason than it was to actually admit it.
"How did you figure out you liked something like that in the first place?" Lucy asked.
Unsurprisingly, it was through Yuka attempting to discipline the Sipelit.
"Seriously?"
"Give me a break! It's not like I was expecting to like it!" she blushed.
Lucy just shook her head. "You're one big pervert, you know that?"
"Don't knock it till you've tried it." Nana teased. "You should ask Kouta to put you over his knee sometime. I think you'd love it."
And just like that, now Lucy was blushing!
"Anyway, was there anything else you wanted to know?" Nana asked.
"No, not really." she replied. The pink-haired girl got to her feet and held her hand out. Nana stretched and yawned before taking Lucy's hand and letting the older Diclonius help her up.
"Thank you, Lucy... I'm sorry I caused everyone so much trouble."
"Just don't pull this again. We don't want to control your life, we just want you to be safe."
Instead of going to her room immediately after saying goodnight, the older Diclonius decided to stop and see if Kouta was awake before turning in. When lightly tapping on his door got no response, she decided to go in anyway, and found him sleeping peacefully. Instead of leaving and going back to her own room, she crawled under the covers with him and cuddled against his back.
"I am so incredibly blessed to have you. You've never hit me, or lied to me. You listen to what I have to say, and... I- I know I've never said 'no' about... THAT kind of stuff, but I believe if for some reason I ever did, I know you'd respect that..." she whispered faintly, nuzzling her face against his shoulder.
"I don't deserve to be with you... but I'm so thankful I am. Goodnight..." she gently kissed his back and stayed pressed up against him a little longer before getting up and going to her own room.