-Faith, Love, and Forgiveness - Chapter Nine: Savior-

Diclonius Research Institute - Medical Ward - Eight days later

When Arakawa woke up, she had chest pain like she'd never had before. Her fumbling for her glasses caught the attention of one of the doctors, who signaled to a nurse. She went over to the large semi-circular desk that served as a "hub" while he rushed over to her.

"Miss... Arakawa, right? How are you feeling?"

"My chest hurts like hell, but that aside, I..."

It took her a minute, but she finally realized her feet had been placed in stirrups and her legs left spread with no drape or covering to protect her modesty.

"What the hell? Did you guys do a gyno exam or something?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, but it was the Director's orders." the doctor responded.

"Ok, but why was I left like THIS?"

"We couldn't help but notice the presence of some rather... extensive... vaginal and rectal trauma. You needed a few stitches in your Perineal region, so we went ahead and put those in since you were already under general anesthesia for the surgical procedure." he replied while turning on a brightly-lit display board.

"Procedure?" Arakawa asked as the nurse returned with a packet of x-rays. "I was only here to get a tracking device put in."

Fear started creeping up her back as the doctor showed her the images taken before and after her operation.

"I want to stress that the entire medical team opposed the Director's decision, but we could not refuse it." the doctor said as he helped the bespectacled girl put her feet down.

"What IS that?" Arakawa asked, squinting at the x-ray. "Is that the tracker?"

"It's technically a "Low-yield, remote activated, anti-personnel explosive device."

The glasses-wearing girl would have dropped on the spot if she wasn't already sitting.

"A bomb?! That bastard ordered you to put a fucking BOMB in me?!" she yelled in disbelief.

"Correct, Plaything."

Noticing the Director had joined them, the doctor and nurse suddenly remembered they had other patients to attend to and quickly left the room.

Pulling a small remote out of his pocket, he gleefully showed it to the enraged Arakawa.

"Think of it as a little insurance policy, just in case you decide to try and escape."

"You son-of-a-bitch!"

Arakawa lunged for the remote but screamed as a sudden jolt of pain forced her back down. She barely noticed the blood seeping through the front of her hospital gown.

"I'd get some rest if I were you. Those stitches aren't going to heal overnight."

She forced herself to calm down. As much as she wanted to rip his head off, now wasn't the time for it.

"When do I get to leave?"

"Our helicopters are undergoing maintenance." he lied. "We'll call for you when it's time to go." In reality, the aircraft owned by the Institute were in proper working order. Kakuzawa just wanted to prolong his abuse.

"How long will it take?" she asked. "Two days? Three days?"

"Well, they're not in the best shape, so... two or three weeks.

"WHAT?!"

"Don't worry, Plaything, I'll go easy on you."

As he turned to leave, he stopped long enough to give her a sadistic grin along with one last piece of bad news.

"By the way, you've got exactly one month to find the other witness. If you don't have him by then, I'm going to detonate that bomb I had them put inside you. You might want to keep that in mind." With that said, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Crap... maybe I bit off a little more than I can chew..." she sighed. Of course, it was too late to back out now. She had guaranteed him results, and was going to have to provide them.

One way, or another...

Yokohama - Sai-chan's - One week later

"Remind me again how I got talked into this..."

What was supposed to be a three hour long visit to a shopping mall was now going on five hours with no end in sight.

Yuka needed new clothes (or so she said), and had offered to buy some for the other three girls while they were there. At the moment, Lucy was waiting outside one of the numerous changing rooms for Nana to hurry the fuck up and try her outfits on.

"Nana looks up to you. It's only natural she'd care about your opinion." Kouta told her.

"I'm not talking about her wanting my opinion, I'm talking about coming here in the first place." Lucy corrected. The only reason she agreed to come was because Kouta would be going with them and had asked her to. If there were less people, the Diclonius probably wouldn't have been so reluctant. Over time, she had come to enjoy spending time with the other residents of Kaeda House. She didn't really mind going on shopping trips, but until now they had always gone to smaller stores that were within walking distance.

The mall, by contrast, was huge, and they had to take a train to get there. Add to that about five-hundred people, and it was obvious why Lucy was reluctant to come along.

That, and the fact that she kept getting checked out. The first thing she grabbed was typically what she wore, and tonight, that happened to be a pleated, dark red, knee-length skirt and a plain, black top.

"Would it help if we all got something to eat after this?"

"I'm not a child, Kouta. I'm not even hungry, so why would getting something to eat do anyth-"

Ggggrrrrrrrrroommmmm!

Looking down at her stomach like she just caught it reading her diary, Lucy turned away and crossed her arms.

Amused, Kouta hugged the Diclonius from behind. Irritated or not, Lucy sighed and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"So, where do you think we should go?"

"It doesn't matter, wherever's fine."

The changing room door opened and a topless Nana emerged, wearing what seemed to be a pair of girls jeans, except they were pink with star-shaped sequin patterns.

"I think we should try that pizza place Yuka always talks about." she offered. The fact that she was getting stared at by numerous shocked bystanders didn't even register with the Sipelit.

"Nana, would you PLEASE cover up before you leave the changing room?" Kouta asked as quietly as he could.

"But I DID cover up, I'm wearing pants aren't I?"

If this were a normal human girl, Kouta would have called her a smart-ass.

Finally noticing the looks she was getting, Nana wisely returned to the fitting room to put her shirt back on.

"Where'd Yuka and Mayu go?" she asked when she left the fitting room. Lucy pointed over towards the jewelry department. Yuka had offered to get her ears pierced for her and they seemed to be almost done. She had offered the same to both Diclonii, but they declined. Nana didn't like the idea of having holes punched in her earlobes, and Lucy didn't want the employee doing the piercing that close to her out of concern she'd notice her horns.

When they were finished, they walked back over to rejoin Kouta and the Diclonii. "Nyu, are you sure you don't want anything? I don't mind getting it for you." Yuka offered.

"No thanks, I'm fine." the older Diclonius replied.

"Are you sure? There's some pretty cute dresses over by that display rack."

"Thanks anyway, but I've got enough clothes."

Nana and Kouta both could tell Yuka's questions were starting to irritate the pink-haired girl. Both of them knew the brunette was genuinely trying to be nice, but they weren't sure if the older Diclonius knew it. Whether she did or didn't, it didn't stop her from having a little fun at Yuka's expense.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you wear makeup before. If you'd like, we could go have a look at some before we go."

"Kouta thinks I'm pretty enough without it." Lucy answered.

Mayu and Nana both had to literally bite their tongues to stop themselves from laughing. The answer stunned her at first, but she nodded and dropped the subject. If the Diclonius's reply bothered her, she didn't show it.

As Yuka and the girls were waiting in line, Lucy pulled Kouta off to the side.

"I didn't mean to come off rude, it's just..."

"You don't have to explain. I know being in crowds bothers you." Kouta told her.

Smiling gratefully, Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Sorry to put you on the spot back there, but I couldn't resist."

"Just so you know, Yuka's not intentionally trying to bother you. She's making an honest, genuine effort to treat you like family." he told her.

"I know that, Kouta, but I don't have any interest in things like that."

This was probably the biggest understatement he had ever heard.

Hell, it wasn't until very recently that she started wearing bras. Panties, yeah... Lucy fully understood the need for those. Bras were another story, and as expected, Yuka had a hell of a time getting her to understand the point behind wearing one. Of course, when she finally got her to try it, she had to be the one to teach her how to put them on and take them off.

Thankfully, the Diclonius quickly became accustomed to wearing them after experiencing the support they provided.

"I know you don't, but I think it'd be kinda cute to see you dressed up sometime." he told her.

"Dressed up?"

"Yeah. Like, maybe in a cute dress or outfit, possibly with a little makeup."

Lucy leaned in, kissing a surprised Kouta in full view of the entire store.

"No promises." she teased, happy that he didn't look to see who was watching before he kissed her back.

Tokuyashi's Pizza - One hour later

"I don't understand... what's all of this weird stuff supposed to be?" Nana asked naively. "It's vegetables and pepperoni slices. You're supposed to eat them." Mayu offered. Looking at the Sipelit, Lucy couldn't help but feel at least somewhat sorry for her. Even she and Mayu knew what pizza was. It was a testament to just how institutionalized Nana had been.

Tokuyashi's wasn't a major chain company with hundreds of locations. It was family-owned and it's only store was right there in Yokohama. The interior lights had been turned down a little, and there were no chairs or tables, only booths lining three of it's walls. The residents of Kaeda House had opted for a booth over in the far corner where no one else was sitting, On one side sat Nana and Mayu, with Kouta, Lucy, and Yuka occupying the other.

"So, what do you think, Nyu?" Yuka asked.

"I like it. A bit salty, but it's still good." Lucy replied.

"Do you need more napkins?"

Shaking her head no, the pink-haired girl reached for her glass of soda, half-listening to Mayu, Nana, and Yuka as they discussed whether or not Nana would be able to enroll into school the following year. The younger Diclonius loved the idea, but recognized that it may not be doable. For one thing, she had no birth certificate, medical records, or even a last name.

The Institute believed Nana and Lucy were both dead, so she certainly couldn't just call them and ask for copies of their records. The phone call alone was likely to result in Kaeda House being raided by a SAT team, the police, military, or all of the above.

That, or they'd agree to hand the records over if they came in person, then ambush them all when they arrived to get them.

While she was idly listening, Lucy felt Kouta's hand reach for hers under the table. Giving him a shy smile, she took it, and the couple briefly held hands before letting go to resume eating.

"Hey, Nyu? You had some schooling while at the orphanage, right? What was your favorite subject?" Mayu asked.

Caught off guard, and with everyone looking at her, the Diclonius Queen thought about it for a few seconds. "I didn't really have a favorite, but the one I hated the least was Math."

"Really? I hate Math. Mine was usually Literature or Art." Yuka chimed in.

"What was yours, Kouta?" Mayu asked.

"History. Math and Literature were usually the ones I did the worst in."

"No surprise there. You always were bad at studying. Even now, it's such a pain trying to get you to take it seriously." Yuka complained.

Lucy nudged Kouta, telling him she needed to go make a bathroom run. After she was gone, Yuka continued to complain about Kouta's poor study habits, and Kouta continued insisting he wasn't as bad as she was claiming. Suddenly, Nana perked up, staring over at a couple of men who had just entered the restaurant.

"Hey, those guys that just walked in have masks on." the Sipelit warned the others. Kouta and Yuka turned around just in time to see the men pull out guns.

"Oh shit... Kouta, they're robbing the place!" Yuka said quietly.

"Yeah, I see that..." he answered.

Mayu looked from Nana, to the people who had become like parents to her, to the masked men robbing the restaurant, and finally to the hallway that Nyu had walked down just before they came in.

"Crap... Nyu's gonna run right into them when she comes back!" Mayu whispered.

Nana desperately tried to think of something she could do, but loud screaming signaled she was too late.

"Don't move, bitch! Get your fuckin' hands up!"

Lucy calmly obeyed, not moving as the man approached her. Yuka and Mayu watched, scared to death the men were going to hurt her. Kouta and Nana were scared too, but it wasn't Nyu's safety they were worried about. Both of them had seen first-hand how incredibly lethal the pink-haired Diclonius actually was. Had she wanted to, Lucy could have killed them both long before they even knew she was there.

"Go over there and sit down! I'm serious, bitch! Try something stupid and you're gonna get shot!"

Lucy coldly glared at the man yelling at her.

"My name's not "Bitch", it's "Kaeda."

The men just laughed. "What kinda stupid name is that supposed to be?"

"Mine." she said.

"Whatever. Just sit down and shut up. And no funny business."

Lucy complied, deliberately choosing a booth far away from her newfound family.

"He got that safe open yet?" the man asked his partner. After being told no, he went over and struck the manager on the head with his gun. He immediately collapsed to the floor, bleeding heavily but still conscious. "You better hurry up, old man. I killed the last guy we robbed, and I'll kill you too if you don't get that safe open!" he threatened.

"Please! It's a time-delay safe! I can put the combination in, but it'll be twenty minutes before it can be opened!" the manager pleaded. "WHAT?!" the armed man yelled. "Don't fuckin' lie to me! Does that thing really take twenty minutes to open?" When he nodded, the men told him to put the code in. In the meantime, the men locked the door, closed the curtains, and turned the "Open" sign off.

While they waited, the unarmed man stayed with the manager, while the other one kept pacing around the near-empty dining area. Lucy watched the man closely, just in case he tried to harm Kouta (well, everyone really, but especially Kouta).

As the minutes passed in silence, he seemed to be getting angrier and angrier as time went on. Once they crossed the fifteen minute mark, the man went and fetched a paper bag from behind the counter.

"Listen up! You're all gonna put your cash, credit cards, and any jewelry you're wearing in this bag! Don't fuck with me, just do it!" he demanded. Since the residents of Kaeda House were the only customers inside, he went to their booth first. Being the only adults, Kouta and Yuka were the only ones actually carrying cash or credit cards.

They complied, putting what money and cards they had into the bag, along with the necklace Yuka was wearing.

"Are you fuckin' serious? There's not even six-thousand yen in here! Where's the rest?!" he yelled. Trying to keep everyone calm, Kouta told him they were college students and didn't have much money. The angry thug just got even angrier upon hearing this. Noticing Mayu's earrings, he told her to take them off and put them in the bag.

"But..." Mayu hesitated, prompting Yuka to try and explain she just got her ears pierced and these were the first earrings she ever owned.

"Does it look like I give a shit? Put 'em in, kid."

Mayu silently did as he said, and the man went over to the manager. After taking his wallet and wedding ring, it was Lucy's turn.

"Come on, bitch. I ain't got all night!" he said.

"I thought I told you already, my name's not "Bitch." she told him in a tone that immediately send a fear-inducing shiver up Nana's spine.

"I'll call you whatever I want, bitch! Hurry up and hand over your money, bitch! If you don't do it, I'll shoot you in the face, bitch!" he yelled. The Diclonius looked up at him with an amused expression on her face.

"Impressive... did you think that up all on your own?"

"Just do it!"

"Sorry, I don't have any money, credit cards, or jewelry. You're wasting your time."

The man grabbed her by the arm and hauled her to her feet, eliciting a shocked gasp from her family. Watching in fright, Nana quietly advised them to get ready to duck, certain that they were about to see Lucy brutally kill both of the men. And honestly, Nana would have a really, REALLY hard time faulting her if she did. Even by her standards, both of them royally deserved it.

"You playing games with me, bitch?! You tellin' me you got nothing?! No cash, cards, purse, jewelry... nothing at all?!"

"Correct." Lucy answered. Before the man could respond, a beeping noise signaled that the time-lock had expired. Letting go of the Diclonius, then men eagerly opened the safe. They were expecting hundreds of thousands of yen. What they got instead was just over thirty-thousand, with another four or five thousand in a deposit bag marked "Petty Cash".

The men were furious, demanding to know where the rest of it was. The managed tried to tell them that WAS the rest of it, but was struck again. Demanding he open the register, he obeyed, bleeding heavily from his injuries. Counting both bills and coins, the register held a grand total of just over eight-thousand yen.

Enraged, the thug with the gun roughly shoved the man to the floor and took aim.

The Kaeda House residents were in shock, all of them frozen in fear except the two Diclonii.

"He doesn't have anymore money! Please, don't hurt him!" Nana yelled.

Ignoring the Sipelit, the armed thug stood over the bleeding old man and fired a shot straight down at the mans head.

PINGGG!

"What the...?" The masked man fired again, but this shot didn't connect either. "For fucks sakes Eido, how hard is it to kill one old man?" his partner asked in annoyance. "I... I don't know what's going on! There's no way I could miss at this range!"

He ejected the magazine to verify the gun was loaded. Taking aim at the floor, the robber fired a test shot and confirmed the gun and it's ammo were both working fine. The two looked at each other in confusion, but turned their attention to Lucy when she stood up.

"Hey! Sit back down, bitch! Right now!" the one called Eido ordered. Lucy ignored their threats and kept coming towards them. He took aim at her and again yelled for her to go sit back down or he was going to shoot. Undeterred. the Diclonius advanced on the two criminals.

"Come on then, tough guy... shoot me."

The armed man started shooting, firing every round his gun had left at her from nearly point-blank range, but somehow, every single one of them missed. The man started to slowly back away from the pink-haired girl.

"W-What are you...?" he stuttered.

"Are you out of bullets? If you have more, I don't mind waiting until you reload."

Eido numbly dropped his gun, backing up another step. Looking down at the floor, she sighed in disappointment, "I guess you're out... oh well..."

"Nyu..."

Lucy turned around to see her makeshift family watching her in uncertainty. Looking right at Kouta, she gave him a gentle smile and slightly nodded her head. Even without words, that smile gave him all the reassurance he needed. Turning back around, the gentle smile on her face vanished.

"Fun's over." she told them coldly, then she released her vectors and went on the offensive.

Seeing the nervous look on Mayu's face, Nana nudged her friend and smiled. "Don't worry, she won't kill them."

With no bullets left, the men pulled out knives, and both of them lunged for her at the same time. She jumped back, then countered by hurling a chair into the closest man. The other one began wildly slashing at her, but never hit anything. When the other thug got up and charged her, a vector grabbed him and hurled him through one of the thick glass windows.

The remaining man took his eyes off Lucy for less than a second, but that was plenty of time for a vector to grab him by the throat and start strangling him in midair.

"Greedy, selfish, worthless humans... all that free money, and you still weren't satisfied."

Lucy looked up at the man with a cold, merciless look on her face as she berated him, choking the man for so long, Nana was beginning to think she might have spoke too soon when she told Mayu Lucy wouldn't kill him.

After a few more seconds, she flung him against the wall, and proceeded to ragdoll the thug repeatedly until finally he was dumped in a heap in the middle of the now wrecked dining area.

Lucy stood over the bloody thug, watching as he moaned painfully through broken teeth. As he lay there trying to figure out what the hell just happened, Lucy's vectors suddenly became visible, and she heard Yuka and Mayu gasp in fear. One of her vectors grabbed the man and hauled him to his feet.

"Get out... now."

The man stumbled over to the door, but fumbled repeatedly with the store keys. Losing her patience, she grabbed the door with a vector and literally ripped it out of the frame. The man shrieked in fear and ran away, leaving his unconscious partner behind.

As her vectors disappeared, she picked up the bag of their stolen property, she tossed it back to Mayu before checking on the manager.

"Are you dead?" she asked bluntly, causing Nana to sigh and shake her head at the older Diclonius's severe lack of tact.

Getting no response, she knelt down and checked for a pulse. Looking up at the others, she nodded her head, drawing sighs of relief from them. Kouta hurried over and threw his arms around her. She embraced him tightly, ignoring everything and everyone except him.

"You're ok..." he choked out. Looking at her boyfriend, she could tell he was trying not to cry right there in front of everyone. "I'm fine, Kouta... but thank you." she told him with a loving smile on her face as they hugged.

Seconds later, the five of them heard sirens coming their way.

"Come on, we need to go." Nana urged. The five of them quickly slipped out of the restaurant and hurried down the alley and took a backstreet towards the train depot.

By the time the police set up a perimeter, the residents of Kaeda House were already on the train home.

Kaeda House - Three hours later

Despite the praise heaped on her by the others (yes, even Yuka) Lucy wasn't exactly thrilled with the way she handled the situation.

It was late at night when they finally made it home. As expected, everyone decided to turn in for the night shortly after getting back.

Except her. While everyone else was going to bed, she decided to use the bath first. Sitting alone in the tub, Lucy thought back over the events from earlier. While she appreciated all of the praise and support, she couldn't help but notice the look of fear Mayu and Yuka gave her when her vectors visibly materialized.

At first, she thought that seeing them with their own eyes was going to cause them to lose trust in her, or maybe even make them object to her living with them. It wasn't until she flat-out asked them if this was the case that she received assurance that it wasn't.

"Nyu, we already knew you had those things. It scared us a little to actually SEE them, but it changes nothing, ok?"

Even coming from Yuka, those words brought her so much relief and comfort, she didn't even attempt to resist when the brunette tried to hug her.

Deciding to go to bed for the night, Lucy got out of the bath and dried herself off. Going back to her room, the removed the towel and got in bed naked. She had only been there a minute or two at most when she heard her door open.

"Nyu? Are you awake?" she heard Kouta ask.

"Nope... sound asleep." she answered coyly.

"Smart-ass..." Kouta uttered as he came over and sat down beside her. She sat up and turned on a night-light, not bothering to cover herself up. "Is something wrong? Not that I don't love seeing you, but you don't usually come see me this late at night."

"I wanted to thank you." he replied, moving closer to her. "What you did was nothing short of amazing, and I'm just... so incredibly proud of you. Not just me, everyone else is too."

Lucy looked away for a moment, then sighed and turned back to her boyfriend.

"What if that man dies? Are you still going to be proud then?"

"Dies?" he asked in confusion.

The Diclonius nodded, "I threw that man through a thick glass window, Kouta. I might have killed him by accident."

Realizing where she was going with this, he just smiled at her and stroked her face.

"You're scared you'll lose the relationship if he doesn't survive, aren't you?"

She nodded slowly, swallowing nervously as she stared into his eyes. "Will I...?"

Kouta just shook his head no, giving her a comforting smile as he took her hands in his. "You saved that old man's life, and ours too. If that thug doesn't make it, it's not your fault. It's not murder to kill someone in self-defense, and if you truly have no other option, I won't hold it against you."

Smiling in relief, she reached for him just as he reached for her. The couple held each other tightly, each silently thanking God for the other. "I was so scared you were going to get hurt." Kouta whispered. Lucy could clearly hear the emotion in his voice, and was touched that he worried and cared so deeply for her.

"I was scared too... scared that I might have gone too far... scared that I may have turned the only family I've ever had against me..." she whispered back. "Kouta, there's something I have to ask you, so please... just be honest with me."

"Let me guess... you want to know what would happen if you broke your promise?" he said.

Lucy nodded in confirmation, neither of them letting go of the other.

Kouta thought for a few seconds, trying to make sure he was wording his answer correctly before speaking.

"If you broke your promise on purpose, yes... it would hurt the relationship, but you wouldn't lose it unless you stopped caring and started going around killing people again. That doesn't mean it's ok to break it occasionally, because it's not. Trust would be lost, and it'd take a long time for you to get it back."

Pulling away from her, Kouta looked right into her eyes. "Are you going to do that?"

Lucy shook her head no, a single tear falling from her eyes.

"Never. I'd rather die then let that happen." she said, sincerely meaning every word of it.

Kouta smiled at her, "Then, you have nothing to worry about."

The topless girl hugged him tightly against her in relief. Truth be known, even without the promise she made, she would've stopped murdering all on her own. The more time she spent with the other residents of Kaeda House, the weaker her urge to kill became.

"Thank you, Kouta... thank you so much." she whispered.

"You're welcome." he smiled. The two of them laid down and cuddled for what was meant to be just a few minutes, but before he knew it, three hours had passed, and Lucy was asleep in his arms.

He carefully extracted himself and pulled the blanket up to cover her. For several minutes, he just sat there and watched her sleep peacefully with what almost looked like a smile on her face. She had changed and grown so much it left him and Nana both in awe.

In truth, he had at first been afraid it was simply an act she put on to make him happy, but over time, he had seen enough to know that Lucy genuinely cared for her makeshift family. She may still be cold to them at times, but she valued their acceptance and trust of her, and wasn't shy about admitting it.

For what was probably the 500th time, Kouta couldn't help but wonder why a girl as drop-dead gorgeous as her wanted to be with a plain, average-looking guy like him. As carefully as he could, he leaned over and gave the sleeping Diclonius a goodnight kiss on her cheek before returning to his own room.