-Faith, Love, and Forgiveness - Chapter Thirty-two: Trauma-
Atsugi High School - Atsugi - Three weeks later
"Oh my God, no wonder Sakura-Chan hates it here!" Mayu remarked.
Surprisingly, Atsugi High actually allowed her and Nana to tag along with the timid Diclonius for an entire day.
UNsurprisingly, they didn't receive the same warm welcome that Sakura had at their school.
"I totally get it now..." Nana said in agreement. "These people are straight-up douchebags!"
Just like they did when Sakura came to Kamakura, the plan was to stay with her Friday night, go to school and the game the next day, spend a second night with her, and then return home Sunday morning.
When they arrived, it was clear that both Sakura and her mother were a little embarrassed about their home, especially compared to Kaeda House. It wasn't filthy or run-down, but it was located in what people in the U.S. sometimes referred to as the "Projects".
All things considered, it really wasn't that bad. It was much smaller than their home, and it was pretty obvious that the occupants had very little money, but it was clean and well-kept.
That didn't stop Sakura-Chan from apologizing for her home not being anywhere near as nice as theirs's.
"We don't care about that." Mayu gently told her. "We're here for YOU, not your home."
The night they arrived, Sakura's mother went as far as offering to sleep on the couch so they could use her bed, which the girls politely declined.
"You don't have to worry about us, we'll be fine." Nana assured her.
"Are you sure? I don't mind." she offered. The girls replied that they were sure, and both of them immediately knew where Sakura's (for lack of a better word) "submissive" nature had come from.
Mayu offered to cook, as the older woman was clearly exhausted. This was when she found out where most of the money Kouta and Yuka gave her had gone to.
"Damn... she's got more food than we do!" Mayu said to herself. She was happy the money was used for good reasons, but it made her wonder if food had been in short supply before that night.
The next day at school, Mayu seemed to be received fairly well, but Nana was another story. She didn't get treated nearly as bad as Sakura, but it was obvious they didn't want her there.
"I don't understand why everyone here has such a big rock up their ass!" Nana complained.
Mayu nodded in agreement. The young human had seen Nana be mistreated by people in the past, but this was more than simple bullying, this was borderline organized oppression.
"I'm used to it by now."
The two turned around to see the timid Diclonius had come up behind them.
"Seriously, Sakura, what the hell is wrong with these people?" Mayu asked. "This level of animosity is just ridiculous! Did you kill their favorite teacher or something?"
"Of course not!" she replied. "I've never done anything bad to any of them, but I kinda wish I had. At least then, them not liking me would at least sorta make sense."
"Oh, good! There you are!"
Sakura visibly cringed as Atsugi's coach walked over. As much as Nana wanted to tell him to go jump off a bridge, she knew doing so would just make things worse for Sakura.
"What do you want?" Nana asked rudely.
"Since you're part of the same... species, I thought you might like the chance to help Sakura out tonight." he replied.
"How?"
"Take and deliver orders during Intermission. That's all. Any money you get as tips is yours, free and clear... though I highly doubt it'll be more than a few hundred yen."
"You gonna turn around and screw me over if it is?"
"Absolutely not. Just pay what's owed to the school and keep the rest."
Nana accepted, and he sent Sakura to go find a spare cheerleader uniform for her.
"When the game is over, bring the money and your order sheet to the refreshment stand. Got it?"
The Sipelit nodded, and the man thanked her for agreeing to help.
"Why the hell is everyone so rude to Sakura-Chan?" Nana asked as he started to walk away. "What has she ever done to deserve so much hostility?"
He turned around and looked at his two visitors.
For a moment, they thought the shy Sipelit had lied, and he was going to tell them some sort of secret, horrible deed she had done that in some way justified their treatment of her. Maybe she was the biggest slut in the entire school, and slept with anyone who asked. Perhaps Sakura-Chan was a gossiping liar who loved creating drama. Or, maybe she murdered a beloved teacher or schoolmate, and somehow got away with it.
Instead, he cemented their opinion that they were just a bunch of snobby asshats by telling her that Sakura "is not the type of student desired by our esteemed educational institution. Not only is she a non-human, she's dirt poor, and who wants to be associated with a student like that?"
What made this little admission so hurtful was that Sakura herself caught the tail-end of it as she returned with a uniform for Nana to wear, but kept quiet and gave Nana a pleading look that clearly meant "Don't tell him I'm here."
"You've been treated a little better because you're considered a little higher in class than she is. Unfortunately for you, tonight's game is against Sagamihara, and they're probably going to want even less to do with you as we do."
"We'll see about that." Nana smirked.
Girl's locker room - Atsugi High School Gym - Ten minutes until Intermission
"You don't have to do this you know..."
Nana finished putting her lipstick on before answering the timid Sipelit.
"I know, but I'm doing it anyway." she smiled confidently. "I am going to make that asshole eat his words. Just watch!"
Tonight's game was supposed to be packed with visitors. Nana knew Atsugi was a lost cause, but was willing to bet the visitors side wouldn't have the same anti-Diclonius sentiment that they did, and would be much more receptive to her regardless of what Couch Douchenozzle claimed.
Accordingly, Nana was going to activate Mega-Flirt Mode and pull out all the stops.
"You know, that color looks nice on you." Sakura remarked.
"Do you want to try it?"
"Umm... I never really got the hang of putting on lipstick." Sakura admitted.
"You want me to do it?"
The pink-haired Sipelit nodded, and held still so Nana could apply it to her lips.
"Wow, that looks beautiful on her!" Mayu smiled
Sakura blushed at the complement and smiled shyly at her and Nana's reflection. Mayu was right, it really did go beautifully with her pale skin and hair.
"I'm really glad I met all of you... I really am."
Nana smiled and gave the other Diclonius a gentle kiss on the cheek. "We're glad we met YOU..."
"Uh, you might want to go wash that off." Mayu giggled, referring to the pink lip print on the younger Sipelit's cheek. "If you don't, they'll probably think you two are lovers!"
Sakura's deep blush only got worse when Nana hugged her from behind and replied, "Maybe we ARE lovers!"
When a highly flustered Sakura tried to stammer out a reply, Nana just shhhh'ed her with a mischievous smile.
"Don't worry, baby... It's only weird the first time."
Mayu's laughing fit lasted so long, the two Diclonii were forced to leave before she finished.
Twenty minutes later
As fate would have it, Nana's theory was spot on. The Atsugi side of the gym continued to act like they had a tree branch up their asses, but the visitors side was charmed by Nana's beauty and bubbly, flirty personality. Despite being pretty herself, Sakura found she just didn't have the same success Nana was having, and couldn't figure out why.
Nana, however, HAD. The bottom line was that Sakura wasn't lacking beauty, she was lacking confidence. While the purple-haired girl could charm and flirt her way through the crowd, it was a different story for her. She got flustered easily, and frequently tripped over her words.
Mayu, watching from the bleachers, could see how badly Sakura was doing in comparison to the other Diclonius. At one point, a large group of guys had waved Nana over to place orders. Nana claimed she couldn't make out what they were saying, and solved this little problem by sitting on their lap to write down what they wanted.
As soon as she was done, she got up, moved over, and sat on the next guy's lap. She wouldn't let them actually touch her (she might be a flirt, but she wasn't a cheater), but that didn't stop them from giving the flirty Diclonius massive tips. Even guys who didn't really want anything from the refreshment stand ordered just so the petite girl with the short skirt and beautiful smile would sit on their lap for a couple of minutes.
"Me next!"
"No way, man! I'm closer to her than you are, I'M next!"
"She noticed me first!"
"Don't fight, boys. There's enough of me to go around, and I promise you'll both get a turn." Nana assured them with as close to a "seductive" smile as she could manage.
Mayu just smiled and shook her head as she watched the Sipelit. This little tactic of hers was working perfectly, and she received one gigantic tip after another.
'Those poor guys are all gonna be broke by the time she's finished!'
Atsugi High Concession stand - One hour later
"You're wasting your time, Mister Athletic Director." Nana yawned.
When the two Diclonii turned in their money and order receipts, the employees running the refreshment stand counted the money they had, subtracted the total amount of their orders, and gave them the remainder. Sakura had around ¥31,200 in orders, and her grand total came to just over ¥33,000. This meant her "take-home" was roughly ¥1,800.
Nana had ¥44,780 in orders, with a grand total of ¥81,352. Her "take-home" was an incredible ¥36,050. It was so far beyond expectations that she was immediately accused of cheating, but after the fifth recount, the ones running the refreshment stand refused to do it again.
"Nope. We already recounted it five times, we're done. Here you go, sweetie, have a good night." they said as they handed Nana an envelope bulging with cash.
The moment the girls stepped outside, Nana turned and gave the envelope to Sakura.
"I want you to have this..." she said gently. "I think you deserve it for having to put up with that asshole every day at school."
Sakura-Chan stared at her in shock. She knew the Kaeda House residents were generous, but this was becoming absolutely ridiculous.
"Nana, I... I think you should keep it. You earned it, so it's yours."
"That means I can do what I want with it, right? Well, that includes giving it to you."
Sakura looked down, struggling with her emotions. "Do all of you just feel sorry for me or something?"
"We DO feel sorry for the way you've been treated, but that's not why she's giving it to you." Mayu spoke up.
"Well, if it's not that, what is it?"
"I don't think we should have this conversation here. Is there somewhere we can go?" Nana asked.
Sakura-Chan thought for a moment, and nodded her head.
"Follow me."
Atsugi City Park - Ten minutes later
"Both of you have been homeless before?" Sakura asked. The three of them had been sitting in swings, but had moved over to a picnic table because the purple-haired girl couldn't stop herself from getting distracted.
Nana and Mayu both nodded her heads.
"Before I moved into Kaeda House, I lived in what I guess you could call a storage shed. And before that, I lived with my mother and stepfather."
"What about you, Nana?" Sakura asked.
"To be honest, I wasn't homeless for long. After I left the... the place I was living, I met Mayu that very night and basically moved in the next day."
Mayu started giggling at the memory of that night. "Nana's father gave her a big bag full of money, and she burned almost half of it because she didn't know what it was."
"I thought we agreed not to talk about that anymore?" Nana asked in annoyance.
"How do you NOT KNOW what money is?" Sakura asked.
"Before meeting Mayu, I lived in this... Institution. Basically, it was a place where research and experiments were conducted on Diclonii."
"Experiments?" Sakura asked.
"They were trying to learn more about us. Me and Lucy were both locked up there for years." Nana answered.
Sakura was obviously a little skeptical, but Mayu spoke up and confirmed Nana was telling the truth. "I saw the room she was locked in. They made her sleep chained to the wall, naked, and with no way of using the bathroom except to... um..."
"T-They made you go... THERE?! Like, in the same spot you were chained up at?!"
Nana just nodded, struggling not to cry as the memories resurfaced.
"I know it sounds like she's making it up, but I've been there myself. I saw things there that I will never be able to un-see, as much as I wish I could." Mayu said.
"What happened to the others?" Sakura-Chan asked.
"Lucy and I escaped. Everyone else was murdered to try to cover it up." Nana replied bitterly. "If Papa hadn't helped me escape, I'd be dead too."
"Papa?"
"He wasn't really my father, but I never knew my real parents, so he was the closest thing I had to a father. I took his last name when me and Lucy went through Cohabitation."
"I never met my father either. My mother said when he saw my horns, he moved out before she even got out of the hospital." Sakura chimed in. Turning to Mayu, she asked if she knew her real father.
"N-Not really... I just remember he and my mom didn't get along." she said evasively.
"Um... I don't mean to pry, but why did you become homeless if you had parents?" Sakura asked. "Did they lose their jobs or something?"
"I..." Mayu hesitated. "I ran away from home."
"Why?"
At this point, Nana cut-in and simply said Mayu didn't like to talk about it.
"No... It's OK. I think I've held it in long enough..."
Nana looked at her in surprise. Mayu had never actually been willing to talk about WHY she had ran away before.
"If it's bad, you don't have to say it." Sakura said uneasily. She suddenly felt like whatever she was about to hear would be something she was going to wish she hadn't.
Tachibana residence - Eight years ago
"Why do I need to take my clothes off?"
"It's a surprise. Come on, you trust me, right?"
"Well, yeah... but..."
"But?"
Mayu hesitated, but decided to go with it. He WAS her ''new Daddy'' after all, so she complied and removed her clothes.
"You're a pretty little girl."
She giggled, thanking him for the compliment. Then, he asked her to get on her hands and knees. Again, she complied, curious about this "surprise".
"Like this?"
"Put your head and shoulders down for me."
She did as he said, but started getting a really bad feeling when he moved behind her.
"Close your eyes."
"Umm... w-what are you doing?"
"Close your eyes, honey." he repeated.
She did, and heard him unzipping his pants.
"Hold still for Daddy, ok?"
Atsugi City Park - Present day
Sakura gasped in shock and covered her mouth. Nana just stared at her best friend in horror.
"He... He..."
"Raped me..." Mayu said quietly. "When I told my mom, she took his side, and told me just to let him do what he wanted. One day, I decided I just wasn't able to do it anymore. That's why I ran away..."
"Oh God..." Sakura whispered. "Mayu, I-
Before she finished her sentence, Nana broke down and began crying uncontrollably. Mayu reached for Nana at the same time Sakura did, and for several minutes, the three girls hugged and cried on each other.
"I'm so sorry... I-I didn't know..." Nana sobbed.
"It's alright, Nana... It's not your fault." Mayu said quietly.
"That man's not a father at all... he's just a creepy pervert who took advantage of you." Sakura said, her voice heavy with emotion. "No REAL father would ever do something so horrib-"
"Hey!"
The girl's turned to see two police officers walking towards them. The obviously younger one saw the horns and immediately started backing up while reaching for his gun. The much older of the two motioned for him to stay put and walked right up to them.
"Are you girls alright?" he asked gently. "You look upset."
"We're fine... It's just been a long day." Mayu explained.
"Sir! You shouldn't stand so close to them! You're within vector-range!"
"I sure hope so." he replied with a playful grin. "Not much of a Diclonius if her vectors can't reach an old man standing right next to her, huh?"
Despite the situation, Sakura couldn't help but giggle. "No, I... I guess not."
"Now then, I'm afraid the park is closed, but we'd be happy to give you a ride home." the old officer offered.
"Sir, I don't think it's a good idea to be in the car with them."
Clearly annoyed by his subordinate, he replied by telling him, "If you're that scared of them, you can sit on a bench and wait for me to get back."
Not wanting to appear cowardly, the young cop gave in, but said they should at least search the two Diclonii and check their official ID's.
"What crime do you suspect them of committing?"
"W-Well, I... I don't really know yet."
"Then you have no grounds to search them or demand ID, do you? Just for that, you can ride in the back and let them sit up front."
Kiryu residence - Twenty minutes later
Knowing her mother would probably be exhausted by the time she got home, the shy Sipelit put their conversation on hold so she could start working on dinner. Rather than let her do it by herself, Nana and Mayu pitched in to help (though it was more "Mayu helping while Nana sat on a barstool and read directions").
As expected, Mrs. Kiryu was indeed worn out by the time she got home, so much in fact that she dozed off on the toilet before she'd even started eating, and had to be woken up by her daughter so she could have dinner. Thankfully, the nap seemed to have helped her wake up enough to hold a conversation.
"I'm really glad Sakura met you two. You have no idea how long it's been since I've seen her this happy."
"Mom..." Sakura groaned in embarrassment. Nana just giggled at her blushing friend as Mayu replied they were glad they met her too.
"I saw that picture of you two with that other girl." her mother smiled. "Was that planned, or spur-of-the-moment?"
"I wanted it taken, but Yuka didn't tell us when she planned to take it. She just up and did it." her daughter answered.
"Speaking of that girl, what IS her name? It seems everyone calls her something different."
"Her actual name is Kaeda, but "Nyu" and "Lucy" are nicknames she still answers to." Mayu explained.
"You should have seen the way guys were tripping over each other to talk to her when I went to their school. Oh, that reminds me! Nana, why can't I sense her presence?" Sakura asked. "I had no idea she was even a Diclonius until I saw her."
"I think it's because she lost both of her horns before. I know they grew back, but I think once they've both been broken, you can't be sensed anymore." Nana answered.
The subject switched back and forth between topics for the rest of dinner. Once it was over, Sakura's mother went to take a shower while the girls cleaned up. After they were done, the three went to Sakura's room to finish their conversation from earlier.
"Mayu, I am so sorry for what happened to you." Nana said gently. "I figured whatever made you run away was bad, but I thought it was something like maybe your dad got drunk and hit you, or your mom was on drugs, or something like that."
"It's alright." she replied. "It took me a long time, but I've forgiven him... and my mom. I still don't want to be around either of them, but I felt like... if I don't forgive them, I'll never get past it. I don't want to live like that."
Nana smiled and leaned in to kiss her cheek. "I'm so proud of you..."
"Hey, umm... " Sakura spoke up. "Not to change the subject, but I just remembered you never told me the reason you gave me all that money."
Nana looked away for a moment, struggling to find the right words.
After a couple of minutes of silence, the purple-haired girl gave Sakura her answer.
"When I first left the Institute, I had nobody to turn to, and nowhere to go. I'd never been out in public before, and I didn't know anything about the outside world. I was so scared... I didn't have any food, I didn't have anywhere to sleep, I didn't have any clothes... I had nothing. I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but I seriously considered taking my own life. I just couldn't take being so lonely..."
"Nana..." Mayu whispered as she watched the Sipelit struggle with her emotions.
"Then I met Mayu, and everything changed. For the first time in my life, I had a real friend..."
Sakura listened intently, turning her attention to Mayu when she started speaking.
"I didn't have anyone either. After I left, I found a lost puppy that had nowhere to go, just like me. That puppy was the closest thing I had to a friend. But then, one rainy night, I found this umbrella with "Kaeda House" on it, so I went to return it. That's when I met Kouta and Yuka. They gave me food, let me take a bath, and even let me stay the night without even knowing me. After I moved in, they adopted me, and actually became my legal parents." Mayu added. "They've been so good to me. Until meeting them, I went to bed every night not knowing if I was going to have any food or shelter the next day."
"I guess what we're trying to say is there was a time when we desperately needed help, and someone we barely knew stepped in and gave it to us. They didn't have to, but they did. Not only that, but they did it without expecting anything in return." Nana said. "We gave you the money because we saw you needed help, and we were able to give it."
"All we want in return is for you to help others if you can." Mayu said gently.
Sakura-Chan did her best not to cry, but it was a losing battle. For the second time that night, the three girls had an emotional group-hug.
"I'm so very lucky to have friends like you two... thank you both so much." Sakura cried.
"You're welcome." Nana whispered, smiling through her tears.
"We're lucky we have YOU..." Mayu said, doing the same as Nana.
The three of them hugged and cried for what seemed like forever, though it was actually only a couple of minutes.
And they weren't the only ones shedding tears.
Alerted by the noise, Mrs. Kiryu came to check on them, and caught the better half of their conversation. Rather than interrupt or make her presence known, she quietly retreated back to her own bedroom and broke down herself, overjoyed that her lonely daughter had made such loving friends. It had been months since she saw her this happy, and words could never express how grateful she was.
Unexpectedly, she heard somebody knocking on their apartment door.
Confused, she wiped her eyes and made her way towards the knocking. When she saw who it was through the peephole, she groaned in irritation and opened the door.
"Good evening, Mrs. Kiryu. I'd like to speak to Sakura for a few minutes."
"Can't this wait? She's got friends over and we're all going to bed soon."
"No, but I'll be as brief as possible." the man said.
With an annoyed look on her face, she went to her daughter's room to break the news.
"Girls, I'm sorry, but I need to borrow Sakura for a few minutes."
"Is something wrong?" her daughter asked.
"That man is here again, and says he needs to talk to you."
"What man?" Mayu asked. When she said he was from "that ridiculous little program" Nana's face lit up.
"Could it be... him?" Mayu asked.
"I don't know, but let's go find out!" Nana grinned.
Together, the four of them returned to the man, who had taken the liberty of waiting for her in the kitchen.
"Good evening, Sakura. My name is-"
"Mr. Saito!" the purple-haired girl interrupted.
The man's jaw hit the floor, and he stared at her in utter disbelief.
"Miss Nana?! W-What the hell are YOU doing here?!" he asked incredulously.
"Having a girls' slumber party! You wanna join us?" she teased.
"You know him?" Sakura asked.
"Yep! I met him at the Cohabitation program. I know he seems like just a cranky old asshole, but trust me, he's not so bad when you get to know him."
"How... How did you meet Sakura?" he asked.
"During a basketball game against her school. I'm on our cheerleading squad." Nana said.
For a moment, the man almost seemed to smile at her, then he cleared his throat and picked up his pen and notepad.
"Miss Nana, do you believe Sakura poses a threat to humans she comes into contact with?"
"No."
"Do you feel that she can successfully integrate into human society?"
"Absolutely."
"To the best of your knowledge, is there anything about her or her home life that might pose a safety risk to herself or any other person, or anything that could EVENTUALLY pose a safety risk to herself or any other person?"
"No."
Mr. Saito nodded his head. "Very well then. At this point, I don't believe there is any need for further investigation, so we're closing her file."
Sakura and her mother looked at each other in surprise. "You're closing her file because Nana vouched for her?"
"I am." Saito replied. "Miss Nana and Miss Kaeda are both considered extremely successful graduates of the program. If Miss Nana believes that Sakura won't pose a danger to human society, I'm inclined to believe her."
Turning to the purple-haired girl, he asked her how Lucy was doing.
"She's doing great! Her and Kouta are happier than ever!" she smiled.
"Any trouble so far?"
Nana wasn't sure if he knew about the little incident during their honeymoon, but decided to be honest just in case.
"Well... um... they got in a tiny bit of trouble on their honeymoon in Enoshima, but it wasn't anything serious."
"What did they do?" Saito asked.
"Um... well, they went night-swimming, and when they were done, the beach was deserted, so they kinda..."
"Had sex on the beach and got caught?"
Sakura and Mayu blushed as Nana started laughing.
"That got them into trouble, but what actually got them arrested was Lucy asking the police if they could come back in a few minutes so they'd have time to finish!"
"Are you serious?!" asked. He knew Lucy had no "filter" whatsoever, but asking the cops who just caught them having sex on a public beach to wait until they were done? That's a level of smart-ass'ery he didn't even know existed.
"Yep! They eventually just let them go because there wasn't any room at the jail for them."
For obvious reasons, she left out the part about Lucy nearly killing an inmate.
Saito just laughed and shook his head. "Tell those two "Hi" for me, ok?"
She nodded, and the two shook hands before he left.
"I can't believe he just did that! He's been hounding us for weeks!" Mrs. Kiryu exclaimed.
"Nana and Nyu have a certain... charm." Mayu giggled.
"I guess so..." Sakura's mother smiled.
At this point, Nana decided to tell her about the money, but said they worked together and split the money that was left-over after paying the school back.
Mrs. Kiryu was a bit lost for words after hearing exactly how much Sakura had been given.
"Girls, I... I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but what is WRONG with you? Normal people are not this selfless."
Nana just smiled and coyly reminded her she wasn't a normal person.
"Actually, I think mom should have it. I don't have much need for money, and mom's the one who has to pay the bills." Sakura spoke up. The woman's eyes became teary as Nana gave her the bulging envelope.
"Why?"
"Why not?" Nana smiled gently. "If you want to pay us back for it, then help someone else the next time you have the chance."
Sakura's mother put the envelope down and hugged all three of the girls, crying silently as she thanked Nana and Mayu for being so generous and loving to her and her daughter.
"You have no idea how happy she's been since meeting all of you. I'm not trying to embarrass her or anything, but she's smiled and laughed more in the last two months than she has in the last two years combined. It's so good to see her like this again."
"Mom..." Sakura groaned.
All four of them laughed together. Before long, Mrs. Kiryu went to bed, and the girls returned to Sakura's room. Although she was sad they'd be leaving in the morning, she took comfort in knowing they were only a couple of hours away, and had promised to visit again soon. As she lay in bed, Sakura thanked whatever deity was out there tor blessing her so greatly. It was nothing short of a miracle that she had met the residents of Kaeda House, especially at a time when she had little food, even less money, and practically zero friends.
They were kind to her in ways she never expected. On top of that, their school treated her so nicely without even knowing her. And their cheerleaders! At her school, they changed their entire routine for no other reason than to let her know they care, and one cheerleader after another broke down and cried when it was time to leave.
At Kamakura, several of them cried when SHE had to leave. Throughout the day, they treated her like she was one of them, and thanked her repeatedly for coming to watch them perform. They weren't ashamed to be seen with the "poorest girl in school", and the fact that she was a Diclonius didn't stop them from hugging her every chance they got.
Sakura smiled as a silent tear fell from her closed eyes.
'I guess Nana was right...' she thought. 'The world really IS beautiful after all.'
