Note: This chapter contains slight sexual content.
-Faith, Love, and Forgiveness - Chapter Thirty-nine: Domestic-
Two days later
The news of Lucy's pregnancy set off a chain reaction the Diclonius never saw coming.
Before the week was over, Lucy was being bombarded by letters and calls from Yuka's family and friends. Her parents skipped the letters and phone calls and showed up unexpectedly at Kaeda House. The moment she walked in to the living room, they burst into tears and hugged the flustered Diclonius, telling her repeatedly how happy they were for her and how excited theirs and Kouta's families were.
When asked if she'd scheduled her first OB/GYN appointment yet, Lucy had simply replied to the question with a "Not yet". Thankfully, nobody pushed the issue.
Yuri also skipped the letters and phone calls in favor of a surprise visit, bringing the makeshift family several boxes of cookies, pastries, cakes, and breads.
"When I was pregnant, I had a LOT of sugar cravings. So, if you do too, now you don't have to worry about going shopping in the middle of the night! Some of these are marked "Kaeda's" because I know Nana's a cookie-hog, and I've seen how fast that girl makes them disappear."
When Nana objected, Yuri just laughed and promised she'd bake more if they ran out.
"You didn't have to go through so much effort, you know..." Lucy replied.
"I know, but I think the world of you, and I'm so happy for you and Kouta." Yuri answered.
Lucy blushed, and the two friends hugged for several seconds before letting go. As expected, the older woman's complements and generosity made the pink-haired girl a bit emotional.
"By the way, are you interested in being my seasonal employee again?"
"I'd love to." Lucy said with a smile.
"Same deal as last time?" Yuri asked.
"Sure. When?"
"Today's Sunday, right? Can you start Tuesday?"
"I'd be glad to." Lucy accepted.
That night, she told Kouta she had accepted Yuri's offer of working for her again. He wasn't all that thrilled about it to say the least, but relented when she promised not to strain herself or do any heavy lifting.
"Just be extremely careful, ok? We'll never get a second chance at this."
"I know... but trust me, ok?" she smiled.
With the issue settled, it wasn't long before talking turned into kissing, kissing into touching, and touching into making-love. Riding her husband, Lucy giggled in-between long, romantic kisses while she moved her hips back and forth.
"Kouta, I'm so excited about this!" she smiled.
"About what? Being on top, or working at the bakery again?"
She slapped him playfully, smiling happily down at him as she lowered her head for another kiss.
"Smart-ass."
Smiling back, he lightly bit her lower lip as they kissed. "I'm excited too... granted, part of me is going, "This was a horrible idea, I don't want to be a father, what the hell was I thinking?", but I know that's just the anxiety talking."
The moment he said that, he could feel the whole atmosphere shift.
"You... You DO still want this, right?" she asked. Kouta could hear the hesitation in her voice, and decided to dispel any fear or insecurity she may have about his commitment to becoming a father.
He pulled her down until their faces were almost touching and stared right into her beautiful red eyes.
"Kaeda... let me be completely honest with you about this, ok?"
She nodded and waited for him to finish.
"No amount of anxiety, second-guessing, fear, or panic could ever make me regret this. Yes, I'm scared... but I know it's going to pass, and after it does, I'll look back on it, and see there was never really anything to be scared of in the first place." he said gently without breaking eye contact. "I can't wait to see how beautiful you're going to look when you start showing. I can't wait to find out how it feels to touch your stomach and feel our child kicking. Most of all, I can't wait to stand outside the nursery, holding your hand as we watch our baby sleep for the first time."
"Kouta..." Lucy whispered as tears welled-up in her eyes. It felt flat-out bizarre to cry during sex, but she couldn't help it.
"I'm sorry if I made you think I'd changed my mind. I haven't, and there's nothing in the world that could make me." he smiled as he wiped her tears away. She rested her forehead against his and smiled as he hugged her tightly.
"Thank you..."
For almost an entire minute, neither of them spoke. Finally, Kouta asked if she just wanted to change their plans and cuddle instead of resuming.
"Do you?" she asked while slowly moving her hips in the slow, grinding manner she knew he loved.
"Not really..."
Lucy smiled mischievously and did it again.
"Me either."
Yuri's bakery - Two days later
"Honey, don't worry about that, I'll get it." Yuri smiled.
"It's a sheet of cookies, I think I'll be alright."
"Just looking out for you." the older woman winked. "You're pregnant, remember?"
"Eight weeks, Yuri... not eight months."
The older woman smiled, but eased up a little. Lucy was a very strong-willed girl, and trying to "baby" her would do much more harm than good.
"Have you decided on a name yet?"
"Kouta wants to wait until birth, just in case it's by some unholy miracle a boy."
The bakery owner looked at her in confusion. "What makes you say that?"
Lucy began using tongs to transfer the cookies from the sheet to the display case. "Diclonii children are almost always female. I've never even seen a male Diclonius before."
"When are you going to the Gynecologist?" Yuri asked.
"Never. I don't trust human doctors, and I don't want them touching me, especially not in an area like that."
"Why? They're just trying to make sure you and your baby are healthy, so what's wrong with letting them examine you?"
"You seem to have forgotten about me being locked up in a lab and experimented on." Lucy quietly replied. Realizing she'd struck a nerve, Yuri walked over and hugged the pink-haired girl comfortingly.
"I'm so sorry, Kaeda. You're right, I DID forget." Yuri said apologetically. "Are you upset with me?"
"Of course not." Lucy smiled as she hugged her back. "Thank you for caring enough to ask."
"Looks like I'm not the only one that cares." Yuri grinned, pointing at the door.
Turning around, the Diclonius Queen's face lit up, and she rushed over to her husband, who was looking at the framed copy of Travel Tales with his wife on the cover. He turned and smiled as she approached, hurrying over to hug the pink-haired girl.
"What are you doing here? Did you get off early?" she asked.
Kouta shook his head, and held up a paper bag. "I wish. I just came to give you this."
Inside, Lucy found a variety of homemade sandwiches along with side-dishes from one of her favorite restaurants, and a small box of candy he knew she loved.
"Yuka made it. She put extra in there so you could share with Yuri."
She smiled and gently kissed her husbands lips. "Thank you, Kouta. Will you tell Yuka thanks for me?"
He nodded, gave her a final hug and kiss, and waved to Yuri before leaving.
The two women sat at a small prep-table and opened the large lunch-bag they'd been given.
"He really loves you. I hope you know that."
"I do." the pink-haired girl smiled as she handed one of the side-dishes to her employer. "I couldn't have asked for a better husband. He's so good to me."
"Just make sure to be good to him too." Yuri urged.
The Diclonius smiled happily and promised she would.
"By the way, ever since I hung that magazine cover, not a day has gone by without at least one person asking how they can get in touch with you." Yuri grinned. "Don't worry, I won't give out your number or address. I just tell them I'll write their phone number down and give it to you the next time I see you."
"Thank you..." Lucy smiled gratefully.
"About what we were talking about earlier... have you considered finding a midwife?"
Seeing Lucy's confused expression, Yuri informed her a midwife was sort of like an OB/GYN that made house calls instead of working out of an office.
"You should give it some thought, but no matter you decide, don't let someone pressure you into something you don't want to do."
Unfortunately, not everyone was as understanding.
That night, Yuka again asked if she had scheduled her first appointment yet. Lucy had given her the same answer she gave Yuri, but unlike the older woman, the brunette nagged about it.
The very next day, Yuka asked about it again as soon as Lucy got home.
"I already told you to stop bringing it up. I'm not a human, Yuka. I don't need, nor want to see an Obstetrician. Let it go, and stop pushing the issue." the pink-haired girl warned.
"Why not? This is an important part of being pregnant, why are you being so stubborn?"
"Probably because of that whole "locked up and experimented on" thing." Lucy replied.
Knowing a serious argument was about to ensue, Kouta pulled Yuka aside and told her rather bluntly that if she didn't drop it, they were going to "cut her out of the loop" completely.
"You seriously need to learn that you and her aren't the same person. You nagged her about wearing makeup, you nagged her about her wedding dress, and you're nagging her about not wanting to see a doctor. She's sick of it, and so am I."
Yuka wisely backed off, but made one last attempt to compromise with her.
"Will you at least TALK to a doctor? Please?" Yuka asked. "If you don't want him examining you, fine. If you don't want an ultrasound, fine. That's your call, and I'll back you up on it, but will you at least just sit down and ask for advice? Even if all you want to know is what kind of foods to avoid, it'd mean a lot to me, and I'm sure it would to Kouta, too."
This she could go along with, though they soon found that even something as simple as that was going to be almost impossible. Despite the Government's push towards "cohabitation", many humans wanted nothing to do with Diclonii, doctors included. This fact was made abundantly clear when Yuka and Lucy went looking for one.
Kamakura General Hospital - One week later
"Hi, we'd like to talk to someone about prenatal care." Yuka informed the receptionist.
"Well, you've come to the right place." the woman said pleasantly.
"What's your name?"
"Kaeda Kurosawa."
The receptionist jotted her name down and the girls sat down to wait. Sensing Lucy's unease, she sat them down away from the others waiting their turn. After nearly an hour, they finally heard Lucy's name. As they got up, Yuka reminded the Diclonius that all she has to do is talk, nothing more. The receptionist directed them to head through the door on her right, where they are met by a woman who identified herself as Ochi, Head Nurse of the Maternity Ward. Yuka and Lucy followed her to an office next to the Nurses Station.
The two girls took a seat as the nurse started filling out paperwork.
"What's your name, honey?"
"Kaeda Kurosawa."
"Do you know how far along you are?"
"About nine or ten weeks... I think." Lucy answered.
The nurse looked up, only now noticing Lucy's horns.
"Ok, which one of you is pregnant?"
Yuka pointed at the pink-haired girl sitting beside her.
"Is she a Diclonius?" the Head Nurse asked Yuka. When she confirmed that she was, the woman put down her pen and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to try a different hospital."
"Excuse me...? Why?" Lucy asked.
"This is a "human only" hospital. We do not offer service to your... species."
"Why does it matter if she's a Diclonius? She's a pregnant girl trying to make sure her baby's healthy!" Yuka asked.
As much as she might have initially hated Yuka, there was no doubt that the brunette had, over time, become one of her closest friends, and biggest supporters. Her willingness to cause a scene over the mistreatment Lucy was receiving was proof of that.
"Human... ONLY." Nurse Ochi repeated.
"Look, I'm not here for an exam, I just have questions." Lucy spoke up.
"It doesn't matter what you're here for, the answer is still no."
"They changed the laws about Diclonii patients getting equal medical care!" Yuka argued. "You can't refuse her just because she's not human!"
"That change only applies when they give birth. Until she drops her litter, we can and will refuse service." the nurse said smugly.
"Her 'litter'?! How DARE you call her unborn child that?! What the hell is your problem?!"
"Yuka, we should just leave, ok?"
"Yes, you should." the woman smirked.
Despite the abuse, Lucy was doing a much better job at staying civil than Yuka.
"Do you know anywhere we could go?" Lucy asked calmly.
"Try the vet. Isn't that where they normally take sick animals?"
Hearing that, Yuka became so enraged, Lucy had to use her vectors to stop her from strangling the woman on the spot.
Four hours later, the two women were on the bus home. They went to three hospitals and five private practices, but were still on square one. Every one of them refused to see Lucy as a patient.
"I know you just wanted to help, but I DID try to tell you..." Lucy pointed out.
"I had to at least TRY..." Yuka said. She was beginning to understand the pink-haired Diclonii's extreme distrust of humans more and more as time went on. Taking Yuka's hand, Lucy smiled and thanked her for caring.
"I can't believe people would be so cold and uncaring towards a pregnant girl who just wants to have a healthy baby... It's such utter bullshit!" Yuka fumed.
After numerous phone calls and referrals, Yuka finally succeeded in finding a private midwife willing to come to Kaeda House and examine Lucy. The woman took one look at her horns and gave Yuka a dirty look.
"You didn't tell me she was one of... those."
"Why does it matter? She's a pregnant girl, you're a midwife." Yuka asked in annoyance.
"A HUMAN midwife." she corrected.
"Are you going to do your job or not?" Kouta asked rather bluntly.
"I'll do the basics, but that's it. I'm not doing a pelvic exam, I'm not doing an STD test, and I'm not doing a pap smear."
"Pap smear?" Lucy asked in confusion. She had a rough idea what a pelvic exam was, but this was the first time she'd ever heard of this.
The Midwife proceeded to condescendingly explain what it was, why it was done, and how important it was to do it as early in the pregnancy as possible.
"I usually do one on my first visit, but that's only for HUMAN clients. If she wants to have one, find someone else, or collect the sample yourself. If you decide to do it yourself, I'll give you a disposable speculum, but I'm not doing the work for you."
"How professional of you..." Yuka said sarcastically.
Turning to Lucy with a sigh, she told her to get undressed while she got something out of her car.
As the pink-haired girl got undressed, she asked Yuka and Kouta if they thought she should have one done. Both cousins said yes, and Kouta went one step further by volunteering to do it for her.
When the Midwife returned, she sat a digital scale down and told the nude Diclonius to stand on it, and recorded her weight, height, blood pressure, and pulse. After that, she gave Lucy a small urine sample container and told her to go to the bathroom and fill it. Next, she took out a syringe and collected two vials of blood for testing.
"I think it'd be a good idea to have that test done." Lucy spoke up. "My husband said he'd do it for me."
The bitchy woman reached into her bag and produced an unopened plastic speculum, and what looked like a toothbrush tube containing two long cotton swabs, and handed them both to Kouta.
"Insert this inside her vagina and open it so you can see her cervix. Push one of the cotton swabs into the cervical opening and rotate it a few times, and use the other one to swab the cervix itself. Do you think you can handle that?"
"Yes, I think I can handle it." Kouta replied in an annoyed tone of voice.
"When you're done, here's the address to mail it to."
"Mail it?" Yuka asked in disbelief. "You can't wait five minutes and take it with you?"
The Midwife just rolled her eyes and sighed. "Just hurry up, ok? I have human clients waiting on me."
Then, she pulled out her smartphone and left the room to browse her social media while she waited. Kouta just shook his head and opened the bag to retrieve it's contents.
"Do you want me to leave you two alone?" Yuka asked.
"No, it's alright if you stay." Lucy replied as she laid down on her back and spread her legs. Yuka smiled comfortingly and held the pregnant girl's hand as Kouta gently inserted the speculum. Lucy blushed as she felt him opening it inside of her. Mercifully, It only took him a few seconds to collect both swabs.
As Yuka put them back in the tube, Kouta carefully closed and removed the speculum just as the Midwife stuck her head in and asked if they were finished yet.
"Yes... no thanks to you." the brunette rudely answered.
As Lucy put her clothes back on, the woman packed up her equipment and presented Kouta with an ¥80,000 bill.
"I'll call you if they find something in her blood, urine, or pap smear. Otherwise, see you next month." the midwife said as she was leaving.
It wasn't much, but then again, aside from Kouta, Lucy really didn't want anyone that close to her private areas to begin with. This was going to be impossible when it came time to deliver her child, she knew, but until then, it was a 'Kouta only' zone.
Yuri's Bakery - The next day
"Are you serious?!" Yuri asked in disgust. "I could have checked your weight and made you pee in a cup for a hell of a lot less than ¥80,000!"
Lucy burst out laughing, nearly spitting out the tea she was drinking.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you decided to get at least SOME prenatal care, but ¥80,000 just for checking your weight, blood pressure, pulse, and taking blood and urine samples is a flat-out rip-off!"
"Well, she also got a pap smear sample, but only because Kouta did it for her." the Diclonius remarked.
"Why was Kouta doing it and not her?" Yuri asked.
"Because she only does it herself for HUMAN clients."
"What a lazy bitch!"
"She also wanted me to take off my clothes before I stood on the scale. I have no idea why though..."
"It's more accurate that way." Yuri pointed out.
Lucy looked down at the knee-length cream-colored skirt and long-sleeved pink shirt she was wearing. "I don't see why it matters. How much difference could it make?"
"Clothes are heavier than you think, honey."
"Yeah, but..."
Hearing the door open, the pink-haired girl excused herself and went to go help whoever just entered. At the counter stood a man in expensive-looking clothes, accompanied by a woman wearing an obviously worn-out, stained blue dress. Despite the difference in their attire, she seemed to be his wife.
Both of them were clearly foreigners, likely from the U.S. from the looks of it.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Damn, baby! What's your name?"
"...Kaeda. Can I help you?" she repeated.
"I need a birthday cake for stupid over there." the man said as he gestured at the woman.
Lucy was a bit taken aback, but didn't say anything.
"How many layers?" she asked.
"How long you been working here, darlin'?" he asked with a sleezy grin.
"I'm not your darling." she replied. "How many layers?"
"You're a rude one, you know that?" he grinned. "Maybe I should take you home and work on that attitude of yours."
"How... many... layers?" she asked, starting to get irritated.
"Three."
"What kind?"
"Chocolate." he answered.
"What frosting?" the Diclonius inquired.
"Chocolate."
As she was filling out the order form, the woman nervously approached her husband.
"Umm... c-could we please get red velvet instead? You said I could pick it out this time."
"I don't like red velvet." he replied.
"I... I know, but you... you told me I could pick it out this time, so I was hoping-."
"I changed my mind. You're getting what *I* say you can have, or we'll just go back without one."
After a few moments, she dropped her gaze to the floor and backed up.
"Ok..." the woman said meekly.
Watching from around the corner, Yuri was appalled at the man's behavior, but like Lucy, she did nothing for the time being. Also like Lucy, she wanted to strangle the little prick for the way he was treating his wife.
"Would you like anything written on it?" Lucy asked.
"How about your phone number?"
"...How about Happy Birthday?"
"Nah, she don't need that."
"You sure? There's no charge for it." Lucy said.
"She's lucky I'm even letting her have one at all."
Even from this distance, Lucy could see the woman had quite a bit of makeup on, leading her to strongly suspect it was to hide marks or bruises.
After the man paid and left, Yuri walked upfront to talk to Lucy.
"That guy was such an asshole!" Yuri remarked.
The pink-haired girl nodded. "She had bruises on her arms, and a lot of makeup on her face and neck. I think he's physically abusing her. Even if he isn't, he's still a disgusting little bastard for treating her like that."
Yuri had a flash of inspiration and smiled at her employee.
"Do we have any more red velvet mix?"
Two hours later
When the couple returned to the bakery, both girls came upfront to greet them. Yuri placed the box on the counter and opened it so he could have a look.
"Alright, looks good to me!" he said. Yuri closed the box just as a Lucy sat a second, smaller box on the counter.
"What's this? We only ordered one."
"This one's a gift for your wife." Yuri smiled. The woman timidly walked up and opened the box, then broke out in a surprised, but happy smile. The second cake was smaller than their first, but it was red velvet, and had "Happy Birthday" written on it.
"You two went through all that effort just for me? T-Thank you..." the wife said quietly. Yuri had never seen anyone cry over a free cake before, but there's a first time for everything.
"It wasn't a big deal." Lucy said.
"But it was a waste of time. She doesn't need that. We already got a cake, she'll be fine with this."
"Excuse me?" Yuri asked.
"She already has a cake, she doesn't need two."
"It's HER birthday. You got the kind of cake you like, let her have the kind she likes. It's small and you didn't have to pay for it, so what's the problem?" Lucy cut-in.
"Honey, t-they went through a... a lot of trouble..." the woman said. "I'd be happy to share it with you, even if I only get one piec-"
"What did I just tell you? You already have a cake, you don't need another one. They can sell, or eat, or throw-out that one." he answered.
"Why are you doing this to her? We're GIVING it to her as a BIRTHDAY PRESENT!" Yuri asked in obvious indignation. The woman just stood there in silent humiliation, watching as two total strangers defended her until she finally broke and gave in.
"T-Thank you, but I... I have a cake already. I'm sorry for making you waste your... your time." she said, her voice breaking at the end.
"See? I told you she didn't need it." the man smirked. Turning to his wife, he told her quietly that they'd be having a "discussion about her behavior" when they got back. The woman just nodded submissively and hung her head.
"Are you kidding me with this?! For God's sake, just let her have the fucking cake!" Lucy yelled, now obviously angry. Having never heard her employee raise her voice at anyone, it was more than a little startling for the bakery owner to hear her get loud with somebody.
The man looked at the Diclonius, clearly unused to a woman standing up for herself.
Then he grinned, and spent several seconds checking out her body, no doubt wondering what she looked like naked.
"Tell you what... you let me have you, and I'll let her have the cake."
Hearing this, the two women looked at each other in disgust.
"Excuse me?!"
"Well, how about it? You can just bring the cake with you when you come over." he leered.
"I'm not touching you, and you're definitely not touching me! I'm married!" Lucy replied.
"So am I, but that's never stopped me before." he grinned.
The woman kept her head down, starting to cry without making a sound.
Lucy glared at the abusive little shit. She tried to imagine what it was like to have a husband who hits you, degrades and humiliates you in front of strangers, tries getting other women to have sex with him, and then actually brags about it.
And... she couldn't do it. The concept was simply inconceivable. There is no way in a million years Kouta would ever treat her like that no matter WHAT she did. It was yet another reason why he was the most loving husband she could've ever possibly asked for.
Lucy turned to the timid woman and told her what she most likely already knew.
"You need to leave his ass. You can do so much better than him."
The gloating smile on the man's face vanished instantly. "What did you just say?"
Now, the pink-haired girl was the one smirking.
"I said she needs to leave your ass because she can do so much better than you." Lucy smiled. "You don't deserve her, and she doesn't deserve to be treated like this, especially not on her own birthday!"
Yuri pulled out her phone, just in case. Experience had taught her that the beautiful Diclonius had absolutely no problem getting violent, and she highly doubted that pregnancy was going to deter that.
At least not so early into it.
"You know what? I think you need to learn a little respect. Ain't no woman ever talked to me like that before, and I'll be damned if it's gonna start now!"
"Please! D-Don't hurt her!" the wife begged. The man turned around and slapped her to the floor. As soon as he did, Yuri dialed the emergency number to summon the police, hoping like hell they got there quick. The man watched as his wife got up, tearfully asking him to wait until they got back instead of doing it right in front of them.
That was the part that pissed Lucy off the most. She was so used to being beaten by her sorry excuse for a husband that she cared more about it happening in front of people than she did about it happening AT ALL.
"Oh, you're getting it when we get back, I guarantee that! But before that, you're fixing to learn what happens when you mouth off to me if front of people!"
The moment he raised his hand, Lucy grabbed it with hers. Even without vectors, she was still far stronger than he was.
"Tell me... does hitting your wife make you feel like a man?" she asked coldly.
He tried to jerk his arm free, but when that failed, he tried to hit her with his free hand. This time, she grabbed it with a vector. He struggled to free himself, but couldn't even manage to loosen her grip, let alone break out of it.
"Does it get you off when you degrade and abuse the girl you're supposed to be loving and cherishing? Do you think this is how a real man should treat his wife?"
The man was starting to realize something was very wrong here. The pink-haired girl was... well, a GIRL. Even soaking wet, she couldn't have weighed more than 50 kg, so how the hell was she overpowering him so easily?
"Humans like you disgust me. Perhaps I should just do everyone a favor and kill you right now."
"You let go of me, you fuckin' bitch or I'm gonna-"
Before he finished his threat, an invisible fist plowed into his stomach, followed by another one right in the face. Yuri watched nervously, seriously worried that the Diclonius might go a bit overboard and actually end up killing or maiming him.
Confused, scared, and angry, the abusive husband struggled frantically to free himself from Lucy's vectors.
"All that girl wanted was to pick out her own birthday cake, and you couldn't even give her that. You're nothing but a wife-beating piece of shit."
Every time he tried to hit her, an invisible fist would brutally plow into his face or stomach. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even tell what she was hitting him with.
"I am gonna fuckin' kill you, you hear? I'm gonna-"
At that moment, Lucy ran out of patience, and brutally rammed a vector into the mans face, breaking his nose (along with a couple of his teeth) instantly. The impact was so violent, the abuser's vision went white for a few seconds.
For a moment, Yuri was afraid he was going to keep fighting (prompting Lucy to keep beating him senseless until he was knocked out, or worse), but this proved to be unfounded. When she let him go, he slumped to the floor, bleeding and battered, and didn't move until after the police arrived.
Kaeda House - Three hours later
That night, the residents of Kaeda House had a houseguest in the form of the abused wife from earlier. After her husband was hauled to jail, Yuka offered her a place to stay for the night. It didn't take long for her to open up about her abuse. During dinner that night, she seemed to be almost in shock at the differences between her marriage and Lucy's.
"He's never hit you? Not even once?" she asked.
"Never." Lucy answered.
Kouta DID slap her the night she woke up, but that was to get her attention, not to abuse her.
"Do you think being hit is normal?" Kouta asked.
"It's normal for me..." she said quietly. The woman had been given some of Yuka's clothes, and a chance to take a bath. Now that the makeup was gone, Lucy could see her suspicions about using it to cover bruises were correct.
"I try hard to be a good wife, but it never seems to be good enough for him..." she sighed, but then looked at Lucy with a grateful smile. "You stood up for me. I was just a complete stranger and you're pregnant, and you still stood up for me... thank you so much."
The pink-haired girl smiled as her husband put his arm around her waist. "You're welcome."
"I can't believe that asshole started all this over a cake!" Nana ranted. "Ok, he doesn't like red velvet. Fine... but what was wrong with letting you keep the cake Yuri and Lucy made you?"
"I don't know... he's really strict about what I can eat. I thought he'd be ok with me having it since he still got the one he wanted, but I guess not... Maybe he was just doing it to punish me because she wasn't responding to his advances the way he wanted."
"No surprise there." Mayu grinned. "She has to have some kind of world record by now for that kind of thing."
The woman stared down at her lap, apologizing for his repeated attempts to hit on her.
"Usually, he has no problem getting another woman to sleep with him, but..."
"Why do you allow that? I'd never let my husband sleep with another woman!" Yuka asked.
"I said the same thing at first..." she said quietly. "Then, you come to realize he's going to do it anyway... the only question is whether or not you're gonna get beat up over it."
Kouta felt Lucy's grip on his hand tighten when the woman started crying again. As Yuka did her best to comfort her, she looked at Lucy and wiped her eyes.
"I'm so jealous... your husband doesn't hit you, he doesn't cheat on you, he doesn't insult you or call you names in front of people... I hope you know how good you have it. You better be good to him."
Lucy swallowed, nodding her head as the memories of Yuka and Meyumi telling her almost the same thing flashed before her eyes.
"I will..."
After dinner, they brought out the cakes and spent time just eating cake and watching some TV together. For Jenine, it was a peaceful end to one of the most unusual days of her life. She had no idea people such as Lucy and Nana even existed until today, and she certainly didn't expect a complete stranger to physically defend her, especially not one who was pregnant.
"I want to thank y'all again. You've got to be the nicest people I've ever met."
"Don't worry about it." Kouta smiled.
"What are you gonna do about your husband?" Mayu asked.
"Well... I was actually going to ask y'all what you thought. I know you're probably gonna say leave him, but you gotta understand... my family was kinda old-fashioned. You know what I mean, right? The man is supposed to be the breadwinner, and all that..."
"Our families are like that too." Yuka pointed out. "But my mother would never accept my father hitting her or cheating on her."
"What do you think?" she asked Lucy directly.
The pink-haired girl shook her head. "I wouldn't accept it either, but I'm not worried about it. Kouta would never do something like that."
"Would you? I mean, if you knew for sure you could get away with it?"
"No." he shook his head.
Lucy blushed as Kouta wrapped his arms around her and gently pulled her onto his lap.
"I promised to love and cherish her. There's no room for abusing her in that promise." he said. "To do otherwise would be nothing short of betrayal."
Yuka nodded approvingly and smiled at her cousin.
"We won't judge you, no matter what you decide. But if you decide you want to try and make it work, you really need to let him know you're not staying with him unless some changes are made. No more hitting you, or cheating, or degrading and insulting you, especially in public. He can be the "Head of the House" without doing those things."
Jenine nodded her head, apparently taking their advice to heart. "I want to make it work, but you're right... being man of the house doesn't mean you can beat up your wife every time she disagrees with you."
"If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you come to this conclusion sooner?" Kouta asked.
"I did, but when I tried to talk to someone about it, they just said it was my fault, and if I was the kind of wife I should be, it wouldn't be happening..."
"Are you serious?!" Nana asked in disgust.
The foreigner nodded her head. "My mama told me I only get beat up because I complain too much. My Aunt Debbie said he wouldn't be running around on me if I "was more accessible to him like a good wife ought to be."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mayu asked.
"It means she wouldn't be getting cheated on if she just let him use her as his own personal slut." Nana said bitterly. "I know EXACTLY how that feels..."
"Nana was in a similar relationship before." Yuka explained. "The guy pressured her for sex, and then cheated on her when she said no."
"I'm sorry, Darling... I wish you hadn't had to go through something like that." Jenine said in a sympathetic tone.
"It was worth it." Nana replied after another bite of cake. "The guy I'm seeing now isn't like that creep at all."
"He's still no Kouta though." Lucy teased.
Nana laughed with everyone, and the two Diclonii spent a few minutes playfully making fun of each other.
"Are y'all sisters?" Jenine asked.
"No, but I love her like a sister." Nana said sincerely.
"What about you?" Jenine asked with a grin. "Do you feel the same way?"
Lucy glared at the Sipelit and turned her head away to hide her embarrassment.
"Of course not... maybe... I guess so, or... whatever."
Everyone laughed, and the pink-haired girl turned sideways on her husband's lap and hugged him so no one saw her obvious blushing. Kouta just smiled and held her in his arms. Watching the two of them made Jenine a little teary-eyed. They were so blatantly in love, it was almost painful to watch. She couldn't remember the last time her husband hugged her like that.
"Lucy's a much nicer girl than she seems to be." Nana smiled while reaching over to gently rub the older girl's back. "I'm so proud of her. She's gonna be an amazing mother."
Kouta grinned as Lucy briefly smiled at Nana's complement.
"Do you have any kids?" Yuka asked.
"No, but I'd love to someday." Jenine answered. "My family encouraged me to get pregnant as soon as I got hitched, but I didn't feel like I was ready for a baby yet."
"Why?" Lucy asked. The embarrassment had passed, and she was back to sitting normally on Kouta's lap.
"I thought I was too young. We were living in this itty bitty trailer, he didn't have a job, and I was the only one working. It's funny, ain't it? All that noise about the man doing the working, but he had no problem with not doing any of it. We're living on my paycheck, and I have to go and damn near beg him any time I want to buy anything for myself."
"Not to pry, but why are you guys in Japan?" Kouta asked.
"I always wanted to come here, but couldn't afford it. The company I work as a secretary for had this big 'ole contest for an all-expense paid trip to either the UK, Mexico, Spain, or Japan. I won, so here we are. We had $500 spending money, but he already spent it all. I ain't gonna complain though, since that means I ain't got no way to bail him out of jail. If he's still locked up by the time the trips over, I'm going home without him."
As the night came to a close, Jenine hugged everyone goodnight, thanking Yuka once again for allowing her to stay despite already having a hotel room. As Lucy and Kouta cuddled nude after making love, she tried to imagine life with a Kouta who hit and abused her like Jenine's husband did her.
Despite her best efforts, she couldn't do it. The thought of Kouta beating her up and cheating on her was such a foreign concept, she literally couldn't do it. No matter how hard she tried, it simply wasn't possible. Just thinking about the kind of misery and shame their houseguest must have endured made her want to cry.
"Kouta?"
"Hmmm?"
"...Thank you. You've treated me better than I ever have or ever will deserve."
After several quiet seconds, Kouta finally spoke up.
"Jenine's situation got to you, huh?"
"A little bit, yeah..." Lucy confessed. "I don't understand why you'd treat someone like that. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think a vow to love, honor, and cherish your husband includes letting him abuse you and have sex with other girls. That's not being a good wife, it's being a slave. I know she never actually said this, but I get the feeling that she didn't always agree to having sex with him."
"You... You think he raped his own wife? Is that even possible?" Kouta asked.
"Well, maybe not legally, but it definitely is morally. I mean, if you wanted sex and I didn't... as unlikely as THAT is... would you try and force me?"
He rolled onto his back, and the Diclonius in turn shifted position and laid her head on his chest, smiling as she listened to his heartbeat.
"No way. Being married doesn't make you my property. Even if you were just a human, it still wouldn't change anything." he answered. "Vectors or no vectors, I'm not going to force you to have sex if you really don't want to."
Lucy smiled and happily kissed his bare chest.
"I love you so much."
He just smiled and gently kissed her hair.
"I love you, too."
Despite the unusual position, they were both asleep in minutes.
Yuri's Bakery - Two days later
The first thing Lucy saw when she walked into work was Jenine and her husband talking to Yuri. As soon as they saw her, she rushed over and hugged the confused Diclonius.
"Please don't hurt him. He wanted to talk to you before we went home." she whispered.
The pink-haired girl didn't know it, but the first thing he did after they left the jail was hold her and break down crying as he apologized repeatedly for being such an abusive asshole. It was so unexpected, she at first thought it was an act, but that changed when he asked her to go to the bakery with him so he could apologize to Yuri and Lucy.
"No promises." Lucy whispered back.
He walked over with his eyes glued to the floor. He didn't look anywhere near as cocky as he did a couple of days ago. In fact, he looked utterly terrified to come anywhere near her, and that was because he WAS utterly terrified to come anywhere near her.
"Um... Miss Kaeda, I wanna apologize for the way I treated you the other day. I was wrong... and I'm sorry."
"You should be apologizing to your wife." Lucy replied. "A real man doesn't use the woman he's supposed to love as a punching bag."
"I already did... many times. And you're right. I've treated her lower than opossum shit, and she didn't deserve any of it."
Lucy had no idea what a opossum was, but it sounded like some kind of rodent.
"No, she didn't." the Diclonius Queen said. "If you were my husband, you'd be dead already."
This ironically wasn't the first time he'd heard that. One of the arresting officers had told him how lucky he was that Lucy hadn't murdered him instantaneously. That was when he learned what a Diclonius was, and what they were capable of doing.
Kamakura City Jail - Two nights ago
When Bobby the wife-beater arrived at the jail, he had a broken nose, a split lip, a couple of teeth were missing, one eye was swollen almost completely shut, and his body was covered in bruises.
Clearly, he had seen better days.
"Damn! What happened to him?" a booking officer asked.
As the arresting officer was removing the handcuffs, he told them the man was hitting his wife, and when a good samaritan stepped in, he tried hitting her too.
"Anyone we know?"
The cop nodded his head. "Miss Kaeda."
The room went dead silent as everyone looked at Bobby.
"You're kidding me! How's he still alive?!"
"She must have been in a good mood." one of the arresting officers added.
"Do y'all know that girl or something?" the husband asked.
"She's a Diclonius named Kaeda. She works part-time at that bakery."
"What the fuck is a... Die-clone-ee-ass?"
The officer led him over to a large poster that detailed how to distinguish between humans and Diclonii.
"The simple answer is they're mutated humans that carry a special virus of some kind. If you get infected with it, it'll overwrite your DNA, and if you get someone pregnant after you've been infected, the baby will be born one of them."
Bobby stared at the poster, silently reading it to himself.
'All Diclonii share three specific traits: Unusual hair and eye colors, horns, and four invisible appendages, often referred to as "arms" or "vectors". These develop around the age of three, and are utilized as weapons. They usually have a range of two to three meters, and are the Diclonii's primary means of attacking humans.'
"Well, I guess that explains what that bitch was hitting me with." he said.
"I don't think you quite understand what happened today." one of the cops remarked. "That "bitch" spared your worthless life."
This actually gave him pause.
"What are you talking about?"
"That girl is an extremely lethal mass-murderer." one of the arresting officers said.
"...Come again?"
"The girl you stupidly tried to hit is an extremely lethal mass-murderer. She's killed at LEAST five or six hundred people."
"Yeah, but she's so fuckin' gorgeous! Oh my God, man... I'd go back to writing parking tickets if she'd go out with me!" one of the other cops replied.
"She's married and pregnant, she ain't going nowhere with you!" a different cop teased.
"I am SO jealous of her husband!"
"Tell me about it! Can you imagine getting to wake up to her every morning?"
The cops might have been laughing, but their prisoner looked like he was going to be sick.
"She's pregnant?!" Bobby asked in disbelief. "H-How do you know that?"
"Easy... If we go to the bakery, and she's there, we always make it a point to stop and talk to her for a bit. Believe it or not, she's actually pretty nice when you get to know her."
It was no surprise that police frequented Yuri's bakery, especially after she added coffee to the menu. Though you couldn't really call it a rapport, the majority of Yuri's police customers had spoken to Lucy before, and found that the beautiful Diclonius was much more open to having conversations with them than they had expected.
True, she wasn't as talkative as most women, but she was always cordial at the very least. She didn't mind answering questions about herself, and mentioning her husband never failed to get a genuine smile out of her.
The arresting officers themselves had been at the bakery when Lucy came in to excitedly give Yuri the news that she was pregnant. They congratulated her on the pregnancy, and both cops shook her hand while she tearfully smiled and thanked them.
"She... She really is? For real?"
"Yeah, she is... about eight or nine weeks I think. I'm gonna tell you right now, you're lucky as hell she didn't just kill you on the spot. Those vectors of hers could have torn you apart, and... I'm not gonna mince words here, if she had decided to kill you, there's nothing we could've done other than try to talk her out of it."
"There's no such thing as winning a fight with that girl." the other arresting officer spoke up. "And we're not going to risk getting ourselves killed just to save YOU."
"Is she really that dangerous...?"
The answer was a resounding "YES!" from every cop in the room.
Bobby was lost for words. She certainly didn't LOOK very dangerous, but then again, he was just a tourist. He didn't even know people like her existed until now.
"Come 'ere, I want you to see something." one of the booking officers said to him.
That "something" turned out to be part of the viral footage of Lucy slaughtering the SAT team sent to kill Nana. Bobby stared in wide-eyed fear as he watched her utterly destroy them all.
"Oh my God..." he said in shock. The Diclonius Queen was outnumbered 25 to 1 by men with body armor and submachine guns, and they still didn't stand a chance. They fired hundreds of rounds at her, but never hit anything, and every few seconds, there'd be an agonizing scream as another man was torn apart.
"That was a Special Forces unit, by the way, similar to your country's SEALs or Rangers. If she could do that to trained, experienced soldiers, what do you think she could do to YOU?"
"Or US for that matter..." one of the cops quietly remarked.
Bobby couldn't believe it. That was unmistakably the same girl from the bakery, but his brain was having a hell of a time comprehending it. The police seemed to genuinely like her rather than fear her (though they WERE always extremely polite and respectful, given the fact they knew what she was capable of doing) and he couldn't understand why.
"I don't understand... if she's so dangerous, why didn't she just kill me?"
Here is where the police employed a traditional, time-honored law enforcement tactic: lying their asses off.
"Your wife begged her not to."
The look on Bobby's face told the officers their reasonable deception had exactly the effect they hoped it would.
"...What?"
"Your wife begged her not to." he repeated. "You abuse the hell out of that woman. You hit her, you cheat on her, you degrade her... but she still wanted to save your useless ass."
"After everything you've done to her, she still loved you enough to plead with Miss Kaeda not to kill you. That woman risked her own life, and you wouldn't even let her have a damn birthday cake you didn't even have to pay for!" another officer said.
"Miss Kaeda and Miss Yuri were the only ones showing your wife anything close to love and kindness on her own birthday! Total strangers ended up having to do YOUR job because you were too damn sorry to do it yourself!" said the first cop.
The only female officer in the room added that if it had been her, she wouldn't have said a single word to help him.
"I'd have stood right there and watched her kill you... probably would have thanked her, too."
At that moment, the gravity of what he had been doing finally hit him, and the womanizing wife-beater slumped against the wall and cried.
After giving the distraught man a couple of minutes, the arresting officers came over and led him to a holding cell, then let him know he'd be released the morning they were planning on leaving Japan.
"When that poor wife of yours comes to sign you out, you need to be a REAL man and tell her you're sorry. This shit you're pulling needs to stop right here, right now."
"Don't forget that there are Diclonii in America too." the other warned. "Next time, she might decide to just keep her mouth shut."
Yuri's Bakery - Present day
"I'm sorry... but I promise I'm going to change. I'm going to be the kind of husband that Jenine can be proud of... no more beating her up, no more cheating, no more takin' all of her money and makin' her pay all the bills. I want her to be just as happy with me as you are with your husband."
"I hope you follow through on this. I'd hate to call her one day and find out you're a liar." Lucy said.
"You won't. I'm done with that, I swear."
"Good." Lucy nodded.
"Can we have your address? We'd like to go say bye to everyone else." Jenine asked.
This turned out to be a bit of a problem. Lucy knew the phone number for Kaeda House, but not the address. Thankfully, it wasn't far from the bakery, so she was able to give directions.
The two girls hugged each other bye. while Bobby simply shook the pink-haired girl's hand.
"One last thing... I know I already apologized, but-"
"You don't have to do it again." Lucy interrupted.
"Yes, I do. I... I didn't know you were pregnant until police told me. I'm so sorry, Miss Kaeda. I didn't know. I realize that's not the point, but I wanted to say it anyway. I'm so sorry..."
"If her baby had been hurt, you DEFINITELY wouldn't be going home alive. She went through hell to get pregnant, and this is her only chance to have a child with her husband." Yuri said.
The husband bowed his head and slightly nodded. "I would have deserved it... that's just the cold, hard truth. I'm so sorry..."
Lucy's expression softened a bit. She might not be a "people person", but she could tell that he was genuinely sincere.
"Apology accepted. Have a safe trip home."
The couple were halfway out the door when Jenine stopped and came back over to Lucy.
"Before I forget, I've been meaning to ask you, where can I find a hairband like that? It is so damn cute! My niece Bethany would love to have one!"
"It's not a hairband Jenine, those are her horns." her husband said.
"Are you serious?!"
Lucy patiently held still so the woman could take a closer look.
"Oh my Lord! They're sticking out of her head! And they're so adorable! They look like little kitty-cat ears!"
Yuri watched in amusement, impressed that the Diclonius was actually tolerating the foreign woman's prolonged examination. When they finally left, Lucy just sighed in annoyance.
"I spent five hours with that woman, and she failed to notice something her abusive husband figured out in five minutes."
Yuri just laughed and used her hand to smooth out her employee's ruffled, messy pink hair.
Next chapter: Unorthodox.