Note: This chapter contains a whole bunch of strong sexual content.
-Faith, Love, and Forgiveness - Chapter Eleven: Menagerie-
Kaeda House - The next morning
It was the morning of their second visit to the zoo, and Kouta was getting a bit concerned.
Lucy had been "getting dressed" for almost an hour, and while this might sound par for the course with other girls, she was typically done in less than two minutes. She ran back and forth from her bedroom to the bathroom about four times before going back to the bathroom for the last time.
This was way out of character for the Diclonius, who normally grabbed and wore the first outfit she found regardless of what it looked like.
Finally, he heard the bathroom door open.
'About time!' he thought.
"I'm sorry for the wait." Lucy apologized, "Do I look ok?"
He turned around to look at her and was stunned.
"You said you thought it'd be cute to see me dressed up a little, so..."
Kouta was speechless. Her normally straight hair had been curled just a bit, and there was a barely noticeable amount of light pink eyeshadow that went well with her faded pink knee-length skirt. A sleeveless black button-up top, her lilac hair bow, and a light coat of perfectly applied, hair-matching pink lipstick completed her look.
He had never seen her wear makeup before, and was shocked at just how gorgeous it looked on her.
"It looks bad, doesn't it? Hang on, I'll change." she sighed.
'Oh, no you won't!' he thought, reaching out and grabbing her hand.
"You look amazing... you really do. Please keep it."
"You're just saying that so we can hurry up and go." she teased, knowing full well that wasn't the case.
"I'm serious. You look like a model dressed like that." he replied.
Blushing a little, she reached out and took his hand in hers, "Don't get used to it, I don't really care for makeup."
"I think it looks beautiful on you, but even if you never wear it again, I'm glad I got to see it at least once." he said, reaching up to brush her pink hair out of her eyes. Leaning in, she tried to kiss him, but he stopped her.
"I don't want to ruin it."
Her look of confusion vanished and she nodded in understanding. Taking the collar of her black top, she scrubbed her pink lips repeatedly, but the color remained in perfect condition. "You won't, see?"
"In that case..." he smiled, pulling her slender body against his and pressing his lips firmly against hers. Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck as they kissed, both of them forgetting all about the zoo they were supposed to be going to until they heard an annoyingly loud horn blowing outside.
"That must be the bus. Come on." he suggested. Holding hands, the two lovers left Kaeda House and got on the bus. The Diclonius, though usually stoic in nearly all situations, had an excited smile on her face nearly the entire way there.
"By the way, um... how did you learn how to do that?" he asked, gesturing to her face.
"Well..."
Yokohama - Sai-chan's - Five days ago
"I thought I already told you Kouta thinks I'm pretty enough without it?"
"You did, yes... but you also said he told you he wanted to see you dress up sometime, right? Since we just bought you a really cute outfit, why not go all the way and try a little makeup with it?"
'Well, she's got a point...' Lucy thought.
"How about this; we'll find something you like, and I'll teach you how to put it on, ok?"
"As long as you don't mention it to Kouta."
"I won't, or anyone else. I know you don't like the attention."
Heading over to cosmetics, Lucy was relieved to find it devoid of customers and employees alike. Just to go the extra mile in ensuring she was comfortable, Yuka told Nana and Mayu a little white lie about needing a few minutes alone so they could discuss something.
"Ok, Nyu... how about we just get a full kit so you can learn all of it at the same time?" Yuka suggested.
"I'd rather we keep it minimal."
"Minimal how?" Yuka asked. Lucy wanted to make this as easy as possible, so she decided to confine it to lips and eyes only. After a few minutes going over colors, Yuka finally managed to find something that both of them genuinely found attractive.
That night, Yuka spent almost two hours teaching the the pink-haired girl how to correctly apply her pink lipstick and eyeshadow. By the time they stopped, Lucy could do it flawlessly.
"That's long-lasting, so don't worry about it rubbing off on a drinking glass or whatnot."
"What about a person?"
"Nope... totally smear-proof."
Lucy gave her a mischievous smile.
"Good."
Kaeda House - Present day
"I don't get it... why spend so much time learning something you're only going to use once or twice?"
"Because you said you'd like to see it at least once, and I wanted it to look perfect since we're going someplace that's special to us."
"You bought a new outfit and learned how to put on makeup because I said it'd be cute to see you dress up a little?" Kouta asked.
The pink-haired girl smiled and nodded her head.
He smiled affectionately at her. "Nyu, you didn't have to go through all that trouble just for me..."
"Like I said, don't get used to it. I'm not that kind of girl."
"Maybe not, but I mean... It might be good for special occasions." he suggested.
"Like?"
"I-I don't know... maybe a wedding or... something."
"Whose wedding?" she asked, clearly enjoying getting to tease him a little bit.
"D-Does it matter?" he asked, starting to blush a little.
"Come on..." she coaxed.
"Uh, well... I don't know... maybe ours? You know... some day in the very, VERY far future..."
As soon as he said those words, he saw something stir in Lucy's beautiful red eyes.
"You'd really marry me, Kouta...?"
"Well, not right now, no... but in a few years? Yes, I absolutely would." he told her honestly.
Her lower pink lip quivered a bit as she struggled to keep her emotions in check.
"I had hoped we could... some day, but... I didn't want you to feel like... like it was something you were obligated to do..." she said quietly.
"Well, what did you think was going to happen? You'd just stay my "girlfriend" forever? Yeah, things don't work like that." he said softly, turning Lucy's face so he could look into her eyes.
She looked into his blue eyes and smiled as she cupped his face, closing her eyes as she gave him what probably would have been the longest, most passionate kiss she'd ever given...
...if it hadn't been cut short by the Japanese equivalent of a "Karen".
"Do you two mind? My daughter's on this bus!"
"S-Sorry..." Lucy apologized. For the rest of the ride, they'd have to be content with just holding hands.
Not that Japanese-Karen was done being... well, a Japanese-Karen.
"I swear, kids these days have no respect for anyone! My child shouldn't be forced to sit here and watch you two act like a couple of perverts!"
"Ma'am, we already apologized and stopped doing it, ok? We're on a date, and we're trying to enjoy it, so please just let us be." Kouta responded.
"You're not old enough for something like that. You know, when I was your age, we had a little more decency. My mother would never let me go out in public with my hair looking like that! What was wrong with your natural hair color? Do you see anyone else on this bus with dyed hair? And such a ridiculous color, too!"
"That's her natural hair color." Kouta said.
"So she was born looking like a piece of bubblegum? Ha! Why is she so skinny? Is it drugs? Wait, don't tell me... It's an ''eating disorder''... right?"
If she hadn't made that promise to Kouta, Japanese-Karen would be dead by now.
Before either of them could say anything, a man sitting behind Japanese-Karen did it for them.
"Will you please just shut the fuck up? They're on a date for God's sakes, stop nagging them and let them have a good time."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"
As soon as they got past the traffic light, the driver pulled over and opened the door.
"I'm sorry Miss, but this is as far as I'm taking you."
"Excuse me? My stops almost eight blocks from here!" she protested.
"Not anymore it isn't. You're creating a disturbance, so I must ask you to leave." the driver announced.
"Like hell I will! I want to speak to your supervisor!" Karen ranted.
"Lady, get the hell out of here, or I'm calling the police and having you arrested. No one on this bus wants to keep listening to you nag a couple of teenagers because they're happy and you're not, now get lost."
The whole bus erupted in applause as the irate woman grabbed her kid, purse and stormed off. Telling her daughter to stay put, she got back on the steps and started loudly demanding she be allowed to speak to a supervisor. Noticing that his girlfriend had a strange smile on her face, he started to wonder what she was up to.
After Japanese-Karen was told again to get off and go away, she left the bus, but continued to rant about wanting to see a supervisor. Deciding that she'd had enough of her bitching, a smiling Lucy released a vector, reached through an open window, and abruptly yanked the Karen's feet out from under her.
Karen fell right on her ass, causing the entire bus to start laughing. Without a word, the driver closed the doors and continued on his route. Recalling her vector, she looked at Kouta with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Much better." she said.
"Did... did you do that?" Kouta asked.
Lucy gave him an innocent smile, "Did I do what?"
"Don't play dumb, you know what I'm talking about."
She stayed quiet for almost ten seconds before answering.
"Do you really want to know?"
After a moment, Kouta gave her a knowing smile and shook his head.
"Good answer."
Nogeyuki Zoo - One hour later
"Oh, wow! He's even bigger than he was last time!"
Kouta just watched his girlfriend as she ran over to get a closer look at the elephants. This sort of reaction was to be expected of a child seeing the animals for the first time, but Lucy had been to the zoo before, and was going to be twenty-one soon.
Someone like Yuka might find her reaction a bit childish, but to Kouta, he had never seen her smile and laugh so openly before.
'I can't believe how happy she looks...' he thought fondly. When they were children, she tried to downplay her excitement by acting bored and irritated. It was very much a "I don't want to be here, I only came because you made me." attitude.
Now a grown woman, the Diclonius dispensed with the façade and openly expressed the joy and excitement she felt from coming back here with him again. Taking her by the hand, the two of them marveled at the sheer size of the elephants. She was right, he really was bigger than last time. He was also older than last time, so his increased size was to be expected.
She turned and looked at him with the happiest and most loving smile that Kouta had ever seen in his entire life. It literally took his breath away to see her look at him like that.
"I love you so much, Kouta... you make me happier than I could ever put into words, and I'm... I'm so incredibly grateful you still want me." Lucy said as she held his hand in hers.
"Of course I still want you. I'll ALWAYS want you." he told her in a voice only slightly louder than a whisper, "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone else. I know it will have to wait a few years, but yeah.. I would love to marry you some day."
"Kouta..."
Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck and broke down sobbing, not caring that they were in public and everyone could see her doing it.
"Umm... we're getting stared at." he said after a few seconds of her softly crying on him.
"I'm sorry, it's just... I've never been so happy."
Kouta rubbed her back gently, standing there holding her as she cried. Looking into her boyfriends eyes, she kissed him through her tears. For a moment, she could almost feel Kouta's soul resonating with hers, assuring her beyond all doubt that he loved her every bit as deeply and purely as she loved him.
Finally, she calmed down a little bit. Excusing herself, Lucy made a quick trip to the bathroom to regain her composure, thankful that none of her makeup was affected by her crying. It was probably going to be a very, VERY long time before she would even consider wearing it again (if ever) and since she left it back in her room and had no way of fixing it if doing so became necessary, it was in her best interests to be careful with it.
Yuka certainly didn't understand at the time why Nyu was so adamant about restricting it to just lipstick and eyeshadow, but the Diclonius assumed she might get a little emotional while they were revisiting a place that held such special meaning to the both of them, and wanted to go the minimalistic approach just in case.
When she finally left the bathroom, she found Kouta waiting for her just outside the door.
"Are you alright?" he asked in concern. Lucy just smiled and nodded. "I'm sorry, I just needed a moment. I'm done crying now, so let's go have fun."
The couple hugged, kissed, then joined hands and headed off into the crowds. Lucy may have reined in her tears, but her excitement was still running unchecked, and he was having a hard time keeping up with her as she went from one exhibit to another.
"Kouta! You gotta see these turtles!"
Coming over to her, even he was dumbstruck by their massive size. "Holy fuc... I mean... I had no idea they could get that big."
The woman serving as the attendant smiled at them. It was rare to see a college-age couple as enthralled with the exhibits as they were.
"You two make a very cute couple." she spoke up. It might have embarrassed Kouta, but it just made Lucy's smile even brighter.
"Would you like to get a picture with them? We're supposed to charge for them, but I'm just going to pretend I didn't know that."
"What do you think?" he asked his girlfriend. For a moment, he thought she was going to decline the offer. Lucy was a rather private girl, and the couple had never had a picture of them together taken before. After a moment of consideration, she nodded her head.
Climbing over the waist-high wooden fence, Kouta helped the pink-haired Diclonius over as a turtle the size of their couch lumbered over to them like he already knew what to do.
"Ok, you two have a seat." the woman instructed. The couple slowly sat down and got into a comfortable position. After taking their picture, she informed them it wasn't really entirely free.
"The turtle expects to be paid for every picture taken." she explained, pulling out a bucket full of loose corn kernels. "Here you go." she smiled as she handed Kouta a handful of them.
Despite assurance that the turtle wouldn't bite, that was the first thing it tried to do when he got close enough. Startled, he backed up a little, glaring at the attendant in irritation.
"Huh... that's weird." she said, "Why don't you give it a try, honey?"
Taking the corn from Kouta, Lucy approached the enormous tortoise. It looked her over as if considering the idea, then slowly shuffled over and started eating right out of her hands.
The look of pure, innocent joy on her face was perhaps the most beautiful thing the young man had ever seen. Unable to resist, the attendant took a picture of the Diclonius Queen as the turtle contentedly ate right out of her hands.
And she wasn't the only one, as several bystanders pulled out cameras and smartphones to get a picture of the beautiful pink-haired girl hand-feeding the massive turtle. When all the corn was gone, Kouta helped her back over the fence. Taking the pictures, Lucy put them in the small purse she was carrying, joined hands with Kouta, and happily moved on to the next exhibit.
It took her a while, but she eventually realized that a lot of people were looking at her.
"Kouta, why am I getting stared at? Are my horns showing or something?"
He just laughed at her cluelessness, "You're getting stared at because you're beautiful."
The look she gave him clearly conveyed she wasn't agreeing with his answer. But, just in case he was right, she put her arms around his neck and gave him the passionate, long-lasting kiss she wanted to give him when they were still on the bus.
"That should do the trick." she whispered coyly. Taking his hand, she smiled at him as they moved on.
"I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm so glad I did it."
Lucy looked down sadly, her pink hair falling down and obscuring part of her face.
"You deserve so much better than me. Sometimes, I don't understand why you'd settle for someone lik-"
"Nyu, stop it."
He reached out and brushed the hair out of her face. "No matter how you feel about it, I've made my choice, and I want you."
The Diclonius blushed, but nodded her head. "If you're sure..."
"I am..." he smiled, "I'm absolutely sure. Nothing would make me happier than you staying by my side for the rest of my life."
She smiled shyly, looking away for a moment before looking into his eyes.
"Then that's where I'll stay." she whispered before kissing him again.
Two hours later
"Oh, this is just as good as I remember!" Lucy sighed happily.
He didn't quite feel the same, but then again, all shaved ice tended to taste the same to him.
"If you don't slow down, it's gonna..." he started to say, but the sudden whimpering told him he was about two seconds too late.
Shaking his head, he still couldn't help but smile. For the first time since her childhood, Lucy had fully relaxed her guard and whole-heartedly seemed to be enjoying life. She looked like any other young woman sitting on a bench eating shaved ice with her boyfriend.
More so than that, she looked happy... honestly and truly HAPPY. The only time Kouta could remember seeing her like this was the day he met her as Nyu and they were eating rice balls together. The carefree way she had smiled and laughed then was something he didn't think he would ever see her do as Lucy.
Obviously, and thankfully, he was mistaken.
"What's yours taste like?" she asked. Before he had a chance to answer, she stuck her spoon in and took a bite.
"Excuse you?! You've got your own!"
"Wow, that's a lot better than mine! Here, let's trade!"
"No! You've already ate most of yours!"
"Thanks, Kouta! You're so nice to me!"
"Give it back, Nyu! I'm serious!"
"Finder keepers!"
"You didn't FIND it, you STOLE it!"
"And now I'm going to EAT it!"
"NYU!"
Seeing her laugh so hard she had to catch her breath disarmed any real resistance he might have put up. In the end, he just gave up and let her keep it.
"I'll make it up to you, don't worry." she said with a gentle smile.
He wasn't sure how she meant that, but he was certainly looking forward to finding out!
When they had finished eating, the couple spent well over an hour just walking around and holding hands. The zoo had added several new exhibits over the years and they wanted to see as many of them as they could before leaving.
"How about this one?" Kouta asked. Without even looking at the sign, Lucy grabbed his hand and pulled him inside what turned out to be an enclosed monkey exhibit where the primates were allowed to roam freely and interact with the people. While they were talking to the girl running the exhibit, one of the monkeys abruptly jumped on Kouta's back and started making his way up.
Lucy giggled as she watched. The attendant was in the middle of telling the couple about how they were prone to stealing objects from people when he jumped over to Lucy, grabbed her hairbow, and jumped back to Kouta... in full view of everyone in the exhibit.
Lucy froze, nearly paralyzed with fear until the attendant scolded the primate, who climbed back over to Lucy and reluctantly handed it back, to the applause of literally every single one of the 50+ people watching. Kouta had to hand it to her for handling the situation so calmly. He couldn't even imagine how scary it must have been for her.
As she was putting it back on, a little girl tugged on her skirt to get her attention.
"Are those horns?" she asked right in front of everyone. He saw the panicked look she was giving him and jumped in to save her.
"They DO look like horns, don't they? It's actually just a really thin hairband though." he told her. The little girl seemed to take his word for it and dropped the subject.
After they walked outside, it took a moment for him to notice she was shaking. He pulled her off the walkway and behind a row of nearby vending machines. The moment they were out of sight, she clutched onto him tightly
"Are you ok?" he asked in concern.
She nodded yes, despite the fact that she looked like she was about to have an anxiety attack at any moment.
"It just scared me, that's all... I'm ok."
Holding her closely against him, he asked her in a low tone if she wanted to leave. "Not yet." she replied, "Let's look around a little more first."
Two hours later
"There's only one exhibit left, do you wanna go take a look before we go?" Kouta asked
"Sure, but I really need to go to the bathroom first." she answered. He walked her over and waited patiently until she returned.
Walking hand-in-hand, the two of them headed towards the last exhibit. "Did you have fun?" he asked. Turning to face him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her soft, pink lips passionately against his.
"Kouta, I'm going to remember this day for the rest of my life. Getting to come here with you again is like a dream come true for me."
"Yeah, pretty sure you're exaggerating at this point." he teased.
She smiled and shook her head. "I've waited years for this. I'm so glad we got to come back."
"Was it worth it?" he asked. "Be honest..."
Lucy nodded, kissing him again.
"Definitely."
Kaeda House - One hour later
Night had fallen by the time Kouta and Lucy finally got home. As soon as they walked in, the couple made their way over to the couch to rest. After several hours of walking around, they both wanted nothing more than to sit down and lean on each other.
"Thank you so much for today." Lucy said with a yawn.
"Thank you for coming with me." he replied. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Kouta spoke first.
"I think I'm going to hit the bath. I got pretty sweaty from all the walking around."
"Ok. I'll be right here when you get out." his girlfriend said.
Kissing her lips for a moment, Lucy smiled at him as he walked out. Making herself comfy on the couch, the Diclonius idly flipped through the channels, but found nothing of interest.
Then, she suddenly got an idea.
Twenty minutes later
Kouta normally didn't take baths, usually preferring the quicker, more convenient showers. As he soaked in hot water, he thought about his "date" with Nyu. He had never seen her that happy and lively before. Even when the actual Nyu was in control, she rarely expressed such joy and happiness.
The fact that Lucy... LUCY... the mass murderer/serial killer who had taken literally hundreds of lives (including his own family) was openly showing so much emotion in public convinced him that Nana had been right all along when she said that Lucy would change for the better if given the chance.
In Kouta's own opinion, this was nothing short of a miracle. Every single time he interacted with "Lucy", she was bitter, angry, and cold. He had personally seen her brutally kill several people (including unarmed civilians) at a time. She had even gone as far as claiming that killing humans was her purpose in life.
But that Lucy was dead, replaced by a Lucy that, though still antisocial in many ways, would sit down on a couch and watch TV, or go grocery shopping, or stop would-be robbers from killing a pizzeria manager. This Lucy would laugh and smile in public, take part in conversations, and confide in those she had come to consider the only family she ever had.
That was the Lucy he knew and loved, and he was DAMN proud of her.
"You know, it's not a good idea to sleep in the bath."
Startled, Kouta opened his eyes to see said Lucy standing there naked in front of him.
"I'm sorry, I.. I must have dozed off."
"Don't worry, I've done it too." she said as she got in the bath with him.
"Uh... don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing in here?"
"I forgot to wash my makeup off." she said simply.
"Ok, but most girls use a sink for that instead of a bathtub." he pointed out.
Sighing dramatically, she stood back up and turned to leave, "I guess I'll just leave you alone then."
"The hell you will!" he said as he grabbed her and hauled her back into the tub with him.
Laughing playfully, she sat down on his lap with a smile and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Seriously, I'll leave if you'd like." she told him. Shaking his head no, Kouta wrapped his arms around her slender waist and held her close.
"I'd prefer you didn't."
Looking into his eyes, Lucy reached up to lightly touch his face. In turn, Kouta did the same thing to her, eliciting a giggle from his girlfriend.
"Nyu, I want you to know something, ok?"
"Ok..."
"When you first came back here, I... I really didn't know if things were going to work out or not. I'm sure you already know why I'd feel that way, don't you?"
"You weren't sure if I'd be able to live peacefully with the others as "Lucy" instead of "Nyu", right?"
Kouta nodded in confirmation. "Nana told us you talked to her before you left, and said that you wanted her to live here and have the life you couldn't."
"I didn't think..." she stopped to consider how to word her thoughts correctly. Kouta waited patiently until she was ready to continue.
"I didn't think I could overcome my own DNA. I'm not human, Kouta... I thought that if I tried to live a normal life, I'd... just end up hurting you again... or worse." she said quietly, looking down to break eye contact.
He reached out and gently lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes.
"But you didn't..." he smiled, leaning in until their faces were only an inch or so apart.
"Kouta..." she whispered, fighting the urge to kiss him.
"I want you to know that I have never been as proud of anyone or anything as I am of you. I know it's hard to change, and I know it's hard to move on... but you did it. No matter what happens, or how hard things get... I won't make you go through it alone."
Lucy clutched him against her, closing her eyes as the two held onto each other. Predictably, she started crying, but unlike so many times before, these were tears of pure happiness... the kind that comes from having absolute, unconditional love from another that you feel the same way about.
After a couple of minutes, she lifted her head so she could see his face. "Kouta... I can never repay you, or the others for your acceptance and forgiveness..."
"You don't have to..." he smiled, brushing her face lightly with his hand. This time, she found herself unable to resist kissing him, and firmly pressed her pink lips against his. Kouta in turn kissed her back with equal passion, wanting her just as much as he knew she wanted him.
Before long, the couple went from making out to touching, then from touching to full-blown sex. They had decided that having intercourse in the water wasn't practical, but at the same time, neither of them wanted to wait until getting back to one of their rooms.
Their solution to this problem came in the form of Lucy being taken from behind right there on the bathroom floor.
With her weight supported on her forearms, the Diclonius couldn't help but feel a little bit pervy for having sex right next to the tub that all five of them had to share, even remarking to Kouta that, "Now I'm going to blush every time I come in here."
When he offered to stop until they were able to go somewhere with more privacy, Lucy flat-out rejected that idea (which was exactly what he hoped she'd do). Less than a minute in, the couple became so caught up in their coupling, they wouldn't have stopped for anything or anyone, except possibly the house catching on fire.
And even then, they'd still try to finish before escaping.
"Kouta...?"
"Yes?"
Lucy blushed, too shy to look back at him. "Can we... do this harder? Please?"
As if any man on God's green Earth would actually refuse a request like that!
He smiled at her, rubbing her lower back lightly. This was the second request the pink-haired girl had made (the first being for him to go a little faster) and curiosity had gotten the best of him.
"You know... if you're wanting it rougher than usual, it's OK to say that. You don't have to be embarrassed about it." he told her. "Is that what you're wanting?"
After a few seconds, the Diclonius replied in a shy, quiet tone barely louder than a whisper.
"If it's ok with you."
"I'd love to." he assured her, giving her ass a gentle squeeze.
Holding onto her hips, he started thrusting harder than he ever had before. Lucy gasped in surprise. He had gotten a bit rough before, but not enough to disqualify it from being called "making love". This was less "making love" and more "fucking".
Knowing he'd come much faster than usual if he tried going full-speed, Kouta kept his thrusts a little slower to compensate for the increased force he was taking her with.
"Oh my God..." Lucy moaned. Every thrust rocked her entire body, and before long she could feel her heart racing and her breathing getting faster. Reaching a hand between her legs, she started rubbing her clit as Kouta took her from behind.
The harder he thrusted, the faster she touched herself. Closing her eyes, she shifted position and pushed her ass up a little higher in the air. Her already louder than usual moans became even louder as she orgasmed. Like the first time they used doggystyle, her orgasm caused her to clench her muscles around his hardon.
This Domino effect in turn pushed Kouta to climax, and he started thrusting harder. Lucy felt him throbbing, followed by gentle warmth as he ejaculated inside her.
As always, the moment he pulled out, his seed began dripping out of her womanhood, running down her leg in a steady stream.
"Well, at least it'll be easy to clean up this time." he teased. Rolling over into a sitting position, Lucy beckoned him over to her, kissing him long and deeply on the lips before the couple cuddled with each other right there on the floor.
Smiling gently at her boyfriend, Lucy thanked him for indulging her sexual curiosities without complaining.
"You don't have to thank me for that. I love trying new things with you." he smiled back.
As the lovers held each other in post-sex happiness, the phone began to ring. With a sigh, Kouta started to get up, but was stopped by the Diclonius.
"Let the machine get it." she said.
"I can't. They might have had an accident or something."
Stopping him again, Lucy released a vector, grabbed the cordless handset, and pulled it to her.
"Hello?"
"Hey Nyu, it's Yuka. Did you guys have fun at the zoo?"
"We did. Sorry you guys couldn't go."
"It's OK, we'll go next time."
Never one to beat around the bush, Lucy bluntly asked if she needed something.
"Actually, yeah. Is Kouta there?"
"Yeah, he's right next to me."
"He is? What are you guys doing?"
"We just finished having sex. Before that, we were taking a bath together." she said matter-of-factly.
Kouta just stared at her in wide-eyed shock.
After a moment of silence, he heard Yuka say, "Very funny, Nyu... Is he there?"
"One second..."
"Hey Yuka, what's up?"
Lucy looked at Kouta curiously, not sure what the problem was, but whatever it was, he didn't look happy to hear it.
"Yeah, I get that... but..."
"What's wrong?" Lucy mouthed.
Turning to his girlfriend, he covered the receiver with his hand and gave her the condensed version of what was going on.
"Yuka's grandmother went to the hospital, so they're not going to be back until tomorrow. She wants to just order us something since they won't be picking up dinner."
For once, Lucy was actually impressed with the brunette. "Tell her thanks for me."
"Nyu said thanks."
As soon as he hung up, he looked at her in annoyance, "Did you really have to tell her that?"
"Tell her what? "Thank you"?" she asked innocently. Kouta just flopped back down onto the floor. "God, you drive me crazy sometimes..." he said, obviously not happy about the way she just blurted all that out.
"I'm sorry, Kouta. I... I just couldn't resist." she apologized, cuddling naked up against him. Turning on his side to face her, he took her in his arms and sighed. "Seriously... what am I gonna do with you?"
"Kissing me would be nice." she offered hopefully.
Kouta wanted to be irritated at her, he really did... but couldn't. Despite what could be fairly called a 'snarky' response, he could tell by the look on her face she really was sorry.
Letting the subject drop, he complied, and the couple shared a long, loving kiss... still naked and soaking wet.
"Seriously... when you put that on, did you paint it on?" he asked, obviously referring to her makeup. It had survived hours of wear-time, a bath, crying, and several make-out sessions, but still looked she had just put it on five minutes ago.
"Yuka said it was long lasting... I guess she was right."
He just smiled and kissed her neck, "I still think it looks amazing on you."
"I thought you said I was more beautiful without it?" she teased, blushing from the comment regardless.
"You are, but that doesn't mean I can't think you're still beautiful with it."
She smiled shyly at him. "Well... If you think it looks that nice, I guess there's nothing wrong with wearing it now and then..."
"Only when you want to... " he said, kissing her shoulder.
After a couple of minutes of cuddling, Lucy asked him to stand up. When he did, she moved onto her knees and smiled before she started going down on him.
Kouta looked down at his girlfriend, brushing a hand through her hair as he watched her soft lips slide slowly up and down on his shaft. "Not to be a pervert or anything, but I really do love watching you do this."
"I bet you do, pervert." she teased.
"You know... for some reason, it looks so sexy when you do this with lipstick on." he blushed.
Lucy looked up at him. "It does? Seriously?"
When he nodded, she playfully asked if he wanted her to start putting it on before it giving him oral. "Well, you don't really HAVE to, but once in a while might be nice."
"Ok." she smiled as she opened her mouth and took him back in. She didn't stare up at him the whole time like one would commonly see in porn, instead choosing to only look up for a few seconds at a time, just long enough for him to see her pink lips on his erection.
"Would you mind if we... um... didn't finish like this?"
"Did you have something... different... in mind?" Lucy asked with a smile.
A few minutes later, Kouta was lying on his back with Lucy riding him. They both liked the rough doggystyle from earlier, but deep down, they preferred "making love" over "fucking".
With Lucy's upper body close to his, the two lovers kissed nearly the entire time she was on him. Every now and then he'd break off to kiss, lick, and suck on her nipples, but went right back to kissing. Every now and then, they'd touch tongues or bite each other's lips.
Rocking her hips back and forth, the Diclonius moaned into his mouth, looking forward to finding out what it feels like to finish using this position.
She had already asked him not to worry about making sure she got a second orgasm. All she wanted was to make love, eat something, curl up with him, and go to sleep.
Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long. After finishing, both of them just stared into each others eyes for a moment before closing them and pressing their lips together.
"I love you so much, Kouta... Every day of my life, I fall a little more in love with you."
He smiled, giving her several soft, three or four second long kisses in a row.
"I love you too... and no matter what, you will always be loved and wanted by me."
"Kouta..." she blushed, smiling gratefully as the two of them pressed their lips together.
And then the doorbell rang...
"Shit... I forgot Yuka was having something delivered." he said. "Would you mind getting it so I can make a bathroom run?"
"Sure."
"Thank you, I won't be long."
As Kouta was heading to the bathroom, Lucy went down the hall to answer the door.
"Hi, thank you for..." the delivery guy started to say, but trailed off when he noticed her lack of clothes.
In his line of work, she wasn't the first girl to answer the door naked, but she was certainly the hottest. Her milky, porcelain skin, slender but busty body type, red eyes, and long pink hair made Lucy an incredibly beautiful girl, and not just in Kouta's opinion.
"Umm... If you need a minute to go put something on, I don't mind waiting." he told her.
"I don't really care if you see me naked." she said simply. "What do we owe?"
"It's already paid for. I just need you to sign the receipt."
As she was doing so, the delivery man leaned in a little closer to her.
"Hey, are those things horns?"
"Yes." she said without missing a beat. She handed the signed copy back.
"...Ok, have a good night."
The man handed her the bags and left. As she walked back into Kouta's room, she noticed that he was giving her a strange look.
"What?"
"Umm... did you answer the door like that?"
She nodded, to which Kouta just sighed. "You're just as bad as Nana..."
Most boyfriend's would be angry, but he knew the kind of life she and Nana had been forced to live. The Institute wouldn't allow Diclonii test subjects to wear clothing. To make matters even worse, they were denied even the smallest amount of privacy, and typically were made to soil themselves in full view of everyone.
After living like that for years at a time, it's no wonder her and Nana were so shameless.
Thankfully, at least Lucy understood why Kouta was objecting to it.
"I didn't do it to be a flirt or anything..." she apologized, sitting in front of him on his bed.
Hugging her to him, he smiled, brushing a hand soothingly through her hair. "I'm not upset, I'd just prefer you throw something on if we have visitors."
That settled, the two moved on to more important matters. Namely...
"NO!" he yelled at her. "Yuka got us both the same thing, you don't need to try mine and see how it is!"
Looking at her burger, then his, she reluctantly admitted they were the same type. But...
"I think yours has different sauce on it."
"No, it doesn't!"
The Diclonius just frowned, lifting the buns to inspect their respective burgers.
"Yeah, see... yours is different than mine."
"No, it's not! Mine doesn't have tomato on it, that's all!"
Lucy scrutinized the two burgers closely, but finally gave in.
Watching her like a hawk for the rest of their meal, he did at least let her try his drink. Thankfully, her reaction to it's taste told him at least that was safe.
After eating, Kouta got dressed for bed, throwing on a tank top and a pair of sleep shorts. Lucy had planned to just sleep naked, but opted for one of Kouta's old t-shirts and a pair of panties when he reminded her that the others might get home before they wake up.
Crawling under the blankets, the two lovers lay on their sides facing each other. After they were both comfortable, the couple cuddled up against each other as closely as possible. Lucy leaned in and pressed her lips gently against his. Kissing her back, they lay there together for several minutes without talking, the room silent except for the sound of their kissing.
This was something so common between them, you might as well call it a tradition. Anytime the two of them slept in the same bed, they cuddled up against each other and spent two or three minutes doing nothing but kissing. Most goodnight kisses are only a few seconds long, and most couples typically only do it once or twice.
Lucy and Kouta didn't have goodnight kisses, they had goodnight make-outs.
Despite the temptation to let their extended kissing session snowball into full-blown sex (for the third time) they resisted. After a few more gentle kisses, they said goodnight and closed their eyes.
"Kouta?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you really mean it when you said you were willing to marry me someday?"
"Absolutely." he said quietly.
"Why? You could do so much better than me, so why would you settle fo-"
"Nyu, stop it." he told her firmly. "We've gone over this before, and listening to you degrade and put yourself down is getting old."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up..." she replied after a few seconds of silence.
"When are you finally going to get this through your head? I'm not "settling" for you, you're the one I've wanted from the get-go. Marrying anybody OTHER THAN YOU would be settling."
"Do you really mean that...?" she asked hopefully.
If Kurama was alive to see this, he would swear this was either an act, or an imposter. The Lucy he knew would never have these kind of feelings for anyone, especially not a human.
But that Lucy died on a bridge months ago.
"From the bottom of my heart and soul." he smiled.
Smiling peacefully, she nuzzled her face gently against his.
"Thank you."
Smiling back, Kouta kissed her one final time before closing his eyes.
"You're so very welcome."
They were both sound asleep in less than a minute.
Kamakura - Sotetsu Inn - Meanwhile
Sitting naked on the bed, Arakawa ate the last of her take-out as she stared idly at the TV. She had just finished her bath, and was looking forward to hopefully getting a good nights sleep.
For once...
Her immediate problems of food, clothes, and a place to stay had been solved. Now she just had to find a student she'd only seen one time, and whose name she'd long since forgotten. To complicate matters, the college she had worked at had just ended the current semester, and the next one wasn't due to start until after her 30 day time limit was over.
She had hoped to find him while classes were still going on. She had never actually been fired from her position, so she wouldn't arouse suspicion just by being on campus. The plan had been to find out who replaced Professor Kakuzawa, and then simply monitor his classes until she recognized the student she was looking for.
Obviously, she knew there was a chance he wouldn't be in any of the replacements classes, or even in the same program of study, but it seemed like the quickest way to find him. With classes now ended for the semester, however, she'd have to come up with something else.
Discarding her empty food containers, the scientist crawled under the covers without even bothering to move her shoes, purse, hygiene products, or the clothes she had purchased off the bed. Twenty-nine days from now, she'd either be a free woman, or dead.
For the 100th time, she wondered why the hell Kakuzawa so badly wanted this kid found. All he had seen was his son's body, and there wasn't anything he could do with that information (or at least anything he could do that posed any actual threat). Every Diclonius the Institute had ever even heard of was dead, and all the Government-ordered investigations had been closed, so why did the Director have such a hate-boner for this kid?
Deciding that it didn't really matter, Arakawa rolled over and turned the TV and bedside lamp off. She felt immense guilt for what she was doing, but it was simply unavoidable if she ever had any intentions of living longer than the next four weeks.