Note: This chapter contains slight sexual content.
-Faith, Love, and Forgiveness - Chapter Twenty-five: Prejudice-
Ayase Town Hills Shopping Center - Ayase - The next afternoon
With just one week until Christmas, Yuka and Lucy boarded a train bound for Ayase, a city North of Kamakura, to look for Kouta's Christmas gift.
Basic art supplies like sketch pads or paint brushes could be bought anywhere, but the same could not be said for easels, canvas, and professional-grade pencils. Ayase was much bigger than Kamakura, and since it had a somewhat famous shopping mall, Yuka suggested they go check it out.
As soon as they walked in, they were both awestruck at how unbelievably big it was.
"This place is even worse that the mall we went to for your haircut."
And how unbelievably crowded it was, too.
Yuka nodded in agreement. "There's gotta be thousands of people in here. Are you sure you're going to be alright?"
"It's not nearly as bad now as it was then. I'll be fine."
For this outing, the Diclonius decided on a black, knee-length pleated skirt, black stockings, and a long-sleeve, dark red top. As always, Lucy started turning heads the moment her and Yuka walked in, with both girls getting whistled at more than once. Noticing the pink-haired girl's annoyance, Yuka steered her over towards a nearby Directory.
"Does that ever get annoying?" she asked teasingly.
"We're not going there, it'll just make it worse." Lucy replied.
Yuka laughed, causing the Diclonius to crack a smile. Together, they studied the Directory and finally found what appeared to be an Arts and Crafts shop on the second floor. On the way to the escalator, Yuka saw something that caught her attention.
"I can't believe I didn't notice you were wearing earrings until just now." she said, pointing to the pink-haired girls red butterfly earrings.
"Oh, do you like them? They were kind of an impulse buy." Lucy answered. Yuka nodded her head, giving the other girl a sincere smile. "They look great on you. Seriously."
The Diclonius smiled back, thanking her for the compliment. Once they reached the second floor, they noticed a MASSIVE crowd gathering around something (or rather somebody), but couldn't make out who or what it was from where they were.
"Ahh, dammit... the Arts and Crafts store is down that way." Yuka groaned.
"It's alright. Crowds don't bother me near as much as they used to." Lucy replied. "But thank you for caring."
The human reached down and held the pink-haired girls hands for a moment.
"Of course I care, Kaeda. Even if you weren't marrying Kouta, you're still family to me."
Lucy blushed faintly, squeezing the brunettes hands lightly. "It really does mean a lot to me to hear that... Thank you."
"Anytime."
The girls headed towards the crowd, and before long, they realized what was drawing so many people to that one location.
"I shoulda known..." Yuka said. "It's Christmas next week, so of course there's a Mall Santa."
The two girls wandered over, watching as one child after another waited their turn to sit on Santa's lap and give him the short version of what they wanted for Christmas. As the two of them watched, Yuka caught sight on a sign that had been posted right beside Santa's chair:
"HUMAN CHILDREN ONLY. THANK YOU"
"Are you serious?" Yuka asked in disbelief.
Lucy just rolled her eyes, "What a crock of shit..."
The brunette pulled out her phone and took a picture. "Why the hell does it matter what race the child is? This is ridiculous..."
"I'm used to it, don't worry about it."
The girls left the crowd and made their way towards the corridor with the Arts and Crafts store. Once they turned towards their destination, the first business they passed, a jewelry store, had a similar sign posted right in the entryway.
"WE DO NOT OFFER SERVICE TO DICLONII CUSTOMERS. THANK YOU."
"Oh, come on! That's bullshit!" Yuka ranted.
Noticing the girl's outburst, the store manager hurried over.
"Don't worry about the sign, ma'am. You are more than welcome to shop here.' he smiled.
"What about her?" she asked.
"I apologize, but we must respectfully request she remain outside. For security and safety reasons."
"My cousin's marrying that girl in a few months." Yuka replied. "What's going to happen when they come to buy their wedding rings?"
"Well, if you buy them here, she's going to have to remain outside of our establishment."
"For WHAT?" Yuka asked. "She's already gone through Cohabitation, and she has an official, Government issued ID! Why the hell can't she just come in and shop like everyone else?"
"She's a danger to both my employees and my customers. Personally, I'd prefer her kind be banned from the entire mall."
"Excuse me?!"
"I appreciate what you're doing, but let's just go get Kouta's present so we can go home." Lucy quietly told her.
"Her husband-to-be makes just under ¥5,000,000 a year. Are you really going to turn down a customer like that?"
"If that customer is a Diclonius, yes. Her kind isn't wanted here regardless of how much money they have."
One of the employee's called the manager back in to take a phone call. Yuka, without saying a word, walked off by herself, sat down on one of the benches, and started texting somebody. Lucy watched her curiously for a few seconds before going over to sit beside her.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
"No, Kaeda, I'm not ok. I'm hurt... I'm frustrated... but most of all, I'm pissed off... how can you POSSIBLY think it's ok to treat people like this just because they weren't born a human? It's fucking disgusting!"
'Damn... I think this is the first time I've ever heard her say 'fuck'!' Lucy thought to herself.
"Are you texting Kouta?" she asked casually.
"No, I'm group-texting my family."
"Why?" Lucy asked.
"None of your business." Yuka replied.
The pink-haired girl didn't know what to think about the girls comment. Before she could ask her what her problem was, the brunette looked at her with a mischievous, borderline evil smile.
"I can't tell you why at the moment, but consider it my Christmas gift to you." Yuka answered.
"Just don't don't do something that gets yourself in trouble."
"I won't." Yuka smiled. When she was done, the girls resumed their journey to the Arts and Crafts store. Along the way, they noticed two other stores with HUMAN CUSTOMERS ONLY signs by the entrance: a high-end department store, and, strangely, a toy store.
"Hey, I know this is an odd question, but have you ever sensed any other Diclonii around?"
"Just Nana... why?" Lucy asked.
"With all the signs they put up, you'd think Diclonii shop here often."
'That's actually a pretty good point...' the Diclonius thought.
After a little more walking, they finally reached Chara's Art Supplies. The store had no signs prohibiting Diclonii shoppers, but that might have been because the store had no shoppers at ALL. Of all the stores in the mall, this was the only one without a single customer. Which was probably why the girls were immediately approached when they walked in.
"Hi! Can I help you you, ladies?"
"We're looking for art supply sets." Yuka answered. The employee led them over to the aisle where their supply kits could be found.
"Are you looking for anything specific?"
"Well, I saw one online called Misati Professional for ¥28,500."
"Sorry, we don't carry that one. We DO have a couple of Misati Premium sets left for ¥25,000."
Once they arrived at the appropriate aisle, the employee pointed out the set in question. Lucy looked it over and broke out into a smile.
"This is PERFECT!"
It wasn't the EXACT set she wanted, but it was close. This one had an easel, five pieces of blank canvas, fourty colored pencils, five professional-grade drawing pencils, twenty different colors of paint, several brushes, and three sketchbooks. Thankfully for them, it was all packed into a suitcase-sized case that could be easily carried.
Before leaving the mall, Lucy decided to use some of the leftover money to treat Yuka to lunch as her way of saying thanks for coming with her. The food court was a bit crowded, but nothing the pink-haired girl couldn't handle. After much discussion, the girls decided on pizza.
"Are you sure you don't mind paying?"
"I got Kouta's present and still have almost ¥6,000 left... yes, I'm sure."
The girls got in line and waited their turn to order. They were discussing what would be the best way to give Kouta his present when Yuka noticed the little girl from the family in front of them was looking at her.
Lucy knew that young children could be rather friendly and talkative to strangers, so it didn't strike her as odd when the little girl started talking to them out of the blue. "I'm Zari. What's your name?"
"I'm Yuka, and this is my friend, Kaeda."
Lucy, though caught by surprise, tried to play it off by giving the child a smile and wave.
"You're hair's really pretty." the little girl said. The Diclonius thanked her and attempted to be as patient as possible with the flood of random questions. It didn't seem like her parents had even noticed what was happening until they heard their child ask, "Can I touch your horns?"
That got their attention. They turned around, took one look at Lucy, and pulled their daughter away.
"Don't talk to her anymore." they told her quietly.
"Why not? She's nice."
"No, she's not. She's just pretending to be." the girl's mother said.
"For your information, she's not "pretending" anything! She happens to be one of the kindest people you could ever meet!" Yuka retorted.
Ok, maybe that one was a bit of a stretch...
"I doubt that." the father said. "Kind people don't murder their own parents and go on killing sprees."
"I never HAD parents, I was an orphan." Lucy calmly replied.
"Probably because you or one of your species murdered them."
Knowing that Yuka was about to cause a scene, she cut her off just as the brunette opened her mouth.
"Don't bother. If they want their daughter to turn out to be a hate-mongering idiot like them, that's their fault, not ours."
With most of the people in line now looking at them, the parents grabbed their child and left, ignoring her when she asked, "Why are you being mean to her?"
Yuka watched them storm out, not for the first time thinking maybe the Diclonius was right to hate humans.
Lucy reached out and touched the girl's arm to get her attention, telling her quietly to let it go.
When they finally got to the counter, the girl behind the register actually apologized to her for the couple's mistreatment. "I had a friend who was like you when I lived in Okinawa. She was one of the nicest people I'd ever met, but her family couldn't take the bullying anymore, so they moved away."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Lucy replied as she started looking in her purse for her money. The manager walked over and whispered something in the girl's ear, who then motioned for the pink-haired girl to come closer.
"Our GM doesn't want to charge you for your order, but don't say anything about it."
"Are you sure that's ok?" Yuka whispered when she was informed.
The girl behind the counter nodded, but Lucy gave her ¥1,000 anyway. The three girls made small-talk for a few minutes until their order was ready, then they took their cups over to the soda dispensary and sat down at a table to eat.
"Think they put enough cheese on it?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah, but that's what makes it so good." Yuka answered.
The two of them didn't even notice the men approaching until they were right next to them.
"Excuse me ladies, but we need a minute of your time." one of them said. The girls turned in their seats to see several armed mall security guards standing behind them. Though it wasn't very common before, ever since the Government had publicly disclosed the existence of the Diclonii race, more and more companies had taken to arming their security personnel. Ayase's mall security used to only carry extendable batons, now they carried high-capacity firearms.
"What is it?" Lucy asked.
"Do you have the receipt for your purchases?" one of them asked.
Without a word, the Diclonius opened her purse and handed the man the receipt.
"Where's the one for your pizza?"
"We didn't have to pay for it." Yuka said.
"In other words, you stole it." one of them spoke up.
"Did she say we stole it? The manager told the cashier not to charge us. If you don't believe me, go over and ask him yourself." Lucy replied, pointing to the restaurant.
While one guard went over to verify their claim, a different one asked for their IDs. Both of the girls gave them over without protest, and continued eating as more security was called to the Food Court. Before long, there were nearly a dozen guards surrounding their table.
"Don't you have anything better to do than harass us?" Yuka asked, not bothering to hide her irritation.
"We're not harassing you, we're doing our job." the one who seemed to be in charge replied.
"Sounds like you think harassing us IS your job." Lucy remarked, wiping her mouth off with a napkin. "Eleven men with guns to come talk to two girls eating pizza? Cowards..."
The man who had gone to speak with the manager returned and confirmed the girls' claim. In response came not an apology, or even an acknowledgment that they had told the truth, but a request to search their purses.
The girls handed them over without skipping a beat and went right back to talking and eating. Yuka's purse contained her wallet, makeup, a hairbrush, more makeup, hand sanitizer, her smartphone, even more makeup, and, to their embarrassment, tampons. Lucy's contained just her ID, smartphone, a few thousand yen, and a couple of packs of gum.
It was obvious the men were getting frustrated, both by their inability to find something to use against them, as well as the girls treating the whole thing like nothing more than a minor inconvenience. It wasn't until they demanded to search their persons that they put their foot down and told them to piss off.
The guards threatened to get the police involved, but Yuka just told them to go ahead. Such a threat may have worked when Lucy was still considered a fugitive, but not anymore. With no proof of any wrongdoing, the guards eventually left to go bother someone else.
They both knew what was really going on: Some crybaby Karen noticed Lucy was a Diclonius, got her panties twisted, and called security because she felt "uncomfortable" with someone like her being around. Then, they saw Yuka and got THEIR panties twisted because a human was hanging out with someone like her, and they couldn't prove either of them had actually done anything wrong.
The girls finished eating in peace and returned to Kaeda House with Kouta's present in tow.
Yuri's Bakery - Two days later
Nana and Mayu gained a new respect for Lucy by the time their first day as a volunteer was over.
"She makes this look soooo easy!" Mayu commented as she watched Lucy bounce from icing cakes, to baking cookies, to taking orders, to slicing bread, and back again. Nana couldn't get over the fact that she was able to do it all so seamlessly.
By the time they closed for the day, the two young girls were exhausted, but happy, as Yuri had "paid" them in cookies. Lucy herself received nothing, but this was by her own request.
Besides, the girls were happy to share their cookies after seeing how hard the older Diclonius worked to help not just Yuri, but them too.
The rest of the week passed quickly, and before they knew it, the 23rd had arrived. On the last day of their "unpaid employment" Yuri had an announcement for them.
"When are you getting married again?" she asked. After being told it was the first week of April, Yuri offered to provide whatever wedding cake Lucy wanted completely free of charge. Given how expensive and time-consuming they were for a bakery the size of Yuri's, this was considered extraordinary generosity.
"Do you want me to help you?" Lucy asked.
"You CAN, but you don't have to." Yuri replied. "When you leave tonight, I'll give you a wedding cake catalog so you and Kouta can decide what you want."
"I thought all wedding cakes were the same except for their decorations?" she replied. "We made a few while I was here, and they were all the same."
Yuri explained that while most of them follow a traditional recipe, they don't necessarily HAVE to.
"I think we should keep it simple and follow the recipe, but I'll talk to Kouta, just to be sure."
About an hour before closing time, the racist couple from a few days ago walked in and approached the counter. When Lucy walked up front, they immediately asked to see Yuri. When she joined the Diclonius Queen at the counter, she didn't even bother trying to hide her disdain.
"What the hell do you two want?"
"We came to give you a second chance to earn our business." the husband answered.
"I don't WANT your business." Yuri said.
The couple looked at each other, then turned to the older woman.
"Why not? We're rich, and well-connected."
"You wanted me to degrade the best employee I've ever had because you're a couple of racists who didn't want a Diclonius having anything to do with making your cake, that's why. This young lady works too damn hard for me to even consider "giving her something else to do" as you put it. I don't care how rich or well-connected you are, until you learn that her status has nothing to do with baking, I'm not interested in providing you service."
Defeated, the wife sighed and gave in.
"Fine, she can help."
"The hell she can!"
"Izawa, let it go. We've got an office party in two hours, and this is the only bakery still open."
The husband fell silent, and his wife turned to Lucy and asked if they could order five dozen cookies. Lucy in turn looked at Yuri, who nodded her head. As the wife was paying for the order, the bakery owner called for Nana to come up front.
"I've got some management things to do, so I need you to help Kaeda with this order, ok?" she asked with a grin.
"Oh, come on! Now you got TWO of them wor-"
"Izawa..."
Out of options, the husband kept his mouth shut as the two Diclonii completed the order together.
After closing for the day, Yuri gave the two youngest girls ¥2,000 each out of the payment of the couple's order, plus another two dozen cookies. Lucy declined to accept any of the money, content with receiving nothing but a few of the cookies.
Before leaving, Yuri hugged the three girls, becoming a bit emotional as she thanked them again for all their hard work.
"You are some of the finest young ladies I've ever met. Thank you so much for everything, especially you, Kaeda." she smiled tearfully. Nana watched proudly as Lucy and the bakery owner hugged and exchanged "Merry Christmas"'s.
"Don't forget about looking through that catalog with Kouta."
"I won't." Lucy promised. As the snow began falling again, the three girls shared cookies as they walked the short distance home.
Ayase Town Hills Shopping Center - Ayase - Christmas Eve
The next evening, Yuka led the residents of Kaeda House back towards the jewelry store with a gleeful smile on her face. She had refused to tell Kouta what her "Christmas present" for Lucy was, and disclosed nothing except that had to return to the Ayase shopping mall to get it.
When they turned down the corridor towards the store, they noticed several of Yuka's family members (both of her parents, a female cousin, an uncle, and three aunts) sitting over on the benches. When they saw the group coming their way, they all stood up and greeted them.
"Kaeda, we're so sorry for the way these people treated you." Yuka's mother said as she walked up and hugged the confused Diclonius.
"Um... thank you, but... what are you all doing here?" she asked. It took a moment to notice that all of the family members were carrying purchase bags from the jewelry store.
"Well, have you ever heard the expression, "money talks", before?"
Lucy nodded, still a bit unsure what exactly she was getting at.
"This is our way of saying, "We don't appreciate you mistreating someone from our family simply because they were born a Diclonius." Yuka's father said.
Yuka's mother turned to the other members of their family and nodded. As a group, all seven of them went inside and got in Iine. Yuka walked with the pink-haired girl over to a spot that both let her see the register and let whoever was at the register see her.
Noticing Lucy standing outside, the store's manager gave her a smug little smirk, and made a "go away" motion at her before turning to Yuka's mother.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'd like to return this." her mother said.
Leaning in close, Yuka whispered directly into Lucy's ear that salespeople for this store get a commission on what they sell, but if the item is returned within fourty-eight hours, they lose that commission.
The Diclonius looked at Yuka in shock. "Did... did they..."
Putting a finger to her lips, the human motioned for her to hold the questions and directed her attention back to the register.
"R-Return? Why?"
"Because of the sign you have in front of your store."
"Ma'am, you're more than welcome to shop here anytime you want. That... that sign isn't for you, it's..."
"I'm not comfortable shopping somewhere that blatantly discriminates against someone just because they're not human. Here's your receipt, I'd like my ¥22,000,000 back please."
Lucy's jaw hit the floor. "Your mother dropped ¥22,000,000 on jewelry just to make a point?!"
Yuka winked at the Diclonius and directed her attention back to the conversation.
As soon as she was finished, Yuka's father approached the counter.
"Hi there. I've got a return here for you."
"Uh... O-Ok...um, may I ask why?" he stammered.
"Because you're a racist."
"Listen, this... this is all a misunderstanding! You... you're more than welcome to shop here!"
"Is she welcome?" he asked, pointing to Lucy.
"Well, no... she's not."
"Then, I'd like my ¥20,000,000 refunded please."
Lucy watched in awe as, one by one, the members of Yuka's family returned their multi-million yen purchases, and every one of them made it clear their return was prompted by the manager's mistreatment of the pink-haired Diclonius.
"I'm not giving my money to a store that refuses to treat people equally, so let me have my ¥6,000.000 back."
"I want the ¥8,250,000 I spent here yesterday returned. The way you treated that girl is why I will never shop here again."
"L-Look... this isn't a personal attack on her directly! It's... It's for Diclonii as a whole! I'd never single just one young lady out and let all others of her species shop here! T-That wouldn't be treating her fairly!"
"You're not treating her fairly NOW! Here's your receipt, hurry up with my return so I can go over to Tokai-San's and give my ¥4,000,000 to them."
To make the situation even worse, a crowd had started to gather, intrigued by what seemed to be some kind of protest.
The two girls working inside the store took one look at the growing crowd and decided that they didn't want to be associated with what was likely about to turn into a public shitstorm. The store was part of a national chain, and very soon, Corporate was going to find out about the almost ¥84,000,000 worth of jewelry returned and were going to expect a DAMN GOOD reason for it.
Somehow, the girls didn't think they were going to be happy once they found out why such an unprecedented mass-return occurred.
"H-Hey! Where the hell are you and Izumi going?!" he asked in a panic.
"Uh... well, we're quitting."
"What?! Why?!"
"We told you this little "Only humans can shop here" idea of yours was stupid, but you didn't want to listen, so... come on, Aoi."
The two girls strolled out, smiling at Lucy as they walked by.
"O-Ok, look... we'll change our policy so her kind can shop here too as long as they have a human with them! I'll... I'll even give Diclonii shoppers a 5% discount!" the manager offered.
Yuka's three aunts looked at each other, then at Lucy, and finally back to the manager.
"Does she look like a CHILD to you? That's a twenty-three year old ADULT! I want a refund for this ¥3,250,000 bracelet, and I'd like your Corporate number while you're at it."
"Oh! I almost forgot about that! I'd like that too!"
"So would I!"
As Lucy watched the store manager's career get utterly destroyed right in front of her, Yuka's mother walked over to where she and Yuka were standing.
"By the time my sisters are finished blowing up Corporate's phone, that clown's not going to be managing a lemonade stand." she told Lucy with a mischievous look in her eyes.
"You organized this whole thing because they wouldn't let me shop here?" Lucy asked. She didn't quite know whether she wanted to laugh or cry, but it was deeply touching that Yuka and her family were so willing to go this far out of their way to stand up for her.
"Of course we did, you're family." Yuka's mother said, putting an arm around Lucy. Looking at Nana and Mayu, she smiled fondly at the two before correcting herself.
"You're ALL family... and we're not ok with family members being treated like crap, whether they're human, Diclonius, or anything in between."
Lucy really, REALLY didn't want to cry in public, especially not in front of hundreds of people she didn't know. It took some effort, but she kept it together... barely. When everyone had finished getting their refunds, the residents of Kaeda House and Yuka's family made their way outside the mall.
"I... I don't know what to say." she said quietly. "You didn't have to go through all this trouble just for me."
"Kaeda, honey... it was no trouble." Yuka's mother said, to the agreement of the rest of her family members.
"What did I tell you when we went Christmas shopping?" Yuka asked gently. "Even if you weren't about to marry Kouta, you're still family."
Lucy looked at the brunette girl and tried to speak, but her voice cracked with emotion as she started to cry. Yuka wrapped her arms around the Diclonius as she too started tearing up. Soon enough, the rest of Yuka's family got in on it. Amusingly, Kouta stood there, patiently waiting for his turn to hug his own fiancé. When they finally let go, Lucy smiled tearfully at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him in front of everyone.
Both lovers ignored the cheering and whistling, and held each other like it was the last time they'd ever do it again.
"I am so... SO incredibly lucky to have you." Lucy said emotionally. She turned to Yuka, Nana, and Mayu, then to Yuka's family members. "ALL of you..."
For over an hour, the group stood in the falling snow talking about a seemingly endless range of subjects. When they finally called it a night, Yuka's parents insisted on driving all of them back to Kaeda House so they didn't have to take the train. They piled in the couples SUV and set off for home.
Kaeda House - Two hours later
After seeing the crowd at the train station, Kouta was SO glad they didn't argue about Yuka's parents taking them home.
They spent about a half hour talking with everyone after returning to Kaeda House, then left, promising to return in a couple of days with presents for everybody. Naturally, the residents of Kaeda House attempted to protest and informed the older couple visiting them without presents was more than enough, but they wouldn't hear of it.
Just before they left, Yuka's mother slipped Lucy a small box, with instructions to open it in private.
"It'll make sense when Kouta gives you your Christmas present."
She thanked the older woman and actually initiated the inevitable ''goodnight'' hug.
"You're a very, VERY loved young lady, Kaeda. I want you to know that. Yuka speaks so highly of you every time we talk. I know you two didn't get along so well at first, especially when it came to Kouta, but she's past that."
Lucy nodded her head. "I know. She's always the first one to defend me, or Nana, or... anyone really. She was so upset about what happened at the mall, and I'm still not really sure why."
"I just told you why, hun. She has a great deal of love and admiration for you. Yuka might be an only child, but she's told me more than once that you're the sister she's never had, but always wanted."
Lucy looked at the older woman with tears in her eyes.
"She... She really said that?"
Yuka's mother nodded. "She also told me about what happened when Kouta was abducted by the Institute."
The pink-haired girl held her breath. "W-What part?"
"The one where you tried to sacrifice yourself to save everyone . I... I want you to know that Yuka called it "the greatest act of love she'd ever seen", but don't tell her I told you that."
Lucy used the back of her hand to wipe her eyes. "I won't..."
The women hugged again and exchanged Merry Christmas's. As Yuka and the others were saying goodnight, Lucy's curiosity won out, and she went to the bathroom to see what was in the box. It turned out to be a pair of white gold earrings shaped like musical notes.
The pink-haired girl had no idea why she received such a gift, but they were beautiful, and she was thankful Yuka's mother had thought enough of her to get her anything in the first place. She tried them on and stared at her reflection.
"They really are beautiful, but I'm still confused about why she gave them to me." she said outloud.
"Maybe this'll help."
She jumped in surprise and turned to see Kouta holding a neatly wrapped present, obviously meant for her.
"You've really got to stop scaring me like that."
He just smiled and handed her the gift. "If you don't like it, I need you to be honest about it."
She nodded her head, though privately, she couldn't imagine disliking something he gave her no matter WHAT it was.
Within reason, of course. No girl wants a dead skunk for Christmas no matter how nicely it's wrapped.
She slowly tore the wrapping paper off and felt her breath seize up for a moment.
"Kouta..."
She was looking through tear-filled eyes at a perfect replica of the old Lilium music box she loved so much all those years ago, but with a couple of small differences. The music sounded a little higher in pitch than the original, the plain metallic plate on the lid now had the words "Kouta & Kaeda" in beautiful script engraved in it, while the one on the front had the date of their upcoming wedding.
Now, she understood the meaning behind the earrings.
"I hope you like it, but it's OK if you don't. It's not going to hurt my feelings if you'd prefe-"
He didn't even get to finish his sentence before his fiancé put the box on the countertop and clutched his body tightly against hers. He could hear her quiet, gentle sobbing and distinctly felt tears falling on him.
"Thank you... Kouta, thank you so much."
"I'm glad you like it, I really am." he said, holding her tightly as she cried. He hadn't expected such a strong reaction from her over it, but even though he hated seeing her cry, he was glad she liked it.
When she regained her composure, she took Kouta to her room and gave him the gift she and Yuka had gone to Ayase to pick up.
At first, he was stunned. He didn't understand how she even knew he had such a love for art, but correctly assumed Yuka had told her. "Well, that and the fact that you loved sketching as a child." she pointed out.
Once the surprise wore off, she told him about what happened when they went to buy it.
"So THAT'S why..." he said outloud. Yuka had pulled this little stunt of hers because "The guy at the jewelry store wouldn't let Kaeda shop there." as she put it, but wouldn't give any other details as to what they were doing there in the first place. Nor did she mention the incident involving the security guards.
"I guess that explains why they kept following us around." he said.
Taking her hand, he asked her if this was the real reason she suddenly decided to get a job. She blushed faintly as she admitted it was, but added that it was also to build a work history just in case she really did have to take over working for some reason.
"You're something else, you know that?" he asked. Lucy smiled and kissed him gently as they stood there holding hands.
"Merry Christmas, Kouta."
He smiled and kissed her again as he slightly tightened his grip on her hands.
"Merry Christmas, Kaeda."
One hour later
That night, Yuka had a strange request for everyone.
"You want us to sleep... together?" Mayu asked in confusion.
"Well, I wouldn't put it like THAT, but yes. We did it every year when I was little."
Surprisingly, everyone agreed. Soon, all five of them were huddled together on bed-rolls in their living room. It certainly felt odd, but it also felt strangely... comforting. The makeshift family passed around a plate of Christmas cookies and enjoyed each other's company by the light of their Christmas tree.
It felt nice to put down the smartphones and leave the TV off, and just enjoy talking to each other and sharing cookies. Yuka made everyone hot chocolate, and their conversations went well into the night.
At some point, Kouta woke up to use the bathroom, and didn't even realize Lucy was gone until he bumped into her as she was walking out of it.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were up."
"I jhusttt hadda phee..." she yawned.
The couple kissed for a moment, then went their separate ways.
Or rather, he thought they did.
Just as he was finishing up, he felt her hands wrap around him from behind. He smiled and reached up to lightly grip her forearm. "Just a second..." he said. She let go of him so he could wash his hands, then hugged him when he turned around.
"Is something wrong?" he asked as he rubbed her back.
She shook her head no. "I just wanted to thank you again, that's all."
Kouta smiled, kissing her cheek as he hugged her a little tighter. Gratitude was one of Lucy's best traits, and was part of the reason everybody was always willing to go so far out of their way for her.
"You're so very welcome." he responded. For a long moment, the two just hugged in silence.
Then, Lucy nonchalantly mentioned she hadn't expected Yuka to want everyone to camp out together in the same room.
"I don't mind doing it, I just thought we'd be sleeping... alone."
Kouta smiled a knowing smile and relaxed his hold on her.
"Well, we're alone now..."
Lucy smiled and bit her bottom lip. "I was hoping you'd say that."
She hiked her skirt up and bent over the sink, but Kouta responded that he had something a little more intimate in mind.
"Intimate how?"
A few minutes later, the pink-haired girl had stripped from the waist down, and was sitting on the edge of the countertop, holding her legs open as Kouta took her while standing.
"Oh, I'm so glad you thought of this..." she moaned in-between long, gentle kisses. Her boyfriend smiled, happy that she was enjoying it.
When their love-making was over, the two lovers returned to the living room, slipped back into their bedrolls, and fell asleep holding hands.
Ryukon Cemetery - Christmas Day
After lunch, Nana made the short walk to the cemetery to visit Kurama's grave, as she did every Sunday. Usually, she was either alone, or with Mayu, but this time, she was neither.
"Merry Christmas, Papa! I hope you don't mind, but I brought visitors with me this time."
The residents of Kaeda House stood in silence as Nana talked to Kurama about all that had happened recently.
"I wish you could see Lucy now, Papa. She's changed so much, it's like she's a different person. I'm so proud of her..."
Kouta felt her grip on his hand tighten, and smiled to himself. Nana was not the only one who was proud of the pink-haired girl. The rest of their makeshift little family along with Yuka and Kouta's families had gained a tremendous amount of respect and love for her since her return to Kaeda House.
She wasn't just "Kouta's girlfriend" anymore, she was an irreplaceable part of their lives who was loved even more as Lucy than she ever was as Nyu.
Nana watched with admiration as the older Diclonius walked up, knelt down, and laid flowers on the grave of the man she once hated so bad, she killed several innocents simply because he seemed to care for them. The family stood in silence for a few moments as snow gently fell all around them.
"Thank you all for coming with me." Nana said. "It means a lot to me you'd take the time to do this."
"You don't have to thank us, Nana. We're happy to come with you." Yuka smiled.
As they started their journey home, the brunette asked Lucy if she liked her "present".
"Actually, yes. To be honest, I thought it was hilarious."
"Wait till you hear what my cousin Akia did." Yuka giggled.
"Akia?"
"You remember the aunt that said you were an adult, not a child? Akia's her daughter."
Lucy nodded in understanding. "So, what happened?"
"She went to the jewelry store to "shop for earrings", as she put it. While doing so, she flirted with him until he asked her out."
"Did she say yes?" Nana asked.
"Not at first. She told him he didn't have enough money to go on a date with her. Naturally, he decided he had to prove her wrong, so he spent almost all of the commission he earned from everyone's jewelry purchases trying to impress her."
"Wait... didn't you say that commissions were void if the jewelry was returned in less than 48 hours?" Lucy asked.
Yuka nodded with a growing smile on her face.
"Well, what happens if the money gets spent before the return happens?" Mayu asked.
Lucy's eyes widened in realization. "Are... Are you saying she..."
"She trolled him into blowing all his money on her. Then, when everyone wanted refunds, and he didn't have the money from the commissions anymore, well..." Yuka laughed.
"That's just EVIL!" Nana said as she erupted into a laughing it.
"How big was his commission?" Kouta asked.
"About ¥5,000,000!"
"For real?!" Lucy asked.
Yuka nodded as she laughed her ass off. "Now he's out of a job, AND broke!"
As hilarious as the situation was, the former manager wasn't the only one with trouble coming his way. Kouta and Lucy's wedding was fast approaching, and problems that seemed relatively minor on Christmas Day were about to become a lot more pressing as they started running out of time.