Deeply Held Resentment

Kurama watches over his wife Hiromi, who suffered blood loss while stopping him from strangling their infant daughter Mariko, and who may not regain consciousness. Fully realizing that Number 3's touch caused him to sire Diclonius children, Kurama also acutely feels guilt at the thought that he has killed so many other children, but refuses to kill his own when she is shown to have horns. Once more he begins to strangle her, only to have Hiromi appear behind him, bleeding profusely and begging him not to kill their daughter before she dies; Kurama agrees to her terms and pleads with her to hold on, as the narrative shifts back to the present.

Kurama proclaims that he is a hypocrite for having saved his child at all costs while ending the lives of so many others for the same reason. He also explains that he reasoned out how Silpelit Diclonii, like Mariko, Number 3, and Nana, infect men with the touch of their vectors, causing the children these men sire to become Diclonii and they spread the virus further, with only Lucy, the 'Queen,' able to reproduce. The desire for them to destroy Humans, both individually and as a species, is, by his account, etched into their DNA.

Proclaiming himself responsible for any evil doings that Mariko has in her or has done, he prepares to shoot her at last. Mariko, at first, becomes despairing and then enraged that her birth father wishes to kill her, but is close to Nana instead. Kurama fires the gun, thinking that since Nana disabled Mariko's vectors, she cannot stop him. But the bullet stops short as Mariko's powers kick into overdrive as her rage against her unfortunate fate grows. When Isobe again threatens her with the remote control for the explosives implanted inside her, she severs the arm holding the cell-phone remote.