Chapter 1: Eight Year Long Wait

Author's Note Part 1: Well guys, here's my second attempt at this. My first one fell through the roof before I had a chance to upload it, but hopefully this one does better. Anyways, you guys can either thank SaroksVenom for this new story, or hate him since it's added this story onto my ever growing pile of unfinished ones sitting in Word Documents on my computer. But, that aside, I suppose that I should get to the actual story.

Well, first off you guys will probably like to know that this takes place between episodes 3 and 4 of Kill La Kill, so for those of you who have watched the anime you should all know what's coming next chapter… And I can tell you it's gonna be just as, if not more, hectic as it was in the episode. Especially since I have modern day reality TV shows to draw ideas and such from!

Now, as for how this story is set up, it's gonna be slightly AU. And for those of you confused by the fact that I stressed slightly, even though this is a Gurren Lagann crossover, you'll understand what I mean when you read through this chapter. However, since I've become "The bastard author that constantly teases his readers about his OC's past", I'm afraid that's all you get to know on the matter… For now.

Anyways, the OC x Ryuko pairing that I've put in here. Now, because I've made it so that this starts after the third episode, it should move along fairly quickly. Along with what I've done with Ryuko's backstory concerning my OC. Also, by "move along fairly quickly", yes I mean to say that there will be Limes in here soon enough, however with how Kill La Kill is set up in terms of sleeping arrangements for everyone, I'm not sure about Lemons yet…

Now, one last piece of information for those of you reading this before I let you get on to actually reading the story itself. During the beginning of this story, my character is going to seem / be fairly OP. However, seeing as this is a crossover of not only Kill La Kill, but also Gurren Lagann, I'd say that it's fairly obvious that the character would have to be a bit OP to survive through everything that happens, and has already happened…

Anyways, that's about all I have to say on the matter for now, so I'll let you guys get to actually reading.

(Alright, I actually want to ask you guys a question as well. See, I only just watched the entirety of Kill La Kill over the past couple days when I'm writing this. (August 30th – 31st, 2015) So, for those of you who are actual Die Hard fans of this series, I want you guys to tell me if I'm making the character's too OOC (Out Of Character) at any point, since at the moment, I won't be able to tell very well.)

3rd Person POV:

Honnouji Academy, a school with a living system that's based off how well the students of the families do at the school, and their rank in terms of their fellow peers. All of which was decided through grades, clubs, and most importantly, fighting. Yes, this school was one that focused on turning everything into combat, whether it be something as normal as tennis, or as obvious as boxing.

At the moment in the Academy, a fairly normal event was occurring. The start of another fight. However, there was one thing that separated this fight from the rest, and it had garnered the attention of every student present, including one Ryuko Matoi. Ryuko is a 17 year old female, with Caucasian skin, azure eyes, and black hair, which had a few strands dyed red in the front just over her left eye.

Her current outfit consists of her Kamui Senketsu, which was in the form of a sailor suit that had been dyed black, while the top part of the article of clothing had apparently been colored so that it looked as though two yellow eyes with red pupils were present, although the one on the right was colored in a way that it looked as though it had been sewn completely shut… At least, that's what it looked like to an outside viewer. However, Ryuko knew better.

Senketsu was an article of clothing that, when fed her blood, could transform into a battle suit that allowed her to receive more damage than a normal human could, and allowed her to put more strength behind her blows. In other words, putting on the suit, and feeding it her blood, allowed Ryuko to gain superhuman abilities. However, the transformation from the sailor suit to battle suit was much more revealing, and up until only a few days beforehand Ryuko had been embarrassed whenever she had to wear it for battle.

Another thing that was important about her Kamui was that it could talk to her. Both mentally as well as physically… However, if you thought about it, the suit really only talked to her mentally, since no one else was able to understand it. And the voice that it used when it talked identified it to be male. A voice that it was currently using to converse with Ryuko as the girl looked down at the courtyard from the window of her classroom.

Ryuko, remember how the night before we fought against Satsuki, I had a feeling that it would happen? He asks his "wearer", making her look down at the lone eye on the shirt, which was currently looking up at her.

"Yeah, I remember Senketsu. Why? Are you feeling it again?" She asks, the eye looking down at the courtyard below as it responds.

Yes, but it's different this time… Almost as if it's not something bad that's coming, but rather something good. He tells Ryuko, getting a large grin from the girl as she does the same as her suit, and looks down at the courtyard.

"Well that's nice. It's about time something good happened for a change. For the past few days it's been nothing but fighting all the posers who challenge me. Not that the fights aren't entertaining. Hell, they're also great stress relievers." She quips, cracking her neck as she says this.

I see your point. However, the feeling that I'm getting seems to be coming from that person down in the courtyard. The one that seems quite adamant about not revealing anything. The Kamui continues, making Ryuko give a "huh?" in response, before looking at the figure that Senketsu was talking about. Just like her Kamui said, the figure was completely obscured from sight.

However, what was curious was what he'd obscured himself with. While Ryuko had blocked off everyone's vision of her form when she first wore Senketsu on her first day at the academy with a random tan cloak that she'd found in the large area under her burnt down mansion, this person was also blocking off everyone's view of themselves with a cloak. However, this one actually had a design on it.

The main color scheme was black, with red flame designs around the bottom, which ended in a style that made it appear as if the fire was actually eating away at the cloth. On the very back of the cloak was a symbol, which looked vaguely like a human skull, which including hair, that was made out of red fire, and had white, triangular sunglasses over where the eyes would be.

Speaking of the design, now that Ryuko had gotten a good look at it, and stopped conversing with her Kamui, she realized that almost everyone around her was talking about it. Some were questioning if it was supposed to mean something to the person themselves, almost like a personal symbol.

Others wondered if it was meant as a show of disrespect to Satsuki since he wasn't showing his Goku uniform. Which if Ryuko was honest, she was partially hoping that it was the second one. However, before she could continue with that train of thought, another person started talking to her from her right as they popped up beside her to look out the window at the person standing in the courtyard below.

"Hey Ryuko! Don't you think that person down there looks super cool like that?!" Mako Mankanshoku says in her usual peppy tone. Mako was a girl that Ryuko had met on her first day at Honnouji Academy, and the two had quickly become friends after the latter saved the prior from being deep fried… Literally. Mako was going to be deep fried in oil, and Ryuko saved her while taking out the boxing club president.

After that happened, Ryuko ended up housing with Mako and her family since the brunette had insisted on Ryuko staying with them after her mother offered. At first, the raven haired girl had been a bit nervous, especially since Mako's father ran a clinic, but had apparently "killed more patients than he saved", and Mako's younger brother was the leader of a "gang" in the area. Only the mother seemed sane, and even she had her random bouts of craziness.

"Yeah, I guess…" Ryuko agrees to her friend's question, still staring down at the cloaked figure as they just stand in the middle of the arena, waiting for their opponent to show up. After a few more seconds of waiting, the mystery person looks around, before finally speaking up as the, somehow, indestructible speakers around the arena caught the person's voice.

"So, if my opponent doesn't show up within the next few minutes, does that mean that I've won? Cause I kinda have someone that I've been dying to meet for the last eight years." The person says, inducing many anime question marks, while at the same time revealing that the one under the cloak was a male. And from the sound of it, somewhere in his late teens.

And if he was like the other students, that meant that he was 17, or possibly 18. In response to his question, a bright light suddenly shined down from atop the tower in the middle of the school, and everyone, sans the new guy and Ryuko, immediately bowed at the presence that stood there.

Standing on the edge of the tower was none other than Satsuki Kiryuin, the student council president of the school. At the moment she was wearing her regular uniform, and not Junketsu, which was her own Kamui that she'd worn a few days prior when she'd faced off against Kyuko when the raven haired teen asked for information about her murdered father. The main reason she was at the Academy to begin with.

"Failure to arrive at the set time of the match will result in a disqualification. However… I believe that your opponent has already arrived." She says the last part with a smirk, and the crowd can see the hood of the cloaked figure tilt, as if the person wearing it had tilted their head to the side in confusion.

"…Well, unless they're flying through the air or digging underground, then I don't see them. In which case, I'd either say you're hallucinating, or they're behind me. And since I really don't want to be kicked out of the school, I'm gonna have to go with one of the other three options." The person quips before he suddenly leaps into the air, back flipping over the person that had walked up behind him, and then lands on the ground behind said person.

"Well would you look at that, I was right with my fourth guess." The supposed teen chuckles, standing to his full height once again as everyone stares at the guy's opponent in surprise. The reason for this was evident, due to the fact that the opponent was none other than the kendo club president. A 17 year old female with short black hair, green eyes, and Caucasian skin.

There was also the fact that the guy had just jumped over a swing she'd attempted that, as far as anyone knew, no one could dodge. Except maybe Ryuko in her Kamui. Satsuki and the Elite Four were givens though.

"Interesting, you managed to evade my attack. And yet I gave no indication that I was even here." The female says, turning to face the cloaked figure, who apparently shrugs if the lifting of the cloak where his shoulders are located was any indication.

"Eh, blame Ms. Student Council President for that. I probably wouldn't have known otherwise, but even if I didn't, I doubt that you could have taken me down with a flimsy swing like that." He says, making one of the female's eyebrows twitch.

"…Flimsy?" She asks with annoyance clear in her tone, and at the sound of it, many students shiver. One of the exceptions being Ryuko as she simply rolls her eyes, and then focuses back on the fight, wanting to see how it would turn out. In response to the girl's question, the guy under the cloak chuckles.

"Yeah, flimsy. I mean, you go through what I have and what you dish out will probably feel like a slap to the wrist. Hell, I probably won't even have to try to beat you. I would've thought that Ms. Kiryuin would have been able to know that right off the bat." He says, and at this point, the president of the kendo club was clenching her bokken so tightly that her knuckles had turned white, and her hair was shadowing her eyes from view.

"…You're dead." The female mutters, and if one could see beneath the shadows that the hood of the cloak created, the students would have seen a smirk appear on the new guy's face.

"Checkmate." He mutters, before raising his voice so that everyone else could hear. "Alright, then come at me with your best shot." He says, remaining beneath the cloak as he goads her on. In response to the sentence, the president of the Kendo club raises her head, and sends a glare at the man standing before her. Then, she grips her bokken as tight as she can and mutters the words that every other kendo student feared.

"Dance of a Thousand Blades." When she mutters this, she takes a step forwards, before she suddenly rushes towards the man at speeds that many of the normal student's couldn't even hope to accomplish, except maybe those in the track club, and Ryuko in her Kamui. Satsuki and the Elite Four would have had no problems however. And yet despite this fact, almost everyone present is shocked at what happens next.

With every swing of the bokken, whether it was aimed at the cloaked figure's chest, legs, arms, neck, head, hands, wrists, ankles, feet, or anywhere else, he dodged it. When the kendo club president had finished, everyone was staring at the figure with wide eyes, and Ryuko had her mouth open since she was the only one who had been able to see him clearly, and see the fact that all he'd done was lean slightly each time as if the president had done nothing but lazily swing at him.

"How… How are you still standing?" The kendo club president asks in complete shock, the figure simply shifting their weight onto one foot.

"How did I dodge the swings you mean? Easily. Compared to what I've faced, your swings are like you were simply waving a hand at me. I mean, you're the club president? That makes me worry about the rest of the club. And this school for that matter, if you can be considered a president." He says, making the female's eye twitch again, before she lets off an enraged yell as she rushes forwards.

However, when she swings the bokken at him once again he simply jumps into the air, making everyone follow his form as he flips, surprisingly still obscuring his form with the cloak, before falling back towards the ground just as the kendo club president looks up to find him falling towards her, making her eyes widen just before he lands on top of her. The impact creates a light dust cloud, obscuring what happened.

After a few seconds the smoke clears, and everyone is able to see the kendo club president knocked out, her bokken lying on the ground next to her as the man in the cloak just stands beside her. "…Next." He says in a bored voice, yet in a way that was meant to tease everyone, before moving towards the bokken, and then doing something that no one expected.

Suddenly he threw the hood off his head and parted his cloak, while at the same time picking up the bokken with his foot, and kicking it up onto his shoulder, where he proceeded to hit one end with his left hand, causing it to spin around his neck, before he caught the hilt in his right hand, allowing the rest of the bokken to lay across his shoulders as he looks up at Satsuki. When the students see the clothes he's wearing, they're even more shocked.

Instead of the regular Goku uniform that the students wore at the academy, sans Ryuko, this person took personal clothing to a whole other level than the raven haired girl. He looked like most of the other students with Caucasian skin, azure eyes and black hair, but he was wearing black combat boots that reached up to his mid-calf area and partially covered the red jeans that he was wearing, a black T-shirt, a red, long sleeved zip-up jacket, and black fingerless gloves. The cloak was still tied around his neck, but it only hid his back now.

However, the interesting thing about his jacket was that it had two green, angled eyes styled onto the chest area, and a large mouth filled with sharp white teeth on the abdomen area. Since the zipper was closed up to just below the eyes, it made it look like he had a large red face on his chest. Not only that, but apparently there was extra black padding on the shoulders too. In the silence that ensued from the reveal, he simply gave a cocky smirk in response.

"Huh, looks like I've gained the attention of pretty much everyone here. Well, I was bound to eventually." He says, the cocky smirk staying in place, and for those that knew him over the past eight years, they'd be reminded of a certain blue haired, red sunglasses wearing man who never gave up on his ambitions, even in death. However at the moment, he was nowhere near those people, and instead surrounded by students who had no idea.

"Now listen up!" He exclaims, succeeding in snapping everyone out of their shocked gazes, but the surprise still lingers as he turns his head while he talks, looking at the different windows that led into every classroom. "I'm not dressed in "school regulations", and I sure as hell know that none of you have any inkling as to what the symbol on my back represents." He begins, everyone's attention completely fixated on him.

"What I can tell you that it's not meant as any form of disrespect to anyone here." He says, looking directly at Satsuki. "However," He continues, turning to look around the courtyard at all the classrooms once again. "This cloak, and this outfit, mean more to me then they will to any of you. And if anyone wants to even try to take them off me by force, they'll have to pry them off my cold, dead body." He tells the student body, getting utter silence in response… Before Satsuki smirks.

A few hours later, the students of Honnouji Academy were exiting the school, talking amongst themselves about the new guy that had arrived. Needless to say, one of the people who was talking about him non-stop was none other than Mako. "-And then, he just jumped over her like ~whoosh!~, before landing. And when he landed, he knocked her out!" The brunette exclaims to Ryuko, who rolls her eyes, though she has a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, I know that Mako. I was watching the fight too, remember?" She asks, making Mako pause in her exclamations as she thinks about what her friend said, before her hands fly up to her cheeks.

"You're right! I completely forgot!" Mako exclaims, getting a light chuckle from Ryuko, before she stops as she looks at the exit to the school. Leaning against left of the two walls was the guy from before, his clothing still in plain view as the cloak still only covers his back. However, at the moment his eyes seem to be looking through all the students leaving.

As Ryuko continues to watch him, his eyes trail over the students, before resting on her. Now that she's closer, she can't help but feel like he looked familiar for some reason. Although, she supposed that it might have just been because he might have been one of the many guys that she beat down during her middle school years. However, the bright smile that he suddenly gets when he sees her makes her think that it might be something else.

As her and Mako get closer, the guy pushes himself off the wall, before walking over towards her. Now, even though Ryuko felt like she knew the guy, that didn't stop her from stepping in front of Mako, and putting a scowl on her face. "Alright asshole, who are you?" She asks, making the guy pause as his smile slips off his face, before he gives a light chuckle.

"Yeah, I suppose that you would ask that, what with it being eight years and all." He says, making Ryuko raise an eyebrow, before she remembers what he'd said earlier.

"So, if my opponent doesn't show up within the next few minutes, does that mean that I've won? Cause I kinda have someone that I've been dying to meet for the last eight years."

"Wait a minute, that friend you were talking about earlier was me? But, I don't even know you!" She exclaims, making the guy chuckle a bit.

"Yeah, eight years can change a guy, can't they. However, you do know me. You just don't recognize me." He tells her, and in response she pulls her Scissor out of her case, and holds it against the guy's throat. But instead of cowering in fear like every other person, besides the people who challenged her, he simply smirks.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Ryuko asks him, though on the inside she's curious since if what he was saying was true, then that would explain why it was that he looked familiar. In response to her question, the guy simply continues to smirk as he pushes the blade away with his finger.

"Yeah, I suppose that I should explain this more in detail so that you don't try to run me through like so many others before you. Guess I should start over then." He says, before stepping away slightly. "Hey Ryuko, good to see you again. Since you obviously don't recognize me, allow me to re-introduce myself. Childhood friend Alexander Kirigaya at your service. Though I do remember telling you to simply call me Alex." He tells her with a smirk.

What he says almost makes Ryuko drop her Scissor, as she stares at the teen before her with wide eyes, taking in everything as memories return to her. Black hair that's styled into spikes, azure colored eyes, that smirk that he always had on his face… "Alex?" She whispers, making the teen in question give her a larger smirk in response.

"Hey Ryuko. Sorry about the eight year separation. Though in my defense, I didn't have a choice in the matter." He tells her as she slips her Scissor back into the case and her trademark smile appears on her face.

"You didn't have a choice, huh? So what, you think you can go eight years without talking to me, suddenly reappear in my life, and become my friend again just like that, huh?" She asks, making him continue to give her the same smirk.

"If I remember you correctly, then yes." He says, making Ryuko chuckle. "However, I do have to admit a couple things. The first, your personality has definitely taken a change, not that it's a bad thing." He says, making Ryuko smirk at him. "And secondly, if I might be so bold as to say, the eight years have been good on you." He says with a cheeky smirk, making Ryuko go wide eyed as her cheeks gain a faint red tint.

"Wha-what the hell?!" She exclaims, making Alex chuckle at her expression.

"Ah man, I see you still get flustered easily." He says, making Ryuko have steam come out of her ears in response as she once again points Scissor at his neck. However, this doesn't do anything as he continues to chuckle. "Though that's definitely a different response. If I remember correctly, all you did before was turn away from me." He says with a smile.

At the smile, Ryuko can't help but chuckle a bit as she remembered those times as well. "You dumbass." She says, before putting Scissor away, and hugging him. After a few seconds, she pulls away from the hug, only to see a serious facial expression on his face.

"Listen Ryuko. I just want to get this out of the way right now… I'm sorry." He tells her, and it makes her raise an eyebrow in confusion. "It's just… I had the ability to return a while ago, but I just… With where I was, I had to stay." He tells her, looking away slightly. "So, yeah, sorry about not returning earlier." He tells her. What he says makes Ryuko raise an eyebrow, but before anything else can be said, the "third wheel" of this situation starts talking once again.

"Whoa, so the new guy is a friend of yours Ryuko?! That's so cool! Say, if he doesn't have a place to sleep, then he can stay with you! Which means that he can stay with us!" Mako exclaims, bringing the two's attention to her as she gives them both a wide smile. In response, they both blink, before Alex looks over at his childhood friend.

"New friend of yours Ryuko?" He asks, making her nod in response. "Huh, well I'll admit this much, it's nice to see someone with that much energy…" He says with a smile, though Ryuko can't help but notice a glint in his eye when he says that. And it wasn't a happy glint either. No, this one told her that her childhood friend had been through some tough times since their separation… Perhaps even more tough than her losing her father…

A couple hours later, Alex can be seen sitting at the dining table in the Mankanshoku family house between Ryuko and Mako, looking down at the croquets on the large plate in the middle of the table while the other people sitting there scarf down their food… Including the dog. Suddenly, Mako leaned over so that she could look straight at him with a large smile on her face.

"Eat up! My mom is the best cook in town!" She exclaims, before shoving more of the croquets into her mouth as Ryuko does the same on his right.

"She's not wrong. These things are great!" Ryuko tells her childhood friend between bites. In response, Alex lets a small smile appear on his face as he uses chopsticks to pick up one of the croquets in question, a fish head sticking out of it.

"Hey, after trying Nia's cooking, I can eat practically anything." He says, putting the whole things into his mouth without a problem, and chewing it up before swallowing. "And you're not wrong either!" He exclaims, grabbing more and putting it onto his plate… Before grabbing the dog's ear as it tries to eat some, twisting it, and then flinging it to the ground. At this, most of the people at the table look at him in surprise.

"Whoa! No one's ever been able to stop Guts on their first try! How'd you do that?!" The Mankanshoku's son Matarou exclaims in surprise, and Alex looks towards him with a smirk.

"After eating like I was forced to about… Oh, seven and a half years ago, I'd say that I could stop just about anyone from stealing my food." He tells the kid, but for the second time that day, Ryuko notices the sad glint in his eyes when he says this. However, she decides to wait on that, and instead see if he was telling the truth. So, she continues eating her food… Before suddenly reaching towards his plate at a speed that none of the Mankanshoku's could follow.

But before her chopsticks could even touch his food, they were stopped by his own, before the rest of the food on his plate was picked up by said chopsticks, and tossed into his mouth. Everyone stares at him in shock, before he lets off a burp. "Like I said, I've learned how to stop just about anyone from stealing my food. That means even you Ryuko. So good luck stealing my food like you did when we were kids." He tells her with a smile, making her frown in response.

"I still think that I can take your food you asshole." She mutters, though she had a faint blush in her cheeks when she was reminded of their childhood. Unfortunately for her, Alex noticed.

"Oh? Your cheeks are a little red Ryuko. You wouldn't happen to be getting a fever, would you?" He teases, and the red tint gets clearer.

"Sh-shut up!" She exclaims, crossing her arms and turning away from him, making him laugh in response as he stands up, picking up his plate as he stands.

"Alright, alright." He says as he turns to Barazou and Sukuyo Mankanshoku, the father and mother of the family. "Oh, uh, where's the kitchen. The least I can do for you guys letting me eat here is clean the table." He says. However, they simply smile at him in response.

"Oh, don't worry about that. As the mother, it's my duty to do that." Sukuyo tells him. But Alex shakes his head.

"No, I insist. Now come on, where's the kitchen?" He asks them with a small smile.

"Oh, alright. It's just through that sheet right there." Sukuyo tells him, pointing at a doorway that had a sheet hanging in it to separate the room behind it from the dining room.

"Alright. Everyone else done?" He asks, getting nods in return, Ryuko doing so with her face still slightly flushed, and within a few seconds, Alex has everyone's plates and cups on the croquet plate, which he holds in his right hand. "I'll be right back after I put these in the sink." He tells them, walking through the curtain and into the kitchen.

As soon as he's gone, the Mankanshoku family immediately turns to face Ryuko, who stares back at them. "…Uh, what?" She asks, only for Mako and Sukuyo to get large grins on their faces.

"You like him, don't you Ryuko?" Mako asks with her usual grin, and in response, Ryuko's whole face practically lights up.

"Wh-what?! No! Of course I don't!" She denies. However, it doesn't seem to work as the two girls simply continue smiling, Sukuyo clasping her hands.

"Ah I get it, childhood sweethearts. You two must care a lot for one another." The mother says, and Ryuko's face only gets brighter. "Well then, that settles it." She continues, and Ryuko looks at her in confusion.

"That settles what?" She asks as Sukuyo turns towards the kitchen.

"Alex?" She says, and a few seconds later, the teen in question walks back through the sheet.

"Yes Ms. Mankanshoku?" He asks her as he walks over to sit beside Ryuko once again, noticing out of the corner of his eyes that her face was still flushed.

"I wanted to know if you had a place to stay." She asks him, and in response he shakes his head. "Well then you can stay here with us." She says. At that, Ryuko's face suddenly becomes a bright red at what that would mean, while Alex gives a small frown.

"Well, I'm thankful for the offer, but I wouldn't want to impose on you guys." He says, only to be waved off by Barazou.

"Nah, its fine. After all, it'll be nice to have another guy in the house. We won't be outnumbered by the ladies anymore." He says, Matarou nodding in agreement.

"Well… If you guys are sure…" He says a bit hesitantly, since like he'd told them, he didn't want to be a burden to them.

"Great! You can sleep with me and Ryuko! It'll be awesome having Ryuko's friend around!" Mako exclaims, making Ryuko turn to face her with wide eyes.

"Eh?!" She exclaims, and Alex holds up his hands.

"Whoa. I'm not too sure about that. I mean, I'm a guy." He tells Mako, only for the brunette to shake her head.

"Nope! It's fine! After all, you and Ryuko are friends, although Ryuko blushing makes me think that she wants to be more than that, so sleeping in the same room should be fine!" She exclaims, and at her words, Ryuko does indeed get another flush to her face while Alex blinks in surprise, before turning to face his fellow raven haired friend.

"Ryuko? Mako says its fine, but since you're in the room as well, what do you think?" He asks his friend, making her think it over as she stares down at the table in an attempt to hide her blush as well as she can.

"No, it's fine. You can sleep with us." She tells him with a mutter.

"Ryuko? Are you sure? I mean, if you're not, then I could just-" However, he's cut off.

"I said it was fine!" Ryuko exclaims as she looks up at him, revealing her red face, before she blinks when she realizes what she did, and looks back down at the table. "You can sleep with us… Anyways, I'm gonna go take a bath." She tells everyone, standing up to do just that. At the word "bath" all the males in the room immediately perk up. However, Alex shakes his head after a few seconds and remains seated as his friend leaves the room.

After a few seconds of sitting there and thinking about his own stuff, he notices how Barazou, Matarou, and Guts all push themselves up from the table, and start to make their way towards the door that Ryuko had exited. In response, Alex's eyes gain a glint, before he's suddenly standing in front of them with a wide grin on his face, and a pair of red, triangular sunglasses held in his right hand.

"Now just where do you three think that you're going?" He asks them. "I might be a guest here, but know this. You will not try to peek on Ryuko." He says, flicking his sunglasses, and making them leave a fairly large cut in the wood next to him, the gash clear to the three standing before him, and making them nod as quickly as they can. In response, Alex gives them all a wide smile as he closes his eyes to make it seem wider.

"Good. Now I believe that you three have a mother and wife to thank for the lovely meal." He says, the three quickly sprinting over to bow in front of Sukuyo.

"Thank you for the wonderful meal." They say in unison, Guts "saying" it by going "Guts!", and making the woman laugh lightly into her hand at the three in front of her. At the sight, Alex lets a smile appear on his face, before turning to face Mako, who's staring at him with a wide smile on her face.

"What is it?" He asks, his smile still in place.

"You must really care about Ryuko if you didn't go and peek on her. And you stopped them from doing it too!" She says, making Alex chuckle as he looks over his shoulder at where he assumed the bathroom was.

"Yeah, I do… You know, it hurt, those eight years of being away from her. But now… Well, I want to make it up to her for the time I was gone." He says, Mako nodding beside him with her smile still in place.

"Then you should tell her how you feel!" The brunette exclaims, making Alex turn to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I think I've gotten across fairly well with the teasing Mako. In all honesty, I'm leaving it up to her for how far we go. I've been away from her for eight years. Heck, she's probably already got a boyfriend by now." He says with a sigh, only for Mako to shake her head.

"Nope! The only thing that the guys at the Academy want to do is stare at her whenever she fights! Her outfit changes and becomes this awesome battle suit that she uses, and when it happens all the guys try to look at her because it hardly covers anything!" She exclaims. At that, Alex's eyes widen, before they narrow.

"They want to look at her, huh?" He asks as a glint appears in his eyes. However, this one is neither happy, nor sad. This one promises pain for the people that Mako was talking about. However, he shakes his head to clear his thoughts after a few seconds. "Even so, being gone for eight years, I've missed stuff. If she wants to get together with me, great. If not, then I'd understand completely." He tells the brunette, before shaking his head once again. "Anyways, why don't you lead me to our room?" He asks.

"Okie-dokie!" Mako exclaims, before jumping up and leading him towards the bedroom that her and Ryuko slept in.

What Alex didn't know was just how small the house was, and that Ryuko had heard everything that was said between her childhood friend and her new friend, and was blushing up a storm inside the bathtub. "Alex…" She mutters, listening to Mako tell her friend all about her battles from the past few days and his laughter, which to her sounded like the most wonderful thing in the world after going eight years without hearing it.

Do I really want to get into that kind of relationship though? I mean, I'm here to find out about who killed my father… She thinks, before scoffing. But once I tell Alex, he's gonna be set on finding out just as much as I am… He's always been like that. Putting me before himself… She admits, thinking back on all the times that he'd done stuff simply because she wanted to, or because it was important to her. Even if most of the time it was simply games or eating whatever it was that she wanted to when he visited.

And as she continues to take her bath, she realizes that showed just how much she meant to him. How much her happiness meant to him. The thought makes her smile, but at the same time it makes her face flush once again as she gives a huff of irritation. "And to think that I was able to get over being naked a few days ago. Now I can't even keep myself composed in front of him… Stupid childhood crush…" She mutters as she continues to take her bath, her thoughts centered on the friend that had returned to her life after disappearing when the two were 9 years old…

Author's Note Part 2: Yeah, I know you guys probably have quite a few questions now that you've read this chapter, what with all the info that I've given you so far. So let me answer a couple of them for you as well as I can without giving away as much as I already have.

1: Ryuko and Alex are childhood friends, who knew each other for a while before Alex disappeared for reasons unknown to Ryuko. And as stated in the last paragraph, Alex is the same age as Ryuko.

2: During their time together as kids, Ryuko and Alex each had a crush on the other, but were too shy to admit to it. (And if you don't believe Ryuko would act like this, think about her explanation of her past personality to Mako during the episode where the two are at her burnt down mansion when she goes there to find out more about her father.)

3: Just a bit of a disclaimer here. Alex's last name "Kirigaya" does come from Kazuto Kirigaya from SAO. However, he has no connection whatsoever, and it was just one of the few Japanese surnames that I know of that I thought would sound good with "Alexander" as a first name.

Anyways, I think those are all the questions that you guys might have (that I can answer at the moment), so now let's get to what happened in the actual chapter, and not only the backstory of my character.

So in the first chapter, I've introduced my OC Alexander Kirigaya, who's childhood friends with Ryuko. Now, for those of you who are complaining about how fast the pairing is moving, just deal with it since I thought of this even before I wrote it down. And as the saying goes, "Distance makes the heart grow fonder" or something like that.

So, put together the fact that they had a crush on each other, and Alex suddenly disappeared for no reason, it made it so that Ryuko missed him more than she would have normally, and caused her feelings to steadily grow, while the same was true for Alex during their time apart from one another.

Also, in terms of OP-ness for Alex, it shouldn't take much to guess why he's gonna be OP from the hints that I've given you this chapter. Heck, the biggest hint of all wasn't so much of a hint so much as a "this is going to be happening sometime over the next couple chapters". But anyways, the other hints should give you a good idea as to what he's gone through, and fans of the Gurren Lagann series should already know…

Anyways, I think that's about all I have to say for this Author's Note. So, thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this, and I hope to see you all in the next chapter!