- Love and War -
Ryuko turned the ornate doorknob and slowly peeked into the study, rapping on the door as she opened it. She cautiously scanned the room, trying to see if this was the right study this time. 'Pfft. Like you even need more than one study, ya big nerd?" she quietly snorted to herself with a slight smirk.
"Hello, Satsuki? Oi! You here?" she called out into the vast and elaborate chamber. 'Oh man, is this the right one or what?' she thought to herself, being a bit aggravated at the imposing size of the Kiryuin mansion and its many, many rooms. She heard the echoing click of heels quickly approach as Satsuki swung around the corner, and for the briefest of moments Ryuko watched as a baleful glare of reproach gave way to a gleam of relief.
"Ah, it's you. I was hoping that I didn't have to repeat myself again about being disturbed." Satsuki stated with a hint of annoyance.
"Naw. I just figured I'd barge in, see what you were up to and stuff. I told Soroi it was cool. He took some convincing, but…" Ryuko flexed her arms in an absurdly heroic pose. "I got past the boss at the door, using my cunning and wits!" she exclaimed triumphantly, flashing a sly grin at her sister.
"Hmm. Yes, I see. I applaud your resolve." Satsuki deadpanned, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Ryuko stuck her tongue out playfully as she moved in close and quickly slid her arms around her sister's stiff posture. She gave her a brief hug, but withdrew as she noted Satsuki's reaction, or lack of it. Suddenly feeling awkward, she cautiously sized up her sister's current attitude.
"Uh, is everything okay? I mean, you seem…uh, like not exactly happy to see me? You said I could stop by so we could catch up, and I thought that-" Ryuko mumbled, unsure if her token affection was somehow offensive. It wasn't like the recent memories of being sworn enemies and battling each other with earth-shattering force were soon forgotten.
"No, it's…not you. Please, sit down. I am glad to see you, truly." Satsuki gestured to a large mahogany desk, just around the corner of the study's main entrance. "I'm just a bit overworked and overwhelmed by certain responsibilities. As the acting CEO of REVOCS, I need to ensure that the transition to a post-COVERS world is a controlled and successful one. There is much paperwork involved in such an undertaking. I must succeed if I am to undo the damage that was done."
Ryuko plopped into the leather chair sideways and stretched out. "Now this is comfy! I should use one of these for my gaming sessions!" she exclaimed, while Satsuki brought two steaming cups of tea over to the desk.
"Wouldn't you just throw it out the window in frustration when you lost one of said sessions, dear? I feel as though you perhaps might want to stick to those simple wooden ones instead?" she said with a faint smile as she set down the cups, watching with amusement as Ryuko slammed her fist onto the desk's surface and shouted "I do no such thing! I would have to lose for that to happen, and that doesn't happen! Goddammit! I kick all their asses!" Teaspoons jangled in their saucers as the force of her outburst shook the desk.
"Of course. I could not see you losing gracefully." Satsuki evenly stated. Ryuko stared at her, fuming with gritted teeth. "Oh, like you, the great Kiryuin Satsuki, would enjoy losing to a lesser talent?" she hissed, still trying to decide if her sister's comment was meant to be a barbed insult or just dismissive.
"If I ever lose, I see it as a learning opportunity. I use the experience to improve my performance. I would, however, not waste time or energy getting angry. Especially if it is only a game." Satsuki rubbed the bridge of her nose, eyes shut as she tried to force away her stress headache away through sheer resolve.
Ryuko's face relaxed, forgetting her flare up of extreme competitiveness and the fiery attitude that accompanied it. She leaned forward, and hesitatingly asked "Hey…you okay? I didn't mean to get all riled up and excited and crap like that. I'm just checking to see how yer doin' since they released you from the hospital. I thought you said you were all healed?"
Satsuki glanced at her sister's furrowed brow and worried stare. She straightened up and put on a pleasant face. Smiling faintly, she chirped "I'm just fine. Thank you for your concern. I appreciate it." Ryuko's head tilted as she regarded this sudden change in Satsuki's attitude. "Huh. That's pretty good." she stated out loud, matter-of-factly.
"Pretty good? What are you referring to, Ryuko?" she said, one of her eyebrows raised in a quizzical manner.
"It's like you think you're good at poker. You think you can control your expressions, and someone who didn't know you would believe that face. But you haven't ever actually played poker…have you, Sats?" Ryuko reached over and gently placed her hand on Satsuki's, watching as she noted the almost imperceptible tensing of her sister's already stiff form.
"I am more of a chess person, myself" Satsuki uttered, her eyes fixated on the hand that was caressing hers. She slowly raised her gaze to Ryuko's own. Glistening blue eyes full of concern and worry stared back at her, unblinking.
She did not move to react, and it was only after spots started swimming in her vision that she noticed her own breathing had stopped when Ryuko's fingers made contact with her skin. "Hey, Sats. You can talk to me, y'know? If anything is wrong, I can help. I know that things have been weird lately, but we've both lived very weird lives, right? I promise I can relate to that!"
Satsuki exhaled, controlling her breathing to make it seem as though it hadn't imprisoned inside her for far too long. "Ah, well. I suppose I have been distracted by all the events that have transpired in these past few months. I haven't really been allowed much time to reflect…or absorb…" Her eyes grew distant and unfocused, distracted by the threat of lurking memories that she had been forever keeping at bay.
She was cut off by the sensation of hands, caressing her tightly corded neck muscles in firm yet smooth motions. Satsuki gasped and sat upright, her right hand blurring into the desk drawer that contained Bakuzan Gako. She gripped the ebon blade tightly as she swerved around in her chair, only for another hand to deftly grip her wrist in an iron grasp.
"Sats! Holy hell! It's just me! I'm sorry! Don't come at me with that fucking can opener!" Ryuko spluttered, her cobalt eyes wide with panic as she warily regarded the blade clenched in her sister's trembling fist. Satsuki froze, her vision swimming with frenzied shapes that soon formed into a recognizable visage: her sister's fearful expression. The gleaming tantō clattered on the desk, the sound startling her into gasping out loud. Eyes wide, she slowly relaxed her screaming muscles, feeling the sharp sensation of aching bones and soreness flood back into her awareness. A hot tear slid out from her right eye, streaking a wet trail down her cheek.
"Ryuko…I am so…very sorry…I didn't m-mean. Mean…I f-felt the…ah-" Satsuki stammered, trying desperately to regain her shattered composure. A swell of cold shame writhed within as she realized her indomitable mask of iron was precariously slipping. Her breath hitched as her sides buckled, traitorous sobs escaping unbidden from her chest. 'No! No, I will not allow it! This will not happen! Not in front of her! Remember who you are!' her mind savagely screamed, but her treasonous body simply would not listen.
Ryuko fell to her knees in a panic, grabbing her elder sister's shaking form as she hunched precariously over the edge of the office chair. Satsuki's hand shot out to grab the desk but found her sister's shoulder instead. She clamped down with incredible force, unintentionally enveloping Ryuko's deltoid with a claw of steel. Ryuko gasped at the unexpected strength of the grip, yelling out "Ow, Sats! God dammit! Let go! Ffffuck! That hurts!"
Her fingers white with strain, Satsuki look down and uttered a strangled choke as she saw what she was doing. She forced her hand to tear away from Ryuko's throbbing shoulder, tears streaming freely from her downcast face. Her nails painfully dug into her palm as she stared at her guilty fist, her mind wondering from afar why her body would rebel like this. The sensation of piercing in her palm brought her focus back, as she slowly adjusted to her current situation.
Rivulets of blood slowly seeped into her upturned palm as she finally managed to withdraw nails from flesh. She stared at the crimson trickling from crescent-shaped gashes in her skin, stunned into mortified silence as she tried to gather her wits and process just what happened.
Shoulder throbbing, Ryuko shakily rose to her feet. She was about to utter a sarcastic jab at her sister about being a freaking lunatic when her jaw dropped open. She couldn't believe the hunched over, trembling form that was now before her was the very same proud, confident soldier she came to visit. "Fuck. What just happened? My God, you're hurt! Shitshitshityou'rebleeding!" she blurted, rushing over to comfort her wounded sibling.
Satsuki just stared vacantly at her sister, shell shocked and too shamed to speak. She let her perfect mask slip and now Ryuko could see her exposed as the fraud she was…throat too swollen to croak out a plausible excuse for her shameful actions. Cheeks and ears flushed a deep scarlet, her eyes glittered with moisture as the Kiryuin heir was racked with pained spasms.
Her mind's fury boiled poisonously under the surface, screaming out a litany of insults. 'SHAME! You fucking FAILURE! Weak! Foolish damned PIG!' her mind screamed, cursing the unforgiveable transgressions of her rebellious body for disobeying her formerly indomitable will. Her pounding pulse formed a dull, whooshing roar in her ears as she slumped over, weeping listlessly.
She looked up wearily as Ryuko rushed back, arms full of first aid supplies from the office bathroom. She knelt in front of her elder sister's chair, gently taking charge of treating Satsuki's lacerated palm. Ryuko grimaced as she ripped open an alcohol pad and pressed it into her sister's outstretched palm. "I'm sorry, I know this hurts, I have to do this, please don't be mad" she mumbled in what was hoped to be a gentle, reassuring tone.
Ryuko wasn't very good at being on this side of triage. She was more used to being the wounded one, always wincing and squirming when someone stitched up her numerous battle injuries or even worse, jabbing her with a ghastly syringe. She was a terrible patient, she thought. 'Probably have to actually have patience to be a good one, maybe? I dunno' she mused idly. She taped a large gauze pad over the wounds and then carefully pressed her hand into Satsuki's. "Ah, I'm not sure if these need stitches. We might have to bring you over to a clinic so someone better than me at this can—"
Satsuki cut her off, finger held to Ryuko's lips sternly. She drew in a deep breath, straightened herself into a semblance of rigid control and whispered "Please accept my deepest apology for my behavior", her eyes closed to deliver the statement. She couldn't yet bear her sister's direct gaze. She was still searching through the ruined wreckage of her composure for the will to do so when she felt a series of soft strokes, wiping away moisture from her still-burning face.
"Look. I don't know exactly what just happened, but I swear that I will fucking destroy whatever is responsible for this. Just point the way." Ryuko growled as she shook her fist, flexing her arms in preparation to annihilate her sister's unseen enemies. Satsuki opened her eyes, and was greeted by the welcome vision of her sister, her protector, glowing with a radiating red sparkly light.
"You already did." Satsuki declared quietly.
"Bwuh? But…huh? I did?" Ryuko said with uncertainty. Finding herself precariously poised over her sister's vulnerable internal mechanisms, she relaxed the 'immediately-kick-everyone's-ass/decide-if-it-was-proper-later' pose that she was accustomed to relying on for so much of her life. Better to not carelessly drop a tool into the hood of this fearsome yet delicate machine, Ryuko sensed.
"I just have to find a way to realize this. To let it sink in. That she is finally dead." Satsuki's eyes narrowed to intense slits. "The Wicked Witch is dead." she spat with a hateful sneer, lip unconsciously curling to show gleaming white canines.
"Wait. You mean…Ragyo? Um…I didn't really kill her, myself. She kinda took the coward's way out, you know? She offed herself before I could kill the fucking bitch. I mean, I'm not gonna argue with the results, but I…I do kinda wish she had faced more of a punishment for what she did. She deserved worse than she got. She gets off light while we continue to suffer, I guess. She was fucking radioactive!"
Ryuko cautiously moved towards her big sister. Satsuki drew up into her superior self and flinched ever so slightly as a hug enveloped her in an earnest warmth that she had never really experienced before. Satsuki slowly embraced her younger sister, forcing herself to breathe normally. Coiled tension seeping out of her aching spine, she found her body rebelling against her commands once more as she hugged Ryuko back in an increasingly tight embrace. Her breasts squeezed against her sibling's, and Ryuko let out a small squeak of "Whoa. You're strong like an anaconda there, sis!"
Satsuki released her grip and allowed Ryuko to breathe again. "Ah, sorry about that, I don't know what or where—" "God dammit, Sats. You don't have to rationalize caring. Jeez! Lighten up, ya big dork!" Ryuko rolled her eyes then bit her lower lip playfully, and snorted "It's nice to see you loosen up that diamond ass of yours for once, yeah?"
"You…Matoi…you…" Satsuki's animated eyebrows danced back and forth, struggling to win the tug of war between feigned disapproval and genuine appreciation. She sighed, and a slight smirk was allowed to spread across her face. "You are quite infuriating at times. I believe that is your secret power, imouto."
Ryuko beamed. "Ha! I take my victories when I can, however I can. Your smile has made this battle worth it!" She suddenly adopted a serious, intense look. "But, let it be known that there will be a war. A war that I will win! This I promise! I will stop at nothing to defeat your sadness!" she exclaimed, swinging exaggerated fist pumps in her sister's direction.
"Yes, I see. I believe you. You, Matoi Ryuko, are stubborn and crazy enough to undertake this mission." Satsuki ruefully admitted. She sat back down, trying to allow her body to relax. She could feel gravity actively working against her, as tiredness made her limbs feel leaden. She slowly sank into the leather chair's supple folds, the energy to sit up in her usual ramrod posture expended in the fight against her rebelling emotions. She surrendered, knowing that this particular battle was a regretful loss in her war journal.
Ryuko mounted her own chair and spun it around in a lazy circle. As she twirled around slowly, her beaming grin gave way to a more concerned look. "So. Now that I proooobably won't lose my head to a sword strike, mind telling me exactly what I did to cause all of this?" Satsuki glared at her, stung by the evocative language her sister casually used. Ryuko immediately sensed that she had stepped on a sensitive nerve, and her face fell. "Oh God. What the fuck is wrong with me? I didn't mean to say it that way! I'm so stupid! Sats, I'm sorry!"
Satsuki briefly looked down at her desk, then raised her head up again. "It is okay, Ryuko. You did not mean it. I know this." She absentmindedly traced the curve of her Bakuzan Gako blade, noting that the edge was still as razor sharp as it ever was. "It's amazing what this sword has endured, don't you think?" she said thoughtfully, reflecting upon the near-orgasmic feeling she experienced as her keen blade sliced through Raygo's neck that day. "It was once shattered, yet even now still serves as a reforged weapon. A testament to tenacity, I suppose."
She grimaced as the euphoric memory of ending her mother's reign of terror was snuffed out, the incomprehensible terror of that godforsaken creature's unexpected survival drowning out even the horrifically brutal beating she suffered immediately afterwards.
Ryuko watched as her sister turned the blade over in her hands. She smiled wanly and softly said "Yeah. Put back together again by the people who love and respect you. It's too unique and irreplaceable, y'know? Priceless, even. You can't just toss it out because it cracked once." She paused, and a mess of black and crimson bangs obscured her face as her voice became low and guttural. "It's too f-fucking precious to lose."
Satsuki was a bit taken aback at the astute wisdom embedded in the comment her uncouth sister just made. She casually glanced across at her sibling, and a streak of heartache flared in her chest when she saw the stream of tears peeking out from Ryuko's unruly mop of hair. Ryuko looked up suddenly, and shining droplets flew from her cheeks as she shouted out "I can't ever hurt you again! Please, just tell me what it was! I will never do it again, I swear! I'll be a better sister! The best! I'll learn how, I'll make you proud of me! I know I'm not a perfect angel, but I can't live with the idea that I hurt you."
She fixed her steely eyes on Satsuki's surprised expression, lip trembling slightly. "Look, I l-love you, okay? You're my n-n-nee-san! There, I said it! See? I just need help understanding you. What you've been through. I know it h-hurts, okay? I've been there!" She sniffled, then sighed and mumbled "Look, I've seen your hospital charts, okay? Your records? I know that you were hurt way worse than you admitted to anyone. I can sniff out a tough guy act from a mile away, believe me. So I peeked. I know about those muscle tears. The skeletal fractures. The nerve damage that fighting her caused. That wearing fucking Junketsu caused. All of it."
Satsuki just stared. A whirlwind of thoughts raced through her mind, unable to choose from panic, fear, shame and anger. At her sister for snooping around. At Raygo, for creating her own private hell on Earth. At herself, for being weak and allowing these events to transpire. At herself for stumbling, showing momentary weakness in front of another. She quietly whispered "What of it? I endured. It was necessary. For the sake of this entire planet, I endured. I had to…the stakes were too high. This I understood, even at an early age."
Satsuki reached into her desk drawer and methodically produced a cut crystal decanter and two exquisite tumblers. She placed these on the desk, and then strode over to the study's door. It was locked with a loud snap as Ryuko watched her sister wordlessly stalk back across the room like an African carnivore stalking its hapless prey. Ice cubes clinked into the tumblers as Ryuko murmured with a small voice "Sats…? You…uhh…drink? Like, the hard stuff?"
"No. I do not." Satsuki said firmly with a steady, low voice. She reached out to grasp the decanter and slowly pried off the stopper. A strong, medicinal smell filled the room as the deep amber liquid cascaded into Ryuko's glass, then her own. She then thoughtfully studied the decanter in her hands, watching the day's last dying sunlight reflect diffuse sparkle patterns on the desk. "This belonged to my-our father."
Ryuko breathed in sharply, the involuntary action drawing in some of the liquor's potent fumes. She hesitatingly sniffed the glass, and looked back up to her sister's neutral gaze. "Okay. So…why, then? Why now? You're not, like, using this to get through-" Satsuki abruptly cut her off. "Because he is not here to do so. Someone needs to toast to his ultimate victory. He won the greatest victory of all time, you realize. He set in motion the gamble, the plan to save us all."
Satsuki raised her glass and tapped it to Ryuko's own. "To sacrifice." She murmured softly, then carefully sipped a bit of the drink as Ryuko muttered "To dad!"…and then downed the entire glass in one gulp.
"Ryuko! This is cognac! It's supposed to be sipped slowly!" Satsuki admonished, her mouth agape in shock as she watched Ryuko comically shake her head, tongue lolling out as she gasped and coughed. "Coulda…said…that…before, sis!" she choked out, still spluttering from the burning fire in her throat. "Whoo! Tastes like fucking Listerine! Damn!"
Satsuki sighed, placing her tumbler neatly on the carved walnut coaster on her desk. She drummed her fingers in a staccato of rapid, pointed reports as her young sister smirked sheepishly. "Sorry, I thought it was some cheap whiskey or somethin', didn't check first, I guess. That'll learn me, right?" She giggled, as the warmth spread through her belly. "Awwww, I can feel the love!" she blurted out, then started chortling like a hyena as a small grin appeared on Satsuki's otherwise stern face.
'No propensity to change her ways, acts before thinking, and is outright rebellious at times! Why act surprised at this particular turn of events, Kiryuin?' Satsuki lectured herself, sighing again as Ryuko snorted and hiccupped.
"I suppose in retrospect I should have made it clear what it was. I will know better in the future, to keep you out of trouble. Someone has to, I believe. You just plunge into danger headfirst without considering the consequences, do you not?"
Ryuko paused in her mirthfulness, sides aching as her peals of laughter echoed off the study's cavernous walls. "Yeah, I do. Always have. Reckless fucker, ain't I? So what, it's only pain. I'm used to it." She examined her knuckles intently, lost in the memories of countless fights caused at the drop of a hat.
The raw emotion of her statement was not lost on Satsuki. "I think you like it, Ryuko. The pain, I mean." she carefully prodded, and was not entirely surprised to hear Ryuko quietly respond with "Yeah. Yeah, I do."
Her eyes darted up to Satsuki's, deadly serious. "It helps me feel something. Good attention, bad attention…whatever. Been begging for attention since I can remember, I guess. I'll take whatever I can get. But that's not the fucking point about what makes me cream my panties, is it?" she spat out through clenched teeth while stabbing her index finger at her crotch, causing Satsuki to flinch at the unexpectedly heated response. "Change the fucking subject again and I swear I will beat it out of you, Kiryuin Satsuki. Answer. My. Question." She punctuated her last three words with punches of a clenched fist into her open palm. Satsuki flinched, as if hot embers landed on her skin.
Her eyes widened. "Ryuko! Imouto-san, I didn't mean to imply that you—" "Hey. Stop with that apology shit. You want to make it up to me? Just answer me. Please?" Ryuko said softly, pleading with eyes that hinted of tears if she didn't get her way. She then smiled, and wryly commented "Hey, Sats. I guess I've let slip some embarrassing shit about myself, right? I'm dropping all my dirty laundry off tonight, I guess I should watch my drinking or whatever. Only fair to spill some of yours, too. Deal?"
Satsuki's shoulders slumped back into her chair, being both verbally and emotionally checkmated. "All right, fine. Deal. What I tell you is for your ears only, I hope you understand. I have perhaps…hinted to a few trusted associates in my life about some of the things I have endured…but no one has ever been directly told these facts. Is that understood?"
Her piercing stare was directed at her sister, eyebrows curved up in what she calculated as a firm yet pleading gesture. Ryuko's hand snaked across the desk and gripped Satsuki's palm, nudging her tumbler and splashing a fine spray of cognac on her knuckles in the process. "I swear to you, sis. I will never breathe to another soul anything you tell me in confidence. I just want to help you. This I solemnly swear to you, Lady Kiryuin Satsuki."
Satsuki closed her eyes, then pressed her sister's hand back as she steeled herself. Quelling the grip of cold-as-glass fear inside her spine, she stated in a steady, monotone voice "The first orgasm I ever experienced was at the hands of Kiryuin Ragyo, Head CEO of REVOCS. I was eleven years old. I did not have a choice in the matter. She had been touching me for several years prior to this. It was part of her brainwashing method to prepare me as her heir. Part of the process that she referred to as…purification. It was a practice intended to break down my resistance to life fibers… to make me more susceptible to my inevitable physical possession by that damned 'wedding' kamui of mine. The guilt and shame I have felt from this has led me to become a soulless tyrant. An inhuman dictator. A cold weapon, forged for the sole purpose of destroying an unholy alien abomination."
Satsuki paused, briefly marveling at how easy it was to encapsulate her existence in such a simple and efficient manner. No tears of weakness escaped her eyes. She allowed herself to feel a tiny modicum of pride mixed with relief from not completely breaking down at the words she just heard herself utter. Finding a scrap of pride still remaining at this point was small comfort, though. Satsuki slowly opened her eyes, a wash of vertigo surging as she focused on bracing for her younger sister's reaction.
Ryuko let out an involuntary gasp. Her fingers trembled as she squeezed Satsuki's hand harder, tears pouring freely from her sparkling blue eyes. "P-purity…Junketsu? I used to insult you with that word when we fought! Oh, Sats. I had no idea how much that must have hurt. I didn't know…I…she—" She stopped abruptly, clutching at her jackhammering heart. "That f-fucking…monster! She did this to her…own child. No. Ch-children! You. M-me! She, she…that soulless fucking cunt! GrrraaaAAAAAAH!"
Ryuko raised up and hurled her empty tumbler at the direction of the far window with unfathomable fury. Her anger proved to be supersonic: as the crystal tumbler left her hand and made contact with what was supposed to be bulletproof glass, it made a piercing *kshCRACK!* sound as a molten spray of sparks arced away from the newly appearing spiderweb pattern. A terrifying roar of frustration burst forth from the young Matoi's throat, raging steel tendons and veins bulging as she shook with boiling anger.
Satsuki stood there, impassively observing her sister's meltdown. She reached out with her good hand, gently intertwining her outstretched fingers with Ryuko's trembling, frenzied fist. Ryuko froze, opened her eyes and gaped at her sister's unnerving calmness. Satsuki firmly urged "Stop, Ryuko. Please…just stop!" to her enraged sibling. Ryuko felt the rage dissipate at the first nudge of this gentle touch; rage was transformed to intense waves of bitter sorrow and remorse. Clutching at her sister's chest, she bawled out a string of obscenities as she weakly pounded at her sister's shoulder. "How can you…b-be so…calm? You've endured the most horrifying atrocities and you are just…like this? What she did to me, that fucking mind rape…she did that to you for what, a fucking decade? Sats, how?"
Satsuki met her gaze, motionless and expressionless. She opened her mouth and softly formed words…but nothing came out. Steeling herself, she tried again and was able to croak out "Now you know more about me than anyone has ever known. Even Soroi. Now you have an idea of the sacrifice…the responsibility I vowed to shoulder, no matter what. Why I'm such a soulless fucking monster. I made myself that to fight..it. The alien creature that took our mother's shape." Satsuki whispered solemnly as she drew close to Ryuko's tear-stained face. "Ragyo was going to destroy the entire world. I had no choice. Please…please forgive me. I did what I had to do."
A single tear slipped out from her otherwise blank porcelain mask. Satsuki stared at her dear younger sister's confused expression, waiting for absolution that her heart knew she did not deserve. She used people callously as her tools, her weapons in a grand scheme to rid the world of the planet-ending threat of Life Fibers. She didn't care. She became inured to the cancer of guilt a long time ago. She just hated admitting it to another soul. If it was one thing she couldn't stand, it was the idea of pity being foisted upon her. Pity might have weakened her resolve, and she could not have ever afforded that chance.
Ryuko's eyes focused upon her elder sister's face. "So when I touched you, tried to massage your back, your neck...it was, I mean, you thought for a minute that…?" Satsuki breathed out a quick breath of tension, and tersely admitted "Yes, I thought that somehow, somehow…that accursed bitch came back to finish the job. To p-purify me once and for all."
Goosebumps ripples in waves of revulsion across Satsuki's arms, and she shuddered and hugged herself, absently rubbing her neck while she studied Ryuko's reaction. "I…it's got nothing to do with you, Ryuko. I was just…I was distracted! I was just surprised, that's all! That's all..." she muttered, more at herself than her sibling at that point. "I'm just so very glad that I didn't hurt you. I just do not prefer it when people…approach me from behind un-unexpectedly and t-touch me w-without…ah, I mean it…"
Breathing beginning to hitch again, she hugged herself even tighter, and Ryuko panicked when she saw that Satsuki was once more slipping down a roller coaster of traumatic memories. "No…no-nonono, Sats, NO! Look at me!" She stood firmly in front of her sister, gently cupping Satsuki's chin in her hands. She maneuvered her sister's downturned, trembling face up into her own smiling gaze. "I get it. I understand. I understand you. Okay? I understand. You don't have to hide it from me, yeah? You…you can help me, right? Me? Sats? Please? This means you get me too, right?"
Satsuki shifted her vacant thousand-millennia stare back to present day Ryuko's wide open eyes. She could see the reflection of her own pale, angular face in the intricate gear-shaped pupils of her sister's enchanting eyes. She hesitated, then slowly reached out with her lips until they found Ryuko's. She pressed gently against her mouth, eyes wide and unable to blink for fear of missing the slightest shred of a reaction.
She felt as though she was observing herself through a telescope: her mind was strung out over what felt like a hundred miles, yet could only observe as her quivering lips yearned for solace. For comfort. For understanding. Perhaps even for absolution.
Ryuko stiffened, then emitted a nearly imperceptible groan as she found her body melting in slow motion against Satsuki's. She realized then that she had somehow…wha-? Stopped breathing? Ryuko abruptly let out a strange chuckle, then another one as she pressed her mouth to Satsuki's indescribably soft flesh.
Ryuko stroked her sister's cheek gently with raised fingertips, then sheepishly drew back her mouth and quipped a faint "How…how did you know?" A single, sparkling thread of saliva connected their lower lips; she regarded it with a bemused glance before casually wiping it away.
Satsuki blinked. "How did I know…what?" She hesitated, unsure if she heard the comment correctly. Her mind reeled, feverishly pondering what she thought Ryuko meant. Now was not the time for misinterpretation! "That I want you. Have wanted you. Basically since we met." Ryuko cautiously watched for a response, biting her lower lip in anticipation of either a fist or another kiss.
Satsuki blushed, a full-on blush of sweeping crimson as she leaned back and regarded Ryuko's impish smirk and gentle gaze. She touched her lips with her finger, trying to convince herself that this situation was possible, was happening. She raised her finger authoritatively, as if about to declare a newly discovered scientific fact, then felt a brief wave of embarrassment as she tried to form coherent words and utterly failed. The words dissolved in her turbulent mind before they reached her mouth. Satsuki idly wondered what those words might have been, as she had no idea.
"What are we doing, Ryuko?" she asked breathlessly. Ryuko leaned forward and gave her another passionate kiss, savoring the exquisite scent of her sister's jasmine-tinged essence. "I'll tell you what we are doing, Sats. We're healing. Together. We're both some pretty uniquely fucked up creatures, you and me. I don't relate to anyone else like I relate to you, y'know? You and me! Beautifully fucked up creatures."
"Relate. Yes, we are related. This is wrong. We…can't. Do this." Satsuki mumbled. Ryuko reeled back gleefully while grasping Satsuki's shoulders, suddenly struck by a recent memory. "Oh, yeeaaah. I know how this happened. I forgot!" She fixed Satsuki with a knowing grin. "So, yeah. Um…that buddy of yours, Inumuta Hōka? He's a bit too good at his job, y'know? You can probably thank him for this."
Satsuki's eyes flew open in a panic, suddenly afraid of what meddling her Devas might have perpetrated in her absence. "WHAT? What did he say? What did he do? Tell me, Ryuko!" Her fist raised up, she gesticulated at her computer, swearing under her breath for trusting that slick digital weasel.
"Hold on, it's not like that, Sats! He's a good puppy, I swear! You have some very loyal people, y'know. Too good at their jobs, maybe…?" She shrugged, allowing her comment to hang on the breeze. Ryuko briefly enjoyed the lively squirming her sister was acting out. 'How very unladylike, methinks. No composure left now, huh, Sis?' she snorted to herself as she gestured for Satsuki to sit down.
"Okay, it's like this. When we were on that Naked Sun ship and everyone was formulating our final attack plan against the Original Life Fiber, right? One of the things I did was I went to the information pimp himself. I told Inumuta I wanted all the hard data he had collected on this shit. I wanted to know all I could going into the final battle."
"Tactically, that is a sound preparation technique. I agree that this was a wise course of action." Satsuki clinically murmured, feeling a brief swell of pride at the notion that she might have rubbed off on her little sister at that point.
Ryuko glowed at the compliment. "Right on! So I made him give me his tablet, the one he's always leering at. I wanted my own interpretation of the raw data, not his sanitized version. So I dove into his collection of data and did some digging. Your boy Inumuta, he really spends all of his time entering that precious data into his computers, ya know." She smirked at the memory of her forced confiscation of his personal machine, promising that she would be 'gentle' with it as long as full access was granted.
"He allowed this? He never lets anyone touch his personal computers. He is very mindful of security procedures, especially regarding his own equipment." Satsuki marveled. She bemusedly considered this to be the equivalent of Jakuzure Nonon listening to Nickelback or Gamagoori Ira letting someone off with just a warning over a major rule infraction.
"Oh, well…'allowed' would be too polite a phrase. More like I mmmaybe offered to remove his equipment via his ass, as an alternate choice. Maybe." Ryuko grinned impishly. "Oh, I also pointed out that the situation was serious enough to allow him to reconsider his protocols, in light of the planet potentially exploding. That might have been mentioned, too."
"At any rate, I did some research. And I found out that his obsession with data goes very deep, and that he has analytical profiles of everyone and everything that happens around him. Down to the smallest detail. He even knows how many batteries Nonon's fucking purple toy takes, for crying out loud!"
Satsuki gave an involuntary gasp. Apparently their conversations regarding his handling of the other Devas' privacy was not taken to heart like she originally surmised. She sighed ruefully, vowing to cross that bridge when she could find a way to tactfully address it. "So…what does that have to do with us? He cannot possibly have any data about our…feelings! I didn't even really know until just now!" she exclaimed, feeling a slight pang of worry as Ryuko turned to her. "Right. Unless he guessed that we would do this before we did."
Satsuki stared at her sister, unable to perceive how this could possibly be. "So, he said that we were…attracted to one another? Did he somehow pick up on something subconsciously? With the way that we interacted previously? Or…" Her eyes narrowed, wondering exactly how smart Hōka Inumuta really was under that zippered collar of his.
In the back corners of her mind, she mulled the odd poker comment Ryuko observed earlier. 'Are my intentions really that easy to read?' she admonished. She made a mental note to review in closer detail how she interacted with others in the future. This perceived weakness would no longer be tolerated by Lady Kiryuin Satsuki!
Ryuko rolled her eyes and awkwardly scratched the back of her head, sheepish grin on her face. "Ah, well…not exactly? I mean, sort of, it's not really what you think. I don't think he connected those dots. I mean… he did collect what he referred to as 'biometric behavioral markers' or something nerdy like that. Things like skin response, pupillary reactions, crap like that. And he…uhh…noted that I was apparently displaying classic attraction signs or sexual arousal or w-whatever. When we fought. And talked. And umm…interacted in any way. So…yeah. Maybe you were too, I guess." Ryuko's turn to blush arrived, as she stammered out her flustered facts while Satsuki listened with rapt attention.
Ryuko leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling as she scratched her chin nervously. "So, he cross references a lot of this stuff with other stuff, right? Ideas, theories, supporting evidence, whatever. And he linked some related information to various internet databases. I followed the biometric links, not really getting the point of them…until it came to a reference called aw crap, what was it called? Oh, yeah! the Westermarck theory or effect or some rule like that, whatever. It's a psychological theory about, ummm…attraction between siblings that grew up separated from each other, so they never got that 'ew, icky' feeling about their sisters. Right?"
Satsuki nodded briefly, as she processed the implications of this new and evocative information. Ryuko continued "Well, it also says that when this scenario happens…it can trigger intense mutual attraction, should those separated siblings ever actually meet! Something about the rules of genetic sexual attraction, when people get turned on by others similar to themselves? So I read that and it finally hit me like a fucking bullet train. That weird, confusing aggravation that I was always feeling whenever we met? Well, it turns out…I was horny. "
Satsuki looked down at her desk, eyes absently scanning over the intricate gold filigree patterns on the edge of the desk. "I do not recall feeling this way when we…fought…like savage…oh—" Sudden memories of her post-fight activities came crashing into her mind. Images of her private, frenzied masturbation sessions, sweating and crying during hot showers as she vigorously finger-fucked her pussy senseless…and the unsettling confusion that followed.
Not knowing why such base animal instincts would befall her after such crushingly painful fights with Ryuko: she had blamed these powerful urges on Junketsu, stressing her physical limits. Being intricately linked into her nervous system, she had just chalked up these erratic impulses to some kind of neurological feedback or physical damage by the violent, parasitic kamui. A necessary evil, or so she had assumed at the time.
"I just wanted to shut you up, at first." Ryuko reminisced. "You really got my blood burning, Kiryuin. Your smug, condescending attitude. I just couldn't accept that you also made me…wet. Creamed my panties! Fuck! Your…beauty. Power. Resolve. I mean, Senketsu swore that he had nothing to do with it, y'know? I could not figure it out. It just made me madder! Until that day on the ship. Suddenly it all made sense. All those incredibly naughty thoughts. Urges. Uncontrollable…um…you know. Stuff."
Ryuko smiled weakly at her sister, and sheepishly shrugged. "I still wouldn't allow myself to really admit it, even then. I mean, at the time…shit! My skin was still stinging from ripping Junketsu off my body. You know that feeling from wearing Junketsu, right? That…buzzing in your skull of a constant rush like you're cumming, only like all the time?"
Satsuki flushed, and just nodded as she felt her stomach tighten at the memory of trying to control those insane surges…wanting to let it break free and consume her with only her supreme iron will holding it in check.
Ryuko pointed a finger at her sister, noting the reaction she elicited. "Yeaaah, that. So…imagine the opposite as I tore that goddamned parasite from my body. It tried to take my fucking nervous system with it for rejecting it outright. It…was locked into me tight. Believe me, Nui made sure."
Her eyes narrowed to slits at the shameful memories of being forcibly conjoined to that evil thing, and the lustful orgy of brainwashing that accompanied it. Ryuko swallowed her bitter recollections of that orgasmic bliss, heart skipping guiltily as the feeling of those manipulative, invasive fingers echoed in her mind.
"I cannot possibly describe that level of pain, Sats. I didn't even care if it killed me, it hurt so much! It wasn't even really pain at that point…it was pure goddamned agony. I guess Junketsu didn't appreciate my fucking iron will either."
She glanced at Satsuki's face as a hint of recognition skittered across her mouth, lips tightly pursing and then opening in awe. Satsuki tilted her head slightly as a sneaking suspicion crept into her head. "Wait. How did you…that's what—" Ryuko interjected softly: "It told me, Sats."
Satsuki's eyes glazed over. She understood. Junketsu must have somehow shared the impression of what it sensed about her desires, her urges. It somehow picked up on her behavioral cues, in a similar fashion to how Inumuta's devices recorded it. 'And Ryuko's known this for months and didn't say a single thing! Not a hint!'
Satsuki's eyes stopped tracing endless patterns in her desk and started to trace endless patterns in Ryuko's Life Fiber-warped eyes instead. "If you know just how unbelievably powerful this feels, then how can you resist…? I mean, everything between us…I learned to ignore my own desires from an early age. But you? You always act so impulsively!"
Ryuko met her gaze, smiling warmly. "Because I cannot possibly bear the thought of hurting you again. I know how goddamned lonely you have felt all this time. Believe it or not, I've felt the same. We're pretty similar in some ways, Sats. Some pain you just can't ignore. But the idea, the very idea! That I could hurt you like she did? I would rather rip Junketsu from my flesh a thousand times more."
She leaned over, looking Satsuki straight in the eyes. "I would rather die than allow that to happen. You need to heal, move on, live. You were robbed of your entire damned life. I ain't gonna let my own needs, my wants get in the way of that."
It was Ryuko's turn to slump now, tiredly sinking into the chair. She casually slung one sneaker-clad foot up onto the desk's edge, legs lazily spread without a care. Arms hanging limply at the chair's sides, she stared up at the ceiling and murmured "You have nightmares." Satsuki paused, analyzing whether it was a clumsily phrased question or a blatant statement of fact. She decided that the latter of the two was appropriate, given her newfound openness with Ryuko about her existence.
"Yes. Of course I do." she stated in a clipped fashion. It wouldn't take one of Inumuta's high-resolution cameras to capture that boldfaced lie if she attempted to tell it now, she surmised. "Yeahhh…me, too, I guess." Ryuko mumbled, her lower lip protruding slightly with unconscious vulnerability.
Satsuki softly offered a gentle "I'm very sorry, imouto-san" as her good hand crept over the mahogany desk's smooth veneer, coming to rest on Ryuko's otherwise impolitely placed foot on her desk. She slipped her hand down to Ryuko's smooth, exposed shin and gave it a firm yet gentle squeeze, and a brief smile slipped over the younger sister's expression.
"Those…hands." Ryuko's voice trailed off, and Satsuki's comforting caress froze. "Y-yes? Is it acceptable if—" Ryuko's hand waved a dismissal in the air. "Oh, no! Not your hands! Sorry, sorry…yours are just like perfectly silky, smooth and talented and um…other things I can't put to words right now. But good things though…y'know?"
Ryuko put forth a warm, appreciative smile which put Satsuki more at ease. She swiftly withdrew her touch, however, when Ryuko soberly muttered "No, I meant hers. Those rude harpy claws. Like…" her voice trailed off as she observed Satsuki absentmindedly clutching at her wrist, holding her wounded hand as though it was a sparrow with a broken wing.
"Umm…sorry, Sats. I know you…know what I mean. I…um…was just thinking out loud. My nightmares, that's what I meant! I was just trying to talk about it, I guess? Th-that's all." Her voice cracked as a brief glimmer of tears appeared in one corner of her eyes.
She took a deep breath and stated "Fuck, enough of that. I don't think we need to dwell on that stuff anymore, right?" Ryuko smiled hopefully over at her elder sister, trying to lift the dreadfully oppressive mood that hung over the two by sheer force of what she pretended was Mako's sunshine-and-cheer powered force of will.
Satsuki got up and gracefully slid over to her sister's side. She perched herself onto the arm of Ryuko's chair, putting a hand on her younger sibling's shoulder. They locked eyes, and a brief moment of hesitation gave way to a sudden, urgent request. "Sleep with me. Tonight. Here, with me." Satsuki whispered urgently, and Ryuko's mouth gaped open slightly as she blinked, stunned.
"Wha-buh-huh…?" Ryuko blurted clumsily, as her sister gazed down with what seemed to be quite unnatural and out of place on the young Kiryuin heir's face: a small, mischievous smile.
Ryuko's gaping maw drooped open a bit more when she observed Satsuki's suddenly lively eyes, sparkling with newfound energy. "You, ah…sure? I mean, just to be clear, are you asking to…I mean, you wanna…you know? With m-me?" she stuttered, as her outstretched finger motioned towards her suddenly-heating-up crotch.
Satsuki then did what Ryuko was certain is a sign that her uptight sister was replaced by a robot double or something equally ridiculous…she pouted out her lip seductively and formed a grand arch of exaggerated begging with her eyebrows, her chin nodding ever so slightly. It was at once intensely adorable, supremely sexy and intoxicating.
"I…deserve happiness. I do." Satsuki intoned with a low, emphatic growl. Ryuko nodded, eyes hypnotically transfixed on her sister's pouting lips. "Hah…yeah. We both do. We deserve that, we've earned it. Right, Sats?" she managed to breathe out. Trying to concentrate on forming coherent words was tough, Ryuko decided. The delicious, velvety feeling of being enveloped by Junketsu had somehow returned, only it was coming from within this time.
Her hand involuntarily twitched as she reached out towards Satsuki's firm, sculpted jawline. Satsuki's hand deliberately reached up, grabbed the incoming caress and redirected it to her breasts. Ryuko's eyes darted down, and as confirmation of the suspected contact reached her mind, she felt a warm trickle of wetness surge in her panties. She huffed, and slowly started to trace one of Satsuki's diamond hard nipples through her silken blouse.
Satsuki breathed in, imperceptibly wincing at the ultra-sensitive nature of her chest. Her brain was bathed in a molten lava of synapses, firing an overwhelming concerto of pleasurable input. A wave of chills swept through the base of her spine as she vaguely realized that the immutable wall which normally held such petty distractions at bay…was fractured, buckling. No…was gone?
She whispered urgently in Ryuko's ear "We deserve happiness. I'll prove it to you…that she cannot be allowed to win anymore. Her hold over our souls is over! I'm so very tired…of denying myself what others have. A ch-chance at a…a normal life."
Ryuko threw her head back and laughed, hair whipping back in a black and crimson arc. "Ha! Normal? Like anyone's ever gonna put us in that category, Sats! A fucked up mutant punk and a severely repressed ice princess? What a pair we make, right?"
She cupped her hands around Satsuki's breasts and squeezed. Leaning closer, Ryuko enjoyed the subtle rush of warmth from being in close proximity to her sister's heaving chest. She looked down to the impressive globes of perfectly smooth cleavage pressed between her hands, then grinned seductively as her eyes met Satsuki's wide-open cerulean orbs.
"Where…is your…bedroom…Sats? Hmm?" Ryuko's puckered lips mumbled out between small, sensual pecks on Satsuki's cleavage. Immaculately lacquered nails flashed quickly as Satsuki's deftly unbuttoned her tailored blouse. Powerful, athletic shoulders wriggled loose of their silk covers, and Ryuko marveled at their impressively sculpted tone.
Satsuki's breathing became uneven, and she managed to huff out muffled directions between kisses placed repeatedly upon Ryuko's ruffled hair. "Third…door…on the right. P-past the gold…lamp."
Ryuko suddenly stopped, and fixed a resolute gaze upon her flustered sister's crumbling façade of composure. Satsuki stood there, panting and twisting impatiently on her heels. She gave a curious, sad look at her younger sister and wondered if this was the moment where Ryuko chose to back out, to withdraw from this heated battle. Where her beloved Imouto-chan came to her senses and rejected her obviously ugly, wanton, shameful behavior!
A bolt of razor-wire panic shot through her, and she couldn't help but wince as her heart tried to process the sting of sudden adrenaline. Her cheeks flared; uncountable needle pricks of burning shame lit up her system as she struggled on the precipice of fear. Fear of losing her chance at true freedom. Of releasing her desires from their shackles, if only just this once.
Her vision swam, and the sound of her lovely sibling's voice swooshed in and out of perception's reach. She managed to blurt out a weak "Wh-what, I'm sorry…Ryuko, I did not…ahh…catch that…?", to which her sister gleefully begged "Close your eyes, Sats. Trust me, okaaay? Come ooon…"
Satsuki focused on the visage of the grinning, leering sly devil known as Ryuko Matoi, then slowly closed her eyes as ordered. She didn't like this, but whatever happened, happened. Lady Kiryuin Satsuki was caught up in this torrent whether she liked it or not, so she reluctantly decided to let Ryuko steer the way.
She was too emotionally drained to clack her dominant heel into the marble floor and take her usual control. That urge was there, she dully noted…but it seemed detached and far away, like she was idly watching it happen to another Kiryuin, not her own self.
A gleeful chuckle made Satsuki flutter with nervousness, but she couldn't detect any maliciousness or cruelty in the sound. Ryuko's hands flew off her shoulders, and she struggled to make sense of the odd rustling, flapping fabric noises that were presenting themselves in front of her.
The automatic instinct to reach out with her other keen senses was drowned out by the overwhelming distraction of how noticeably moist her slit seemed to be right now. She bit her lip impatiently, and whispered out to the room "Ryuko? Are you…have you, ahh…changed—"
Satsuki was suddenly walloped by a swatch of clothing, consisting of a bundled ball of jacket, jeans and sweaty socks. Gasping with surprise, she balled her fists and opened her eyes to the chortling, snorting hyena that was her sister. Ryuko's hand reached inside her shirt's armpit and, like a practiced magician pulling off a dazzling sleight-of-hand, slipped her blue and white striped bra out of her shirt's arm hole in one clean stroke.
Satsuki's indignant protest was cut off by an incoming lingerie missile, the bra wrapping around her utterly shocked face. A giggle burst out into the room, and Satsuki was even more shocked to hear it coming from her own throat! She laughed again, and her authoritative, masterful voice called out "Ryuko Matoiii! You'll pay for that sneak attack!"
Ryuko stuck out her tongue, lashing it back and forth as she waggled her shapely ass in front of the now-unlocked study doorway. "All's fair in love and war, Kiryuin Satsukiiii!" she screamed triumphantly, screeching as her sister started to give chase. Satsuki lunged forward, her taunting prey taking flight down the hallway while giggling wildly all the way. Her joyful war shrieks resembled an eagle's cry, tearing down the hall in pursuit of a certain red-tinged sparrow's cute little tail.
As she rushed down and around the study's corner to her now-open bedroom's cavernous entrance, her soul felt light and ethereal, like an impossibly heavy weight was lifted from her exhausted frame. Peals of heartfelt laughter from both girls soon gave way to passionate moans, as Satsuki dutifully tackled her dear lovely Ryuko and punished her mercilessly for those perceived transgressions….thanking her profusely as she did.