It was a hot and dark summer night at the newly relocated household of the Mankanshoku family. It's one of those quiet nights where it's easy to get lost in a labyrinth of your own thoughts. A black haired girl dressed in black dress pants and a golden colored belt strapped around her waist, along with a dirty white shirt sat on a cliff nearby the house while staring out at the darkness ahead of her, as if expecting something to jump out at her. Cicadas, and crickets could all be heard chirping loudly in a nostalgic pattern. It reminded Ryūko of the days she had spent at Honnōji Academy. Honnōji Academy, the place in which so much despair and death had taken place at, now lay at the bottom of a lake, most likely to be used as a home for the local marine life. Yet at the same time, it was the only place Ryūko had ever been able to call "home". That is, at least what she wanted herself to believe, for there was a time at some point when she was still alive. And Ryūko remembered every excruciating moment of it, despite how hard she tried to forget about it.
"You piece of shit."
A young girl's vision was dark and couldn't see anything at all, just feeling pain as an unknown assailant punched her in the gut. A mob of angry children stood over the girl as she lay pinned to the ground as one of them prepared to hit her again. Next to the crowd were two others who tried remaining silent throughout the scene taking place so they'd go away quicker. Another punch resounded throughout the playground.
"Stop it!"
A small, black haired girl finally interrupted the girl's agony after what seemed like an eternity. This however, didn't stop the kid from slamming more punches into the poor soul's stomach.
"Get off of her!"
This caught the kid's attention, as she stopped punching her to spew something back.
"Shut up Ryūko! This little shithead stole our ball!"
The kid let yet another fist connect with the girl's stomach again, further prompting Ryūko to stop this cruelty.
"...It was me. I stole it. She didn't do anything."
The kid turned around with a menacing look on her face.
"What did you say?"
The girl stood up and the crowd left the girl to writhe in her own pain. A crowd of about four other children was now gathered around Ryūko.
"..."
For a moment it looked as though the girl wasn't going to do anything, but she gathered her anger and forced it out in three words.
"You little bitch."
The girl continually jabbed Ryūko's head until it started bleeding, and blood came out her mouth. Once the kid saw that she had learned her lesson, she got off her.
"Don't make me have to come back here"
The kid looked around before telling the crowd it was time to go. They had got their ball and their revenge.
Ryūko stumbled to her feet and saw as the pink haired girl hung her head in shame.
"Ryūko…I'm sorry. You didn't have to cover for me."
"...It's alright Nonon, none of this is your fault. Get out of here before they come back."
Ryūko had come back to her senses and was once again sitting down on the edge of a cliff looking out at the seemingly endless darkness. She had a reason for coming here, and it wasn't to remember the good old days. She reached into her pocket to pull out a tiny pocket watch, and reluctantly pulled out a small photo within it. Ryūko was wincing in pain as she cried out loud, unable to understand why she was still alive. Everything hurt. There would be no relief from this unbearable agony, yet she continued on meaninglessly. Once again Ryūko was getting lost in her thoughts.
Suddenly an approaching set of footsteps startled Ryūko, as she was sure she had left the house undetected. As she looked towards the sound, she realized it was a familiar brown haired ditz, and she looked back out past the cliff. Mako crouched next to Ryūko, and tried to comfort her as best she could. She had only told Mako about this, not even her sister knew of the disease that was slowly killing off every cell in Ryūko's body. Several doctors had diagnosed her, and had come to the conclusion that Ryūko's internal organs were rapidly aging due to an unknown cause, but the doctors linked it to her unnatural birth and injections with life fibers while she was an infant.
Her diagnosis left her with less than a year to live, and with an extreme amount of pain to cope with all the while. Mako leaned next to Ryūko and quietly spoke into her ear, trying to ease her pain.
"You know I'm always here for you, you don't need to act so tough all the time."
Mako smiled and wrapped her arms around Ryūko. Ryūko held back her tears as best she could, trying to not only keep her hard-ass persona, but also trying to protect Mako from realizing that Ryūko was scared to die.
"I know Mako, I know. Jeez, you're such a goody two shoes sometimes."
"Ryūko,"
Mako spoke out loud to the terminally ill black haired girl and the surrounding darkness that enveloped them both.
"Let's try another doctor, there's no way we can be sure—"
Ryūko looked up at Mako, both their eyes locking at each other's sight.
"It's over, Mako. I'm not a normal person. There's nothing that can be done for me,"
Ryūko looked up at the stars, as if Senketsu were looking back down at her.
"Hell, I don't even know if I can be called a person."
Mako grabbed Ryūko's cheeks and made her attention directed towards her mouth and eyes.
"Ryūko you dummy, of course you're a person! You're the most persony person I've ever met!"
That comment turned Ryūko's gloomy face into a cheery one almost immediately.
"I'm glad I met you Mako, you're the best thing that ever happened to me, you crazy nut-job."
Ryūko watched Mako as a tear rolled down her cheek
"It isn't fair that Ryūko-chan has to die,"
Her voice slightly broke a bit while she cried.
"You're the most wonderful person on Earth! Please don't leave me!"
Ryūko sighed as she fought through the pain and she contorted her face into a smile to comfort the friend who had originally come to comfort her. Ryūko allowed Mako to place her head in her chest in order to weep and wail. Ryūko whispered quietly to Mako as she cried softly.
"Don't worry Mako, I'll figure something out, I always do."
The night passed slowly as Mako eventually fell asleep due to crying so hard, and Ryūko carried her back to the house, careful not to wake her up.
With morning came the daily routines of the Mankanshoku family, such as growing crops, and doing laundry. Living in the middle of nowhere was not as easy as one would imagine, and even though Ryūko could get a luxurious house from her sister, she wanted to spend the rest of her days as humble as possible, with her family of course, as far away from any governmental powers as possible. Matarō and Barazō along with Guts are running around in circles chasing after each other debating over which seeds to plant today.
"Dad, dad!"
Matarō shouted while chasing after his dad.
"Yes, what is it son?!"
Barazō shouted back to Matarō while chasing after Guts.
"If we split the seeds in halves, won't we be able to grow twice as many crops?!"
Barazō's eyes lit up at the ridiculous proposition.
"By Zeus's beard son, you're a genius! How couldn't I have thought of that myself?!"
Guts ran and chased after Matarō whilst wagging his tail profusely.
"Guts, Gatsu!"
The dog barked in a up-tone and energetic way.
"Huh?"
Matarō came to a screeching halt as Barazō and Guts crashed into him. As Matarō crawled up to back up to his feet, he was able to make out an abnormally large dusty cloud coming from the middle of the barren terrain. Barazō quickly regained his footing and stood next to Matarō while gazing at the same thing Matarō was looking at. In the next few moments, Guts pissed himself. What was in the cloud was revealed to be an armada of military vehicles, tanks, jets, and a whole assortment of ex-Honnōji Academy personnel, which could be inferred as they all bared the Goku uniform insignia on everything.
Barazō screeched as he returned to running in circles, only this time in panic.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! MATOI!, MAKO!, HEEEEEEELP!"
Matarō quickly followed and so did Guts as the three ran in circles panicking and yelling.
"BIG SIS! COME OUT AND SAVE US! AHHHHH!"
As the the three did their thing, Sukuyo looked on with a big smile, and let out a light chuckle as the forces approached closer and closer.
"My, my, is it really time for their visit? Time sure does fly by."
Sukuyo went back inside to awaken the two close friends.
Satsuki looked outside the metallic window with her usual cold scornful look, watching the desert sand as the jeep drove her closer and closer to her little sister's new home. She thinks back to what Houka told her to do, and whether or not it was a good idea. This was something that needed serious consideration and approval from not only Satsuki, but also—
"Jeez, it's like a bajillion degrees in here"
A familiar voice pierces through Satsuki's train of thought.
"Hey Satsuki, can't you open a window or something? My poor clothes are all drenched in sweat."
The pink haired girl was wearing a strained face at the moment.
"Nonon, I've already told you multiple times that it's much hotter out there than it is in here."
Satsuki said coldly and slightly irritated.
"If you're so hot, why did you decide to wear such a ridiculous outfit?"
Nonon was dressed up in her battle uniform she had worn when invading the other schools around Honnōji Academy, a pink sweater with a turtleneck that also bared the Honnōji Academy insignia on it right where her heart should be. Strangely, however, she was wearing barely anything to cover up her legs, only a red pair of shorts that were clearly way too short for even her to be wearing. Of course she also brought her signature hat and a pair of sunglasses to keep her head cool and eyes from straining as well.
"I-It was all I had not in the laundry okay?!"
Satsuki turned back around to look back out at the desert plains going by seemingly as fast as a bullet. Her expression remained unchanged.
"Listen Nonon, I know you may not exactly be on the best of terms with Ryūko, but the fact remains that she is my little sister, and it my duty as an older sister to make sure that her health is in top condition."
Nonon's embarrassed expression had faded into an aggravated and almost bitter tone.
"Hmph! I don't have any reason to be angry or on bad terms with Ryūko!"
Satsuki knew this was a blatant and obvious lie, and knew that Ryūko and Nonon have had bad blood between them ever since the Honnōji Academy First Naturals Election.
Ryūko had beaten the living shit out of Nonon that day, and Satsuki knew that Nonon still was holding onto that grudge, she could see it flowing out of her aura ever since she told her they were paying a visit to Ryūko.
"Just don't start any trouble with her Nonon, we don't have time for any nonsense, especially due to our time limit we have been given."
Nonon looked back down at the floor of the moving car.
"Alright Lady Satsuki, I won't fight your batshit crazy sister, you can count on me."
"Arghh! Would you three shut up already?!"
Ryūko bonked the three on the head in order to get them to regain their senses.
"I told you like two days ago that Satsuki is coming to visit today, and not to get all riled up once she gets here!"
The three troublemakers bowed their heads apologetically, while Ryūko crossed her arms with an annoyed expression on her face. Mako stood next to her while she listened carefully to Ryūko lecture her relatives. Suddenly the armada had arrived at their home, and Satsuki exited a jeep, however, Ryūko noticed that there was another person in the passenger seat.
Satsuki walked up to Ryūko and the majority of the Mankanshoku family who were all bowing before Ryūko. Satsuki had since cut her hair much shorter than originally seen, on par with even Ryūko's hairstyle.
"C'mon you idiots, get up already! She's my sister not a damn princess!"
All three shot up in response and immediately responded with a "Yes ma'am!" and ran away quickly to cause more mayhem elsewhere. Ryūko looked at Mako.
"I need some time to talk to my sis alone, sorry Mako."
Mako had a bright smile on her face.
"No problem Ryūko, I totally get it, you need time to have some sisterly bonding!"
Mako scurried off after that conversation. Ryūko turned her attention towards her sister, who now stood before her.
"So big sis, how've you been ever since you became queen of Atlantis? I see you got a haircut as well."
Ryūko asked in a classic Ryūko-like insulting manner.
Satsuki was not present to play games.
"Ryūko, you're dying."
That was the last thing Ryūko wanted to hear right now.
"Yeah, I've been dying to see you again, big sis," Ryūko said sarcastically.
"If you don't let me help you, you will die a painful and agonizing death, and you will end up in so much pain that you'll beg me to kill you."
Ryūko rolled her eyes. There she goes again, being the stereotypical responsible big sister.
"Still as cold as when you used to be, right Satsuki? How'd you even find out about that?"
Satsuki continued eyeing down Ryūko while she herself tried not to look her in the eye, for she was a very intimidating person.
Satsuki tossed a clipboard at Ryūko, which she promptly caught. As Ryūko began to read through the paperwork, Satsuki began talking.
"Fifteen days ago Houka noticed an anomaly from a blood sample we have of you, in which the blood would reach an upwards temperature of 115 °F for about five minutes a day. At first it seemed like nothing but an odd irregularity, but I had my doubts, and as your older sister, I ordered Houka to continue monitoring the blood sample."
Ryūko stopped reading and looked up at Satsuki.
"You just casually have a sample of my own blood?"
Satsuki ignored the question, while Ryūko continued reading through the report.
"Around five days ago the anomaly occurred again, but on a much more consistent and grander scale. This time, the blood sample reached a temperature of almost 300 °F for almost five hours a day, any normal person would've died far below this temperature, however the life fibers that are strung throughout your body prevent you from doing so."
Ryūko finally looked Satsuki in the eyes.
"This doesn't mean you're invincible though, at some point you're blood is either going to become super-heated and melt through your entire body, or vaporize and…"
Satsuki didn't finish the sentence, as Ryūko already knew the answer.
"So what? You come all the way out here to say goodbye and tell me a bunch of shit I already know?"
Ryūko did not like the truth of her situation, especially coming from the mouth of her big sister.
"No," Satsuki said, "I've come all the way out here to give you a blood transfusion."
Ryūko laughed at even the thought of that.
"Oh really? Who's blood are you going to give me that can replace mine? In case you haven't noticed, while we are sisters, we aren't exactly of the same species." Ryūko said dryly.
Satsuki turned around to face towards the jeep she got out of and called out in her usual demanding voice.
"Nonon! Bring it out!"
Nonon plopped out of the jeep carrying what seemed to be an IV and a blood bag, but what surprised Ryūko was that the blood was shining a glistening rainbowish color she couldn't describe, but was strangely familiar with. But Ryūko was more interested in teasing Nonon than the blood bag.
"What's with the skirt, you trying to prove something to someone?"
Ryūko flashed Nonon a devilish smile, she knew Nonon has had a crush on Satsuki since she first met her. As Ryūko taunted Nonon, her cheeks turned a shade of red.
"W-what are you saying?! T-this is all I had that wasn't in the laundry! It's not like you look much better you damn delinquent!"
Ryūko got her trapped in her little provocation as soon as she responded.
Ryūko snapped her fingers as if she remembered something important.
"Oh, that's right, you're much better known for not wearing any clothes, right Nonon?"
Ryūko got right behind her and began rubbing her shoulders in order to nail in her sense of superiority over Nonon.
"Hey, how'd it feel getting stripped in front of the entire academy right in front of your friends? Did you enjoy it? You're such a perv challenging me even though you knew you'd lose! It's as if you wanted to be humiliate-"
Nonon elbowed Ryūko in the gut, and she let out a strange "kyah" sound that didn't match her hard-ass personality at all.
"GRRRR - SHUT UP YOU STUPID BITCH!"
Nonon's sunglasses fell off her face. Ryūko smirked as she noticed Nonon's ears began steaming and her eyes were full of rage, it looked as though she was about to pop a blood vessel. It was as if Ryūko had summoned a demon.
Satsuki interrupted Nonon before she could get any more angry.
"Nonon! I told you we don't have time for these shenanigans right now! Every second moves us closer to Ryūko's death."
Nonon, biting her tongue so hard it actually started bleeding, reluctantly let Ryūko's insults go unpunished.
"Hmph! You haven't heard the last of me transfer!"
Nonon turned her back to Ryūko and let Satsuki continue her explanation. Satsuki took the IV and the blood bag from Nonon and began talking once again.
Satsuki's stern expression filled the atmosphere once again.
"As you may have guessed by now, the blood in this bag is not from any ordinary human. This blood actually comes from someone much closer to you by blood than you realize."
Ryūko raised an eyebrow at this statement.
"What the hell are you talking about? The only ones in our family alive right now are me and you."
Satsuki looked down at Ryūko as if she was still an all knowing queen back at Honnōji, always one step ahead of Ryūko.
"You're right, in our family the only two alive right now are us, but these blood bags were taken before you killed the person who 'donated' them."
A sense of dread filled Ryūko's mind. It was her blood, the only other person in the family who held the same blood type as Ryūko's. As Ryūko connected the dots, her facial expression changed from her usual playful and sarcastic face to one of fear and terror. Ragyō Kiryūin's blood was in that bag.
"You can't be serious."
Ryūko looked at her sister in disbelief. Satsuki looked at Ryūko dead in the eyes.
"I'm as serious as a heart attack."
Ryūko hated everything about this situation, and was contemplating her options in her mind before Satsuki spoke up.
"You can't run away from this Ryūko, you have too much to lose now. If you die, what do you think will happen to Mako Mankanshoku?"
Ryūko looked away from Satsuki so not to look her in the eyes. She could tell Satsuki was worried about her despite her cold attitude, she's a bigger hard-ass than her sometimes.
Ryūko still wasn't convinced that this was for the best. The thought of Ragyō's own blood crawling throughout her veins made her skin shiver. After a long silence, Ryūko heard Nonon speak for the first time since Satsuki began her long speech.
"You should know we're going really far out of our way to do this transfer. Your sister is worried about you, and I'm sure Mako is worried about you as well. If it were up to me I'd just let you rot away, but since Lady Satsuki's kind heart knows no bounds, she had to draw DNA from Ragyō's clothes which just so happened to incredibly have a small sample of Ragyō's blood, and then she had to go even farther to get Houka to duplicate the blood sample into an entire bag full of it. You should be grateful."
Satsuki scolded Nonon for revealing so much about how hard it was to get the blood. She didn't want Ryūko to care about her, she felt as though she was a failure of a sister and didn't deserve her love, yet wanted a second chance to redeem herself. Ryūko looked at Satsuki, and tired of arguing about it she had decided on an answer for her.
"I'll do it. On one condition."
Satsuki's eyebrow was raised. A demand? This wasn't something she had accounted for. How could you use your own life as a means to negotiate with? Satsuki's thoughts were interrupted before she could begin to theorize as to what Ryūko could possibly want from her.
"I want Nonon to stay with me."
Satsuki's eyes widened at this statement, and any seriousness this situation had was quickly expelled. What? What does she mean she wants Nonon to stay with her? Why? What the hell?
Ryūko let loose a shit-eating grin upon the two who had originally come prepared to drag Ryūko back to the Neo-Honnōji Academy base of operations.
"Nonon! I hate when people tell me what to feel! And I especially hate it when people tell me to do things! So in compensation for this you'll live with me until I say you can go!"
Nonon looked at Ryūko's face, dumbfounded.
"Yeah right! As if Lady Satsuki would eve-"
Satsuki interrupted Nonon.
"Stay with her, Nonon."
Nonon's original sure-of-victory open mouth smile was still plastered on her face, but her pupils had shrunk and her face was now beginning to sweat. What? Stay with Ryūko? No! Never! Not in a thousand million quintillion years!
"W-w-what?! How could I stay for an unknown amount of time with this slob?! Lady Satsuki please reconside-"
Satsuki cut her off again.
"No Nonon, you're staying and that's that."
Despair hit Nonon like a truck.
"HahhahAHHHHHH!"
She had collapsed into a state of helplessness. Literally. She had collapsed on the spot from shock, and possibly overheating. Ignoring the fallen Nonon, Satsuki looks back to her sister and gives her a chilling look.
"You'll come with me now to take the blood transfusion in that truck."
Satsuki points to a truck within the armada, and Ryūko has no obligations or remarks. Ryūko heads into the truck, thoroughly satisfied with the transaction, and is strangely more than willing to take in Ragyō's blood if she can keep Nonon with her.
"Can I ask you something before we begin?"
"What?"
"Why Nonon? I can give you anything you can possibly imagine, a luxurious house, a loving husband, all the money in the world, why out of all the things in the world did you choose Nonon?"
Ryūko just smiled and she said:
"It's just a feeling I got about her."