Chapter 2: Preparation
Ryuko sat picking uncomfortably at her new clothes. Satsuki may have liked the clothes, but they were far from comfortable. Ryuko was waiting at a table in some fancy diner sitting across her sister. "So Ryuko, when is your birthday?" Ryuko paused for a moment, then jumped. "Th-three days!" Satsuki eyed her. "You weren't keeping track?" Ryuko stomped her foot. "Do you?" Satsuki cracked a smile. "Of course, but I can't allow you to celebrate my birthday." Ryuko eyed her. Always playing honorable. "I don't want anything, so don't bother." Satsuki chuckled, then the waitress came with two cups of coffee. "Here you are, ladies. Your food will be done in a few minutes." Satsuki nodded, and the waitress joined the background.
"Hey Satsuki, why didn't you just tell me what you knew when I came here and try to use me as an ally?" Satsuki kept a blank face, and looked her in the eyes. "I wanted to first examine your skills, and once I saw you found a Kamui, I wanted to increase your strength." Ryuko had a displeased look on her face. "But if you were only trying to test me, why did you intervene, and try to destroy me?" Satsuki had a steel expression, similar to the days of the old academy. "At the time, I wanted to see the strength of Senketsu and that of Junketsu for myself, and you did threaten to destroy the army I had spent so much time to build." Ryyuko sighed. "You are a complicated woman. Your personality is as unique as your eyebrows." Satsuki slammed her coffee on the table. "There's nothing wrong with my eyebrows!" Ryuko giggled like a child, happy to get under her sister's skin. Satsuki rolled her eyes, and cleared room for the plates of food brought by the waitress. "Enjoy your meal!" Ryuko's eyes dropped down to the massive monster of a burger on her plate, with not only beef, cheese, and lettuce, but bacon, sausage patties, scrambled eggs, and fried potatoes. Drool flowed from her mouth, making Satsuki laugh softly.
After the meal, Ryuko sat spilled across the table. "Satsuki, why didn't you stop me from a custom order." Satsuki had a teasing tone. "You seemed like you really wanted it, so I didn't interfere." Ryuko groaned, then made an effort to get up. "Let's go home, please." Satsuki giggled, paid the bill, and supported Ryuko on the walk out.
Once through the front door, Ryuko sprinted to Satsuki's bed and flopped across the queen-sized bed, immediately asleep. Satsuki rolled her eyes, then stealthily made her way to Iori's lab. Once she arrived, she unlocked a storage locker and pulled out a small box containing tiny life fibers. Iori approached her. "I've already told you, Lady Satsuki, you can't make anything out of those fibers!" Angered, Satsuki spun around and backhanded Iori. "I've told you, I'm handling it myself." She began to growl. "You were not up to the task of reconstruction, so I will take it upon myself. Do not hinder me any longer, fool!" Satsuki slammed the locker shut, and stormed out, heading back home.
Sneaking into her closet, Satsuki spread life fibers on the floor, forming complex patterns. These fibers are not done yet. She then closed and locked the closet door, and sat in a chair, relaxing with a cup of tea. She looked upon her bed where Ryuko lay snoring. She never changes.
Ryuko woke up the next morning, thrown on the floor somewhere through the night. She sat up stiff as a board, bones cracking and popping as she moved. Her stomach ached, and it felt as if the burger was fighting back, so she ran into Satsuki's bathroom, running into her messing with a spool of string. "I don't know what you're doing in here, but it ain't important!" She threw Satsuki out of the bathroom. Satsuki was worrying that Ryuko caught on to her messing with life fibers again, but something told her that she was clueless. She rushed to her closet, and laid the life fibers in with the others, creating a complex layout once more. Let's hope she doesn't find this.
Ryuko stepped out of the bathroom moments later, brushing her teeth. "Hey Satsuki, what are the plans for today?" Satsuki opened her mouth to answer, when the phone rang. "Hello?" Nonon was on the line, her nasally voice bursting through the speaker. "Lady Satsuki! Turn on the television right now!" With that, she hung up. "What is it?" Satsuki stepped into the living room. "Nonon wanted me to turn on the television, without giving a channel." Ryuko frowned. Satsuki turned on the TV, and she dropped the remote. The image on the TV, it was impossible. Satsuki stood in shock, and turned to Ryuko, who was furious. On the TV was the image of Nui Harime, with the playful smile she always wore. "Hello fellow students, I would just like you to know that things are going to change in this school. I, Nui Harime, am going to take management, as the Grand Couturier, of your school. I look forward to enjoying the school year with my fellow students and my dear sister Satsuki!" The image froze on her face when the broadcast ended, and Satsuki heard Ryuko snap her tooth brush out in her rage.
"R...Ryuko. How is she alive?" Ryuko surely defeated both Ragyo and Nui, so how did she survive? "I don't know, but I'll kill her first chance I get." Ryuko reached under Satsuki's bed and dug through boxes until she found her scissor blades. "When will she get here?" Satsuki checked the academy's website. "Two weeks." Ryuko growled. "I'll kill her no matter what!" Satsuki put a hand on her shoulder. "Ryuko, I'm not sure you can handle her without Senketsu, and there's no telling whether or not she became stronger since your last fight." Ryuko brushed her hand off. "Don't give me that. I will defeat her, and I'll paint the academy with her blood." Ryuko was interrupted when the phone rang again. "Hello?" Ryuko looked over to Satsuki, who had a shocked look on her face. She pressed the speaker button, and Ryuko heard that horrible voice. "Hello, sis'. I was just wondering if you saw my speech. As the Grand Couturier, I will assemble an army with my life fibers." Satsuki's grip on the phone tightened. "How did you survive? And where are you getting life fibers." Ryuko could hear Nui chuckle through the phone. "Our dear mother Ragyo put all she had into keeping me safe, and I was sent down to the planet with the ability to generate life fibers. And before I go, notify Ryuko that she isn't my sister, 'kay?" Satsuki gained her steel expression again. "And what do you mean by that?" Nui chuckled once more. "I didn't expect you to figure it out. Ryuko wasn't related to dear mother, and your father was killed when we suspected. Ryuko's father was your despicable father's brother, and his mother was some damned woman Ragyo found in the hospital, when she stole Ryuko and experimented on her. Your father snuck her out, to bring her home, and he was killed, but not before Ryuko's father could notice." The phone beeped, and the line went dead. Satsuki threw the phone at the wall. She looked over at Ryuko, who was in tears. Satsuki rushed over to comfort her.
So my life was basically what I was told it was, minus the fact that the bitch Ragyo killed my mom and stole me, then had your father killed, then sought to kill my father!" Satsuki embraced Ryuko, and the two sat like that, still for moments. "If only Senketsu were here." Satsuki thought for a moment, then shot up, running to the closet in her bedroom. I almost forgot! It should be time! Satsuki turned to Ryuko. "Some friends...can't be replaced." She opened the door, revealing a dark figure in the closet. "But luckily, some don't have to be." Ryuko looked up, tears in her eyes, to see Senketsu jump out of the closet, tackling Ryuko in a hug. "S-Senketsu! How are you...here?" A sleeve ran across Ryuko's face to dry her tears, and he looked at her. "Thank Satsuki. She gathered tiny scraps of me, and pieced me together again. Luckily, I am able to generate life fibers on command. All she had to do was gather enough for me to regenerate." Ryuko looked at Satsuki, who smiled. Ryuko threw her clothes on the floor, and spread her arms open. Senketsu jumped onto her, still a perfect fit.
"I've missed you, Senketsu." Senketsu chuckled. "I've missed you too." Ryuko slowly stepped towards Satsuki, then rushed a hug. "Thank you for everything." Satsuki grinned. "This isn't like you, Matoi." Ryuko's breath was shaky. "I guess we're not sisters, huh?" Ryuko heard Satsuki laugh. "Thank god." Ryuko looked up, confused, and before she could react Satsuki cupped her face and kissed her. After a few seconds, Ryuko broke the kiss. "I-" Satsuki re-engaged the kiss. "Shut up." This time it was Satsuki who broke the kiss. She sat on her bed. "We will need to synthesize a plan and prepare for Nui's arrival." Senketsu was shocked. "N-Nui's alive?" The girls sighed, and Ryuko filled him in on what he missed.
When the two were finished planning, they sat in silence. "Hey Satsuki, do you mind if I still stay here with you?" Satsuki laughed. "Not at all, Matoi." Ryuko sat on the bed where Satsuki was laying down. "What a day..." Senketsu spoke up for the first time since the were planning. "Indeed. I'm glad to see you two getting along, and I'm glad to be back." Ryuko brushed her hand down her skirt. "It's great to have you back."
