Author's Notes:

Hey everyone! Welcome to the third installment of Before My Body is Dry!

I enjoyed writing this chapter, as it's got some fun character interactions, including one you might not have expected. Personally, I love writing conversation scenes. There's so much you can get across with just a single conversation, and so many feelings that can be expressed by just a few simple words.

Anyhoo, I decided to split this chapter into two parts, this one and the next one. Originally, I planned on finishing the conflict with the tennis president, but this chapter would have been too long. Plus, I didn't want it to feel rushed.

So this one is a bit shorter, but I hope you like it!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kill la Kill, that's Trigger.


Akio walked through the Academy hallway, lazily sipping at his thermos filled with coffee. It was a borderline crime to not have coffee this early in the morning. Even if it was against school rules to have drinks inside of the Academy itself, that didn't stop him. Coffee was one of the necessities of life.

Akio glanced around the hallway as he walked. It was surprisingly empty, given the time of day. Usually students would be shooting through the halls like a pack of wild animals, making sure they weren't late to class. Unlike most schools, Honnouji Academy didn't have a 'three strike' policy. If you were late once, you were screwed. Ira Gamagoori made sure of that.

He walked into his homeroom, his thermos of coffee stopping on his lips.

It was empty.

"Hey, Mr. Mikisugi," Akio began and turned to the front of the room. "Where is-"

Akio's words died in his throat. There, standing at the front of the room next to his teacher, was Satsuki Kiryuin herself.

She was standing straight and dignified, her arms crossed across her chest. Her eyes were watching Akio closely, not blinking even once. The air of confidence and superiority she gave off was almost suffocating. He almost felt bad for not kneeling in her presence.

Akio repressed the urge to gulp. It wasn't everyday he got to talk to Satsuki Kiryuin, let alone have her seek him out like this. Hell, the only time he had any prolonged conversation with her was the other day when he stood up for Ryuko and the day he quit from the martial arts club. Other than that, the two hadn't even exchanged a simple 'hello' to each other. That's the way he wanted to keep it, too. If he was being honest, Satsuki scared the shit out of him. She was intelligent, more intelligent than Akio liked. And with the aura she gave off, it almost seemed like she knew everything. Shit, she probably did. It was obvious to anyone that Honnouji Academy was her jungle, and she was the lioness of it. He just hoped she wasn't as smart as she seemed, for everyone's sake.

"Lady Satsuki," Akio bowed. "I can't say I was expecting to see you here. To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence this morning?"

"Good morning, Takahiro."

Satsuki took a step away from Aikuro, closing the distance in-between Akio and herself.

Akio's eyes drifted to Aikuro's, who gave a very slight shrug in response. It seemed that he had no idea why she was here either.

"I have just one question for you."

"Of course," Akio nodded. "What is it that you want to know?"

"What are your designs with Matoi?"

"Designs?" Akio blinked. "I don't know what you mean."

"Is that so?"

"Like I had said the other day, she's new here. It'd be rude of me not to help out my fellow student, especially a transfer student."

Satsuki's eyes searched Akio's for several moments, before they narrowed slightly. Akio knew that was a weak argument, but he really didn't have anything else he could stand on. They both knew that Ryuko had been tearing around the countryside, raising hell at each of the high schools that she attended. There was no way that a student that was privy to that information would help Ryuko out, or even give her the time of day. Akio could only pray that Satsuki didn't know that he knew about her track record.

"How kind of you. If only our other students were as courteous as you."

Satsuki prolonged the eye contact, giving a pregnant pause. After what felt like hours, she turned and walked to the door, all the while keeping her back turned to the two.

"That's all I needed. I apologize for the intrusion, Mr. Mikisugi. And Takahiro?" Satsuki turned her head back, her eyes meeting Akio's momentarily. "I'll ignore the fact that you have a beverage on Academy grounds. Good day."

And with that, Lady Satsuki left the classroom, leaving both Akio and Aikuro sweating.

Akio shifted his gaze to Aikuro, who was giving him a very pointed, 'I told you so' look. It seemed Aikuro and Ryuko were right. He had been a little too transparent with his actions.

Akio closed his eyes and let out the shiver he had been holding in. That was unnerving, to say the least. He wasn't that thirsty for coffee anymore either.

He put his coffee down on a desk, running a hand through his hair as his eyes drifted towards the classroom window. It was a surprisingly nice day outside. Sunny, warm, not even a cloud in the sky.

His eyes wandered to the courtyard grounds. There seemed to be a commotion, of some sorts. A crowd of students were gathered around two singular students, one wearing a school uniform, and one wearing a black-

"Son of a bitch," Akio cursed under his breath. He thought that they'd at least wait until after classes ended to go after Ryuko. After all, with the Academy's strict no tardy policy, he thought that they'd want to get to class on time. How foolish of him.

"I'll be right back, Mr. Mikisugi," Akio said and walked to the door.

"Where are you going, Takahiro? Class is about to start."

"My stomach is killing me," Akio replied and rubbed his belly. "I feel like I might puke."

"Alright," Aikuro nodded and looked to his attendance sheet, marking off Akio's name. "I'll put you down as present, but you better hurry back."

"Thanks, teacher," Akio replied, fighting the urge to smirk. "I'll be back soon, I promise."


Akio walked through the sewers, mumbling under his breath. OF COURSE she had to fall into the sewer system, and OF COURSE he had to be the one that retrieved her. A student missing from class was one thing, but a teacher was another. There was no way that Aikuro could skip a class and get away with it scot-free.

Akio cursed a few more times under his breath and kept walking through the ill lit and smelly sewers.

Today was just not his day.

After this, Ryuko at least owed him a steak dinner, or something. He'd rather fight a Three Star then deal with this crap. At least this section of the sewers only carried run-off water, and not human waste. He probably would have quit by now if he had to walk next to a river of feces and piss.

Akio exited the tunnel he was walking through, which had led into a giant chamber that the water and pipes led to.

He looked around the chamber, searching for Ryuko's body. If she had fallen into the water, this was the most likely place that she would end up.

His eyes traveled up the waterfall of run-off water at the opposite end of the chamber, finding Ryuko's body hanging over the ledge. The straps of her outfit were caught in the bars at the top, stopping her from falling completely into the giant pool of water underneath her.

It was going to be one hell of a task to get her down from there.

Akio sighed. It was times like this that he wished that he had Aikuro's job.


About an hour later, Akio stood outside his apartment, staring dumbly at the door in front of him. It was going to be pretty difficult to open it, seeing that his arms were full with an unconscious teenage girl.

He grumbled under his breath and kicked the door as if it would magically open at the touch of his foot.

Of course it didn't.

Akio sighed.

He prayed to God that none of his neighbors would walk by at this moment in time. That would be a pretty awkward conversation trying to convince someone that he did not roofie this poor girl to bring her back to his place.

He carefully placed her down on the ground beside his door, deciding that that was the best course of action. He opened the door to his apartment, then picked Ryuko back up and walked in, closing the door with his foot on the way in.

Akio walked over to his couch, placing her down gently on its cushioned surface.

Now came the hard part. He had to take her uniform off. It was soaking wet, and if he left it on she'd probably get pneumonia or something. And he highly doubted that Mr. Mankanshoku could treat pneumonia.

Besides, it'd be easier to show her how to use it if she wasn't still wearing.

Akio stood over her with his hands on his hips, wondering how to go about it.

He really should have considered recruiting Mako's help before going through with this.

Akio took a deep breath to calm himself, then went to work. He started by undoing the straps that connected her top to her skirt, and carefully pulled her shirt over her head as to not disturb her. He then moved to her skirt, slowly pulling it down and off her legs. He tried his best to ignore the white and blue patterns of her undergarments as he went to work. It'd be incredibly rude of him if he admired the form of an unconscious girl. Plus, he'd be lying if this whole turn of events didn't make him feel incredibly weird. Gawking would only make it so much worse.

Grabbing the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch, he laid it across Ryuko's sleeping form, making sure to cover her entire body.

With the hard part finished, Akio sighed in relief and sat down in the rickety wooden chair that was beside the couch. He grabbed his book off the coffee table, content to read until Ryuko woke up. He thanked the powers that be that she hadn't woken up while he was undressing her. That would have been one conversation that had no possible good end.

He kicked his feet up on the table and leaned back in his chair, his eyes slowly taking in each and every word of the book in front of him.

The hours flew by like seconds, and before he knew it, Akio had finished his book.

"Hemmingway sure likes to write depressing endings," Akio remarked to himself and threw the book on the table.

Great. Now I have nothing to do.

Akio sighed and rolled his head, popping his neck.

...

He was actually out of things to do. That really was his only fallback.

Am...am I boring?

Shaking the destructive thoughts from his head, he decided to throw caution to the wind and examine Ryuko's sleeping form.

She was sleeping surprisingly peacefully given the circumstances, her chest rising and falling slowly as she inhaled and exhaled.

Akio couldn't help but notice how innocent she looked in this state. For as long as he had known her, which wasn't that long, she had always had a stern or angry expression on her face. Rarely did she seem so tranquil, so fragile. It was almost as if he was staring at a completely different person.

He had only known Ryuko the fighter; the girl that was hell-bent on tearing Honnouji Academy down by its seams, not Ryuko the regular teenage girl. It was an odd thing, seeing the difference between conscious Ryuko and unconscious Ryuko. It was like night and day.

Other than that, her face was spotted with yellow and purple bruises, which he could only assume was caused by the tennis club's president. Which was weird. Given the beating Akio had seen her take, he had expected the damage to be a whole lot worse. She must have been stronger than he originally gave her credit for.

Akio hastily looked away when Ryuko's eyes slowly fluttered open. Sitting up on the couch, she rubbed at her eyes groggily. She looked around the apartment, confusion written on her face clear as day.

"Where the hell am I?"

"Good morning, Matoi. Or should I say good afternoon."

Ryuko flinched, spinning in her seat to face Akio.

"W-what!? What the fuck are you doing here?"

"You're in my home," Akio answered simply, keeping his eyes up at the ceiling and away from Ryuko's near naked form.

"Wait a second. This is where you live?"

"Yep."

Ryuko blinked a few times, taking all of the information in. She looked around the apartment curiously, eventually noticing that the blanket that once covered her body had completely fallen off. She gaped at her near naked form, a blush rising to her cheeks.

"Hang on, you didn't undress me, did you?"

Akio gulped and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yeah...sorry about that. You were soaking wet, I was worried you might get sick."

"Wow. Thanks again, Mom," Ryuko deadpanned, glaring daggers at him and pushing the blanket back over her chest."Where's the clothes I was wearing anyway?"

Akio jerked a thumb at the cabinet to the left of the couch, where the Kamui she was wearing was resting on a hanger. Ryuko's eyes followed to where he was pointing, sighing in relief when she caught sight of it.

Akio rose from his seat, pacing over to the mini fridge at the other side of the room.

"You want anything to drink?" Akio asked, turning his head back to glance at her.

"Uh...what do you have?"

Akio opened the fridge, examining its contents.

"Water. Water and beer."

"I'll have a beer then."

Akio chuckled and grabbed two cans from the fridge. "Good choice."

He walked back to where he was once sitting, tossing Ryuko a can and sitting down.

The two opened their cans in unison, both taking deep sips from their cooled beverages. They sat in an awkward silence, getting more and more engrossed in their drinks. After all, cans couldn't talk and make things more awkward.

"How'd I even get here, anyways?" Ryuko asked, deciding to break the silence.

"After that beating you took from the tennis president, you fell into the sewers," Akio paused, noticing Ryuko had gone green. "Don't worry, it was just run-off water. Not what you're thinking."

"Oh," Ryuko sighed in relief. "Then I assume you brought me here?"

"Yep," Akio nodded. "I can't tell you how awkward it was carrying unconscious girl through the slums, for a second time. I got a few stares, to say the least."

Ryuko snorted, but didn't say anything else.

"So," Akio began and took another sip from his drink. "I imagine you're wondering why your Kamui didn't work earlier."

"Kamui?" Ryuko rose an eyebrow, realization washing over her face when she deciphered what Akio had meant. "Oh, you mean Senketsu?"

"Sure."

"That would be pretty useful, yeah."

Akio sat his drink down and walked over to the cabinets on the other side of the room, opening one of the drawers and pulling out a packaged syringe.

"W-wait a second," Ryuko stammered and scooted away when he sat down beside her. "Why do you have a needle?"

"To show you how to use your Kamui, of course."

"Isn't there another way you could do that?"

Akio rose an eyebrow. "What's wrong with this?"

Ryuko looked away, a slight blush tinting her cheeks. "I don't like needles."

Akio snickered and stood back up, walking back to the cabinets and replacing the syringe for a knife.

"Who would have thought that Ryuko Matoi, the fabled Guitar Case Drifter, would be scared of needles?"

"I might be half naked, but I'll still kick your ass."

Akio snickered again, sitting back down next to Ryuko and taking her hand in his.

Ryuko's eyes shifted between her hand and Akio, eventually settling for a hardened glare at the teenage boy.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Akio rolled his eyes, ignoring her remark.

"Just take a sip of your beer and look away."

Ryuko did as she was told, albeit very reluctantly. She lifted her head up and away, taking a huge gulp of her beverage.

"You're lucky I'm the one doing this and not my roommate."

"You have a roommate?"

"Yeah, my brother."

Ryuko turned back to him and blinked. "You have a brother?"

"Yep," Akio smirked. "You probably know him too."

Akio placed the blade against her index finger, swiping the sharpened edge across her skin.

"Ow! What the hell was that for!?"

"Shut up and be patient."

Akio rubbed his index and middle finger against the wound, smearing her blood against his skin.

Rising from his seat, he walked over to where her Kamui was hanging. He rubbed his bloody fingers against the cloth, then hastily took a few steps away from it.

The minute Ryuko's blood made contact with the cloth, it began to glow a bright purple as it transformed. The front of the sailor uniform seemed to turn into a face, with a giant orange and yellow eyeball on the left side of the collar. The collar had also expanded outwards, giving the face what looked like giant, red eyebrows.

The Kamui began to shake violently, its sleeves flinging every which way as it wiggled around.

Ryuko watched her outfit intently, as if it were actually speaking and having a conversation with her.

"You awake now, Senketsu?"

Akio quirked an eyebrow, curiously watching the scene play out. It seemed a little odd that she was talking to her clothing, but maybe he was just missing something. He hadn't remembered Aikuro mentioning anything about her being able to talk to it. Or maybe he had and Akio just forgot.

"Dumbass! Why didn't you wake up when I needed you!?"

"Now, now," Akio interjected and stepped towards the Kamui. Apparently she could. "It isn't Senketsu's fault."

"It sure seems that way," Ryuko grumbled.

Akio gave an exasperated sigh. "Did you not just see what I did?"

Ryuko didn't say anything, content to let Akio explain himself.

"If you were paying attention, you would have noticed that your Kamui awakens when it comes into contact with your blood. This Kamui, or Senketsu as you call it, was created by Isshin Matoi. It's power surpasses even that the Goku uniforms, as you've seen already."

Ryuko's eyes widened. "You knew my father?"

"Sort of," Akio replied and looked away. "I had only met him a few times."

"Oh," Ryuko whispered, turning her head down.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, neither having the heart to speak up. Akio bit back a curse. He really did wish he knew more, but he just didn't. Instead of addressing it, he decided to move past it.

"If you want to defeat Kiryuin you need to master this Kamui," He continued. "If you do so, there's no doubt in my mind that you can surpass her and get the answers you seek."

"Hang on a second," Ryuko's lifted her head, narrowing her eyes. "How the hell do you know all of this? Just who the hell are you?"

Akio met Ryuko's eyes, his gaze stern. "I'm an ally. A friend. For now, that's all you need to know."

"That's a load of shit," Ryuko replied indignantly. "Surely you can tell me more than that."

"Look, if you can prove to me that you're someone that deserves an answer, I'll fill you in on everything I know. The first order of business would be taking down that tennis president, Omiko Hakodate."

"...Fine," Ryuko grunted and rose from her seat, grinding her fist into her hand. "But when I beat that tennis bitch into a pulp, you will tell me everything."

"That's what I just said," Akio rolled his eyes, a slight smirk forming on his lips. "You know, you can probably put your clothes back on. I'm sure they're dry by now."

Ryuko looked down at her near bare chest and pelvis, letting out a surprisingly girlish squeal and yanked Senketsu off of the hangar, hurriedly putting it on.

"No good smart-ass..." Ryuko grumbled under her breath, pulling her skirt back on.

Resisting the urge to laugh, Akio rose from his chair. As if on cue, the sound of a siren began screeching over the intercoms, signaling the beginning of afternoon classes. He walked over to the cabinet that the Kamui was once hanging on, opening it up and pulling out a red glove that had bits of steel on the knuckles.

"Here," Akio said and handed the glove to Ryuko. "Use this Seki Tekko from now on. It will make it easier for you to supply that Senketsu of yours with blood."

Ryuko nodded and accepted the glove, immediately pulling it on over her hand.

"Just pull that pin and you'll be good to go."

"Alright. This has been...confusing, to say the least," Ryuko rubbed the back of her head, smiling slightly. "But thanks? I guess?"

Akio returned the smile and nodded. "It's my pleasure."

Ryuko walked to the door to make her leave, stopping when she noticed Akio was following her.

"What?" Akio asked and raised an eyebrow at Ryuko's stare. "Did you already forget that I'm a student too?"

Ryuko scowled and mumbled something about a 'smart-ass' under her breath, then paced out of the room leaving Akio in her dust.

Author's Notes:

So there ya have it! Like I said, I enjoyed writing this chapter. I know my story is about an OC, but man, I really do enjoy writing Ryuko and Satsuki's characters. Ryuko is just so stubborn and up in your face about everything, but she has this softer side to her that she occasionally shows. While Satsuki is more reserved, with a dignified feeling of superiority about her. And we all know that she's a god damned GENIUS.

Next chapter we'll get to the final showdown with the tennis president, as well as Akio's promise to fill Ryuko in on everything he knows.

Thanks for reading everyone!

Until next time!