Static
Chapter 4: Double Ties
Disclaimer: I do not own Kill la Kill or any of the characters involved except Garet and Jaret.
Ryuko stirred as a light above her flickered. She opened one eye and found a figure was leaning over her smiling to themselves and wriggling their fingers. She immediately went into a panic state and lifted her foot, kicking the figure in the face.
"Get away from me you creep!" She shouted sending the man spinning into the wall.
The door to their room slid open and a young boy was standing in the doorway with a bat. "What's going on dad?!" He shouted as he entered the room.
"She's awake," The figure replied as he sat up.
Ryuko looked from one to the other as she pulled the blankets that had been laid on her up over her chest. She noticed that her whole body was covered in bandages.
"What… what happened to me?" She asked them.
"Ryuko?" A familiar voice came from outside the door, and soon a face appeared to match it: Mako Mankanshoku.
"Mako?" Ryuko asked in surprise.
"Good! You're awake! You were pretty touch and go there for a bit!" Mako said with a smile as she entered the room.
"What? What do you mean? What happened?"
"Well, after you saved me I saw you run into the street to escape the student council, and I followed you. By the time I caught up to you though you were passed out in an alley, so I had my brother help me drag you to my house. My dad's a doctor, so I let him take a look at you and bandage you up,"
She pointed to the figure who was now sitting politely across the room.
"Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't know," Ryuko looked to the man as she said this.
"No harm done, I get that a lot down here," Mr. Mankanshoku said as he waved his hand dismissively.
"So… what happened after I passed out?" Ryuko asked Mako.
"Not much, Lady Satsuki sent the twins to look for you, but luckily I found you and got you here before they found you,"
"Thanks," Ryuko sighed in relief before laying back down on the bed.
"No problem, that's what friends are for right?" She gave a smile.
Ryuko nodded, "if you don't mind, I'd like to get some rest," Ryuko said.
The trio nodded and silently slipped out of the room.
"Good night Ryuko," Mako said as she flipped the light switch, bathing the room in darkness.
The door slid shut and Ryuko sighed before pulling the covers over her head.
"Y'know, this isn't a bad set-up. Could work in the long run I think," A voice whispered.
Ryuko immediately shot up and looked around the room, spotting the familiar figure of Garet squatting in the window.
"What are you doing here?!" Ryuko shouted as she stood up.
Garet held a finger to his lips and Shh'd her for silence. He waited a minute to see if anyone had heard Ryuko's sudden outburst. When he was sure they were still unnoticed he continued.
"I'm not here to fight you, that's for sure," Garet replied in a whisper.
"Then what are you here for?" Ryuko whispered back aggressively.
"I'm here to give you a message,"
"From Satsuki Kiryuin?"
"No, from my brother,"
Ryuko's eyes blinked in surprise. "Oh… what is it?" She asked.
Garet stepped into the room carefully, and once he was inside leaned against the window wall.
"Jaret said to tell you: 'We're not against you, we only appear to be. We have a greater mission at stake and we have to keep up appearances with Satsuki Kiryuin.' And he's right, we do have a greater mission at stake than to try and get on either of your bad sides,"
"So what does that mean?"
"Unfortunately I can't tell you much more than that, my brother was very insistent that I just give you the message and answer a select set of questions. 'What does that mean' wasn't on the list and in that case I'm only allowed to tell you that I can't say more,"
"Your brother sounds like a very forward thinker,"
"Yeah, it's really crazy what he thinks will happen sometimes, anyway, if you have other questions I can see about answering those,"
Ryuko sat in silence for a moment as she thought up more questions, finally one leapt to the front of her mind.
"You and your brother, you're not originally from Honnoji academy are you?"
Garet shook his head, "No, we're not. We're originally from the States. My brother and I were born twins, him the older and me the younger. Our father skipped out shortly after we were born leaving our mother to raise us on her own, but that only lasted a few years before she passed away. Complications from birth caught up to her suddenly and no one saw it coming. We wandered the world for a while, hopping from one continent to the next trying to find a new home. Eventually we found an employer who had a use for our unique set of skills and offered us a job infiltrating Satsuki's council,"
"What does this mean going forward? Are we going to have to fight?" Ryuko asked.
Garet shook his head, "Not unless you force one on us, my brother and I have no wish to fight against you, but if Satsuki orders us to, we have to keep up appearances. Outside school you can expect us to treat you like a complete stranger,"
"How does that work? Won't Satsuki get mad if you pass up a chance to capture me?"
"No, she's not keen on capturing you or even dealing with you. For right now you're a no more than a slight annoyance, although I suspect that's going to change in the coming months?"
"You can bet your ass it is," Ryuko's eyes set in a determined glare.
"Jaret thought you might say that, he told me to give you something if you did," Garet reached into his jacket and retrieved a small object from an inner pocket. He tossed it to Ryuko.
"What's this?" She asked as she caught it, it was a small whistle.
"That's a one time favor from both of us. Blow on that and we'll come running, regardless of loyalties or appearances, so only use it in an emergency and if you're completely out of options, understand?"
Ryuko nodded and clenched this whistle in her hand.
"Anything else you'd like to know?"
"Not right now, thanks for this," She said.
"Of course, we'll try and keep in touch in secret, but in case we can't just remember that we're not against you and this is not personal," Garet gave her a nod before bracing his hands against the windowsill and tipping himself out the window. Ryuko darted to the wall and watched as he landed softly on the ground, barely making a sound, and then bolted off into the night.
"That guy's crazy…" She said to herself
