[Location: Scouting Club HQ; Time: 3:30PM (Day 30)]
It's has only been a day or so since Ryuko and Mako's family returned to their original lives of poverty. While a good part of Sora understands the 'why' of things, it still saddened him to see then return to the old days.
"Hey Boss." It was Tengo "If you want to take the day off, go for it. I'll cover for you should Ira request a status report. Besides, things have been pretty quiet ever since Ryuko disbanded her club anyway. And to top it all off: even if some Heartless did so up they would not last one minute out there right now."
"Yeah that's right…" Sora recalled that it was around this time that President Satsuki Kiryuin has made her announcement of something she calls the "Natural Elections", a seven-day battle royal which, thankfully, not all are forced to join but is something that could certainly help both the students and herself. It is something that she created to reformat and reorganized the student hierarchy; most likely in response to Ryuko's continuous decimations of the club captains during the days of the Fight Club. As he looked at the main tower, he sees that is has been cut off from the outside world by a barrier made of Life Fibers… with the President still inside. "Oh boy. Ryuko is not going to like this. Yeah, I don't see the harm in it."
[Location: Satsuki's Office; Time: 9:00 PM Yesterday]
"The Clubs and their Captains that Ryuko defeated were too weak to remain here at Honno-ji. That's why she's beaten them so easily, simple as that." Satsuki said while sipping her tea
"Then what do you suppose we do then, My Lady?" Houka asked
"I think the student body is three years overdue a total overhaul." She quipped
"Lady Satsuki! You don't mean…!? You intend to announce and implement-!?" Ira shouted while sounding shocked at what his boss is suggesting
His boss chuckled at his response and answered "Yes, Ira. I do mean 'that'."
"The Natural Elections Battle Royal. I don't even NEED my eyes to see the mayhem that'll result in. but it may end up also build character for those that do participate, even the no-stars" Uzu pitched in "Coupled with those monsters lurking about, this ought to give Sora and his gang some much needed R&R should they ever rear their heads in town."
Satsuki then smirked at that last statement Uzu made and added "Exactly; those creeps would never survive the crossfire."
"Reformat the school and suppress the Heartless. That's our Lady Satsuki for us: Two Birds with One Stone." Nonon said after hearing what everyone else had to say
[Location: Mankanshuko's (no-star) place; Time 6:00PM]
"Sucks, doesn't it?" Sora asked as he approach Ryuko "The fact that just when after you ruled out one method to get the answers out of her, she comes with one herself and denies you the shot at it; feels like insult to injury to you huh?"
"Damn right it does!" She complained "'A battle royal' she says, 'All students are fair game' she says! Announce my perfect chance; denies me that shot by raising a barrier."
"Maybe it's one of those champion kind of tournaments; where the very last one standing gets to go toe-to-toe with her." Sora hypothesized "Or maybe she wants both of you at your 'A' game for next week"
"You going to go at her too?" Ryuko allured him "She may even be the one responsible for those Heartless attacks."
"I'm wanting to see what she really wants out of all this madness, but I'm not pointing fingers at her in regards to the Heartless. She never would've approved of my club in the first place if she really was behind the Heartless here."
"Her giving you your club for that is just a cover-up and you know it!" Ryuko rejected "Anyway today's the 13th anniversary since my father sent me to boarding school for most my life. And although I despised him for not contacting me at any point during my stay there, he's still my father. So I thought I might as well go and pay my respects. Want to join?"
"Sure. If any Heartless do appear in the city in my absence, they'll be wiped out clean in assuring crossfire of the battle." Sora replied as he got his Glider ready "Lead the way."
"Hey, Ryuko!" they both heard a familiar cheery voice from the house "Where are you two heading to? Oh are you two dating finally?" Mako pressed them to see where they were heading to; the last question Mako asked left both of them blushing
"Oh no, no, no! He's already taken from what I do remember" Ryuko said frantically thinking of a proper response "He's still new around here so I feel the need to show him around outside of campus you know?
"OH! OH! OH! Can I join? Please?" Mako instigated
All Sora was able to do was roll his eyes that inanely told Ryuko 'Let her join; what could go wrong?' and the latter then replied to Mako "Ah…why the hell not?"
"YAY! Off we go!"
[Location: A Burned Down Mansion; Time: 6:40 PM]
The party of three arrived at an old burned down mansion; the weathering suggests that it's been several months since it was destroyed. Sora then got off the glider and turned it back into a weapon while Ryuko and Mako dismounted the scooter Bazaro got them and Sora then asked "So this is it, huh? This is where you used to live?"
"WHAAAA!" Mako squealed "You should not have to live under a roof that has no roof!"
"Yeah." Ryuko answered "Although it didn't always look like this. It looked far nicer back when I was a toddler from what I CAN recall; at least before-"
"Boarding school?" Sora budged in
"Uh-huh. There are some parts of me that wished to hell he killed me instead. Boarding school was THAT bad for me. I always got picked on by the other students there just because I they thought I was an orphan."
"Damn…" Sora managed
"And that was only after my first year. At age eight their violent attitude towards me only escalated because of my red streak of hair. That's when I thought enough was enough and threw my first punch. The smell of blood coming from their nostrils and the sound of their teeth shattering as I hit those jerks failed to grow stale for me. So that's when I found my calling: a violent nut-bar just like the fuckers that used to torment me all the time as a child."
"You didn't change your habits, didn't you?"
"Sadly, you're right. At age 14, I was a full-fledged punk. Several times I came close to murder, but that never stopped me from doing it again. All I had to offer to this world was utter disgust for it and the desire to see it burn, but my whole life was turned up-side down six months ago, when I received a letter from my father and all that it read was 'It's time.' . That's when I thought that he had something important that he wanted to talk to me about; odds are it might've been about why he sent me to that living hellhole to begin with."
"That's where it all started, right? That's when he was murdered?"
"And in his own damn home no less!" Ryuko said while shaking as she looked like she was about to break down in tears "That's when he told me to find whoever has the other half of this weapon, who in turn was the person that took my father's life. I caught a glimpse of the weapon, but when I left to chase after the culprit, I couldn't even see what the person looked like. Just when I recalled that there was something else important he needed to tell me, the house was suddenly engulfed in flames and when the fire department finally arrived, he was burnt to a crisp; completely beyond recognition. But then again after being impaled through the heart, you're already dead then." Ryuko sniffed as Sora offered her some tissue paper and replied to him "Thanks."
"Man…you've been through such an ordeal your whole life. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that." Sora gave his condolences
"No; if I hadn't turned into the punk that hated everything, I never would have been nicknamed 'The Kanto Drifter' and I would have died upon my first stop on the trail for that self-centered murderer..."
Just as Sora was about to take another step, he noticed the floor shake a bit and there no signs of earthquakes nearby "Hmmm…the flooring here feels weak." He said as he knocked on the floor hard enough to hear an echo sound. He and Ryuko looked at each other assuming the obvious. Sora then took on Valor Form and Ryuko activated her synchronization; they then smashed the floor beneath them which turns out to be a ceiling of an even bigger room. The duo then looked around for additional clues in regards to the REAL reasons why Isshin made Senketsu as well as getting Sora involved in all of this.
The only thing of note that Sora found himself was an intact picture of man with an absurdly long beard, an eye patch, and a little girl that seem like she was always troubled form the beginning. When Ryuko took noticed of what he found, she then replied "The man is my father. Learned that he was a scientist of some sorts. Of what exactly, I don't know. Which is all the more reason why I have to find out who it was that ended him."
"You seem like you were sad from the start. What of your mother?" Sora inquired
"From what my dad told me: she died giving birth to me."
"Damn… I bet she would have been proud to know that she gave birth to a very strong willed individual. Wished to hell I could have met her at least." Sora sighed
"Come to mention it now, I doubt I'll ever quit the habit of getting into fights and breaking skulls anytime soon. Say I do wind up avenging him, what will I do next? I have no real family left."
"Not entirely true. Remember: you still have Mako and her family" Sora pointed up where the girl in question was waving back at them both "You see? You also got Senketsu, who strangely enough I can understand quite clearly…"
"It's obvious that it's your Keyblade magic constantly at work. I can't think of any other logical reason, Sora." The uniform in question calmly suggested
"And…. Well" Sora started to blush a bit "for the weight of it's worth…"
"Aww! You're make such a good baby brother!" Ryuko teased as she then gave Sora a noogie
"Okay, Okay. Uncle!" Sora pleaded in which Ryuko responded in kind "Now let's keep looking." He suggested, which Ryuko nodded in agreement
[Location: along the highway to Honno-Ji; Time: 6:50 PM]
"Nothing. The whole place was dry as a bone. Clean of any proof of his work." Sora said as he rode on his Keyblade Glider back to Honno-ji alongside the girls
"No paperwork. No research notes. No Life Fibers he used to create either the Rending Scissors or Senketsu. Do think he purged his lab when he heard we was being attacked or do you think they took something after the already evil deed?" Ryuko queried
"I don't know really, but it looks like there was a small bomb attached to the gas line. I'll bet Isshin rigged it with a dead-man trigger."
"Then the corresponding monitor have to have been for his heart then. To take his work with him to the grave." Just as Ryuko and Sora continued their conversation, the scooter for the former began to slow down. As it turns out, the fuel gauge was busted.
"You need a hand getting home?" Sora offered the girls a ride back
"Got room for the scooter?" Ryuko shot back
"No" Sora sighed "Sorry girls."
"Can't exactly leave it behind, you know."
"Don't worry about us. It's not like anyone would stand a chance against Ryuko!" Mako reminded him of how powerful she is despite being in a scantily clad outfit, which he learned first-hand.
"Yeah, she's right. Go on ahead without us. We'll talk more tomorrow."
"If you insist then, ladies." Sora cautiously replied "Just, you know…don't die or anything."
"What did Mako just tell you?" Ryuko boasted
[Location: Heartless Hunter HQ; Time: 7:25 PM]
"Hey boss." Tengo said as Sora made his return "How was your time with Ryuko?"
"Elaborative to say the least." Sora replied "The poor girl's has been through so much."
"Such as?" Hontōni inquired
"Being sent a place like 'Northern Kanto Boarding School' and-."
"Wait!" Nigai interrupted "You mean as in 'The most inhospitable education facility in the world' Northern Kanto Boarding School?"
"How do you know of that place?" Sora asked
"Keru, Kyugi, and I used to attend that cesspit of a school. Not only were the lectures ill-prepared and teachers themselves unmotivated, but the male faculty members, from the principle himself downward, were known to hit on female students."
"Jesus…" Sora thought "That'll explain her beef with Mikisugi… she thinks of him as no different, and for the most part it might as well be true."
"And the senior students of that shithole didn't seem inclined on straying from their predecessors' abusive way either. In fact, they've only made things worse." Kyugi stated
"My old pal is right, you know." Keru added "Dates as far back as the place's founding days and really did only get worse and worse with each year. During our first year of middle school, we heard of the Northern Kanto Gang Alliance spreading far and thin, running amok throughout the country. It didn't matter what we we're getting into in the long run."
"All that mattered to us at the time was what we were getting out of." Said Nigai "So we dropped out joined that group and then said group got dissolved into Honno-ji. Odds are is that I'm sure you are leader of that crew"
"The Chief of the Athletics Board: Uzu Sanageyama" Sora answered without a hint of second thought
"Bingo." All three of them replied
Sora then looks at the time and states "well, I think I've waited long enough. I'm going back to the highway to pick them up myself." He then took his leave again and hopped on his Keyblade Glider.
Just a few minutes as he took off, he saw a pink car that was riddled with quite a lot of holes. While such a sight was no surprise at this point, what really caught his eye was the driver and supposed owner of said car. "Ira! What happened?"
"Picked up Matoi and Mankanshuko along the highway, then we ran into some trouble. A coalition force tried to take my uniform as they were granted permission by the Lady herself."
"Mad about that?"
"That kind of attempt was a long time coming. Why should I be?"
"I kind of meant the car"
"The coalition was that of the Automotive Club and the Airsoft Club. Fused with life fibers yes, but not with real guns. Had they been loaded with real guns, this beauty would have long since been turned to scrap metal. I need nothing less than the finest to chaperone Lady Satsuki. I'm getting my driver's license during the week. "
"Now that's loyal!" Sora complimented "You what else I just noticed? You look way older than the other council members. What gives?"
"Yeah, about that. When I first agreed to join her forces, I promised to delay my middle school graduation; twice."
"Twice!? Then how old are-?"
"I'm turning 20 in three months' time."
"First I learn you plan to get your license, then you tell me you repeated the same year twice! Do you harbor any special feelings towards her?" Sora asked
"I- that's a good question, one I often ask myself." Ira replied while blushing then shook it off and continued "One more thing: if you wish to join Ryuko in the Sudden Death Showdown, you know it's not too late to do so."
"Six and a fraction of a day left, right?"
"We'll be ready for you both, remember that much at least…" Ira said as he took his leave for the night, ready and willing to combat both of them should it ever come to it
{Character Relations updated}
