A/N: I want to address 2 things here, and then we'll be off.
1st, I'm sorry that it's been a few days, I've been busy in school recently, and that's been a severe distraction. For that, I sincerely apologize.
2nd, the Hōka x Nonon shippers that occasionally berate me for the current path of the story. I want to say one thing to you:
Have you ever heard the phrase: "All in due time"?
It's a phrase I've always loved and it's even the title of the first chapter of this story.
Dwell on that one for a little while.
That is all.
So, without further ado, let's get back to it, eh?
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"Back here again, eh?" Uzu said in a more disappointed tone than usual as he once again mired at the expanse of the Kiryuin estate while he walked along the hallway with Hōka.
"Déjá vu…" Hōka trailed off as he examined the paintings on the wall. Some of historical dignitaries, some of people whom Hōka inferred to be relatives of the Kiryuin family, and some of Satsuki even. Most of them portrayed her in majestic poses, one even had her next to a tiger, with the tiger displaying subtle signs of fear.
"If you would please, this way sirs." Soroi, the withered old butler, said as he beckoned the men towards the living room.
"Yeah, yeah," Uzu replied as he gazed at a rather dashing portrait of John F. Kennedy, "go on ahead Iori, we'll be there soon enough."
"Very well, Mr. Sanageyama." Soroi replied as he took an official bow and proceeded towards the living room. Well, one of many living rooms.
As is already known, the Kiryuin estate hosts a plethora of rooms of every different sort, and living rooms are one of its specialties. There really was no one designated one, they just all were referred to as 'the living room' for all intensive purposes. This particular one they were heading to happened to be on the ground floor, and was actually quite average in design, hosting only a few leather couches, a large diamond encrusted chandelier, bookshelves adorning each wall, and solid mahogany wood floors with a few polished oak tables in the middle. By Kiryuin standards, nothing huge. By any other standard, extravagant.
But, the main focus here is the long trod Hōka and Uzu had down the hallway to get to the living room.
"You know, you seem a little down." Hōka said as the two trotted along.
"Well, aren't you?" Uzu retorted as he looked back at Hōka.
Hōka mired at his and Uzu's normal attire as stated, "Not really, considering the fact that we can wear our normal clothes this time."
"That's the only redeeming quality here!" Uzu snapped back as he leaned up against a nearby wall and bruited.
"I'm not all that furious purely because I don't think it's permissible." Hōka stated as he leaned up next to Uzu.
"Yeah, you make a point." Uzu replied as he began to chuckle slightly and said, "Funny to think how, for once, I wasn't the instigator in one of our little escapades."
"Please don't remind me," Hōka responded as he coughed, "the pure thought makes me sick."
"I'd hardly call the thought 'pure', Hōka." Uzu replied as he looked up at the ornately decorated ceiling.
"You're right, pardon my improper adjective utilization." Hōka corrected as he looked over to Uzu.
"But really, why did we get thrown under the bus in the first place, eh?" Uzu moaned as he hung his head low.
"Because apparently bugging one of your own is considered an act of treason…" Hōka droned at the thought.
"Yeah, but she could've at least just offed us then and there," Uzu continued to moan as he softly shifted his feet about, "she had a murder weapon, and I'm pretty sure she could've hired someone to take the fall for her!"
"I'm pretty sure all the money in the world will do you no good if you're incarcerated." Hōka responded flatly.
"But nooooo," Uzu continued, completely disregarding Hōka's diatribe, "instead she's making us babysit Lucifer's incarnate!"
"You're not even listening are you?" Hōka stated as he facepalmed.
"I thought torture was illegal…" Uzu muttered to himself as he faced on down the hallway.
"I hardly classify this as-" Hōka began before considering who their opponent was, "never mind, I retract any offensive thing I've said concerning the matter."
"Jeez, how did Nui even come about?" Uzu groaned as the two began to walk again, Uzu's coat trailing slightly as he sauntered along.
"I hear she was an inherited child." Hōka began as he admired the gold-trimmed light fixtures, "When Ragyo married Satsuki's late father, he already had a child from a previous marriage. That child was Nui Harime. Out of the goodness of her heart, Ragyo accepted Nui into the family, and looked after her as one of her own. That's when she added the suffix 'Kiryuin' to her last name. However, Satsuki wasn't so accepting of her, and the two have never seen eye to eye ever since."
Indeed, Nui Harime-Kiryuin was an interesting case. Though she can appear as innocent as an orphan, she's really rather devious. Ever since she first met Satsuki, she's been pulling prank after prank on her; from wrecking her homework and breaking her toys when they were little to tripping her down stairs and inflicting other wounds on her, you name it, she's done it. Satsuki normally writes it off, but sometimes it results in a small conflict between the two. And by 'small conflict', I mean full blown war in the household. There were actually certain rooms built that are designed to be resistant to all sorts of impacts specifically for said aforementioned conflicts.
"Makes sense." Uzu replied as he looked side to side, "Speaking of Miss White and Eyebrows, where are they today?"
"Well since Satsuki can't pursue Matoi toady," Hōka explained, "she decided to spend another day with her mother before Ragyo has to leave for Milan in a few days."
"Of fucking course…" Uzu droned as he slammed his fist into the wall, nearly denting it.
"Oi, watch it," Hōka warned at the gesture, "that wall costs more than that entire outfit of yours, times 10."
"Um, I'm sorry, do you know what brands these clothes are?" Uzu inquired in an offended tone. He gestured to his coat and said, "Galini brand coat, made specifically for me, crafted from only the finest imported fabrics. The collar is comprised entirely of double treated imported cotton." he then gestured to his cadet blue vest and said, "Buscemi brand vest, made of the same nylon that was used to make vests for 5 past presidents and the head of the Lamborghini family." he then finally gestured to his pristine white pants and said, "Roth's designer line skinny jeans, made for only a limited time during the first and second week of last December!" after that, he did an eloquent 360 spin on his tiptoes and stated, "Now, what was this about it costing more than my entire outfit."
Hōka had a deadpan expression on his entire face that whole sanctimonious spiel, and wasn't about to change that as he replied, "Fine, I was wrong, can we just get this over with?"
"Oh, what's this my dear Inumuta?" Uzu coyly inquired as he buzzed about Hōka like a mosquito, "Are you anxious to see a one miss Harime?"
"Not at all." Hōka immediately responded, "However, it's my own personal Hell that I've wrought upon myself, so I suppose it's only fitting that I get it over with as possible."
"That sounds like the Hōka Inumuta I know!" Uzu said as he patted Hōka firmly on the back which Hōka couldn't help but grin slightly at.
As the two reached the door to the living room, they both took a deep breath before entering. Upon entering, they were greeted by the sight of the 13-year-old herself in a frilly pink dress, laying on the couch, chewing gum obnoxiously loud while she twiddled one of her golden pigtails.
"Kept me waiting long enough!" Nui snapped as she shot up from her position at the sight of the two boys.
"You waited for us? How thoughtful…" Uzu snidely retorted with that trademark smirk of his painted all over his face.
"Don't mention it; seriously." Nui replied as she rolled her eyes at the sight of Uzu's smugness. "Alright Icicle and Monkey," Nui began as she crossed her arms and donned her own devilish grin.
"Icicle?" Hōka muttered through his turtleneck.
"Ooh, Monkey, real original there." Uzu sarcastically replied as he rolled his shoulders in an unamused fashion.
"let's have…" Nui began as she ran over to the two and grabbed Hōka by his sweatshirt and Uzu by his coat, "a little fun…"
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"Agh, jeez does my head hurt!" Ryuko moaned as she walked through the halls of Stonewall, Aikuro Mikisugi by her side. Ryuko rubbed her forehead and temples with her hands as Aikuro looked down at her and chuckled.
"What happened?" Aikuro inquired as he adjusted his aviators, "Did you sleep on a bed of 2 by 4s again?"
"No!" Ryuko snapped in reply, "I wouldn't make the same mistake three times!"
"Three?" Aikuro inquired as he leaned in towards Ryuko with his hand cupped over his ear, eliciting a blush and a nervous chuckle from Ryuko.
Normally Stonewall would be the academic equivalent of the rejected child of Time Square and an Indian bazaar, but today was different. The class was taking their annual before-Spring-Break field trip from Stonewall to Chicago, leaving the school a proverbial ghost town. They departed early that morning at 6 and were due back at midnight. Well, almost everyone departed; Ryuko was actually the only one who was forced to stay back to due to (*ahem*) circumstances.
"Why did you have to beat up those Newspaper Club boys anyways?" Aikuro said as they rounded the corner and neared his classroom.
"I thought I told you," Ryuko replied, not rubbing her head anymore and instead allowing her arms to hang by her sides, "they were sneaking around the Girl's Locker Room, someone had to."
"Yeah, but was it really necessary to break Johnson's femur?" Aikuro replied as he adjusted the buttoning on his white shirt.
"Why d'you even bother straightening up?" Ryuko said, changing the subject as she looked at Aikuro's normal, raggedy outfit of a dingy white button-up, and tattered, faded blue jeans. She also noted how, despite being his age, he had the figure and build of a 20 or 30 something year-old. "You know there's no one else to monitor but me."
"I could inquire a similar thing about your attire, Miss Matoi," Aikuro retorted as mired at Ryuko's casual outfit, "it's not often I see you in a hoodie and jeans. More often than not you wear that sailor uniform, no?"
"Senketsu." Ryuko sharply replied as she glared at Aikuro, stopping both of them in their tracks, "Knowing the circumstances behind that thing, just bear with me and call it Senketsu."
Aikuro mired at that fire in Ryuko's eyes that he had ignited and replied, "What were those circumstances again?" with a smug grin, "My memory escapes me…"
Ryuko growled at Aikuro, but sighed and replied, "My dad was heavily into clothing and science." as she leaned up against a locker on the wall, "Yeah, I know, weird obsessions, but whatever. In his life, he often wondered what would happen if he developed a special cloth."
"Special cloth?" Aikuro inquired as leaned up next to Ryuko and looked down at her, his shaggy blue locks dusting his eyes.
"Yeah," Ryuko replied, her gaze still fixated forward, "you know how people outgrow their clothes n' stuff?"
"Well yeah, that's natural." Aikuro replied as he looked down at his outfit, thinking how he had always kept it constant, just buying larger sizes of various things for whenever he grew.
"Yeah well, not according to my dad." Ryuko replied, recapturing Aikuro's attention, "He thought that constantly buying and re-buying outfits was a huge wast of money. So he wanted to develop a special cloth that would adjust to a human's measurements by naturally scanning various elements of your being."
"Elements?" Aikuro curiously replied as he narrowed his eyes behind his tan aviators.
"You know, like, blood, hairs, dead skin cells, shit like that." Ryuko responded. "The cloth would analyze these as they came and adjust itself within a few hours or days and maintain its perfect fit for all of its existence."
"And Senketsu is…" Aikuro began, finally remembering it all.
"Completely made of this special cloth." Ryuko finished, finally casting a glance his way. "And the only successful version my dad ever made before he died in that fire that destroyed our house."
As Ryuko sighed, Aikuro patted her on the shoulder and gave her a smile. "So what about you? You couldn't finish his research for him?"
"Nah," Ryuko replied with a small chuckle, "all of his notebooks, research, family photos, prototypes, all of it burned in that fire. And even if I had it, you should know better than anyone that I'm no good at that science stuff."
"You can say that again…" Aikuro coyly droned, only to be responded to by a swift elbow in the side from Ryuko.
After Aikuro finished bruising over his minor injury, he replied, "That still doesn't explain why you're not wearing it right now."
Ryuko shrugged and said, "I tore a hole in the skirt, and I haven't had time to sew it up yet."
"But can't that special cloth repair itself?" Aikuro inquired as the two began to walk towards Aikuro's classroom.
"Unfortunately, no." Ryuko replied, "It can only adjust in size, any repairs have to be made on yer own."
"Science, eh?" Aikuro droned as they reached his classroom and began to fiddle around in his pockets for his keys.
"Yeah, I guess." Ryuko shrugged. She then began to caress her head again and moaned, "It hurts! It freakin' hurts! And I always have these weird visions, too!"
"Visions?" Aikuro inquired as he opened up his classroom, the familiar scent of Sandalwood instantly hitting the two. "What, like a day-time dream or something?"
"I'm not sure." Ryuko said as she leaned up against Aikuro's desk, "All I know is that in this dream I'm somewhere with…someone." Ryuko's caress on her head momentarily intensified, but she eventually relaxed slightly, and she continued, "I don't quite know who, but then all of a sudden there's this weird jogger dude that kinda reminded me of that Sanageyama dude."
"Uzu." Aikuro stated as he refreshed the incense in his burner and haphazardly 'sorted' papers on his desk.
Ryuko snapped her fingers in Aikuro's direction, "Yeah, that's the guy!" Ryuko replied. "The next thing I know, this jogger dude is the last thing I see before I pass out or something. And from there, it's blackness until I wake up; crazy, eh?"
"That sounds a little too detailed to be a dream, no?" Aikuro responded as he kicked back in his chair and put his feet up, prompting Ryuko to remove herself from the desk and instead choose the one that was directly across from Aikuro's.
"C'mon Aikuro," Ryuko drolly replied, "you're tellin' me that all this actually happened?"
Aikuro gave Ryuko a once over as he said, "My degree's in teaching Ryuko, not psychology." Once he was done, he gazed off to the side and continued, "However, knowing you, nothing would surprise me."
"Tch!" Ryuko playfully replied as she kicked her feet up on the desk next to Aikuro's and said, "I never did pay you back for the tip off, did I?"
Aikuro allowed himself to chuckle as he began to fake like he was examining the mess of papers on his desk, and replied, "No, I don't recall as though you did…" he then proceeded to lay back in his chair and continue, "Ah, whatever. You were in as much danger as I was; I was just being civil."
"Yeah, as civil as a nudist hobo can be." Ryuko retorted, a clever grin dancing on that delicate face of hers.
Aikuro noticed her grin, but decided to ignore it conversation-wise and instead inquired, "Where's that little friend of yours? Mako?"
"On that damn trip." Ryuko replied, "And just my luck, she didn't get to talk to me because she was caught up with some guy that she met; Ira Gama-something-or-other, I don't know…"
"Sounds interesting." Aikuro droned as he twiddled an incense stick in his right hand, "Do you think she likes this guy?"
"Probably, that would just be like Mako…" Ryuko replied in an unamused tone, "Jeez, this is why I stick with girls!"
"Eh? What do you mean?" Aikuro inquired as he leaned forward in his chair.
"Well, with guys, it's all about themselves, you know?" Ryuko began as she leaned back and looked out the window at the beautiful spring scene outside. Birds sang their songs of joy as the gentle breeze blew through all the petals, leaves, and blades of grass of creation. A gentle waft of fresh grass mixed with lavender from just outside came wafting in, mixing perfectly with the already lovely Sandalwood that filled the room. After taking a second to inhale the essence, Ryuko continued, "They're never putting the girl first, and they're always pulling reckless shit that gets the girl more n' more wrapped up with him. Conniving little…" Ryuko pounded the table lightly but calmed down eventually and went on to say, "But with girls, they have each other first, and themselves second. They know how to prioritize one another's needs, desires, and most importantly, they understand one another way better than anyone else could ever…It's beautiful…" she looked over to get a take from Aikuro only to realize that he had his earbuds in this entire time, and was blasting "What a Fool Believes" by The Doobie Brothers just loud enough for Ryuko to hear. She only recognized the song because it was one of the songs Aikuro more frequently played.
Ryuko heaved a heavy sigh and mixed in the word 'hopeless' in there loud enough for Aikuro to pause his phone, take out an earbud, and say, "Hm? Did you say something?"
Ryuko muttered some profanities and then turned back out the window and replied, "Oh, nothing really…"
"Oh, ok good." Aikuro said as he began to put his earbud back in, but halted when Ryuko said,
"I said it before but I'll say it again, I don't see why you're here."
"Well," Aikuro began as he took out both earbuds and threw his phone carelessly on his desk, "the school guidebook says that in the instance of two or more students in a detention/suspension session there must be at least one adult present."
"Wait, wait, wait," Ryuko said as she waved her hand, "two students?"
"Yes." Aikuro said as he lifted up the lone clipboard on his desk, "I have the names right here. For detention today I have Ryuko Matoi and-"
"Nonon Jakuzure." Nonon finished from the doorway where she stood. Ryuko and Aikuro snapped their heads to the sight before them, a petite pinkette who wore a short sleeved white undershirt underneath her solid pink button-up overshirt, a pair of tattered and torn blue jeans, and abysmally black Converses. She had her arms crossed, but that assertive pose seemed to be more of a farce than anything. Ryuko didn't know why, but she felt like she had seen this girl somewhere before…
"I assume that's you?" Aikuro stated as he threw his clipboard aside and leaned back in his chair again.
"Yes, that's me." Nonon said as she placed a hand on her chest just above her left breast.
"Well, take a seat and make nice with Ryuko here," Aikuro said as he gestured to Ryuko and then got up out of his seat, "I'm gonna go get some coffee…"
"I thought you said there had to be an adult present!" Ryuko called after him playfully.
"No, the school guidebook says that," Aikuro corrected on his way out, "I'm not the guidebook!" and then winked as he left, eliciting a sigh from Ryuko.
"Jeez, what's that guy's deal?" Nonon said as she went and leaned up against the table Ryuko was currently on, stretching her legs to set her feet on Aikuro's desk.
"He's a flower child," Ryuko replied as she looked to Nonon with a smile that made her heart flutter all over again, "so he pretty much goes by that one thing, um, laiss-somethin' or other."
"Laissez-faire?" Nonon inquired as she snapped her fingers at the thought.
"That's it!" Ryuko exclaimed as she hit her right fist agains the open palm of her left hand, then reached out her right arm and patted Nonon on the head as she said, "Thanks for that, missy!"
"N-No problem…" Nonon replied, turning her face away in a futile attempt to hide her blush. "B-But, can I ask a question?"
"Yeah, sure." Ryuko responded as she swung herself around and sat criss-cross facing Nonon.
"Do you recognize me?" Nonon said as she gestured to her face.
Ryuko took a good hard look at Nonon, finely examining every feature of her. Her hair, her perky cheekbones, her cute button nose, and the unique way her bangs hung. At last, she snapped her fingers and her face lit up, as well as Nonon's.
Ryuko opened her mouth to speak and replied, "Oh yeah!"
"You do know me?!" Nonon excitedly inquired as she grabbed Ryuko's hands.
Ryuko blushed at the gesture and replied, "Actually…I got nothin'…"
Nonon's heart sank deeper and deeper as Ryuko went on to say,
"Sorry Miss Nonon, I've never seen ya before in my life."
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A/N: SHE CAN'T REMEMBER?! It looks like Ryuko's convinced herself it was all a dream or something like that! What does this spell for Nonon and her ambitions? And what about Satsuki? Most importantly, what will become of Uzu and Hōka as they enter the Devil's Den?
These answers and more in the next chapter of, "Lost, but Found"!
If you haven't already, please accept my thanks for reading this story, and I hope you will continue to read it!
If your really like this story, then please do leave a follow/review/favorite/all of the above because seeing those always makes my day! And even if you don't, then don't' worry; I still love you regardless!
I hope you have an excellent day/week/month/year of your life and I'll see you all soon!