The silent hush over the boat made the trip to Osaka cold enough to freeze. The news of Mako's capture chilled everyone it came to, but it hurt those in the command center down to the core. Once the news broke over the ship, many decided to prepare for war, to fight to get those they lost back. They were down now several club leaders and hundreds of normal students, not including those lost before the break for freedom. Time went on without much chatter from anyone afterword, and the halls Gamagoori roamed were as silent as the dead. People he walked by parted for him, letting the crestfallen Elite pass without issue. He had paced through the halls of B deck four times now, from one end to another, lost within his thoughts and heart. The impact of watching Mako struggle against her captors and letting her go hurt him every time a sliver of the memory found its way back to replay.
No matter what he tried to think, he was the reason she got taken. He failed to save her, he failed to reach farther to grab her.
He stopped his steps. He needed to stop thinking negatively, naïvely like a child. His thoughts were simply going to throw him into a depressive stupor without a chance for it to disappear. He needed to stop thinking, even for a minute. He had to find a distraction. Where could he go to find the right distraction?
"Oi, Gamagoori!"
Gamagoori looked up to the balcony above him, finding Sanageyama's torso hanging over it. He had forgotten that a single section of B and A deck were layered over each other and opened like a courtyard, access ramps for either deck available to go between the balconies overhead or the halls below.
"Get your ass up to A deck. We're sparring!"
'That'll work', Gamagoori thought as he sprinted up to A deck, simply glad that a distraction came from above.
Sparring spared his mind his depressive thoughts for a while, the adrenaline running through his iced over veins waking what primal wants remained within him. His depression kept his size larger than Sanageyama but he was obviously keeping it controlled. The back and forth repetition of blows and kicks, combined with a few tricks kept Gamagoori's mind clear of distractions, but also empty of moral correction. Multiple occasions arose where he simply lashed out on him, letting himself completely free in every attack he unleashed. His anger, his fury, every boiling emotion from the last battle came out in waves of unaltered attacks and unwavering ferocity.
"God dammit, Gamagoori, what the hell?"
Gamagoori sequestered himself from his opponent, trying to understand why he had lost control. Sanageyama wrapped the last of his wounds and brushed himself off.
"What's happened to you anyway, it's as if you're not thinking anymore!"
Gamagoori realized that Sanageyama was correct. He wasn't thinking. He didn't dare think for fear of seeing Mako. His lack of cohesive thought lead him to act on every negative emotion he kept under lock and key.
"Forgive me Sanageyama. I...I was't thinking at all. I hoped that this would help keep some issues at bay, but all it did was create new ones."
Sanageyama looked up at him, then turned back to the wall. "You need to get off her already, she's gone."
Gamagoori didn't remember what happened after those words left Sanageyama's mouth. He could remember the smallest glimpse of Sanageyama lying in the remains of a locker, blood dripping down his forehead, but besides that his memory went missing. For a while, all he could do was shift through the blankness of his mind, until he found his mind knocking him down, throwing into unconsciousness.
He woke up to the sound of machines clicking and making various sounds and the pinch of a needle in his left arm. He could make out muffled words, but he couldn't hear them clearly. He could barely open his eyes, finding the world around him blurry and disoriented, but he could obviously tell that Ryuuko and Satsuki were in sight. He could not tell if they were arguing or simply discussing something, but Ryuuko looked his way, familiar emotions he had felt reflecting in her eyes. He winced as another needle poked into his skin, this one sending him back into the dark instantly.
The next instance of consciousness came with the screaming of every muscles in his chest and shoulders and the sharp instance of pain as another needle poked into his wrist.
"That should keep the bruises from hurting much."
"Matoi?"
Ryuuko sat beside him, one hand holding up her head while the other played with the hem of her skirt. "Morning, giant. Remember anything?"
"Not at all." Gamagoori answered silently, trying once more to look through the gaps, "I remember sparring with Sanageyama, after that...it's blank."
Ryuuko smiled, standing up and poking at a dark bruise on Gamagoori's shoulder. "I'll fill you in then. You nearly killed Sanageyama in a hysterical rage damn near close to my incident with that frilly Satan, Nui."
Gamagoori sat up quickly, trying to comprehend how he lost control. Ryuuko saw his plight, and poked at his forehead, earning her his attention, although the stare he gave grew heated.
"I'm honestly glad you did what you did. What he told you to trigger that rage...must have involved Mako."
Gamagoori's memory fired up, showing him the last words he heard from Sanageyama, and everything clicked in place. He was angry, he was tired of losing, he snapped by the taunt and mistake of one person.
"He told me to forget her, that she was gone." He told Ryuuko, "I've been battling demons, and he opened the gate and let them attack."
Ryuuko was silent for a moment before turning her attention to her Kamui, his eye leading his conversation. Gamagoori flexed everything slowly, the bruises and cuts lining his upper torso not entirely compliant with his body's orders. As he went to pull the IV still in the crook of his elbow, Ryuuko grabbed the approaching hand and stalled the removal.
"The moment you get off the morphine, you'll be hurting. Sanageyama did a number on you as well."
"I've had worse, and not from the likes of Sanageyama. Let me move, Matoi."
"Fine by me."
Gamagoori should have followed Ryuuko's advice, but he moved with the upmost caution as he found out that in the process of his rage, Sanageyama broke three of his ribs and his chest did not want to move in the slightest. He was standing, admittedly with the most annoying of remaining limps from his paralysis, but he found it difficult to breath without pain shocking through his chest. Ryuuko smiled as she lead him out, watching in obvious amusement as Gamagoori fought making a face as pain echoed through his wounded rib cage.
"Regretting the loss of that morphine yet?"
"Not as much as you hope for, Matoi."
"Heh...you know something, Gamagoori?"
"Hm?"
Ryuuko stopped in his path, turning around to face him. "I'm glad Mako has you in her life. It means the world has to face two of the strongest people this side of Japan."
They continued their walk though the ship, simply passing information back and forth they learned through their travels through the ship, or simply talking about what happened while Gamagoori was unconscious earlier. The ship and its surroundings continued on in its muted silence, the crew and its survivors preparing and healing for the next battle they knew that was to come. Satsuki eventually called for a meeting of the Elite, and not a minute later everyone had gathered, excluding Sanageyama who connected to the room via webcam. Ryuuko stood off to the side, but stayed close to Gamagoori, who took his place nearest Satsuki.
"We'll be arriving in Osaka within the next hour. From there, we'll set base up within the walls of the Nudist Beach base. A large portion, courtesy of us, is still in rubble and shambles, but most of the base is still standing, and in better condition. We are unable to launch an offensive on Ragyo and the Life Fibers until we can secure our assets; the other high schools around Japan.
"If we can keep the Life Fibers from taking control of the schools, we should stand a chance to try to hit her again, and hopefully take back our academy. Now I realize that we now lack the proper facilities to truly repair your Goku Uniforms, which means that you Elite must make them last as long as you can make them. They will rip and tear like any other garment, and when the Life Fibers inside start to fray and break, your uniform will break and disappear. You may still use them, but be cautious of the damage it takes and how long you use it. The longer you use it and the more damage it takes, the less time you have left with it.
"Iori, seeing that we don't have facilities for Goku Uniforms, I need you to take up researching and prototyping for me. I have a design I would like to see come to fruition."
Iori saluted. "Of course, Lady Satsuki."
Satsuki directed her attention to Gamagoori, a smile quickly coming to her face before it disappeared. "Gamagoori, you're up again. Did Ryuuko fill you in?"
"Yep!" Ryuuko butted in, "The funny thing is that he didn't remember any of it. The memories from when he threw the first punch from when we had to get him to stop are all missing."
Inumuta's interest peaked, his eyes falling to his PDA as he typed quickly the new revelation, obviously planning to interrogate him later on for more data. "Interesting."
"Sanageyama." Satsuki snapped, the monkey Elite immediately knowing what he had to do. Even with his face bruised in most spots, he sighed, followed by a grimace, and pointed his attention to Gamagoori.
"Sorry for saying what I did, Gamagoori. It was the entirely wrong thing to say."
Gamagoori looked at the bruised image of Sanageyama. "Forgive me for nearly killing you."
"We're good. I deserved it!"
Satsuki waved down their conversation. "Back to business. Our plan will be to build up resistance here in Osaka, keep our conquered schools under our hands, and rescue anyone we can."
The room hushed at the last piece of the plan. Everyone knew what it meant. Satsuki nodded and brought up a map of the Academy on the hologram table between them.
"I've also formulated a plan to rescue those captured by COVERS during our escape. Thanks to Iori's help, we embedded a tracker within Mako's Goku Uniform. If the COVER that swallowed her did not destroy it, we should get a signal in a few moments. Inumuta, load the tracker program."
"On it."
Inumuta quickly input a code sequence into the tablet in his hands, and looked into the hologram. Tension rose as they waited for the signal from Mako, Ryuuko now by Nonon as they watched the hologram shiver for a moment before a tiny neon blue blip appeared on the map within the Two-Star complexes.
Sighs of relief came from everyone, cheers leaving from Ryuuko and Gamagoori. Satsuki whispered under her breath, 'Thank goodness', which no one thankfully heard.
"Alright. Once we land and settle in enough to survive, we're saving her and anyone else. Gamagoori, Nonon, Matoi, you'll be joining me in this operation.
"Yes, Lady Satsuki!" her Elite cheered, while Ryuuko nodded, smirking the entire time.
Osaka arrived on the horizon quickly, and everyone sped up the unloading process as quickly as possible as they cleared rubble in their way, opening up the once reclusive Nudist Base once more for operation. By the time the sun set on the day, everyone had left the ship and settled within the base, setting to work just as quickly to clean the place up and get whatever they could into working order once more. Once ordinary families and students rose to the cause to find a temporary home within the metal walls of the base, and all of it brought a smile to Satsuki's face even with the grim circumstances surrounding their arrival here.
"Satsuki?"
Satsuki turned from her spot in the observation deck and found Nonon standing in the doorway.
"Nonon...I thought you were preparing for the return rescue."
"I finished a while ago. My uniform's been patched as you recommended and what I need is on the shuttle. I was hoping to talk to you."
Satsuki nodded, waving Nonon inside the private room and closing the door behind the Elite as she walked inside.
"What happens if we encounter Ragyo?" Nonon did not hold back, even though she knew she would regret her question. She saw Satsuki flinch before she covered and hid away her reaction.
"We fight her as we originally planned. Relax, Nonon. I'll be fine. How is everyone else?" Satsuki gave Nonon a friendly nudge, the air around them lightening up. Nonon smiled and joined Satsuki in looking through the glass in front of them, watching Nudist Beach operatives move crates and build their DTRs with impressive efficiency.
"Gamagoori and the transfer student are working together. It's weird to see them working together. The enforcer and the rebel."
"They have a common goal. Most likely when this is over, they'll be back to fighting each other. For now, they have a common person and goal to relate to."
Said enforcer and rebel worked quickly as they prepared for the battle ahead, sparring to blow off any unneeded tension and trouble between them for the time being. Ryuuko fought without Senketsu, simply relying on her skill sets and insanely durable body to spare with Gamagoori even with the uneasiness with having Senketsu off. Even without him on, Ryuuko avoided punches and kicks with ease, landing hits with great accuracy. Gamagoori got few hits in, but those that landed hurt like hell.
"How are you dodging so well?" Gamagoori asked during their break between rounds. Ryuuko looked over at Senketsu and stretched out her arms over her head.
"Thanks to Senketsu, and some other thing I don't know about, I don't exactly know, I became a bit of a telepathic, so I can tell most of the time where you're moving and what you're attempting."
Gamagoori looked darkly back at Ryuuko, not saying a word. Ryuuko rose her hands in defense, trying to keep peace between them.
"It's not like I can control it! If I could, I would stop...okay, okay, I'll try. Just for your information, I haven't been able to read into Satsuki's thoughts, and my ability has only read into Mako twice. You're just easy to read right now because you stopped thinking, which means you're open."
"You know why I do such."
Ryuuko rose up her hands, this time in attack, signaling their return to sparring. Gamagoori cleared his thoughts, and the haze blocking Ryuuko from his thoughts went transparent. She anticipated his quick left hook, spinning around it and grabbing his wrist. She probed his thoughts but bounced back, ad took a back hit into his stomach.
"Nice one-way shield." Ryuuko huffed as she recovered, sending her leg up into a high kick, barely missing Gamagoori's chin. She landed and jumped back into a backflip as Gamagoori sent out his leg.
"You're learning to stop peeking into my thoughts, I'm learning to block your ability." Gamagoori replied, a smirk curling his lips before he side-stepped Ryuuko's string of punches before going for a partly dirty move and elbowing Ryuuko in the shoulder, getting only a swift kick to the shin in return. His leg crumpled but he did not go down. He used his position to roll under Ryuuko's legs as they flipped out and swiped her balancing leg from under her, sending her to the ground. Ryuuko quickly jumped up and blocked Gamagoori's huge fist as it came at her, holding it right in front of her face.
"You're not reading me." It wasn't a question, and Ryuuko nodded.
"I found a way to keep my mind from infiltrating yours. I can however tell you stopped thinking again, and you dropped that shield."
Gamagoori grinned. "Leave it at that then. When I have things with the upmost importance to tell, I'll drop the shield and let you in. When I'm not, or my normal defenses are up, stay out of my thoughts."
Ryuuko let go of Gamagoori's hand, and their fight concluded on a draw. "I'll agree to the terms. Besides, I don't want to look into your thoughts when your with her. I bet you're just swarming with perverted fantasies."
Gamagoori looked offended. "Do you really think I fantasize about Mako that way?"
"Not even a little? Or do I have to do some digging, huh?"
Gamagoori went silent, blush rising to his cheeks and betraying him enough for Ryuuko to laugh. He defended himself weakly, but Ryuuko didn't digress her interrogation, simply glad that what she found wasn't horrible nad nauseating, but rather sweet. He wasn't the wiser that she dove into his private thoughts, but he knew that there was no way avoiding having some privacy with Mako being herself and Ryuuko being a telepathic.
"You know...as long as you don't hurt her, or try to push her into anything of that sort, you're fine with me. You don't have to worry 'bout me. It's her father and mother."
"I already got their blessing, though." Gamagoori said, confused. Ryuuko shook her head and sat across from him.
"To date her, not to screw her."
Gamagoori's face went red quickly before her collected himself. He cleared his throat to give himself more time. "I don't plan to do anything of this sort until she says she wants to. We agreed to this before the war started. Nothing of the sort happens or is brought into fruition unless given prior consent, even then we have to agree on what is to be done that is within our limits."
Ryuuko smiled for a moment, moving quickly to where Senketsu sat, brushing his lapels softly. "You're not so bad, giant. What's going to happen once all Life Fibers are caput, and Satsuki's rainbow mother is put down?"
Gamagoori shrugged, and went to change back into his Goku Uniform, turning around to give Ryuuko some privacy. "Between Mako and I, or all of us in general?"
"I guess you two, then the rest."
"I hope to continue our relationship, onward as far as possible." Gamagoori did not hesitate, and he opened his mind to show what he had in mind. Ryuuko let a soft gasp as her thoughts flooded with his vision, but she smiled.
"I'm a bridesmaid, and you will deal no matter what fuss I throw. I also get say in the choice of cake."
"As long as you don't change the entire thing around in favor to you."
Ryuuko laughed loudly, adjusting Senketsu as she put him on. She mentally poked Gamagoori, and he turned around, pulling on his uniform top and securing it.
"I can't believe we're talking about a wedding years down the damn road like it's destined to happen." Ryuuko chuckled as they walked out.
"It is destined! Why do you think we're going to save her? To further our futures!"
"Dream on, big guy! Look, just make sure she's happy. I get a vote in this matter as Mako's closest friend, and it could sway with a single tear from her."
Gamagoori nodded, respecting the rules he knew were in place. "And I will see yours as the most important after her father's vote."
"Heh, it better be."
Nui swung her legs back and forth as she watched her small army of COVERS gather and settle down. Various sizes of her pets moved as they were allowed, but Nui noticed that one seemed larger than the others. She watched as it turned toward the general direction that once housed the huge ship that Satsuki took. This COVER looked strange with a spike coming from each wrists, and alarms in Nui's thoughts started going off with the rare addition to the Life Fiber puppet.
"Come over you~" she beckoned it, making the odd COVER come to her reach. She jumped from her spot and walked calmly to the COVER, making sure it showed its wrists to her first. She tugged at the mysterious spikes, watching it detach and reattach without her consent. Nui's brows tightened, and she looked up at the COVER.
"Who's your battery?" Nui demanded nicely, blinking her eyes. The COVER responded to her as its buttons popped open and revealed the human inside of it, powering it. Nui laughed as she saw the nude student within the suit, bound and held in place suspended within the alien powerhouse.
Nui did not expect to find Mako nested within the nest of Life Fibers binding the COVER together. She patted the top of the girl's head and sharply lifted her head until her closed eyes came in line with hers, looking at Mako's peaceful face as she slept away the process of losing her life.
"The annoying coconut got caught monologuing." Nui sighed dreamily, "And now you're food for the Life Fibers."
She did not expect Mako to answer but she moved one end of her lips up into a smile. Nui smiled, but she hated the annoying brunette's attempts to fix everything. Her pointless, rambling speeches did nothing but annoy her to no end, especially since she got in the way of playing with Ryuuko and seeing her at her prettiest. The girl whom she wanted dead for so long now rested within her reach, unable to fight her in any way without risking death.
"What to do with you, you pathetic little brat?" Nui mumbled, turning Mako's head this way and that, seeing how she could move the girl, "I could easily end your life right now, but that would be wrong and messy. You're needed to get Ryuuko and Satsuki back here. I can't let such a pretty, pointless pawn die just yet."
Nui bared Mako's neck, poking at the pulsing veins underneath. "I could leave a present in you. Something nice and infesting, to keep you under check~. Would you like that, Mako? Would you like a piece of me embedded into your body?"
Nui's smile widened. "You wouldn't, which is why I should, but at the same time I think a worse punishment would be better for you."
Nui tapped her fingers against Mako's forehead, dragging one sharp nail down, leaving a cut behind which dribbles blood. Nui gladly scraped the escaping red substance and greedily licked her bloodied fingers, spitting out the blood at the first taste.
"Too coppery and salty. Disgusting, just like you~." Nui joyfully noted. She cut another thin long line into Mako, watching with glee as the girl's forehead bled. She slowly walked her fingers down Mako's face until she held her chin delicately.
"I want to break and kill you so badly, but I think you killing your friends is a better thing right now, but I'll get my wish...later."
Nui poked one of Mako's cheeks, watching as she messed with them until she grew satisfied. Blood still dripped from the wounds on her forehead, and new fresh blood joined it as cuts on her cheeks opened up. The COVER, even when obeying Nui's orders, quickly repaired the damage to ensure the longest use of the human battery, and Nui let it do so.
"Hmm...I could do something, but it's risky, for you at least Mako! Now I just need to open a hole in your head for a quick moment..."
Ten minutes later, Nui sealed shut the incision she made in Mako's head, patting the area as she backed away from the COVER. She could feel her work start its job, and she shivered in anticipation.
"That should help in the future. Now, you. Lead the pack, use everything against them when they come."
The COVER tucked Mako back inside her Life Fiber cradle and sealed its front again, the spikes appearing once more on its wrists. Nui turned her back to it and stepped up on the raised ground, sitting once again in her spot as she watched her small army linger around awaiting the battle to start soon. She giggled as the Academy equivalent of a fog horn went off, signalling her needed return to finish her original job. She stood up with a small bounce, brushing her dress clean of the dirt collected, and looked over the group once more.
A wicked smile appeared for a moment before her usually overly peppy personality took the reigns, and she skipped back toward Ragyo.
"Now to only get our last little pieces and the chest board is complete~" Nui sang as she left the COVERS in their places, oblivious to the specks on the horizon coming from the direction of Osaka.