11: "Maybe You're Just a Lesbian"

Nui and I should have both been dead—she had been impaled my scissor sword, and I had lost more blood than should even be possible. But we both had the excuse of being inhuman and having Life Fibers regenerating our bodies. Satsuki, on the other hand, must have been incredibly strong to even remain conscious after the pummeling I had given her earlier. And then, of course, we have Mako—completely unharmed by the wave of energy that had exploded from within me. She stood up in her cute, matching panties-and-bra, and threw Senketsu to me. I Synchronized with him in no time and began to battle Nui.

Shortly, I kicked Nui with a blow that sent her flying. Both pieces of the scissor sword—mine red and the other purple—were finally in my control. I could fight with them now just the way my dad had intended. It was a close battle, and I thought I was done for when Nui drove a needle as big as a kitchen knife through my throat from behind. But I blocked out the pain, knowing my body would heal in seconds, and I leaped behind the little Demon faster than her blue eye could follow. From behind, I used both the scissor blades and walloped off Nui's arms.

She didn't begin to freak out until she realized that her arms did not regenerate, and the old arms faded into red Life Fibers that Senketsu absorbed. Nui began screaming as blood sprung from her shoulders. Her life would be in danger if she couldn't stop the bleeding soon, because right then she was losing blood faster than her body could regenerate it. Nui completely lost her cool and yelled over and over again how much she hated us. I was tempted to cut off her head in the same way, "little sister" or not, but unfortunately Nui was rescued by Ragyo's assistant Hououmaru. They took off in a helicopter.

Senketsu stopped me from trying to give chase, warning me that I had lost a ton of blood and I needed to rest for a few hours. I hated letting Nui get away. On the plus side, though, a dozen or more large COVERS had landed on the ship when Nui was carried away. The Elite Four quickly defeated them, rescued the people trapped inside, and collected leftover Life Fibers that might be used to create Ultima Uniforms again in the future. Senketsu told me again to go rest, so I stumbled away from the skirmish behind me and started looking for Mako.

***Break***

I found Mako with her entire family, tending to the rescued victims of the COVERS. I heard Mr. Mankanshoku trying to explain to his wife that the rescued people were all anemic and malnourished after spending more than a month in a coma-like state with their blood being fed on by the COVERS. So that was what Mako had been through! I thought I had been having it rough, but while I slept for a month, Mako had been food for the COVERS until rescued by Gamagori. I started wondering if anything had happened between him and Mako, but at the same moment Mako saw me entering the medical area.

We both smiled awkwardly at each other. I must have looked tired and pale, and I was one of the few who remained clothed, wearing Senketsu's normal sailor uniform mode. In contrast, Mako looked full of life, like a thunderstorm had just passed over and the sun had come out. She wore Nudist Beach's combination underwear-belt and their somewhat revealing black vest. I thought she looked hotter than I had ever seen her before.

The tension broke and we both ran to each other and embraced. We held one another tightly. I wanted to kiss her right then, but her parents were only a few yards away. So, hand in hand, Mako and I walked inside into one of the secluded ship cabins. It had a window, so it wasn't too dark, and Mako said we could share the cabin.

For the first time, I initiated. I held Mako's small body, trembled nervously for a few seconds, and then kissed Mako on the lips. I was going to pull away because it was so awkward, but Mako held onto me and kissed me back. We both kissed each other till we ran out of breath, and then I embraced her again.

"Mako," I told her in a slightly trembling voice, "I'm so sorry I was asleep for so long, and that I went crazy. You would have lost it, too, though. Ragyo and Nui, man, they're really messed up. Ragyo plays around with her own daughters! And Nui—" I blushed and then steeled myself to tell Mako. "Nui bewitched me, and Junketsu poisoned my mind. Mako, while it was all happening, I—I k-kissed Nui."

To my relief, Mako laughed and poked me, saying, "Cheater, cheater, cheater! No, Ryuuko, I don't blame you at all. You went crazy for a while, and so you did some crazy things. Besides, to be fair, I cheated a little bit too. You see, Gamagori really DID like me. He asked if I would be together with him. I said no, of course—there's no way I could be his 'mistress'—but to mark that things were really over, I let him kiss my forehead."

I giggled. "Sheesh, all that buildup you gave, and it was only a peck on the forehead." Sitting down on the bunk, I continued, "Mako… Senketsu keeps telling me to rest. I'm going to lie down. Do you want to lie beside me for a little while? Just like when you'd get inside my Futon—"

Mako pushed me back so I was lying down, and kissed my lips lightly before resting her head on my chest. She started to say something, but a sudden interruption occurred.

It was Satsuki, looking at Mako and I from outside the open cabin window. A half-smile crossed her stern face. I still couldn't tell if she was being serious or not when she asked,

"Oh, can I join in?"

Mako shrieked, turned red as a tomato, leaped off me, and dived under the bunk. She was still extremely embarrassed. I sat up and glared daggers at Satsuki.

"Don't screw with me, you bitch," I said. "Listen, Mako's not out of the closet yet, so don't tell anyone! And for your information, no, you can't ever 'join in' because Mako and I are IN LOVE and you're just making fun of us!"

"Well, please forgive me then," Satsuki said, but she was still smirking. "I thought you were just fooling around, but if you truly feel in love with one another, I shall not intrude." The smile faded from her face. "I suppose I should not jest about such things. Matoi, now that you've experienced Ragyo's form of 'love', you can probably guess that she abused both me and Nui. Consent was never discussed. Even worse, she encouraged Nui and I to act like lovers too. Neither of us knew that it was abnormal for sisters. Unfortunately, these sorts of habits stick. I find myself very affectionate towards women."

I shrugged. "Maybe you're just a Lesbian. What? I am."

She frowned. "As entertaining as this has been, Matoi, it's nearly sundown. We have something important to discuss out on the deck. I do not wish to employ you as an unknowing pawn anymore. My Elite Four and the forces of Nudist Beach must hear you say for yourself whether or not you intend to help us fight."

***Break***

Out on the deck, I decided to give Satsuki a hard time. Even though I had already beaten her pretty badly, I figured that didn't count because I had been trapped in Junketsu. And in all honestly, even if she had been scheming to betray Ragyo for thirteen years, I still hadn't forgiven her for being such a bitch for so long. I asked to punch her, and despite the danger to herself (because she now wore no Kamui), she agreed to let me deck her just once. To my irritation, however, the Elite Four kept stepping in, taking my punches and not letting me touch Satsuki.

"Our faces BELONG to Satsuki-sama," stated Jakuzure. "Our limbs, too, belong to her. If it's for Satsuki's sake, all four of us would gladly be smashed to bits or chopped to pieces!"

I demanded what the hell was wrong with those four, declaring them incomprehensible. It was then that I noticed Satsuki and I did not differ in this regard: both of us had for friends these incomprehensible fools, always trying to save us. For Satsuki, it was Jakuzure and the other Elites. For me, it was Mako and Senketsu. Why did I need to hit Satsuki? I stammered about this and wondered what to do, but in a moment Satsuki—yes, SATSUKI—began to offer her apologies. She said that deceiving everyone and using people as pawns made her methods as despicable as Ragyo's.

"But now I know that the world is not some piece of cloth," Satsuki went on. "It's filled to the brim with disorderly and incomprehensible things. But that is what makes it beautiful. Please, fight alongside me to protect that beautiful world, Ryuuko."

And to my everlasting astonishment, Satsuki bowed to me.

I tried to act like it was no big deal and said that I simply didn't feel like punching her anymore. More importantly, I told her that I had people to protect too, so it was high time we defeated our mother. After all, she would undoubtedly come after us soon.