Kill la Frat Chapter Thirteen: Babysitting the devil's spawn
A/N: Finally get to introduce Nui's character into the story. She's as much an annoyance as she was in the original series.
After Ryuko's and Satsuki's conversation that evening, Ryuko remained on active duty for whatever whims crossed the older girl's mind. That was why, on a perfectly good Saturday night, Ryuko was stuck babysitting Satsuki's younger sister Nui. Ryuko wanted to scream at the injustice of this all. She should be out there getting shit faced, dancing and hooking up with someone, but instead she was sitting on the floor of the house, with a hyper blonde and pig tailed girl dancing around her while gleefully laughing.
How was she supposed to deal with a monster like this? The girl had never let her rest during the four hours they had been trapped together. Nui had looked quiet and demure when Satsuki had first introduced her, but as soon as the black haired girl was out the door to host her party, the girl's sweet expression had turned shark toothed and she began to run and scream around the house, leading to poor Ryuko having to chase her around in order to prevent severe destruction.
Despite her best efforts, there had been causalities. The upstairs had been successfully toilet papered, the walls of the living room had crayon scribbles all over them, the kitchen was covered in a mysterious icky white goo and the bathroom had flooded. Ryuko had tried to clean up one mess, only to go and find that the girl had created another one in the meantime. And now she was trying to make a mess out of Ryuko.
"Hold still!" the girl shrieked, her voice grating on Ryuko's every last nerve.
"Like hell I will, you little hell spawn. Give me those scissors back!" They were at a standoff, circling each other around the dining room, the table standing in between them.
"You're no fun!"
"Who in their right mind plays with scissors!" Ryuko snarled back, cursing Satsuki with her cell in her body for leaving her in the hands of this insufferable little brat. Today's usually my day to watch over her, since we can't find a babysitter for her, but I have a big party to host and I figured you could watch her for me. It's only until two in the morning. Satsuki had said as she left Nui and Ryuko behind, a small smirk on her face, and Ryuko hadn't know what it was for until the door had closed all the way and all hell broke loose.
"Give me the scissors!" Ryuko demanded one more time and Nui pouted, at last relenting. She handed the scissors over by throwing them with all her strength at Ryuko's head and the black haired girl only managed to avoid having her eye taken out thanks to her quick reflexes. The scissors lodged into the wall behind her head and stayed put, a testament to how much insane power the girl had.
"I guess I'll just have to play with these now," Nui said sadly, as she pulled out a meat cleaver from under her purple dress. Ryuko's eyes bulged out at seeing the little girls fingers wrapped around the weapon. "You put that down right now!" Ryuko screeched panicking. She did not need the trouble that would ensue if the brat cut her hands off, or did not need the possibility of the brat impaling herself on it.
"No!" Nui shouted back, cradling the blade to her face like one might cuddle a teddy bear. Ryuko felt a shiver run down her back as she saw the sharp edge come too close for her liking to the girl's soft throat.
"That's dangerous! You could hurt yourself on it!"
"That's not true!" Nui insisted, pointing the blade at Ryuko. "You're just jealous you don't have a knife to play with!"
"I am not!" Ryuko cried, exasperated. What was wrong with this child? Who had raised her?
Nui pulled out a handful of equally sharp and dangerous knives from her dress. Where was she keeping those? And how the fuck did she fit all of them there?! "You're not getting my knife!" With that she hurled one of the many knives in her hand at Ryuko who dodged, her eyes wide open in fear as it snipped off a bit of her hair.
"Nui, calm down now. I'm not trying to steal your knives!" Ryuko spread out her hands, trying to negotiate with the little psycho path as best she could. But the girl was not convinced and sent a flurry of knives at the other girl who bobbed and weaved, her terror making her body faster than it normally was.
"Stay away from my knife!" Nui screamed and began stomping her feet, her eyes closed. Ryuko, thinking that the girl had run out of blades, edged to get closer to her, but the girl was prepared. She flung some more knives at Ryuko, even without opening her eyes. This child is scary! Ryuko gulped, doing a mad dance to avoid the deadly utensils. She almost hit me even without having her eyes open. That settled it. She was calling Satsuki and getting the hell out of here.
Satsuki was sipping on a margarita in her private lounge in the house when her phone rang, increasing her already pounding headache. The party was raging full throttle downstairs and she had left Nonon temporarily in charge as she went upstairs to take a break. She hadn't been sleeping well the past couple of days and it was catching up to her in the form of a headache. She ignored the call, waiting until it ended, and sighed contently when it stopped. But not a second later it began to ring again. Annoyed her moment of peace was ruined, she glanced at the caller Id of the phone deciding to pick up the call at last. It was Ryuko and she had had thirty missed calls from her. What did the girl want now?
"Hello?" she asked.
"Thank god you picked up Satsuki!" Ryuko said in a relieved rush of breath. "I can't take it anymore. You have to come help me! She's crazy!" There was a loud crash and a muttered swear word from Ryuko.
Satsuki rolled her eyes and checked her watch. Ryuko only had an hour more of babysitting. She would be fine. Satsuki had babysat Nui before and it was always okay. "You have an hour left Matoi. You can handle it."
"No I can't!" Panic was bleeding from the other girl's voice. "She's gone completely cuckoo!" There was scuffling on the other end and then the sing song voice of Nui. "Where are you Ryuko? Come out come out!"
"Shit, she's getting close to finding me. You got to help me out Satsuki! She's been trying to kill me for the past half hour. I tried to play hide and seek with her to get her to stop throwing knives at me, but apparently to her hide and seek means a full out no holds barred hunt to the death. And I am not going to die today by the hands of some nine year old." Ryuko was rapidly speaking into the phone and Satsuki yet again rolled her eyes. Ryuko was really being over dramatic. Nui wouldn't actually kill her.
"I'll be over at two like we agreed to," Satsuki said, rolling her eyes once more for good measure and taking a sip of her drink.
"What? What? No, you can't do that, listen-"
"Good night Matoi," Satsuki ended the call despite Ryuko's desperate cries. Immediately the girl called back but Satsuki put her phone on airplane mode and tossed it into her purse. She had a party to attend to after all.
When Satsuki returned to pick up Nui, she found that the blonde haired girl had bound and gagged Ryuko to a chair, placed her in the middle of the living room where she had drawn a pentagram on the middle of the floor. The lights in the room where off, the only light coming from the candles lit around the circle. Nui was humming happily and skipping around the circle, dropping white petals from a bowl she was holding. Ryuko was struggling against her bonds and yelling something through them but Satsuki couldn't make them out. The long haired girl flicked the lights on in the room, stopping Nui in her motions.
"Aw, Satsuki. You ruined the mood for my demon ritual sacrifice play," Nui pouted as she dropped her bowl and skipped over to her sister.
"Sorry, Nui. But it's time to go to bed." Satsuki patted the little girl on the head. "Why don't you go and untie Ryuko there and thank her for all the fun you had today."
Nui nodded her head and ripped the gag off of Ryuko's mouth. The girl took in a deep breath and screamed. "Satsuki help me out of here! She tried to kill me. You have to believe me now! Just look at me. I'm bound and gagged!"
"Relax Matoi. Nui was not going to kill you. Isn't that right?" Satsuki turned to the blonde haired girl who smiled innocently.
"You weren't there! She tried to throw knives at my head!"
"That's only because she tried to take my knife away," Nui stuck out her bottom lip and crossed her arms childishly over her chest.
"Kids shouldn't play with knives!" Ryuko screamed, her neck tendons standing out in her fury.
"Matoi, playing with knives is healthy for little kids," Satsuki said in all seriousness and Ryuko felt her soul die a little at that comment. She had wondered who had raised Nui. Now she knew the answer as to why the girl was so crazy. "Here, I brought you another one to add to your collection." Satsuki pulled out a hunting knife from her purse and handed it to the little girl who gave a gleeful squeal and ran upstairs with it, crying out, "I'm gonna take my baths and my naps with him. Thank you Satsuki!"
Ryuko was simply flabbergasted. She couldn't-didn't know what else to say to this.
"Just untie me," she said tiredly. Satsuki was happy to comply.
"So how much do I still owe you?" Ryuko asked as she and Satsuki were walking back from the mall. It was the day after Ryuko's traumatic experience with Nui and she was currently having nightmares about the little girl every time she went to sleep, or even thought about closing her eyes.
"What?" Satsuki asked, pulling out her nose from a thick history book she had been reading.
"For the kiss," Ryuko clarified. "I was thinking I could use the frat money you gave me to pay off some of it."
Satsuki closed her book at this and put it away. "You haven't been allocated enough money to be able to pay it off. If you did try, it'd take you seventeen years and you don't have that type of time."
"Then what can I do?" Ryuko asked, moving the bags in her hand aside so as to make space for a person passing by them. She was ladden down with bags as usual, carrying them all for Satsuki, who was walking empty handed next to her.
"There is something you can do," Satsuki admitted. "In the frat we go on missions."
"Like killing missions?" Ryuko blanched, afraid to know. This frat was starting to sound more like a gang than a group of college students who wanted to have fun.
"Don't be ridiculous," Satsuki rolled her eyes. "We haven't had to kill anyone in months," she added more quietly and Ryuko spat out a "what?" her hearing not sharp enough to catch what Satsuki had said.
"Nothing. We do small missions along the campus grounds. Like helping students with missing objects, with inner group conflicts and with seeking justice."
"So kind of like detective missions," Ryuko said.
"Yes, like detectives, as you so eloquently put it. Frat members who wish to gain a little more money can complete these missions and reap the benefits."
"And you're saying I can do a mission like this and help out people?"
"Yes. Although I would suggest you need a bit more training before you take the quests on."
Ryuko gave Satsuki an odd look. Training? What was this? A video game? "I think I'll be fine. I'm plenty strong."
"Says the girl who gets her ass beat by Uzu every time," Satsuki muttered.
"That's cause he's superhuman, alright!" Ryuko shot back, her pride hurt. "I could take him on if I was on his level."
"Then why don't you train with him," Satsuki suggested as the two girls left the mall and hopped into their limo.
"Train..with him?" Ryuko said slowly, letting the idea take root in her head. "But would he be willing to train with me?"
"I don't see why not. He's been itching for a reason to beat the shit out of you. This just gives him a legitimate reason."
Ryuko frowned and sat quietly for the rest of the ride as she contemplated. Once they pulled up at her dorm room, she got out of the car. "I take the offer. When can I begin?" Satsuki merely smiled.
"Hey."
Silence.
"Heyyy."
Still silence.
"HEYYYY!"
"What Nonon!" An aggravated Inumuta huffed as he pulled off his headphones, paused the game he been playing and turned to glare at the girl standing behind his beanbag chair.
"Do you know why Satsuki is spending so much time with trash?"
"Huh?" Inumuta asked, not at all understanding what Nonon was asking. He couldn't imagine a reason as to why Satsuki would hang out with trash. Although the mental image of the aristocratic girl playing ball with a trash bag was hilarious. He snorted but quickly covered it up when he saw the look of ire on Nonon's face. "Jakuzure I don't think Satsuki is hanging out with trash cans."
"I'm not talking about that kind of trash. I'm talking about Ryuko."
"That makes more sense. Why didn't you just say her name?"
"Her name is trash. She just likes to think she is worthy of being called a human name."
Inumuta cringed at this, hurting for the dark haired girl. The insult hadn't even been aimed at him but it still made him feel bad. "What did she do that she's got you so pissed off now?"
"She's been hanging out with Satsuki, all the time! And I don't know why. And what makes it worse is that Satsuki herself is initiating these hangouts," Nonon seethed. "I don't understand why Satuski's doing this, especially since she had us hunt Ryuko down last time for doing something to her."
Inumuta shrugged unhelpfully. "So go talk to Satsuki about it."
"I can't shit for brains! That will make things worse."
"Suit yourself then," Inumuta concluded, turning back to his game.
"I need you to help me." Here we go again, Houka groaned and looked back at her. "What do you need me to do this time?"
"One thousand and one, one thousand and two, one thousand and three...one thousand...and four...one thousand...and five!" Ryuko let her sore and overworked body drop to the floor where it lay in her own puddle of sweat. Uzu stepped off where he had been sitting on her back and cracked his back. "Pathetic, Matoi," he sneered and shook his head as he gave her body a kick. Ryuko groaned but was too tired to do anything more about it. "I thought you'd be able to handle my training regime, but it seems you are just another pansy. You can never hope to be like me if you don't step up your game."
"Shut...up," Ryuko muttered, turning to lie onto her back. "You're just fucking insane. Who does ten thousand pushups in a row?"
"I do. And you should hope to do so too if you wish to have the power and speed of a true fighter." Uzu shook his head in disgust at her. He dropped a towel onto her body. "Clean up and come back tomorrow with a steel resolve. Otherwise don't bother to come back at all." Then he left his dojo room, in which they had been training all morning.
Ryuko packed up her stuff and very stiffly walked back to her dorm room. Mako was already inside and Ryuko noticed the girl had a cast on one of her arms.
"Mako! What happened to you?" Ryuko asked, forgetting her own sadness at being unable to pass the training regime when she saw the state of her friend.
"It's nothing. Just a sprained wrist."
"It's not nothing! What happened to you?" Ryuko rushed to her friend's side, grilling the girl with a blue stare.
Mako shrunk beneath her glare. "I was just training with Gamagori. He was teaching me battle moves."
"Battle moves for what?" Ryuko demanded, crossing her arms over her chest and not liking this answer at all. "We're not fighting anyone."
"No, but lady Satsuki said that she's getting all the new frat members to train."
"And why is that?"
Mako shrugged. "I dunno. To keep up the reputation of the frat?"
"Are you by any chance doing any missions, for the frat?" Ryuko asked. She didn't like that Mako was getting hurt and wasn't being told that the real reason for why she was being trained.
Mako cocked her head curiously. "What missions?" So that was a no. Why was Satsuki having all the new frat members train? Was it all for the missions and they just didn't know...but it seemed like one could choose to do those missions. Not that they were forced to do them. Ryuko sighed and rubbed her forehead, grimacing at the pain that simple motion caused her. She had completely forgotten she was sore as hell in her concern over Mako. She'd just have to ask Satsuki about this later.
And so Ryuko's training continued. She had asked the frat leader about why everyone was being trained but the leader had eloquently told her to keep her nose out of this as it wasn't her business and Ryuko followed that advice, as a threat of the removal of that particular appendage had been promised with it if she did not listen. Ryuko trained and trained, her body becoming steadily stronger under the torments of whatever new training regime Uzu would scheme up in order to watch her struggle. She was not one to easily give up, and when Uzu saw her return to his dojo the next day, sore to the core but willing to train he relented and gave her an easier training regime, before he began to increase the difficulty. Ryuko's life gradually began to revolve around a schedule of going to school, doing home work, helping Satsuki with what ever task she sent the girl to go on and then training followed by sleep, and maybe a meal or two if she could squeeze it in. This pattern continued on for weeks, until the days finally blurred into one and before Ryuko knew it, it was the week before Thanksgiving break.
"What do you mean I can't go home?" Ryuko barked out as Satsuki had sternly told Mako and her that they could not go home for break. "I've always gone home for break. It's tradition. I help the Mankanshoku's hunt down and kill the turkey."
"Not this year Ryuko. You made a commitment to the frat. That means you put us before everyone, blood or not." The frat leader sipped on her tea, not at all fazed at how sad Mako looked. And how murderous Ryuko looked.
"That's bullshit! Everyone gets to go on break, why not us?"
"This is not about you, Ryuko. Don't be so self absorbed. All the new recruits are staying behind, to complete training."
"Why are we even doing this stupid training anyways?"
"You wanted to do the missions Ryuko. In fact you were the one who said you would do it, without my prompting of you."
This shut up Ryuko but not for long. "That's beside the point. And then shouldn't it be me that's only training? Why everyone else?"
"Ryuko." Satsuki set down her tea cup on her saucer before placing the dishes on her desk top, the one that Ryuko was standing in front of with a crying Mako by her side, whose face had been buried in her friend's shoulder. She fixed the girl with a hard glare.
"Yes?" Ryuko arched a brow.
"Shut the fuck up," Satsuki finished and then picked up her tea again.
Ryuko sputtered as this, shaking her fisted hand at the girl. "How rude!" she managed out at the end but the frat leader was already dismissing her. "Have patience and you'll find out the secret soon enough." With that Soroi escorted the two girl's out of the room.
Ryuko and the other frat members were made to stay behind as everyone else left the campus for break, leaving it quite deserted. Satsuki was the only one of the frat who was allowed to leave, as she had family gatherings to attend. Ryuko would mumble under her breath in annoyance at having to be stuck here and on missing out dinner with her adopted family. It wasn't that she necessarily missed the food. Thanksgiving meals had been meager, but the family had always tried to save up what little cash they had so that they could find a way to have mashed potatoes, cranberry juice, green beans, stuffing and a turkey. And now with Ryuko and Mako sending the family money, they surely could afford more dishes than that. It was the fact of being around family, of seeing them after such a long absence, that made Ryuko want to go visit them. Surely they missed them too, and sending each other letters by carrier pigeon was not sufficient all the time. They couldn't carry the warmness of a hug from Mako's mom, or the hare brained schemes of Matoro. She sighed heavily, wishing she could be on her way to see them now. Would the frat do this to her every vacation break?
"Stop moping around," Uzu chided her as she finished up ten thousand push ups: the last part of her warms up, a regime that included a thousand curl ups, sit ups, back flips and laps around the campus. "And quit muttering under your breath. It's distracting."
"Aren't you pissed off that you're stuck here?" she asked as she bent down to stretch out after her exercises. "Don't you want to be home and spend time with your family rather than train me?"
"I would love to be far away from you, but I don't have a family to be with." Uzu shrugged as he capped the bottle he had been drinking from.
"Sorry, man," Ryuko switched from her left leg to her right.
"Nah, don't be sorry. I never had a family to begin with. The people who designed my character didn't give me a family. Or one to Ira, Nonon or Inumuta. In fact, the only people in the frat who have families are you, Mako and Satsuki."
Ryuko straightened up at this, giving Uzu a funny look. Was the boy on crack as he said this? "What are you talking about?" The people who designed him? What was he? A cartoon character?
Uzu smirked at Ryuko's funny face. "I'm just fucking with you. Now give me a hundred jumping jacks for falling for that." Ryuko rolled her eyes but did as asked. Once finished she sat down to rest for a bit, wiping the sweat off of her forehead with the towel she kept around her neck. She found that she could now easily do all these exercises without getting intensely sore or winded.
"I think you're ready for a fight," Uzu stated, appraising the girl sitting on the bench before him.
"About time," Ryuko grimaced, eager to put to good use the muscles she had been working on defining.
The fight between Ryuko and Uzu lasted only ten minutes and ended up with Ryuko knocked out cold on her ass.
When Ryuko came to, she was on a couch in the living room of the frat house. She had a blue blanket draped over her and she sat up, the blanket pooling around her legs. Her head hurt like a bitch and she could feel her eye pulsating with the warning of an incoming black eye. She still wasn't able to hold up against Uzu despite all her training. This infuriated her to no degree. What more did she have to do? If Satsuki would only let her do the missions once she reached Uzu's level, then Ryuko would never be able to go.
Warm smells of cooking food hit her nose and she took in a deep breath. She was starving, she realized. It felt like she hadn't ate for days. She got off the couch and made her way down the hall towards the smell of food, finding Mako in the smaller frat house kitchen. The brown haired girl had an apron wrapped around her waist, and a tall chiefs hat on her hair which was too big on her and kept slipping over her eyes. She would fix it with end of the cast around her arm, before shouting out orders from atop the stool she was perched on. The stool was wobbling dangerously, but Mako didn't seem to notice.
"Gamagori, whip that batter! Uzu, bast that turkey! Nonon, turn up the holiday music! Inumuta, cut those onions and mushrooms! Aikuro, put your clothes back on! Kinagase stop glowering at the mashed potatoes, they won't cook any faster! And Iori, add more salt to the gravy!" The frat members were all in the kitchen doing their respective parts to help with the cooking. The sound of faint music, clanging utensils and chopping of food filled the kitchen. All of them were wearing aprons, with even a super big one for Gamagori being found.
Each person nodded their heads and did as Mako ordered them to. "I'm going to whip this batter into submission!" Ira roared, moving the spoon so quickly in the bowl that it was a blur. He had a sadistic look on his face as drops of batter were sprayed wildly over the kitchen counter.
"Oh, I'll bast this turkey alright," Uzu replied sleazily, opening the oven to check on the cooking meat.
"Turning up the music right now!" Nonon said and cranked up the volume on the radio, ensuring the Christmas songs played during Thanksgiving were now playing loud enough to hear the words.
"I'm cutting the vegetables, okay," Inumuta protested as he put back his phone into his pocket and began to chop up the still uncut food. "I was just trying to find a better way to cut them."
"I don't care what it was used for, you take it out one more time and the next thing getting cut will be your phone!" Mako threatened, waggling her bound arm threateningly.
Inumuta rolled his eyes behind his glasses but didn't say anything more.
"Mako, I am wearing clothes!" Aikuro insisted, as he strode around the kitchen, buck naked except for the apron tied to his waist.
"Not enough clothes! I don't need you distracting the others with your ass!" Mako shouted out, pointing out a dazed Nonon who had caught a glimpse of Aikuro's bare buttocks and walked into a wall.
"Fine, I'll put the clothes on, but only if you agree that I look fabulous!" The boy ran a hand through his hair, sparkles erupting from the motion and settling down on the floor.
"Stop dropping stuff all over the floor! We don't need your sparkles getting into other people's food!" Mako chided, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I'll take care of him," Kinagase muttered coming up from behind Aikuro and grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, like a mom cat to her kitten. As he dragged the protesting blue haired man of the kitchen, he mumbled, "how did you even undress in the kitchen without any of us noticing? Where did you put your clothes?"
"A true nudist never reveals his secrets!" Aikuro shot back as he was pulled into the adjacent room.
"Mako, what's going on here?" Ryuko asked, surprised to see all the frat members cooking together.
"Ryuko!" Mako jumped off the chair, and gave her friend a hug. "I'm glad you're awake. Now you can help us with Thanksgiving dinner."
"With thanksgiving dinner?" Ryuko's voice got quieter as she asked the question. Confusion scrunched up her face.
"Nice to see someone finally got their lazy ass up and decided to come help," Nonon sneered over the pot of hot water she was carrying across the kitchen. Ryuko ignored her comment, hoping the pinkette would trip and spill all that scalding water on herself.
"Mako what's going on? Thanksgiving is in two days time," Ryuko said and Mako gave an awkward little laugh, rubbing the back of her head with her hand. "Well you see Ryuko, you kind of slept through the past two days. It's now Thanksgiving."
"I what?!" Ryuko's eyes bulged open wide. This was all a joke right? "Are you serious?"
Mako nodded her head solemnly. Uzu sniggered somewhere in the kitchen. That asshole had knocked her out for two whole days! What the actual fuck?
"Uzu!" she snarled, feeling anger build up in her muscles. "Why the fuck did you knock me out for so long!"
"I forgot my own strength. Happens to the best of us," Uzu said, not at all looking apologetic. With a snarl Ryuko lunged at him, meaning to clobber the smugness out of his face. Instead she ended up waking up at the dinner table, with all the food finally cooked and laid out in front of her. All the frat members were seated and had dressed up for the occasion, with the boys in shirts and ties and the girls in dresses. They were laughing and toasting one another, the atmosphere toasty and warm.
Ryuko's mind, although groggy at first, quickly woke up and she was able to glower angrily at Uzu from where she sat. The boy just smiled back at her, his hair combed back neatly. "Uzu you asshole! You knocked me out again!" She wanted to punch him twice as hard now, but Mako put a hand on her shoulder. "Ryuko stop. If you don't he'll knock you out until New Years. Please enjoy the food." All the frat members attention was on her, gauging her reaction silently.
Ryuko battled with her inner emotions. She really did want to get him back for this, but perhaps another time. Revenge was a dish best served cold but not Thanksgiving dinner and if she fought him now he was sure to knock her out again, and she really was hungry. At last she sat back into her seat, and grudgingly began to eat the food on her plate.
Once he saw Ryuko wasn't going to throw a scene, Aikuro picked up a glass filled to the brim with wine. "To us, Honnouji Frat. May we prosper and live long. Happy Thanksgiving everyone."
A chorus of "Happy Thanksgiving!" was heard from everyone as they clanked glasses together and downed the wine in them in the same breath.
A/N: I know Thanksgiving passed already, but I really wanted to do something with the holiday. So I settled on making a short little addition to this chapter. I wanted to make the holiday a bit humorous and I definitely know that I want to do something for Christmas with the frat house as well. Hopefully I can complete it before Christmas arrives! Also I added a little fourth wall break with Uzu there. I swear, no anime characters have families mentioned in the story and if they do it's for like tragic reasons.