The past. She never liked the past. Her past was hazed in shadows built up overt years and years of repression, deletion, force, sexual humiliation and assault, pain and death. Much of her childhood is bathed in blood and darkness, the darkest spots the scariest to remember. For so long, she blindly followed Ragyo's rules, orders, and actions. She accepted the fact that she was human, and accepted that she was not to let humans convince her otherwise.
She was told that her body was not hers to worry about. She would heal no matter what the wound, and her pleasure would be gained through Ragyo's touch. Always, no matter where or when, or how, Ragyo would use her for her own pleasure, caring naught for her own daughter's pleasure and admiration. She could remember every instance of her mother's sexual abuse on her. She could remember every room in took place in, including her own room. Her room, Ragyo's room, Ragyo's office, the bath house, the basement, the Original Life Fiber's secret room. So many places, so many touches and bites, and never was it enough for Ragyo.
She could remember watching Satsuki take the same as she did. She was ordered to hold her down, make her feel like they shared their hearts in this way. She had to convince Satsuki what Ragyo was doing was normal.
She remembered everything. She could remember feeling fear, pain, aggression, hatred, and misery. She could still feel the lingering pleasure she got however much it hurt as Ragyo took ultimate pleasure from her cries, blood, and pain. She could remember it all, and it would not ever leave.
She wanted it to burn up in flames. She didn't want to remember. She didn't want to feel Ragyo's ghostly, cold hands running up her sides, the dry ice touch lingering over every part of her body, grabbing her at every place. She could feel those white hands trap her in the blackness that came afterword, never leaving her skin, never freeing her. She could still feel her blood-red eyes trace over every inch of her skin, touched and untouched, and make sure none of it was pure ever again.
She wanted to forgot it already and stop feeling Ragyo's hands all over her, reminding her that no matter what, she would always be there behind her, haunting her like death.
She opened her eyes and found herself in the backseat of Gamagoori's car, jacket laid over her and hair pulled over her shoulder. The car was stopped, the sounds and smells of the bay heavy around her. She could see the faint glow of his communicator in his hands, his fingers wiping over the screen slowly, precisely.
She slowly sat up, rubbing her eye and making the leather underneath her squeak. He turned to her as she leaned around his shoulder to look at the communicator.
"I was about to wake you up. They'll be here to pick us up in a few minutes." He told her, turning the bright screen off and putting it into his pocket. She sighed, stiffening for a moment as she realized what he said. She could feel her chest start to burn at the impact of his words.
"Do they know I'm with you?" she wanted the truth. She knew no one in their right mind would let her free. His face fell for a moment, hand fishing for the communicator for a moment before putting it on the steering wheel.
"They don't. They're expecting me, alone."
Nui smiled sadly. She knew he kept her presence hidden for a reason, but it did not lessen the burning in her chest. She rested her head on his shoulder as he reached up with his right hand to brush through her hair, caressing her cheek for a moment to reassure her of her importance. Her smile brightened a little as he comforted her, warmth flowing from his palm into her. She sat up away from him and gripped the jacket as she opened the car door and stepped out, looking out over the bay, the gentle wind tossing her hair gently behind her.
The bay had calmed after the storm blew through, the waves almost clear as the ocean beyond it. Through her weather-worn boots, she could feel the cold sand below her.
On the horizon, she could see the tiniest back dot moving slowly toward them. Although they would be afraid of her, and try to hurt her, she knew that her freedom was only an hour or so away.
About an hour before she could finally truly be free out of Ragyo's grip.
"They're on the horizon. We have about an hour." Nui told him, her voice softer than expected. Gamagoori stepped out of his car, trying to see the black dots on the horizon, but could not in the end. He took her word, and took a seat beside her. Nui did not sit down with him, simply standing in the breeze, and thinking to keep her heart at bay of its eventual cracking.
What would happen when they got here? Would they shoot her, maim her? Make her pay for every wrongdoing she had committed on any students? Would she have to pay with her life?
Would Gamagoori convince them of her changes without getting hurt?
She gently shook her head, throwing away the poisonous thoughts from her head, drawing Gamagoori's attention.
"There's one more thing..."
Gamagoori went to ask what she meant by her statement, but watched in silence as Nui undid her boots and stepped out of them, settled them next to his car and walked to the shoreline of the bay, letting the gentle waves wash over her delicate, small feet. She smiled as she wiggled her toes into the wet sand, sinking down a few centimeters as the waves ticked up to her ankles, the cold waters sending shivers through her legs and spine. She giggled quietly to herself as she kicked one foot playfully, sending a small spray of water into the bay. Through the partly clear water, she could see curious small fish swim toward her, leaving when her toes wiggled again.
She didn't feel the burdens carried for so long. She felt warm and content with simply playing in the shallows of the bay, enjoying herself and experiencing childish things she had been denied. She kicked higher, the resulting spraying reaching farther. She laughed, kicking gently as the water around her sprayed up like waves.
She stepped in farther, two steps, and knelt, putting her hands into he water, wrist deep. Small fish, curious at the new object, nibbled at her fingertips, causing her to gently squeak. The sensation felt alien to her, but it made her heart swell.
Animals didn't like her. They ran whenever she came around, no warning calls or sounds. They ran when she came into any area, and now they weren't afraid of her anymore.
She wiggled her hands playfully, the fish swimming away for a moment before returning and trying to nibble her fingers again. She did so with glee, her smile widening with each playful turn of the small fish. The waves from the bay came higher, hitting the bottom of her dress but she did not fret in the slightest; she was having too much fun poking fun with her childish games along the small fish.
Gamagoori couldn't remove his smile as he watched her enjoy herself for once, gleefully acting childish without a care in the world, forgetting the hardships, and pain, and blood still soaked into her and the past she's trying to run from. She looked truly happy. She turned to him for a moment, smiling wider then he ever thought possible. She waved, and continued with her playful splashing, going a few steps deeper, the small waves hitting only a few inches closer to her knees. She danced around in the shallows, sending water all around her in a breathtaking display of water and light, her smile making the display of childish fun even more rarer.
Gamagoori rose his communicator, and took a picture, the click giving him away and having her slam into his shoulders, reaching for the camera to delete the photo, but Gamagoori knew to keep it away and did so well enough to make Nui give up in her quest to delete it.
She sat down beside him as he stored the tablet away, making a pouty face before sighing once more, realizing the silliness of her fight, and laid her head against his shoulder.
"Just so you know, I didn't want to forget what you were doing. I wanted something to remember it by." Gamagoori told her a minute later, "I would have never given it out."
Nui's smile returned lightly. "I'm glad you did. I don't want to forget it either. Animals never came so close to me before! I thought I would never get close yet those little fish wouldn't leave me be!"
"You know...I'm glad to see you be truly happy for once."
Nui's face froze. She really was happy. Actually showing, feeling, and understanding happiness. She hadn't felt happy, the true emotion, in over ten years, and here she was being gleeful and happy and excited like a little girl over playing in the shallows of the bay and getting poked at by small fish. She didn't break out into a blush, embarrassed by her display or regretted trying to be happy, but simply smiled and reached out for Gamagoori's hand, the calloused palm taking her soft hand without pause.
"I'm happy I can actually feel this emotion again," Nui told him honestly, looking out into the bay and ocean. Her happiness slid away, however, when she saw the boat getting closer, "But I guess every moment has its close. The boat's getting closer."
Gamagoori's face fell, but he kept composed, standing up and bringing Nui to her feet. "You'll have to hide until I can show them you changed, okay?"
Nui felt the weight of the next few minutes come crashing on her. If he didn't convince them, she would be stranded here and forced to return to the Academy and Ragyo. She could end up dead here on the beach.
He could end up dead on the beach.
She let go of his hand and hugged into his chest, grabbing fistfuls of the thin shirt to ensure she would not let go of him. She didn't want to let go, or hide, or even think about the possibilities of what was to happen. She didn't want to risk losing him again.
He returned her desperate hug with one of gentle touch, the warmth of his humanity soaking into her again before he gently pushed her off him, cupping one cheek in his large hands. He left a feather-like kiss on her forehead before he whispered encouraging words, and turned toward the forest's edge near the beach.
"Hide in there, behind the trees. When they get here, and I have my chance, I'll signal you to come out, alright? I'm not leaving here without you. I promised that I would free you from Ragyo's clutches, and that will only be fulfilled once we leave here."
Nui nodded, unable to find the words strong enough to express herself. She was worried, anxious, yet somehow excited. She would, at long last, free of the bloody leash between Ragyo and herself.
She reached up on her toes, not bothering with tying down this impulse, and gently returned Gamagoori's kiss on his lips, and stepped back to admire the gentle pink rising to his cheeks. She smiled under the cover of her bangs, brushing the burning tears from her left eye, and walked toward her hiding spot, blending behind the large trees and plants with ease, kneeling down to improve her chances of staying hidden.
She rested on her knees for a few minutes, hearing only the sound of the bay and his gentle breathing and humming, picking up only snippets of his voice when he voiced his thoughts, but never understood what he said. The boat's engine grew louder as it finally arrived on the beach, the sound of boots on the beach making her still in horror. What if his plan didn't work, and they forced her to go back.
'No', she furiously thought, 'no, he'll convince them. He'll either convince them or I will convince them.'
Now she could hear everything clearly. Someone was also turning on Gamagoori's car, the sound of tires spinning in the sand signalling its slow move on to the boat.
"There you are, Gamagoori. We were planning to rescue you in a few days, but I guess you found your own way to freedom."
Lady Satsuki. Nui's spirits both fell and blossomed. On one hand, it meant that she could show the one authority figure among Nudist Beach that she had changed, that she was human, but however, it meant that if she failed or Lady Satsuki denied her, she had to stay and go back to REVOCS and Ragyo. She rubbed vigorously at her eyes, hoping that she wouldn't break down once the decision was made. She continued to listen in, her hope hovering in a dangerous grey zone.
"Ragyo had left temporarily to make way for plans in Europe. It was an open window, and I found it an endeavor to get this far, but I found my way to freedom."
"It's good to hear." Nui could hear Satsuki's happiness clearly in her voice. "You were not followed here, correct? Neither Ragyo nor Rei are alerted to your presence here?"
"They are not."
"And what of Nui?"
There it was. An opening. She peeked through the foliage and saw Gamagoori stall for a second, his shoulders turning briefly to her. He had to play this well, or reveal her now. Her hands twitched, a nervous tick to what was to happen. Would she have to run away, or stand up to Lady Satsuki? Defend Gamagoori with her life again?
"I hadn't seen her in a while. However, something happened when I saw her again."
"Something?" Disbelief slipped into her voice. Nui's nervousness rose, but she did not fear yet.
"She seemed...off, but it doesn't matter. Something else, on the other hand, does, Lady Satsuki."
"What, exactly, does matter at the moment besides your rescue?"
Her cue was right there. She adjusted her feet for a moment, and took a deep breath. It was time.
"...The person I brought with me."
He looked toward her, no exceptions, and she slowly rose to her feet, stepping out of the brush and foliage of the forest only to hear the crack of a gunshot, and pain spread like water across her left cheek. Blood, warm as Gamagoori's touch, trickled down her face as she raised a hand to gently touch what was obviously a bullet wound.
Someone shot her.
Someone had no restraint and shot her.
Someone shot her and missed their initial goal of killing her.
"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Satsuki bellowed at the line of students in Nudist Beach gear behind her, a single gun smoking as the female student cursed, an angry snarl on her face, and lowered her gun. All the others held their weapons at ready, all pointing at her. Gamagoori snarled out something to the student before stepping in front of her, one arm out in defense. Lady Satsuki's eyes were as cold as permafrost, but they gave no hint at her emotions at that moment.
"What is the meaning of this, Gamagoori?" Lady Satsuki's voice was hard as steel, deadly in every syllable she spoke. Nui could find no way to react, still hung on the wound in her right cheek. Someone SHOT her simply because she showed up.
"Let me explain before you go shooting her." Gamagoori asked. Nui hoped with quick worry that he could get her to listen.
"No explanation will fully make me understand how Nui is standing behind you and why you are protecting her."
Nui couldn't keep hold of her future she hoped for; at this rate, they were about ready to become target practice for the firing squad behind Lady Satsuki. Gamagoori stood his ground, raising his chin higher.
"Just let me explain, please, Lady Satsuki." He pleaded, lowering his arm, but refusing to move himself out-of-the-way of Nui, "She has good intentions for being here with me."
Lady Satsuki's face took a quick turn for disgusted, quickly gaining her composure before she let her personal opinions guide her astray. "Good intentions? Has she turned you against us, Gamagoori? This is Harime-"
"Nui. I don't take the name Harime anymore." Nui announced, snapping herself out of the delirious aftershock of the bullet hitting her, "I won't ever take that name given by her."
Gamagoori looked at her over his shoulder, a gentle look crossing his face before hardening and returning his gaze to his Lady. She stood silent in front of her small line of armed students, large black trench coat swaying in the winds of the bay. The steel touch in her eyes had softened, but still lingered.
"Since when do you think on your own, Nui?" Satsuki's voice had softened as well, but kept its queenly force behind it. Nui stepped out from behind Gamagoori, eyeing the students cautiously as they shook. She took her place right beside him, uncertain if she would be absolutely safe even there.
"Since Gamagoori showed me what it was like to be human again." She answered honestly. The One Stars whispered nervously between one another, unbelieving in her words. Satsuki showed no reaction.
"Say I believe you, Nui. Show me one thing to prove you have freedom, one thing that you are no longer a puppet for my mother."
She could feel Gamagoori react, his hands shivering at the thought of truly convincing Lady Satsuki that Nui had changed. She smiled, getting everyone, including Lady Satsuki, to react. Her smile was not vicious, or insidious, without a single hint of concealed bemusement. It was a smile, a genuine gentle smile.
Lady Satsuki looked amused, but she sighed. "I can't trust just a smile, Harime."
Nui frowned, but quickly thought of how to earn her trust. She turned from them and walked toward Gamagoori's car, which was halfway on to the boat, stopped on the ramp once she revealed herself, reaching for the trunk right as the click of the gun's safeties went off. She turned to them, eyes widening in disbelief. Gamagoori stared them all down before Lady Satsuki's signaled them down. Nui opened the trunk, and pulled open her case, staring at the chipping purple Scissor Blade. More of the purple paint had chipped away, leaving more spots of red visible. She grabbed the handle and pulled it out, turning to Satsuki and then holding it in front of her in two hands, horizontal to her chest.
Lady Satsuki could obviously see the purple chip away, and her reaction was pure astonishment. Gamagoori smiled at Nui and stepped back as she walked back to Lady Satsuki, and held out the blade to her.
"It started returning to red when I finally fought against Ragyo, REVOCS, the Life Fibers...my inhumanity controlling me since I was six. Gamagoori showed me who I really was, what I was at my essence. He found my humanity for me when I could do nothing but hide it for my entire life. I owe him so much, and all I want is two things.
"To protect him, to make sure he is never subjugated under Ragyo and the Life Fibers, and never let him take what pain will come to me, and to get as far away from the pitiful excuse for a creator that beat me when I finally became human again."
Lady Satsuki reached out and ran her hands over the blade, flakes of purple falling to the ground. She looked at Nui, noticing the changes immediately. The change in her features, the lack of her eyepatch, the change in her demeanor, her hair undone from its twin drill style. The overall brighter look on Nui's face as she looked to the blade,and then to Gamagoori for the briefest moment before looking back at her.
The fact that she was willingly letting her touch the blade only ever seen from a distance, coated in the blood of innocents for many years.
"Please believe me, Satsuki," Nui murmured, "I don't want to go back to her. I don't want to be beaten, I don't want her hands on me anymore."
Satsuki's face changed. She looked content, a gentle smile curling her lips just enough to be noticed. "And Gamagoori did this? He showed you your humanity?"
"He did much more; he showed me how to be human again. He taught me, and led me when I stumbled. He came back for me when he had the chance to run away. He came back for the Life Fiber doll finally cut from her strings."
"You are no doll, Nui." Satsuki told her, then turning to her One-Stars, "Let her on. She is under my protection."
The one Stars dispersed on to the boats, some reluctantly returning their weapons to their holders, some looking at Nui with a murderous glint as they put the safeties back on, shoving them in their holsters. Nui expected nothing less but it still made her uncertain of getting on a cramped boat with them. Lady Satsuki put a hand on her arm, lowering the blade to Nui's side.
"I am not completely satisfied with this, but I am willing to hear what happened, and how he did this. You do not have my trust, but until I have the entire story, you are protected from harm," Satsuki told her, then pointing her gaze to Gamagoori, "I have no clue how you were able to do this but I would like to find out, but in a better location. Get on the boat, both of you. Grab your things from the car, and come away from this place. We'll talk about this when you are safe and settled."
Nui chuckle in relief, putting her hands together and resting them on her forehead, whispering her thanks that somehow they accomplished the near impossible. She turned and ran right into Gamagoori's readied arms, smiling with glee as he silently celebrated with her for a moment. Without her knowledge, Gamagoori went under Satsuki's suddenly heated eyes, watching them carefully before Nui stepped out of Gamagoori's embrace and jogged up to the trunk, pushing it open again and grabbed her bag and setting her blade back in its case.
As Nui grabbed their things, Satsuki pulled Gamagoori aside, her gaze pensive and intrigued.
"Obviously, what has happened between you is not so simple."
Gamagoori did not deny it. "No, it is not. I had not realized how deep this went between us until I was no longer under Mind Stitching control."
"Of Nui's?" Satsuki's voice almost betrayed her confusion.
Gamagoori shook his head. "Ragyo's. She found out about Nui's slow return to herself, and punished us both despite listening to Nui request...to spare me."
Satsuki turned and watched Nui reappear on the deck of the ship, the bags they had secured under the deck. She looked around for a moment, unsure of her next step before deciding to stare off the side of the railing.
"She wanted you spared?"
"She's made sure to protect me almost as long as I was captured. I fell under her hand, yes, but she soon found herself unable to accept what she did herself." Gamagoori chuckled for a moment, looking to Nui with admiration, "Without her, I would be dead. Without me, she would still be the doll Ragyo made her become. I'm finding myself drawn to her humanity very much."
Satsuki looked to him again. "And how drawn are you to her?"
Gamagoori went silent for a moment, unable to find the right words. How drawn into her was he? He caught Nui's eye as she took her own off the bay, smiling and waving at him before returning to her observations.
"Much more than I thought possible when she first showed kindness, but if you would like my honest opinion, Lady Satsuki...I have no intention of stopping what has already begun."
Satsuki stayedsilent, but she found the ability to smile. He was being honest with her, and that honestly lead her to believe these wild accusations. She gave Gamagoori a gentle pat on his shoulder, looking to Nui for a moment before walking toward the boat.
"As long as you do not let it interfere with our plans, our final goals."
"If you accept what has happened, she will be not just a big asset, but a perfect ally. This relationship between us won't hinder us a single second." Gamagoori announced, following Satsuki off the beach, "I will find a way to balance everything."
Nui knew that Satsuki wouldn't trust her, would not invest in her despite the obvious signs of her change to her side. Who would trust the girl who would rather slaughter then speak, giggle as she killed countless students, sacrificing so many for her and Ragyo's goals? She sighed gently and leaned her weight into her arms, relying on the railing to hold her up. The ocean wind blew her hair around behind her, the long blonde waves wrapping occasionally over her arm.
She was getting away. She was finally feeling freedom.
Gentle hands wove through her hair, and she smiled when she found Gamagoori gently gathering her hair into his hands, smoothing out rebellious strands that bunched up at his knuckles. She watched with budding curiousness over her shoulder as he gathered up every last strand of hair hanging down, and tying it up on her head in one long ponytail, hanging down in a think bundle to the small of her back.
"As much as I like the look of your hair down, it would be better if it was tied up." Gamagoori told her, running his hands through her hair for added measure, and took the spot to her left, looking out in to the ocean as the boat whistle bellowed, the boat's back-end secured closed, and the engines purred and pulled the boat from shore. A tarp had been pulled Gamagoori's car, which rested in the middle of the deck chained down and unmovable.
Nui reached up and ran her left hand through her new ponytail, feeling relief. Another change from the normality she wanted to be rid of. She smiled and rested herself against the railing again, watching the waves lap at the side of the boat as they roared away from the bay, and from the Academy.
"I'm free. I don't have to worry about her anymore. I'm free...finally." Nui murmured as she turned to him, watching the white fortress that was the Academy start to shrink. He looked the same way, and took her left hand, squeezing it as he stepped away from the rail, and lead Nui to his side as they faced the Academy and watched it slowly turn smaller on the horizon.
"I promised you freedom, I promised you a life without her. Now we work toward killing her, and reestablishing your footing."
Nui nodded, feeling better as her distance from Ragyo grew farther and farther apart. "You got me away from her. So...what do I do now? Do I..."
Gamagoori squeezed her hand again, working gently to intertwine their fingers. She looked down at their hands, then up to his face. She knew she had to be blushing but she didn't care.
"First, you settle into your new freedom, and get used to what Lady Satsuki and Nudist Beach does. Then we'll get ready to fight and battle alongside Lady Satsuki."
Nui grinned. "We? Lady Satsuki let you stay with me?"
"I'm the only one you trust, the only one close enough to stand with you. She had no choice, but...it did seem she was alright with it." Gamagoori told her, "Besides...someone who knows the rules should be teaching them to you."
Nui chuckled lightly, looking at up him despite her uneasiness with the idea of taking up more rules that she had no ideas about. He spotted her waver with uncanny ability, moving the hand he had around hers and bringing it up to her face, cupping one cheek with a gentle warmth.
"Don't worry about anything right now, Nui. Let's just get away from Ragyo, and settled into Osaka and the Nudist Beach headquarters."
Nui closed her eyes briefly, blinking back tears with moderate success, the rest of her escaped tears brushed away. "You'll stay?"
There was no hesitation in Gamagoori's answer, his forehead resting against hers. Even though he answered in a whisper, she knew it carried the volume of his bellowing voice.
"I'll stay, no matter what."