Truth
As Osaka became nothing but a picture behind the shut door of her helicopter, Satsuki collapsed onto the smooth metallic floor. Sweat rolled down from her bushy brows hitting the metal floor every few seconds as she shivered. The heiress was overwhelmed by the drain her Kamui took out of her and now more than ever it was clear that things were not well. She shook with grit teeth struggling to even try and move, it was difficult to even stay focused on consciousness.
"Shiro now," the wise old voice of her trusty butler rang out. Before her was the Sewing Club leader with a fire extinguisher of sorts in his hands the blonde nodded at her reassuringly more or less telling her it was okay.
"Right," he nodded swiftly a small fog appearing on the translucent orange mask upon his face. From the sprayer came a pinkish mist that was very cold, at least to Satsuki's body, when it touched her. She shook even more but the bulging pulsating mass of a Kamui failed to move anymore after it.
"This is a tranquilizing coagulant that will temporarily keep Junketsu at bay. If you would please take it off in the meantime," Soroi explained as the pink mist faded into the air the Kamui completely still on her shoulders. The butler was something of a hero considering he knew what to do and when to do it.
"Thank you," she winced as the frozen feeling in her body shook away the pain.
Moments later she was robed and sitting in the finely crafted red velvet seat that had been specially installed for her and her alone. Behind her in a specialized frame Junketsu, pinned by dozens of large spikes to the back of it.
Her breathes were ragged and heavy as she kept both arms delicately crossed over her bosom. Her blue eyes shimmered out as she tried to maintain a somewhat balanced composure.
Soroi brought a fresh tea plate upon the ornate ceramic there was a freshly polished white cermaic glass with blue highlights around the sides and lip of the cup. Gently he poured the steaming tea into the cup with genuine concern for his craft and the young woman that was bound to drink it. Satsuki winced and shivered as he drew the pot away from its cup companion.
Her gaze was still focused off into space somewhere the glowing blue temporarily hazed over. A large amount of fatigue was pressed out over the teenaged woman's face drained by the entire ordeal. Soroi strolled over to her with a concerned look on his face.
"Lady Satsuki your fights appear to be taking a greater toll on your body than before," Soroi began while looking at the white robed girl. Satsuki's gaze was still not the refined focus that it had been." Activating Life Fiber Override for as long as you have is too risky," the graying old butler sighed keeping focus on Satsuki, still dazed.
The ruler of Honnoji Academy sighed reaching a shaky left hand towards the cup before her on the table. Pain ribboned up her arm in a jolt, the battle with Ryuko had left a mark on her for sure. With a grimace she brought the hot tea up to her usually downcast lips.
"I am aware of the risk," the blue-black haired heiress took a sip of the brown liquid that was inside. A very faint smiled crossed her face as the tea flowed through her with waves of warm relief." But as long as Ryuko Matoi and Shinko Kurosaki don Kamui I am forced to wear Junketsu to combat them," Satsuki spoke with a shake in every word.
"Of course Lady Satsuki," Soroi responded with a smile. Years of experience with Satsuki had taught him a lot namely that she had a focus that was unbreakable if she saw it as important.
"Uncle she'll tear herself apart!" Shiro Iori complained. He had only recently grown to know the young lady as anything aside from another boss to order him around, needless to say the concern was well invested.
Soroi took a brief moment to gather his thoughts and decide how to respond. His wrinkled features raised for a second before he exhaled a silent breath as not to disturb Satsuki's brief time of peace." Oh Shiro. You need to learn that once the lady sets her mind to something there is nothing that will deter her," the aged butler said wisely to his nephew.
"But-" Iori started. A fog spread over the orange face mask as he turned and locked eyes with the old man that cut him off. Soroi kept features like steel even when glared at with scrutiny from the blonde, who had a massive amount of anger and respect towards his uncle.
"No buts Shiro. The lady made the descision and it is our job to hold such requests firm" he explained while Satsuki smiled at their exchange. Her paled features had regained their vibrant glow that had a certain dominating quality that could crush most people easily.
"Yes uncle," he bowed still frustrated. Satsuki placed the tea cup back upon its white platter, the contents had dwindled down to just enough to cover the bottom of the glass.
"I know that I have used the two of you for such a long time, I can tell you are also getting stressed. I ask of you to bear with this for only a short while longer and then you will free to do your own desires," Satsuki said regaining the solid complexion of a true leader. Her body still shook with the fatigue and pain was slowly hanging onto her sharp features like bat to the walls of a cave.
"Of course Lady Satsuki," Soroi smiled in the typical polite fashion he had come to learn working for Satsuki. His wrinkled features kept their position of the smile while Shiro took a somewhat defeated scowl unable to get his point across still getting to him.
'Beew!' the noise of an old pilot speaker cutting on in the front of the helicopter. A crackling sound first came over it as if it had been clicked on by a mistake that was until a throat clearing echoed through it.
"Hey Satsuki-sama," the voice had a faint bounce to every word and carried on with a bubbly overtone. It was childish and pure but also somehow sinister at the same time a weird combination to be sure.
"I know that voice," the seated Satsuki said eyes narrowing. Her blue eyed gaze locked onto the speaker knowing that it picked up on what she had probably been saying the entire time." Nui Harime, what do you want?" she went on to say making Iori nearly jump out of his boots. The Grand Couturier on their helicopter? What type of trouble were they headed for?
In the cockpit Nui had slipped off the visor of her helmet head casually bobbing as her hands worked the aircraft's controls. The fact that the blonde was so adept at flying such an expensive and complicated vehicle made things even more scary to the Sewing Club leader.
"Ah come on Satsuki-sama. Don't 'what do you want me' that's cold. I can go where I want to," she pouted over the intercom in her best Satsuki impression. Luckily Iori regained some of the steel that his superior had while glaring at the speaker. Nui was a case that would be impossible to crack for sure.
"Get on with it!" Shiro shouted into the intercom aggressively while Satsuki took the final sip of her tea with the simplest of grace. It was like a lost art of fancy that many would never understand.
"Shiro!" Soroi responded sharply in a judging way. Satsuki simply kept a stony expression awaiting Nui to respond in the typical fashion that only she could understand.
"Ragyo-sama wants to meet with you. Something about the Raid Trip," the normal pink donning girl responded head bobbing harmlessly in the front pit of the helicopter. Satsuki gained a downcast expression her sore body almost stiffening with those words." We're heading to the Kiryuin Manor now!" she turned the aircraft a sharp forty five degrees and head from the mansion estate.
"Very well Harime," Satsuki sighed eyes looking down at the empty cup on her platter. Soroi quickly responded bringing the tea kettle back over with the most delicate of movements.
"More tea?" he asked calmly and softly as always.
"Yes, thank you," Satsuki responded with an equal amount of respectful softness.
Back in Osaka...
The sky still was hanging heavy with a stench of burning rubber and dust. Fires still burned through the streets of the ravaged port city while those who defended it stood within courtyard of yet another claimed school. Winds filled with rubble buffeted against their faces as the sounds of military machinery finally got out of the range of hearing.
"What the hell...did we just go through," Shinko wheezed his tired and battered body shaking with the fatigue. Sentokitsu drooped out of the transformed state and Shinko gained a sense of relief from it.
Aikuro walked up to him with a cocky smile." Isn't it obvious Kurosaki?" the blue haired man smiled taking a few steps over the rubble towards his former student. For a brief second he stood there strange lights radiating from more sensitive areas." We just went through a war. One that I am glad ended in such a deadlock," he continued.
"Not a deadlock at all. Look at this place," Kinagase replied staring around. Warped and smoldering buildings all stood within rings of fire and carnage, it was almost horrific." We just managed to tell Satsuki where we stood on the ground against her," Tsumugu growled knowing that he had missed his shot and could have shot through Satsuki had he pulled the trigger a tenth of a second earlier.
"Or did we? Ryuko was able to fight Satsuki to a draw and beyond, very impressively. Satsuki has to worry about someone that can match her physically now not to mention the fact that Shinko managed to beat Sanageyama. Satsuki will be forced into a corner," Aikuro remarked as they started off towards a river that was just through a collapsed building's rubble field.
"Before any of that though I want want answers! You promised me then so many times and you never gave me one," she pouted somewhat distrusting of the former teacher. She doubted he knew anything at all other than some rudimentary things about her Kamui.
"Those I did. So if you keep following me all of the answers you want will follow," he said strutting beside Kinagase towards the river. Mako, Ryuko, and Shinko all followed with curious glances as to what the Nudist Beach man was really telling them.
After a few brief minutes of walking there came to a small marble embankment that overlooked what probably had been a really pretty river before the Honnoji attack. Now though it was thick and gray running with the dirty sands and gravel that had been blow into it by the ferocity of the battles. At the bottom a statue was position face down with nothing but the legs, a slate gray, sticking up through the surface. It was here where Mikisugi readied to dive in.
"This is the entrance to your base?" Ryuko asked staring at the murky depths seeing nothing that was even remotely close to a base anywhere near there. She saw nothing more than trash and rubble running through the thick river water.
"It was probably cleaner before everything went down," Shinko commented staring down at the water himself. It was something that seemed weird to him, water running a blue-gray color when it probably had been rather clean. Satsuki knew how to screw up everything in the whole grand scheme she was planning and this was just another example.
"Indeed! Now I must ask the three of you are you ready to take the plunge? If you do be prepared for battle," Mikisugi asked as his gun-totting ally stretched atop the marble. It was clear at least that the mowhawked fighter was ready to go into the water and whatever waited beyond it.
Ryuko climbed up on the wall not long after her frame still showing sings of the intense struggle she had been put through. In the end though the answers were what she wanted and this was the only way to get them. Senketsu remained silent as the river below sprayed up faint mist that stung with the sand that had been mixed with it by the raging currents below.
"I'm not," Mako said with all of her heart and soul. Ryuko gained a smile on her face, it was good to see that Mako was not ready to do anything like this. The brunette stared at her friend one that overlook with saddening eyes they did still hold the seriousness though.
"Good than Mako go home. We'll be there pretty soon," Ryuko said giving a thumbs up to her best friend. Mako kept silent as Shinko looked back at her from his current position on the diving point. It was a relief to hear because frankly she had no sort of defense against the incoming nonsense of battles, she would have only gotten hurt.
"I'm not ready to go fully nude yet!" she repeated finishing her sentence out with that typical Mako strength. Shinko nearly fell into the river with shock as Mako quickly took struts towards the wall.
"That is what you were worried about?" Ryuko gasped in shock. The girl she had been friends with was practically insane but this was something beyond insane, diving into the stream of incessant fighting and possibly injury would make even iron fall away. Not Mako Mankanshoku though she was stronger than all of that and then some.
"But I am ready to be Ryuko's friend. I'm ready to be Ryuko's friend forever!" she stood up there with hands positioned like a professional swimmer tongue stuck out firmly, she was ready to dive into the water below.
"Then let's go!" the leading two dove in with that scream from the blue haired agent. Kinagase, and Mikisugi first of course with an expert splash and disappearance under the water in an impressive fashion that mimicked that of true swimmer.
"Got yourself a keeper there," Shinko laughed as Mako dove in head first. Her pack filled with souvenirs of her trip to Osaka disappearing under the water.
"Shut up and dive!" Ryuko hissed defensively before dropping into the water holding her nose shut. Shinko looked down at the water below before taking a glare around searching the smoldering city for a brief moment.
He grabbed his nose with his left hand and tightened his right on his side. With a run he jumped into the air and dropped from it quickly into the debris filled water that scraped his body slightly upon contact. Water splashed up several feet as he descended down to the murky depths.
Kiryuin Manor...
"Please take off Junketsu. We will hold onto it for you," Rei's voice echoed around in her head as her now bare feet struck the cold marble tiles along the hall to her destination. The room she was heading to was massive, one that held a faint feeling of dread ass she approached.
"The CEO left a message for you," once again Rei's voice rang around inside of her head. Each step of her bare feet chilled even more upon the tiles a she got closer to the room she had been directed to. The path was longer today than it had been or was that just from all of the injuries that nagged her frame.
"She wishes for you wait in the Grand Bathhouse for her," the door handle turned and Satsuki entered, the faint layers of steam coming through the massive room with fine sculptures and the strange orange-ish colored water. With pain she removed her robe its white fabric falling to the flooring with a gentle sweeping sound.
Slowly she shuffled to the water it had a faint heat radiating from it but none to serious. Her nude frame slipped into the water like a spot of milk sliding into a light mixture of tea. Her head the one that normally was held high with confidence slumped down to the top of her breast a shiver of pain running over the frayed nerves. Satsuki's teeth locked as more of the same pain struck as the warm water washed up.
Behind a large sculpture of some long gone philosopher a rainbow flourished up. Satsuki already struggling for her breath sighed out, it was an overwhelming presence that not even she could hope to resist in such an injured state.
"You really are pulling off that Kamui well," the voice as rich as velvet but strong as steel rang out through the large bathhouse. The woman said voice belonged to emerged from behind the statue with the utmost grace. Each step bobbed with a swagger as Ragyo Kiryuin strolled towards her daughter within the bath.
"It is clear though that you are really straining your body to do so," Ragyo stated with a smile as she stepped over the tiles. Gently she walked in a sway almost as if she was attempting to sooth her daughter's injuries with just appearance.
"Mother," Satsuki shivered obviously afflicted by the nagging wounds that had happened in the fighting. Ragyo kept a calm gaze with her daughter as she took her first steps into the pool of water.
"This bath is special. It is filed with several herbal extracts that will help raise your affinity with Life Fibers," she slipped so graefully in the water the blinding rainbow of color dying within the waves. Several scars all lined and shaped like those of the Honnoji Goku Uniforms were prevalent on her back." Soak yourself well Satsuki," she continued as she walked over to her daughter.
"Right," Satsuki bowed eyes averted from those of her mother. Satsuki was definitely wounded and this presence did not ease her mind or body at all.
Ragyo then wrapped her chin within the gentle cup of her hand and smiled, a more curved and wicked smile." Oh-what soft skin you have," the white haired woman commented feeling the entire way around her daughter's chin.
"Entrust your heart heart to me," the woman leaned in further. Satsuki's breathes waivered as the hand slowly reached towards the nape of her neck." And I will purify you," Satsuki felt her eyes grow larger as a long slender finger tapped the center of neck.
Helpless she slipped under the water fully all tension leaving her entirely. The towel that had been wrapped around the long blue-black hair on her head fell away as she floated there helpless. The glaring red eyes of her mother turned towards her almost sick in a way.
"Humans are such fragile beings," her lean fingers moved along her daughter's frame. Satsuki was so weak too much to even stay steely against the contact with her body. Her body felt waves of pleasure as the struggle continued to roll on, it was bliss or was it pain?
She shuddered as Ragyo's hands worked their way back up to the area behind her head." When we're naked like this, we grow anxious. Our nerves get the better of us and we hurry to cover our bodies with the wonders known as 'clothes'," she continued to rub the back of her daughter's neck the near helpless state remaining in effect.
"It is instinct after all," Ragyo worked her hands back down to her daughter's midriff all the while Satsuki lay there helpless to do anything. The teenager shivered with pleasure, it was uncontrolable." And species that defy their instincts will eventually..." Satsuki felt her legs slowly spreading apart as her mother continued to advance.
Something stirred between the young lady's thighs the sudden pleasure too much to withstand." Fall into ruin!" the pleasure and feeling of content that followed was completely overwhelming.
Her frame shivered and everything faded away into the feeling of euphoria. It was as if her energy all was released in a single rush of pleasure.
When she snapped back into her right mind Ragyo was staring down at her from the same kneeling position she remembered." There it is done. You are finished get out. There is somewhere we need to be," she smiled gently as Satsuki sat up.
"Does this mean..." she shook. Everything stopped hurting and her confusion was all gone.
"Yes," with that they exited from the pool of water.
Nudist Beach HQ...
"I need to ask the two of you something," Mister Mikisugi said drawing something on that board at the front of the small room they were sitting in. Shinko watched forward alongw ith Ryuko while Kinagase rested to their left and Mako stared forward emptily at the front." How many organisms on the Earth do you know that wear clothing?" he continued to write on the board.
"Only one," Ryuko aid thinking through what she had learned through the years of high school hopping across the country. She was right and Shinko adding on
"Humans," proved it beyond a reasonable doubt. Aikuro smiled finishing what he was drawing on the board at the front of the room. It was a somewhat accurate drawing of the Planet Earth.
"Correct," he smiled tapping the image with a pointer. His words were confident and well-educated he looked at them like he had at the Honnoji Academy." Out of millions of organisms on the Earth onlly one, wears clothing," he went on as the school teacher he had been. Why do you think that only homo sapiens wear clothing?" Mikisugi continued the lesson.
"Or rather the organism that would become homo sapiens wore clothing?" he took a glare over his captive audience. Ryuko and Shinko just seemed ready to get themselves answers rather interact with the musing Nudist.
"Because of Life Fibers! What had been the ancestor of humanity with the aid of Life Fibers grew into their currently evolved form!" he took another swift gaze the quiet of the room almost interesting in itself. He smiled turning back to his display board, there on the board was the ever known 'evolution of man' image. A monkey transforming into a chimpanzee and so forth until there was an upright man at the end.
"Wait you're saying we evolved because homo sapiens put on clothes?" Shinko arched a brow, the visual adding into his already peaking interest. It did not seem right man was supposed to make the clothes, clothes could not have cultivated man.
"Clothes made people? What the hell are you even talking about?" Ryuko added on. It appeared she also got the hint from the time tested image and what the teacher was going on about.
Aikuro smirked slightly as from seemingly no where there was a cascade of the prime purple lighting. His frame outlined completely in the same hue that was radiating from his private areas straightened, this was going to be good.
"You see! Life Fibers are extraterrestrial life-forms! Their appearance here in antiquity lead to the jump start of the human species!" he proposed all the while pointing out at all of them. Mako was dazzled by the lights while the two Kamui wearer were confused at the man's actions at all.
In a descending light from the heavens Mako stepped forward arms over her head crossed at the hands. A chorus of angelic 'Hallelujah' rang out in the background as she got ready to speak." So Senketsu is an alien?" she spouted out with genuine curiosity.
A nod from the teacher answered her suspicion." But he's a sailor uniform? And an alien too?" Mako began to jump around the room wildly in her typical babbling fashion. It got hard to discern words from sounds but one could end up seeing Mako acting like an alien for sure.
"Aliens? Seems a bit far-fetched to me," Shinko butted in barely able to control his outburst of obscenities. This was getting weirder by the moment then out of no where Ryuko to bring her own realistic approach.
"What the hell is that garbage? Aliens really?" Ryuko hissed. Her hands were clenching and her body was shaking with a degree of anger that was going to explode out any second now.
"Tsk, tsk, Ryuko it is rude to cut off someone while they are teaching," Mikisugi smiled. Ryuko looked at him utterly confused at the fact everything had seemingly stopped being prevalent at all.
"Rude? What are you-" her large blue eyes looked around. Mako, who only several seconds ago was bouncing around like crazy, was sitting cross-legged and bright eyes awaiting the answers that had been promised.
"In due time Ryuko your questions will be answered," he laughed turning back towards the board.
Defeated Ryuko shook her head and sat down.' What was that?' Senketsu asked confused at how fast things calmed down so fast.
"I don't know," she said in shock. The rebel was speechless as to really anything that related to the matter at hand, it may have just been better to sit there and listen rather than burst out like that.
"Life Fibers came to Earth with one purpose in mind. That purpose simply put: to feed and reproduce," he clasped both hands behind the white coat over his shoulders, it did not help make him look anymore professional. A few steps across the stage and the click of the pointer and the image on the screen changed, it was a stock photograph.
The image was that of a lab mouse, small beady eyes white fur, rolled over onto its back. Then it faded to the next scene where the mouse was cut open and a red thread was placed within the wound. The images closed out with the mouse being stitched back up, Shinko winced at the sight it cut too deep into the still recent death of his father.
"They, Life Fibers, are parasites that take their sole sustenance from the electrical and chemical energy produced by the host's nervous system," Mikisugi said as once against the image changed. This was the video of the implanted mouse running around in a circle for a few brief seconds before freezing in place and falling over to one side. It was seizing in agony and over-exhaustion.
"Unfortunately for this mouse, being implanted or infested with Life Fiber internally is nearly impossible to live on with," Mikisugi gave a solemn glance over to Shinko. The young man was staring at the floor choking back what he could and letting slip only very minuscule tears.
"So instead, Life Fibers started to cover," Aikuro remarked pointing to the screen again. The footage changed to that of another mouse, same white fur and beady eyes, running around within its pen. Life Fibers weaved together slightly placed over its back like some sort of shell or casing." The skin is a very poor place for the Life Fiber's to connect as all of the large nerve pulses are on the inside however it sustains them. As such the Life Fibers have a continuing food source through this contact," he pointed out the shell as if they could not have seen it.
'Am I eating Ryuko?' the Kamui questioned putting the pointed in Mikisugi's wordings together.
"Basically.." Tsumugu started only to have a black gloved hand reached out and gripped over his mouth. It belonged to Shinko as the teary eyed teenager stared up with eyes brimmed in tears.
"Sentokitsu is not eating me. He is my friend damn it! Shut your mouth!" Shinko's frame tensed. It was like he knew that he was currently being used as an energy source to keep the Kamui active but it was more than that between them.
"Kurosaki back down," muffled Kinagase's words came through. The edge of a pin was then reached into the teenaged boy's forehead, he froze completely the acupuncture technique stiffening every movement.
"Please settle down both of you," Mikisugi pinched the bridge of his nose. He pulled the pin out and his Kamui wearing former student flopped face first to the flooring completely out of it.
"As I was saying. The Life Fibers use their host for energy and that Ryuko is where the Kamui Senketsu comes into all of this," he smiled back upon the stage almost magically. The daughter of Doctor Matoi glared up at him with a degree of confusion as he pointed it out on the screen, it was a video of her racing through the Club Captains.
"What do you mean by that?" Ryuko asked about to not get an answer she wanted. Mikisugi smiled showing the footage of a few Nexus Threads being drawn into the Kamui's blue-black frame.
"You see Ryuko your father, Doctor Isshin Matoi, made the Kamui Senketsu as a weapon against the Life Fibers!" Mikisugi pointed out with a broad grin present on his face. Ryuko froze stiffly hearing those words, the Kamui's value was nothing more than a weapon.
"You're saying that Senketsu was designed only for fighting?" Ryuko snarled hands clenching tightly at her side. A feeling of something rose up to her face in the form of an angry scowl. Aikuro looked at this interested in what was going to unfold, considering Ryuko was getting all shaken up and angry made it worst.
'Ryuko calm down,' Senketsu tried to comfort his wearer. It did not work in fact Ryuko got even angrier with the blue haired operative of Nudist Beach.
"Stay out of this!" she snapped down at the Kamui. Mister Mikisugi gave a small grin watching as she kept an angry scowl on her face trying to ready an response that would be capable of blowing the roof of the building if it had been physical.
"You're saying he has no choice? No choice but to fight! That's bullshit he can do whatever he wants to do!" Ryuko grabbed the Kamui's upper portion ready to remove it like a shirt. Tsumugu stared now concerned with what she was going to do with the new anger that was righteous.
"Ryuko what are you doing?" Mako and Senketsu asked confused as to the sudden anger from Ryuko's body The Kamui was pulled up over her head and thrown to the chair leaving the seventeen year old in her white and blue striped bra and panties.
"Matoi?" Kinagase drew one of his guns and pointed it at Ryuko's forehead. The edge of a needle round gleaming within the chamber. Ryuko stared defiantly as the Kamui look on in silence from the chair.
"Senketsu doesn't have to fight. This is Nudist Beach right? Why can't I just fight in my underwear?" she hissed glaring at Tsumugu, ignoring Mister Mikisugi's presence entirely.
"Because a Kamui that isn't fighting is not worth keeping!" the chamber was pointed now at the Kamui. Ryuko stepped in the way again with her swagger blocking out the gun's path.
"You better have kept that aimed at my forehead if you think I'd let you for one minute shoot Senketsu while I was still alive!" Ryuko sneered. The gun was re-aimed at her forehead like it was intended to be that way.
"I'm okay with that," and so set forth a standstill between the Nude Operative and Ryuko.
Kiryuin Manor...
"So that was how it went. I intend to see more of this other Kamui wearer soon," Ragyo said having heard the entire story of the Raid Trip after something else occurred after the bath.
"Yes mother," Satsuki bowed with respect as Ragyo turned towards the door. The CEO exited the home a moment later heading towards the limousine that had been laid out waiting for her.
"Very good. Satsuki I wish to be welcomed in a way like the one we had discussed," the woman commented in her typical tone before descending into the white limo and heading off.
What is this? How could it be even possible for Life Fibers to be aliens? What exactly did Ragyo and Satsuki talk about after their exchange in the bathhouse? Is it really impactful? Obvious questions are obvious hopefully you read on to find out...
Thanks for reading,
~Herodan