Ryuko woke up first next morning. She found herself laying on her side, with her head on Satsuki's chest, carefully hearing for her heart. It was beating slowly and steady and her sister's warm breath was slow as well, lightly messing some streaks of Ryuko's hair whenever she exhaled. Satsuki was embracing her, keeping her close, and her chin was laying on Ryuko's head. Ryuko's left hand was near her own chest, while her right arm was wrapped around Satsuki's waist. Satsuki's right arm, instead, was supporting her own head, while her left arm was placed on Ryuko's side.
Ryuko smiled a little, enjoying the warm feeling she felt. She wanted to fell asleep again, but a faint voice in echoed in the room.
"Ryuko…" It called out. "Ryuko…"
She opened her eyes immediately. She recognized that voice, but she didn't move even if she was shocked. She wanted to silence it, but she didn't want to wake her sister up.
"It's time." Yosuke said.
"Shut the fuck up!" She thought.
"My dear Ryuko… Mind your language please…" Yosuke replied.
"Just shut up! I don't care about what you need from me!" She thought.
"My sweet Ryuko…" Yosuke called out again. "You are not in condition to speak like this. Did you already forget that your friend Senketsu is over here?"
Ryuko's eyes widened. "What do you want?" She thought politely, remembering well what happened at the bridge when she didn't listen to his request about her language.
"That's better…" Yosuke said. "Come over here and I will explain you everything."
"And what if I won't?" She asked trying to keep calm.
"Senketsu will die." He answered.
She was caught off guard by this. "When should I come over here?" She thought in defeat.
"As soon as possible, my dear… And make sure that no one knows about this."
Ryuko raised her gaze a little. She looked at Satsuki, who was still peacefully asleep. She felt sad, because she had to leave her, and guilty, because she didn't want to worry her sister even more.
"I see…" Yosuke said sighing reading her thoughts. "I will let you spend the day with your sister. We will meet tonight." His voice then started to fade away. "Remember… Come alone… No one have to know about this…" then, his voice completely disappeared, leaving Ryuko alone with her sister.
"How the fuck did he know?" She thought shocked. Her mind was trying to process what happened just a few moments ago. She was trembling a little… Most for anger… A little for fear… "What should I do?" She kept repeating the question to herself, but everytime she tried to find a solution, he always get to one single answer: "Go and take him down."
Thirty minutes as passed and Ryuko eventually sighed in defeat. With sadness in her eyes, she looked at her sister once again. Ryuko smiled a little, raising her right hand to move a streak of hair from her sister's face. "I have to go, sis." She whispered. "But I will be back soon, no matter what."
Satsuki groaned a little, slowly waking up. Before she could open her eyes, however, Ryuko covered her sadness with another and different smile. "Good morning, eyebrows." She chuckled.
"Since when you resumed calling me like this?" Satsuki asked with a playful and challenging smile.
"I don't know, I can't remember well." Ryuko played along.
"Oh…" Satsuki replied. "What could bring back your memories?"
"Mmmh." Ryuko faked a thoughtful look. "I'm not sure you can bring them back."
"Oh but I will…" Satsuki said, slowly rolling over Ryuko and holding her wrists near her head. Now, she was sitting lightly on Ryuko's waist, leaning a little forward. Ryuko's left leg was sprawled out, while her right one was pointing towards the ceiling, bending at her knee so that the foot was on the blankets.
"I wonder how you will do it…" Ryuko said, but she was blushing like a mad.
"I have my own methods to deal with such a stubborn girl." Satsuki whispered in Ryuko's ear, leaning forward some more and sending a shiver down Ryuko's back.
"You won't break me so easily, Kyruin Satsuki." She said.
"We will see, Matoi Ryuko." Satsuki replied while inches away from Ryuko's face.
Ryuko felt her heart skip a beat. "How did you call me?" She asked seriously.
Satsuki was surprised by this, slowly standing up taking some distance from her face. "Matoi Ryuko…" She whispered loud enough. Ryuko's heart skipped another beat. Now she knew what she was feeling.
"Tell it again…" Ryuko whispered teasing her sister.
Satsuki smiled leaning in once again. "Will I get my answer?" She teased back.
"Tell it again…" Ryuko replied with a soft smile.
Satsuki was once again mere inches from her face. They could feel each other's warm breath on their lips. She locked her eyes in Ryuko's ones. "Matoi Ryu…" She whispered, but she was stopped before she could finish the sentence.
Ryuko leaned forward, covering the very small distance between them and locking her lips with Satsuki's own. She deepened the kiss and, when Satsuki left her wrists, she pulled her closer, laying her head down and bringing down her sister too.
They stood there for a while. Then Ryuko slowly broke apart. "Since I realized I love you." She whispered with a smile. Satsuki chuckled a little. She smiled, moving Ryuko's red hair streak form her face with her left hand. She then kissed the tip of her nose gently and placed her forehead on Ryuko's one. Closing her eyes, she slowly sighed.
"What's wrong sis?" Ryuko asked worried.
"Nothing." Satsuki answered with a smile. "I'm just happy… That's all…" She then opened her eyes again. "Are you going to cook breakfast again?" She asked playfully. "Or maybe this time you will let me help?"
"Mmmh." Ryuko thought with a small smile. "If you want to help, you have to pay a small toll." She said.
"You will never grow tired about it, won't you?" Satsuki smiled, kissing her again on her lips.
"Never." Ryuko answered when they broke apart. When Satsuki stood up again, stretching he arms and back backwards but always standing sit on Ryuko's waist, Ryuko sat down and embraced her. "Sis.." she called out.
Satsuki smiled, wrapping her arms around her. "Ryuko, what's wrong?" She asked. However, Ryuko pulled her down on her left side, strongly enough to catch her by surprise but not enough to hurt her. Satsuki found herself laying on the bed with Ryuko on top in the same position she was before. Looking at her sister, she saw that Ryuko was smiling like a child. No words were needed. She already understood what Ryuko was thinking. Well, actually challenging her at.
"This is a bit unfair." Satsuki said with a chuckle.
"No one said it was going to be fair!" Ryuko replied with a smile. She then let her sister go and stood up, dashing towards the kitchen. Satsuki immediately stood up too, trying to catch up with her. Eventually, she reached her, but Ryuko was already inside the room.
"Took you long enough!" She teased laughing even if she knew that she arrived mere seconds before because she grounded her sister on the bed. "I will decide breakfast then!" She said with a grin.
"Ryuko, we can't eat eggs and bacon every morning." Satsuki replied. "This time we will go for something different." She then approached the fridge, ignoring her sister, who was playfully complaining. "Today, we will have wafers with some butter and maple syrup. Do you like them?" She asked without getting an answer. She then turned to face Ryuko and she saw that her little sister was a little… Embarrassed? Was she really blushing due to embarrassment?
"Ryuko?" She called out.
"I… I actually… Never ate them." She said lowering her face.
Satsuki's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" She asked.
"Well… My childhood was… troublesome…" She answered in a whisper, remembering all the hard times she faced, from sleeping in the dorm of the various schools to her loneliness when her father died, her burned house and how she was forced to sleep near the garbage bins in the hidden alleys. "I felt lucky whenever I founded something to eat… Sometimes I had to steal some food or some money and…" She then was stopped half-track by her sister, who embraced her tightly.
"I'm sorry Ryuko…" She whispered. "I'm so sorry…"
Ryuko then embraced her sister back. "You don't need to feel like this. I'm fine now." She said with a smile.
Satsuki broke apart and smiled. She then begun preparing breakfast, but when Ryuko approached her to help, she stopped her. "Sit down." She said.
"But…"
"Ryuko, sit down." She replied smiling interrupting her. "Trust me, I will surprise you." Ryuko then nodded a little and sat at the table, impatiently waiting for this special breakfast. Maybe she didn't have these wafers in her past, or maybe she felt alone… But now she had a home… She had friends… She had a sister… She had a lover… And she didn't want anything else…
With the exception of another drunk night with Satsuki.
Her train of thoughts was cut off by a plate placed in front of her. There was a pile of three wafers with some butter slowly melting on top of them. Maybe there was some even between them, but she didn't care. Satsuki was slowly approaching her with the syrup and Ryuko was already drooling.
"Here we…" Satsuki started after applying the syrup, but she couldn't even finish the sentence that Ryuko already launched herself on the food. In a matter of seconds, she ate everything in her plate. Satsuki blinked a few times, trying to wrap her mind around what happened in front of her. Then, she laughed loudly, while Ryuko blushed a little.
"Wh… What's so funny?" She blurted out.
"Were you hungry sis?" Satsuki asked wiping away the tears and slowly calming down. "Or did your sister cooked well?"
"Both!" Ryuko answered tilting her head. She then saw that Satsuki was still chuckling a little. "What now?"
"Here, let me help you…" She then reached for a small handkerchief. Ryuko understood what she meant and leaned a little forward so her sister could wipe away whatever she had on her chin. Satsuki slowly moved her hand towards Ryuko's face, but she stopped half way. Before Ryuko could ask what she was thinking, since she saw Satsuki's malicious smile, Satsuki leaned forward and licked the syrup away from both Ryuko's chin and lips.
Ryuko blushed like never before, but she manage to keep an hold on herself. When Satsuki was about to lean back, Ryuko reached the back of her sister's head with her right hand and pulled her in another kiss. She didn't let her go until both of them needed to catch back their breath.
"I seriously can get used to this." Ryuko said softly.
"Me too." Satsuki simply replied.
Once they ate their breakfast, they cleaned up the table and the dishes. Then, since Satsuki felt good enough, they went to meet the elite four. While they explained to Satsuki what happened, Ryuko stood on her own thinking about what Yosuke said. Inumuta saw this and slowly approached her.
"Ryuko… Are you alright?" He asked.
"What?" She asked back since she wasn't listening.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you… Just a bit tired."
Inumuta placed his left hand on Ryuko's right shoulder. "If you say so… Take care, we will need you in good shape soon." He then joined back the others.
After that meeting, Ryuko and Satsuki spent the rest of the day alone. They went in the park, taking a small walk around, enjoying the day and the breeze. They went to meet with Mako, who invited them for dinner, but the sisters politely refused. Mako then nodded and waved goodbye at them, since she was waiting for Gamagoori for another date with him.
When the sun begun to set, they decided to come back home. They consumed a fast dinner, since both were too tired to cook something and went to their room. Here, Satsuki sat on the bed near the pillows, laying her back on them, enjoying some tea and reading a book, while Ryuko took a film and layed down on her belly on the bed. She kept switching position as the film went on, trying to be as comfortable as possible. Eventually, she ended laying near her sister, her back on the pillows, but a little lower, so she could lay her head on Satsuki's side.
On the other hand, Satsuki raised her right arm, letting her sister be comfortable, and layed it on her. Sometimes, she gently scratched Ryuko's head, sometimes she let it wrapped around her, but she never took her eyes off from her book.
When the film finished, Ryuko felt that Satsuki's arm was a little heavier and that her sister was breathing slowly. She slowly raised her face, looking at her, and she saw that Satsuki was already asleep. Smiling a little, she carefully freed herself and pulled her sister down, gently laying her on the bed. She then covered her with the blankets and sighed.
It was time.