x.x.x

She would've preferred if the dual-rotor chopper turned around and took her back. Her seat was comfortable. She had plenty of privacy in her half of it. A fully charged tablet was a window to progress. Private contractors left the central building alone, the academy's loftiest, and home to her office. It was the only one not touched by recent woes.

"Iori. Are the Special Goku Uniforms ready?" Satsuki asked needing a nap.

The Sewing Club president's image enlarged at her stroke.

*Yes, Milady. Development and production of the Anti-Osaka, Anti-Kyoto, and Anti-Kobe Combat-Spec Uniforms are complete. They are being distributed to the Raid Trip Brigades.*

"And the Elite Four?"

*New Three Star Goku Uniforms are also in production. However, owing to the fact that final adjustments will take some time, they will have to set out with the same uniforms as other students.*

She enjoyed the view of a megalopolis on par with hers...for a while. Revocs getting closer spurred her tensing up as it always had. No matter how storied her mother's company was, how attractive, she knew the darkness plaguing the jewel. Forgetting that she had Iori on hold she snapped out of it.

"I will return shortly," she said to end their discussion. One swipe faded her screen to black. She casually swung her thigh over the other. Wanting to contact someone else she had no number and no reason to. It was a shame, as she could use his foolery to calm her nerves.

Her mattress had no frame and sat directly on a clean, tatami mat. Cash was no object but she didn't want to spend any on beachwood or bamboo flooring. Her pajamas smelled of cinnamon lotion, they were worn, and changing from them was no option. She would have to get up to do that. Hanging on a closet's handle and a constant reminder was Senketsu saying all of two words.

{...Are you afraid of me, Ryuko?}

Ryuko pulled a blanket to her chin and glanced for nothing. The day was bright and she watched it find its way in through broken blinds. Her mattress decorated the shack's warm spot. She sat up bringing the sheets with her.

"...No. It's me I'm afraid of," she replied as she searched her knees. "What Son meant to say was you were crying while it happened. He could feel it."

She picked a piece of lint from her lip, flicking it.

"All of that power pulled out of you and for what? Just my acting on impulse instead of keeping cool." She casually glanced for the front door. It didn't open. "I could sense something too. How bitter your tears were. In spite of it I still couldn't control myself. Maybe Mako should've let Son blow me away."

{He would never...}

"But maybe he should've," she cut in. "How could I put you two through that? After everything that's happened."

{...Do not reject me, Ryuko.}

Ryuko's troubled gaze rose to her scarf's.

{I want to be worn by you. I was likely born for the express purpose of being worn by you.}

"So you remember something about why dad made you?"

{No. We will call it a belief.}

The fan on its lowest setting she didn't remember turning it on. She blamed being in bed for a week. Fighting stiffness and guilt kept her put.

{He feels as you do.}

"What do you mean?"

{I recognize that Dr. Matoi's intentions were twofold. Son can feel me, as I can him. I do not have to draw his blood to understand his sentiments.}

Ryuko's too small top matched the flannel of her bottoms. A cool flow of air worked its way through her cleavage to her belly button.

"Maybe I'll talk to him," she sighed softly and she wanted to change the subject.

{It would be best.}

She was slow to lay down, thankful that Son's time away lasted. They did need to talk. What to suggest when he returned freed her of misery.

Mako's bike wiggled to a stop. That fish market wasn't a market but a select few peddlers waved the day's catch at the harbor's boardwalk. Her eyes wandered the colors, and her nose, washed off scales and lemon with salty sea air. Pronouncing the name of whatever she poked at could wait as a young man burst from the water. She spun to his near-nudity as he wore drenched briefs and nothing else.

"Mako!" Son exclaimed.

"You've got underwear on?!" Mako said looking from his crotch to a net filled with floppy specimens.

How he could carry so many escaped her.

"Yep! Ryuko said I have to so the cops won't arrest me for, uhh, what's it called? Skinny dipping? Then there's something else about exposure indecent? I forget," he said as he dropped what he pulled. Taking his time he went from stand to stand giving what he could to those wanting to pay him. He got away with taking whatever he thought looked tasty. "That looks like a good one!"

"It's eyes are big as my head!" Mako gasped as she was all for what he chose.

"Whaddya doing here?" he asked.

She scooped her bike by the handles and jogged to catch up.

"Checking to see if Ryuko's done being mopey dopey. The Tri-City Schools Raid Trip is this week but us short bus students can't go." She paid no mind to passersby. "I wanna go, but I can't! I hate fighting, but it's free! Life's so unfair! Here."

Handing him a soggy grocery bag it put a bounce in his step.

"Croquettes!" he smiled holding it to his nose. He clutched it with his net and said, "This should cheer her up."

"Tell her I'm coming by later! With chocolates and dandelions! I'll leave it by the door if you guys are gone!" Mako waved scampering off.

Son grinned and saw to it as he was stopped by a wet barrier. Water drops fell from ducts lining the shack roof. He assumed it was open, turning the knob, and he stepped on old newspaper like she knew he'd come back soaked.

"Ryuko?" he said as he closed the door behind him. "Oh...she's in the shower."

Steam leaving the bathroom door slits it was proof that she finally got out of bed. Glancing at Senketsu missing from his hangar...he smiled like it was a needed miracle.

An auditorium enclosed a runway for all intents and purposes. The audience were her lackeys on the clock. An onyx suited legion. She had the entire planet as a stable hologram at her back, Rei holding a kanji-marked datapad to her right, and her hair's glow trying to burn past the shades everyone had on.

"I put this question to you, gentlemen!" she said proudly and they listened. "What is clothing?!"

"Clothing is sin! Man's original sin!"

Her four-inch heel tapped porcelain.

"Indeed. Clothing is sin," she agreed. "From the time humanity first gained free will as human beings, it has been his fate to cover his body in the clothing called sin. Clothing made by Revocs is sold in ninety percent of the world's countries and controls an overwhelming share of the market. Why is that?"

The crowd froze as drones awaiting their queen's sway.

"Because we alone know man's sin and create clothing for clothing's sake!" she answered for them. "I put the question to you again! What is clothing?!"

Ragyo and her lot received a second heel fall. A second light source forced its way through hers.

"Clothing is the world!" a fresher voice rang. "The grand will that binds the heavens, the earth, and mankind, covering all."

She sneered to welcome her daughter. Two platforms separated whomever had more tenacity.

"Right you are," Ragyo said. "This is exactly the intent of COVERS."

What could she say of her mother working long fingers along her uniform? Ragyo touched where she pleased. The daunting of her office did nothing to make it less unpleasant.

"How does Junketsu feel on you?" she groped. Working a hand around Satsuki's breast she probably knew. "A rather powerful article of clothing, isn't it? You wear it well."

"Thank you, mother," Satsuki mumbled as she shut it out. Thinking of another did what a lot couldn't.

"Rei," Ragyo called.

"Yes, ma'am."

Rei watched from the shadows. Tapping her pad forced free a widened projection. It was footage of the one Satsuki used as her "escape" and his battle with the impossible.

"Is this what brings you here today?" Ragyo sleazed. She approached the display finally giving her daughter some space. "Kamui Senketsu, eh? La vie est drôle."

"I have already filed a report regarding that incident. You said that it would be left to my discretion."

Satsuki put on proud. She had to, for dignity's sake.

"Of course." Ragyo found her desk chair. "Matters should be settled youth against youth. Kamui against Kamui. I think it's a fine thing."

Satsuki didn't let anything expensive distract her; not the modified crystal and not the sunshine pouring through it.

"Why, then, was the High Order Tailor sent to Honnōji Academy?"

Ragyo eyed her like she spewed a viler insult. Satsuki chose against batting hers.

"High Order Tailor?" Ragyo's brow furrowed. "Oh, you mean Nui? I had no choice. Not even a CEO can rein in the whims of an artiste."

"I see," Satsuki doubted. "However, if someone should interfere with my plan, I will deal with them via my own terms."

"...Do as you wish," her mother conceded with a winning smile. "As long as you continue to act as a child of COVERS, the world will remain your ally."

Satsuki had a moment to follow the projection. Statistics reaffirmed that her mother's guile did influence the world over.

"I may or may not set out on the Tri-City Schools Raid Trip," she mentioned.

"May or may not? Your report indicated you would. How many days will it take?"

"One day will be sufficient," Satsuki was certain.

"Magnificent." Ragyo leaned into costly leather. "With this, Honnōji Academy's rule over all the academies in the country will be absolute."

She and Rei's scrutiny pressed the want to leave. Instinct, not anyone's say so, moved Satsuki's feet.

"Satsuki," Ragyo called before she could. "Force the Nudist apes out of hiding. Best the girl with the Kamui. But Son Goku is to be left unspoiled. We have learned a rather, juicy, tidbit about his role in what is to come."

"...As you wish."

Satsuki didn't let the door hit her on the way out. Waiting among a warmer hallway was her manservant. As it was written all over her scowl Soroi never bothered to ask.

x.x.x

Fingers plunged into a grayed bluff jacket, a smattering of snow in the air she rarely witnessed him wearing casual clothes yet both needed the layers. She caught his watching the scarf tied around her neck, the only part of Senketsu she thought to bring. He didn't mind her short tresses and their fall from a skullcap.

"So this is Greenland?" Ryuko surveyed. "It kinda sucks."

"You said fly you somewhere new." Son could only see ice and more ice. "Sheesh! It's freezing!"

She smirked, keeping close but not going so far as to grab him.

"I needed to leave Honnō City. Hell, Japan even," she said and she meant it.

Viewing the fleece on her coat and jeans Son's pleasure was the downtime. Ryuko abandoned angst and much of her change in attitude had to do with the "dope" at her side. She thought his air a cynic's remedy.

"I can't say sorry enough," she said giving him the eye.

"You don't have to. We're alright," he assured her. "Fighting that Nui chick made me realize something. I gotta be prepared next time."

"Back on the training kick, eh?"

"What other choice do we have?"

They wandered on the hike hoping to find a vista worth capturing. Son watched a slate-tinged sky and it watched him back.

"You're thinking I plan to hunt the broad down?" Ryuko said, inattentive as she kicked slush from her shoe.

"We should. Fighting her was a blast!" he exclaimed.

"Then what?" she glanced.

"We beat her and...who knows," he said and he had no clue.

She didn't get what to make of him. She wanted to.

"There is an endgame. I wish I knew what it was," she started. "Knowing what happened to dad and who's responsible makes me...I mean, I should be pissed but I'm not. Sure I'd like to tear her a new one but there's a sort of peace in knowing the truth. Maybe I've officially lost it."

They discovered a lake and the thick sheet hiding what may have thrived beneath it.

"I'm glad you're better," Son said.

"You say that now," Ryuko smirked and she had to check how he reacted. "What if I flip again?"

"Mako'll bring you back," he said like it was fact. "Or I will."

His gaze abandoned nature to see her staring off. He then gained her attention.

"I'll always be around," he said simply.

A moment of vulnerable softened her tough.

"Yeah," she said ready to tease him. "And always a headache."

He smiled at the thought and took a gander at where they were.

"Man it's alotta snow out here," he said.

"Sure is," she seconded.

They wore gloves but Son didn't flinch at her taking his hand. He gripped it, glad at her being so close and relaxed. Ryuko watched his mouth then his wide open gape.

"Thanks, Son," she said as she humbled herself. "For still being you."

"...Anytime."

His mouth ends rose comically enough to lift hers. Hand in hand, their short journey had plenty to do with positive banter. It went as far as they would.

Night was the perfect antidote. She felt as she should: on top again. Far beneath her raised-up chin were students allowed to go filling the militia trucks that would take them to their assignments.

"Three years of study here at Honnōji Academy!" Her arms were out and her hands topped the highest end of her weapon. "This battle is the first step towards realizing our ambitions!"

Nature's breath kept hair out of her face though some strands of it grazed her jawline. Coolness touched wherever a depowered Junketsu and thigh-high boots didn't.

"I have but one word to bestow upon you: win!" she commanded at the top of her lungs. "Honnōji Academy Tri-City Schools Raid Trip...roll out!"

Engines revved at a specific position and swerved off at the same rate. Order was key. The grounds, under heavy renovation, were as busied as the top of her main building. Uniformed pawns bowed and parted to let her reach its helipad.

"We're going, Soroi."

Satsuki's strut was to get on with it.

"Yes, Milady."

Soroi could see something else. Apprehension. Though ambition was there he doubted she wanted to end her night in the throes of conflict. Twice in the same day, he never bothered to ask.

Their "road trip" wasn't so life-threatening. Behind closed doors Ryuko shed what she wore to Greenland spinning to see Son with his back turned so she could change. Less inclined to feel shame he stripped free of a thick cloth. His well-muscled torso under their one bulb, light accentuated each line. Ryuko took full advantage of ogling as it flexed with his arms. She bet those arms could crush a car between them. Stepping from her jeans, her cheeks beet red, she shook her head and glanced for her fingers.

"We should make some hot cocoa or whatever," she quickly thought up.

"I didn't think we had any left."

Son finally slipped his favorite set on, giving her a break. Shaking on the floor was their space heater, the loudest thing in the shack, but not because it needed fixing. He stopped by their rusted stove and the bottled waters stacked next to it, some for boiling or drinking as the only sink was in the bathroom. He focused like his place wasn't in a kitchen, and it wasn't. Filling a pot he was careful not to break the new knob she recently purchased. Adjusted to a suitable heat a burner sparked and seeing him able to handle such things brought her a bout with amusement. She buttoned her pajama shirt, always leaving two free at the top. Her bra not a push-up left her chest appearing as naturally perky as it was.

"Mako really left you chocolates and dandelions!" Son exclaimed stuffing a few into his face. "Mmmm. Pretty good!"

"Are you even gonna drink this crap?" Ryuko smirked.

"Nah." As he was one to, he crossed his legs when he sat on the floor, sifting through a basket to find another treat. "These almond ones are great!"

"Tch."

Ryuko took her cup with her to the bathroom. A knock on the door stopped her strut to it, Son's eating junk, and stirred Senketsu from his slumber.

"I got it," Son said, on his feet.

When he opened the door the figure cloaked in shadow made no sudden moves. It simply offered an option. An envelope damp at its four edges in his hand when Son looked up the one that brought it ceased to be.

"Who was it?" Ryuko asked on the move.

Son closed their door, scrunching his face and shrugging as he held it out.

"It's for you I think," he said and he waited.

Feeling her woolly pajamas on his skin he let her press her lean against him as they both wondered.

"...It's saying we both need to be present at this address by tomorrow night," she read. "...Why Ōsaka though?"

"Say. That looks just like Mister Mikisugi's handwriting," he noticed.

As Ryuko glanced from his lips back to letters telling her nothing she chose to acknowledge it. The dead silence outdoors, and suddenly in, was no good omen. As they were together it only left them intrigued and not anxious.