AN: You might cry - I did. Have fun reading.
A few hours later...
Sirens are audible. Firefighters have arrived in an attempt to combat the fire in the complex, but they make barely any progress. Ruins are everywhere. Everything is burning. Parts of the lower city have been revealed, water pipes are broken and power circuits destroyed. Craters are everywhere. The streets are destroyed, and the once great Neo-REVOCS HQ is no more.
Ichiro rises up from the ashes. His body is burned, half his clothes are destroyed. When he stands up and looks around, dead Couturiers, Samurai, Ashigaru and Nudist Beach soldiers lie around. The psychopath wanders around while examining the battlefield. His wounds regenerate quickly, his shirt is regenerating as well. Smoke dominates the battlefield hence why it's making the vision here difficult. People are moaning in pain.
Suddenly, he can hear debris falling down behind him. A burned Couturier approaches him. His Life Fiber form is revealed, and he is burning.
"... Director..." the Couturier mumbles. Ichiro looks down to him. He falls down.
"How... could this happen?"
Ichiro looks around.
"This must have been the High Entity. One, or several of them must have betrayed us. They gave Matoi her arms and legs." the Director admits angered.
"Why... would our excellence do that?"
"... they might be afraid of our power. Or they betray us in the belief we will fail. How should I know it?" he asks his henchman. The Couturier does not answer, his empty eyes stare around.
"Look for more of us. Leave no human alive. We shall collect ourselves and move to Nagoya."
"And our plan?"
"... oh, we'll give the Entity Matoi and Kiryuin... but the rest... we'll take up on it."
"As you wish." the Couturier answers and examines the area. Ichiro's bow on his head is burned away. He shrugs and moves on the field of his seemingly own failure, when in truth it was caused by Hinata, Masaru, Ryuko and Nudist Beach.
Minutes pass in which the Director walks around. Here and there, he can find a single Couturier, only Masaru seems to have disappeared. He finally arrives at the entrance of the Neo-REVOCS HQ.
But even here, nothing is left. Everything is gone. Ichiro is unsure whether he should laugh or anger. The reception has been destroyed. Only dead people are here.
"Why would the High Entity allow such heresy?" he wonders quiet.
...
Hinata is in the dark halls of the Life Fibers. Via Memory Fibers, he was observing the destruction. Looking around, new black Life Fibers fall from the sky.
All of them are dead.
"This is not Matoi's fault. She is adapting. She's learning." he thinks. Slowly wandering through the halls, a quiet melody is audible. It sounds like the Life Fibers are mourning over their dead comrades. At least those who follow Hinata mourn - and those are the Life Fibers who seem to seek for an answer to the question of what empathy means. Millions of Life Fibers might sound like a lot, but in truth, these numbers are surprisingly small, if they would form into semi human beings, like the Life Fiber Beings the Couturiers are. It might be about a few hundred
However, as Hinata welcomes those who have left the world of the living, he is called by the High Entity and dissolves. His mind goes back into the throne room, where the High Entity stands at the descent to the Life Fibers, which are longing for food. The Entity observes the space. Far in the distance, the earth is visible. As long as the High Entity obtains the control, Hinata cannot move or think on his own, unless the Entity allows him to by creating copies. One of them could be Hinata then.
A door opens behind the Entity. It's Ichiro. He calmly watches the Entity.
"You came back..."
"Matoi escaped from the dark halls and destroyed Neo-REVOCS." Ichiro says directly. This comment causes silence inside the Entity. It slowly walks back onto the throne. Ichiro watches it closely.
"How could this happen?" it asks.
"Yeah... how could this happen...?" Ichiro asks sarcastic and takes a few steps forward, yet he stays away from the steps. He points at the High Entity with a finger.
"One of you gave Matoi her limbs back. None of my Couturiers are able to regenerate Life Fibers that have been severed. Only Entities can do that. So... who was that?" Ichiro asks angry. The Entity seems unimpressed.
"You speak to us, as if we would be your enemy?"
"I want to know who is responsible for this mess! A large part of my units have been destroyed, without Neo-REVOCS, I can barely coordinate movements! ... only Nagoya is left."
"And yet... it was not Us that caused your failure." the Entity answers. Ichiro stays cautious.
"It was one of you. Question is, who..."
The Entity ignores Ichiro and looks away from him. Copies of the Entity appear and look down to him. One of them is Hinata. Ichiro approaches them and walks pass them slowly.
"I wonder who could have done such a thing..." he mumbles towards the six Entities next to him. All Entities are unable to express any emotions - there is no real way of determining who it was.
"Was it you, Hinata?" Ichiro asks. Hinata watches Ichiro.
"Or you, *incomprehensible*?"
None of the Entities answer. They ignore his reactions, but he's making absolutely clear he does not trust them.
"One of you did this... and I'll find out who."
"We will soon arrive on the planet." the Entity answers. Ichiro ignores said answer and dissolves.
"We should observe him. He seems unstable..." one of the Entities say.
"Dangerous." another one says.
"He does not trust us." Hinata mentions. The High Entity stands up.
"If he disobeys, he shall repent. Just like humanity will. Their existence is a sin..."
...
As Ichiro arrives with his mind back into the Neo-REVOCS headquarter, he moves outside. A few groups of Couturiers have arrived. Most of them are revealed as Life Fiber Beings.
"Director, we've found someone that might need your attention." a Couturier mentions and throws a human to Ichiro.
It's Masaru. He's slightly wounded, his clothes are burned. Ichiro looks down to him. As Masaru looks up, he seems apathic, yet he is not scared.
Ichiro chuckles and shakes his head.
"... without my... Ashigaru... you can't fulfill your plans anymore." Masaru taunts Ichiro. Ichiro looks at the Couturiers.
"Process him." he orders. Masaru chuckles evil and coughs blood. Followed up by that, three Couturiers approach Masaru and sew Life Fibers onto his bare back.
"Nudist Beach knows everything about us. The factories... our plans... where we stored our Life Fibers... it's just a matter of time until you lose."
"Oh... I'm sure I lose everything." Ichiro smiles and forms his arm into a Life Fiber one - it's frighteningly deformed.
"But even if I would have nothing left, I'd still win." he continues. The Couturiers take a few steps back and then start raising their arms up. After short time, Masaru's body starts glowing in red. Red Life Fibers appear under his skin, and it seems like they are trying to burst out. Blood suddenly bursts out of his neck.
"And for humans, it would still be enough." Ichiro finishes and holds his hand onto Masaru's mouth. The man tries to scream, but only blood leaves his mouth, and this blood is collected by Ichiro. The body shines up even more red, hair falls off, cloths break apart, the skin dissolves, Life Fibers burst out, and eventually, Ichiro rips his hand away from Masaru's mouth.
Masaru explodes into thousands of pieces, bloods scatters around everywhere, skin particles are left, and some flesh, but mostly, only blood is left, and new Life Fibers that are desperately trying to find a connection. The Couturiers suck on the blood that came onto her bodies.
"Worthless trash." he mumbles and turns around to the burning Neo-REVOCS headquarter. His Couturiers stand behind him.
"Soon, we won't be the ones obeying to the High Entity... why give away the Life Fibers, if we can keep them for ourselves?" Ichiro asks and looks at his Couturiers. They slowly kneel down in front of him.
He smiles sinister.
...
It's midnight. Ryuko runs through the already emptied halls of the Nudist Beach base. No one is awake anymore. Swiftly, she runs through the halls until she finally arrives at the dorms. Nui's door is still closed, and you cannot open it up as an ordinary human without tools. But Ryuko is not an ordinary human.
"Oh no..."
Ryuko tries to kick open the door. With her new Life Fiber legs, this is done rather well. Slowly but steady, the door breaks. Her kicks are getting stronger, and finally, the door is slammed open slightly.
(AN: Listen to "We Keep Going" from "This War of Mine" on YouTube.)
Ryuko can hear Nui whimpering behind the door. She opens it.
Nui sits there in a corner.
"Nui...?" Ryuko asks worried her little sister.
"DON'T HURT ME!" Nui yells scared. Carefully, Ryuko advances. Nui sits there, crying in the corner.
"I don't want to hurt you!"
"YES, YOU DO! YOU ALREADY DID IT! MY HEAD HURTS SO MUCH! YOU... YOU, YOU PLAY AROUND IN MY HEAD! YOU WANT TO GET RID OF ME JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! THIS IS UNFAIR! WHY IS EVERYONE SO MEAN TO ME!?"
"Listen to me please, Nui, I..."
"Listen!? Why should I listen to you?! So that you can cut me into two parts!? JUST LIKE YOU ALMOST DID BEFORE!? I WON'T LET YOU DO THAT!"
"Please..."
Ryuko comes closer and closer. Suddenly, Nui rips out her heart and holds it up. The heart is beating extremely fast.
"I WON'T LET YOU KILL ME! RATHER DO I KILL MYSELF! I SHOULD HAVE JUST STAYED DEAD!" she cries and tries to crush her heart with her hands, blood leaves it. Ryuko, scared by this, runs towards her little sister.
"DON'T DO THIS, NO!" she screams and jumps against Nui, holds her heart and keeps it tight in her hands, then she looks into her little sisters crying face.
She is completely destroyed.
Every single Fiber in her face says the same thing - that everything should end, after all this time.
"Please... please don't do this... okay?!" Ryuko asks and tries to catch breath. Nui doesn't answer, but her eyes are still tearing up in shock.
"Don't do this to me now!" her big sister says desperate.
"But you want to..."
"No, I don't, Nui! I don't want you to die! I don't want you to hurt yourself and I don't want anyone to hurt you anymore!" Ryuko answers and starts tearing up herself. Nui trembles.
"... after all... you are my little sister... aren't you?" Ryuko starts crying and hugs Nui. When Nui feels Ryuko's arms on her back, she breaks down and starts crying. Ryuko can't keep it up either. Both just hold each other tight, the door slowly closes, darkness conquers the room, but both stay in the corner, no one leaves the other.
"... I don't want to be clothing anymore..." she cries sad. Ryuko holds her tight. Every single tear is genuine, all of them consist of loneliness and sadness, gathered over all these years, and Ryuko feels that - it's why it's so impossible for her to keep her calm. Ryuko herself knows how it's like being alone.
"... you're not clothing..." she whispers into Nui's ear and pets her hair. Only now Ryuko really notices how cold Nui's body really is. There is barely any warmth. Senketsu griefs as well.
"... why is everyone mean to me, Ryuko...? I haven't done anything... I... I didn't do anything bad... no... no I did not..."
"Of course you didn't. They started it. They are... they are the meanies." Ryuko hugs Nui even more.
"I... killed dad, I... my... I..."
"I know... and it's okay. Dad... is not angry at you... I... saw him in the halls... I... I forgive you... I can't forgive you everything... but it's okay..." Ryuko answers and holds her face next to Nui's hair. Nui digs herself into Ryuko. The little sister can't stop crying, and neither can Ryuko. Both just sit there in the corner and cry together. The longer Ryuko holds her little sister, the more she understands what it means to protect someone, to have an instinct for protection - and now she also understands why Satsuki was behaving the way she did.
Ryuko is a big sister too now, and as such, she can and should protect her family and her little sister, just like Satsuki does with her. And seeing Nui so destroyed, so broken and lonely - even though Nui is not a good person, that is too much for her. In the end, Ryuko knows how Nui feels, and her heart says to give up the hate. Ryuko carefully pushes back Nui's heart into her body, and thus, the wound starts regenerating again, then Ryuko continues hugging Nui. The little sister breathes in and out scared. Ryuko can feel her anxiety, just like Senketsu.
"Everything will be okay again, Nui." Ryuko comforts her. Nui nods swiftly and short.
"... mhm... ok-okay... I... I just don't want to... to... t-to be al-lone... I..." and Nui starts crying even more.
"You're not alone. You're never going to be alone anymore... I know how you feel... and I am sorry..."
Ryuko leans to the wall next to them and continues to hold Nui. Nui keeps her head close to Ryuko's shoulders. Senketsu looks at her and tries to warm Nui up, and it works. Slowly but steady, the cold body warms up again.
"Some... sometimes I am dreaming... of how... how I die and I... I'm so scared... I don't want to go back... not now... not like this, I... I don't, I..."
"Shh... I know... I saw what happened. Everything will be okay again... trust me."
"... o...okay..." Nui answers. Ryuko pets her hair and the back. After two minutes, it seems like Nui has calmed down. She looks to the ground. A burned clone of her lies there. Her head still lies on Ryuko's shoulder. Ryuko observes the darkness. There is a little light coming from the door - just like the absolute emptiness. The light always seems to mark the exit. The emptiness... the darkness... this is Nui's biggest nightmare. Ryuko looks back at Nui, who's laying calm on Ryuko.
"Do you... want to go into my room?"
"... mhm..."
"Alright. Then come. Don't worry. They all are away. No one will hurt you." Ryuko comforts Nui. Both stand up, even though they still have a few tears to share. Ryuko holds Nui carefully and close to her. The little sister doesn't even look forward, she just holds her face towards Ryuko's shoulder. Carefully, Ryuko grabs the scissor blades and shrinks them, then she puts them into Senketsu's pocket and opens the door. With Nui, she walks through the dorms. When she opens the door to her room, she brings Nui to her bed and then gives her a blanket with which she covers her. Finally, Ryuko looks around. Everything is the same. The TV is still here too.
Nui looks to the ground.
"... Ryuko...?"
"Yes?"
"... I don't want Satsuki to hate me."
"She doesn't hate you. I promise. She... just needs time. But everything will be okay. It always will be okay sooner or later." Ryuko kneels down to Nui and holds her face up. If someone would see Nui like this and say that this is the psychopathic Grand Couturier of REVOCS - no one would believe it. She rather looks like a little, lonely child.
And she is a child - mentally left alone in a childhood she never had.
"You can stay here with me. I still have a mattress left under my bed, I'll grab it out later, then you can sleep here."
Nui slowly nods sad. Ryuko looks into her face... and then she gets an idea.
"I got something nice for you. Just stay here."
"No, please don't go away."
"I'll be back in a few minutes. Senketsu stays here with you, right, Senketsu?" Ryuko asks her friend.
"Of course."
Ryuko takes off Senketsu. She still wears a red shirt. Senketsu is dropped next to Nui, then, Ryuko leaves the room and locks it. Senketsu looks at Nui and climbs onto her lap. He hugs Nui with his sleeves. Nui carefully hugs back.
"I... think I understand... why you like Ryuko..." Nui mumbles sad.
"We are friends." Senketsu answers.
"... c-can... you be my friend too?" Nui asks careful - as if she is afraid Senketsu would hurt her if he says no. It's well noticable in Nui's eyes how scared she is. She always only takes a very brief look at Senketsu and then looks away, and her grip is very uncalm and weak. Senketsu hugs her tighter.
"We are friends already."
"... thank you..." Nui answers. Senketsu looks up to Nui.
"I know, a little bit of clothing is nothing compared to a human body, but I... well... I'm trying my best." Senketsu says jokingly to cheer up Nui.
"It's... okay..."
"I sometimes wish I would have a body too." Senketsu answers. Nui nods slowly and hugs him.
"I... think... me too..." she answers and leans her head to the wall. She looks around while digging herself into the blanket even more. Senketsu sits down next to Nui. She looks to him briefly.
"... you... died too... right?"
"Yes."
"... I... how... was that for you?" she asks carefully and looks back at the room. Senketsu thinks a brief moment.
"I... well... at one point, it was like... the lights would go off. I burned away."
"Did... it hurt?"
"Yes. I can't express how much. But I only wanted to protect Ryuko. I wasn't thinking of anything else anymore. So I tried to ignore it."
"... me too. And... where did you go to?"
"Into the halls. But there wasn't much left. A few memories, but not much. And you were sent into the emptiness. I... heard how someone was sent there. For the first time... after thousands of years."
"... yes. It was the High Entity. I... never did anything wrong. I couldn't know what would happen to... my... my... Shinra Koketsu, I... don't even know how it failed."
"I sucked Shinra Koketsu's powers into me. Briefly after, Ryuko asked her mother to give up. Instead, she committed suicide. She crushed her heart."
"... mama..." Nui mumbles sad.
"I miss her... she... she was mean... and a liar, and she... she did evil things... but she was nice... she gave me... I..." Nui stutters. Does Nui really know what Ragyo did to her? The illusion of Ragyo being a caring mother for her is still there, even though Nui knows Ragyo did evil things to her. Senketsu himself can really see now how Ragyo destroyed Nui. The same thing could have happened to Ryuko and Satsuki too. At least Nui knows now that Ragyo didn't have only good sides.
"It's... nice... not being alone..." Nui mumbles careful to Senketsu.
"I believe you."
After two minutes, the door opens, and Ryuko's shoe is visible.
"Oh man, dude, I'll tell you, carrying five things at the same time is really difficult, even with these plates." Ryuko chuckles and opens the door. Nui carefully looks up. Ryuko holds two plates with tasty snacks and cold sweets! She puts the plates onto her table and moves it next to the bed then. Nui and Senketsu look up.
"I've asked Mikisugi if we'd have any tasty stuff around here so he pulled out some of his personal storage in the fridge!" Ryuko chuckles. Nui smiles very carefully. Ryuko throws a yellow Pyjama to Nui, Ryuko grabs a red one. Then she walks into the bathroom and changes her clothes, and when she comes back, Nui wears a yellow Pyjama as well.
"This might cheer you up." Ryuko smiles. Nui doesn't answer, she's uncertain of what to say. Ryuko turns on the TV and jumps onto the bed, then she leans to the wall. Nui doesn't know what to do. How could she, she doesn't have any social experience.
"I'd eat the ice cream first if I were you. Vanilla and strawberry, just for you!"
"... thanks." Nui answer and carefully grabs her ice cream bowl. Ryuko starts eating the ice cream while Nui just sits there and watches Ryuko. But briefly after, since no one watches them, Nui carefully grabs the spoon and tries it herself, and soon, she can't stop until the little bowl is empty and a few minutes have passed. Ryuko drinks hot chocolate after that. Nui does the same, she even has a little chocolate moustache on her mouth. Her big sister starts chuckling. Nui blushes and removes the moustache again, then she puts down the tasty chocolate and lays her head onto Ryuko's shoulder again.
The big sister holds her arm onto Nui and holds her careful. Slowly but steady, Nui calms down again. Senketsu looks up to Ryuko and holds his sleeve against the pocket, where the vial with the cure for the Life Fiber Sickness is... and something else. Ryuko nods and puts her hand into Senketsu's pocket.
"Oh yeah, Nui?" Ryuko asks. Nui looks up to Ryuko.
"... yes?"
Ryuko pulls out Nui's old, yellow bow. It's a little dusty.
"Look what I found. A lil somethin." Ryuko smiles, removes the dust and carefully puts the bow onto Nui's head.
"... yellow fits much better to you than pink anyway." Ryuko smiles and hugs Nui again.
"... th-thank you... I... haven't weared that bow... since..."
"... since you got that dress from Ragyo."
"Yes..." Nui answers and lays her head down onto Ryuko's shoulder again.
Both continue to watch TV. Every once in a while, they drink from the chocolate, or snack some of the popcorn Ryuko brought. The clock says 1 AM, but they just continue to watch anyway. Ryuko doesn't want to leave Nui alone, she needs this right now. The TV goes on, Senketsu sits next to Nui instead of Ryuko for once. The young woman thinks about what happened the last days once more.
How everything started.
All the memories she lived through teached her one lesson: the act of revenge sometimes can lead to even darker paths and conclusions.
Of course, Ragyo had to be stopped, no doubt about that, but Satsuki's desire for revenge blinded her so much that she started considering her friends as tools and her students as cannon fodder, as resources.
Father Soichiro seeked revenge for Ryuko's apparent death, and how Ragyo lost all of her humanity to the Life Fibers. For this, he founded an organization to defeat REVOCS - but in exchange for that he had to succumb to the power of the Life Fibers as well, and the tolls they were expecting. To defeat REVOCS, he had to sacrifice his daughter into loneliness and throw away the lives of many people, just to develop one Kamui that could stop Ragyo.
Ragyo once might have been a good person with a warm and kind soul, but her mother terrorized her. With her father disappearing and her mother constantly wishing death on her, Ragyo wanted immortality - all in the attempt to hinder her mother from this wish she had. And this corrupted her and made her the sick monster she was.
And the little sister Nui desperately tried everything to be part of a family she, at least from everyone else's stand point, should have never been. By torturing Nui into developing a hate for humans and Ragyo nurturing that hate, Nui believed Ragyo knew how the world works, and she believed Ragyo would care for her - and with that, she believed she could be her daughter, if she tried hard enough. It's why Nui did everything to make sure Ragyo is satisfied, until she even stopped thinking and only performed.
(AN: Listen to "Boarding the Train / The Ride Home" from "The Polar Express" - specifically, you should listen to the part at 7:19 on YouTube. You might cry. I did. Here's a hug in advance. *hug*)
The entire Kiryuin family is a tragedy. But this tragedy might end soon. Maybe, maybe everything will be okay again. It once was okay. It can be okay again.
Ryuko yawns. It's 2 AM.
"Oh man... we really should hit the hay now, Nui. Imma prepare a mattr... Nui?" Ryuko asks. Nui has nodded off. She's sleeping on her arms. Ryuko tries to move, Nui's head carefully falls onto Ryuko's lap. She sleeps tight. Ryuko pets Nui's hair once more and chuckles briefly.
"Good night, little troublemaker." Ryuko smiles and turns off the lights. The mattress doesn't matter. It might be better if Ryuko just protects Nui this one night. She lays down into her bed and carefully drags Nui to her, and then, she closes her eyes and starts sleeping. Senketsu lays down to them as well...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Nui is crying. Ryuko wakes up. The little sister is scared to death and trembles.
"... I don't want to die..." she cries. Ryuko comforts her and holds her tight.
"... everything will be okay, Nui."
"... it's still raining... it never stops raining..."
Ryuko comforts Nui.
"... I'm so scared..."
"... I know. Me too."
"... r-really...?"
"Yes. You are not alone anymore. If there is someone who tries to hurt you, Satsuki and me are on your side."
Nui nods crying. Ryuko cuddles her.
"... you... y-you know... I-I..."
"... yes?"
"... I... it... feels like home... being here..." she mumbles sad. Ryuko smiles. She looks at Nui the way Satsuki once looked at her when Shinra Koketsu was destroyed. Both just look at each other.
"I love you. Despite all the bad things on you."
"... I... love you too, big... sister..."
"... sleep well."
"... you too."
Ryuko holds Nui's head under hers and carefully pets her hair more. Slowly, Nui nods off. Ryuko tears up still, while time slowly advances. Her black arms shine blue, yellow, red and green.
Family. This is everything Ryuko wanted.
Now she is a big sister herself.
...
...
...
AN: I think now you also understand why I had to brutalize Nui so much before. I hope you had fun with the chapter, if I made you cry, lemme know, I cried, lol. Well, we are almost done, the next chapter will take some time to be done, but yeah, if anything is up, I'll let you know somehow of course! For now, let's just be happy everything turned out okay again. :)
Also I've been looking forward to this moment since last year.