Disclaimer: Kill La Kill and all associated characters, settings, and concepts are property of Trigger Animation and I claim no ownership.

Chapter 1: Storm Clouds

The dark clouds overhead rumbled warnings of oncoming rain as they loomed over the bustling city below. People, rushing to get home or otherwise beat the inevitable downpour, were shoving past each other and moving in crowds through the city streets.

On one of the corners sat a quaint little cafe. The shop itself was honestly nothing special. An old, faded sign with the name "Kasen's" written on it in both kanji and romanji hung above the clear glass door with a shoddy plastic "open/closed" sign hanging on it. It was flipped to "open" at the moment, but only two customers sat within, and the counter appeared unmanned.

Anyone looking into the cafe at this point- though it's doubtful anyone was paying the small shop any mind- would have seen a teen girl with slightly unkempt, black hair with a single, red streak in the front stand up abruptly.

Anyone else in the cafe would have heard her speak.

"What did you say?"

The words came out more angry than shocked, and for a second, the unsuspecting messenger was very much afraid that he was about to get decked in the face by the hot-headed teen. It was a distinct possibility, given the nature of the information he just gave her.

Also, she had grabbed him and pinned him against the counter.

Matoi Ryuuko was gripping the messenger's collar tightly, and she had an intense look in her eyes that hadn't been there since the she defeated Ragyou. He didn't know this, of course. He hadn't known the hot-tempered teen then. He had, however, heard rumors of her attitude, and all things considered, he would like to survive this encounter with all of his teeth.

He was trying to consider whether ignoring Ryuuko would be more or less beneficial to that plan as opposed to repeating himself.

"OI! You gonna tell me what you just said, or am I gonna have to punch you?" Ryuuko asked, clenching her fists tighter.

That answered his question immediately.

"U-uh…. Ma-Matoi-san… Satsuki-s-sama sent me to inform you that… uh…" the messenger paused, gulping, "th-that Harime Nui is alive…"

"WHAT!?" Ryuuko yelled, picking up the messenger in anger, "Are you kiddin' me?"

"N-no… P-please put me down, I'm just the messenger-boy!" the man begged.

Ryuuko sighed, took a few deep breaths, and lowered the poor man to the ground. She really, really wanted to hit him, or the wall, or really anything, but she realized that she would just be taking her anger out on things that way.

As she thought about what the messenger just told her, as she rolled it around in her mind, she went back to the moment the pink-clad girl supposedly died.

Well, absorbed would be more accurate, though with the defeat of Ragyou, Ryuuko assumed that all traces of the insufferable, insane doll-like girl were destroyed.

"How?" Ryuuko asked after a long silence.

"W-what?" The messenger asked.

"How the hell is she alive?" Ryuuko clarified.

"Well, uh… Satsuki-sama didn't exactly-"

The messenger didn't so much as get to finish his statement before he was introduced to Ryuuko's fist with enough force to send him flying into the nearby wall.

"Looks like it's time to pay my dear sister a visit…" she spoke to no one in particular as she turned to the door of the cafe. If the man she just clocked was still conscious, and she highly doubted it, the next thing she said had been so quietly whispered that she doubted he could hear it, "If she's alive… then… Senketsu…."

"Have any of them woken up at all yet?"

Satsuki's voice startled Iori, who was standing over two unconscious figures, a medical chart in his hands. He wasn't exactly a doctor, but upon closer inspection, this wasn't exactly a hospital either. It was the Kiryuin Mansion, or at least, the part left standing after Satsuki decided to burn every last thing related to her deranged mother. Every piece of equipment, every room built specifically for Life Fiber-related purposes went up in smoke. The mansion was in the process of being rebuilt, but enough of the rooms had remained that Satsuki still had plenty of space for herself and her friends.

At the moment, it was being used as a makeshift infirmary for three very unusual guests.

One of them was a girl with a familiar face and a very distinct eyepatch. Her head, as well as her arms, appeared to have been sewn back on, having Life Fibers running through her skin like a seam. Both Satsuki and Iori were unsure who was behind that stunt, but it was possible it was the other, more mysterious guest.

"No, at least, not these two. I can't really tell about that one," In the darkness of the room, the bed Iori pointed to looked empty, but the dark figure of what appeared to be a girl's school uniform rested on a hospital bed as well, "If he's woken up, he hasn't moved, and I wouldn't be able to hear him if he's said anything."

Satsuki nodded, "And what of this…. man. I've never seen him before, but you say he's-"

"A life-fiber hybrid, yes," Iori confirmed, "I've compared the life-fiber distribution in his body to the records we have of your sister, as well as Harime Nui. It would seem he was created in a similar fashion as Nui."

Satsuki never remembered once seeing this man. Her mother never revealed him to her, and her father never once warned her of him. There was only one logical conclusion to draw from this knowledge.

"I can only assume he was not affiliated with or working for Ragyou… however, if he's the one who stitched Nui back together, it's possible he is our enemy. Please take measures to insure he is restrained."

"Consider it done, Satsuki," Iori replied.

Nui had already been restrained, and the moment she woke up, Satsuki would move her to a holding cell. The now-short-haired woman wasn't entirely sure what she'd do about Nui long-term, though considering the girl was unconscious now, it didn't matter.

"Call me when she wakes up, Iori," Satsuki requested, turning her attention briefly to the pony-tailed man fiddling with the other "guest"s restraints.

Iori simply nodded, and Satsuki left the room, adding, though more to herself than to Iori, "I have a feeling I'll have a visitor very soon."

"Tea?" Satsuki offered her sister. It wasn't a rare occurrence for the two to spend time together, yet every time Satsuki offered her home up to her little sister, Ryuuko would reject the offer politely. Her excuses were getting weaker, starting at "I don't like that kind of stuffy life-style" to simply, "I'd be a pain to move my stuff in". Satsuki was well aware Ryuuko was a minimalist when it came to belongings. Her latest excuse had simply been a shrug and a "I'll think about it, but probably not".

Of course, this time they hadn't come to discuss Ryuuko's living arrangements.

"Don't screw with me, Satsuki!" Ryuuko spat, "You know why I came here!"

Satsuki nodded, "Yes, and that's why I'm offering you tea. I want you to be calm when I explain the situation."

Ryuuko and sighed, taking the tea offered to her by Soroi.

"So," Ryuuko began after taking a long sip, "Nui's alive…."

Satsuki hesitated for a bit before finally answering, "Well, yes… though she's been unconscious since two nights ago-"

"Wait, you found her TWO nights ago!?" Ryuuko jumped up and slammed her hands down on the table, "You didn't tell me sooner!?"

"I… we needed to perform medical tests to determine if she actually was alive, for starters. I had Iori run some tests as well. We've determined that, however it happened, it's definitely Harime Nui, and she's very much alive."

Ryuuko clenched her fists, but Satsuki held up her hand, "That's the bad news."

"So, there's good news?" Ryuuko asked, the faintest glimmers of hope in her voice.

Satsuki nodded, "You've probably already considered the possibility- if Nui survived after what we saw, wouldn't there be at least a bit of hope that Senketsu survived as well? Well… I think he might have."

"W-what!? Really!?" Ryuuko's eyes widened.

Iori's voice came from behind Satsuki, echoing in the large foyer, "It's… a possibility. Externally, he appears whole… however, there's been absolutely no activity from him whatsoever…. moreover… we're not entirely sure it's Senketsu. It definitely looks like him… but I don't-"

"Take me to him!" Ryuuko's voice was urgent, "I want to see him!"

Iori looked over at Satsuki, who nodded, and he turned around, "Follow me, then. Also, Satsuki… Nui…"

He looked over at Ryuuko hesitantly, but Satsuki threw him a reassuring smile.

"Nui has woken up."

When Ryuuko saw Senketsu on the medical bed, her heart immediately skipped three beats. There was no mistaking it. He was there. She could feel him, even though he was sleeping, and she could tell he was very much alive.

"It's definitely him," She confirmed, tears in her eyes, "And I can feel it, he's alive!"

Satsuki was never one to show her own emotions easily, let alone openly empathize with others, but seeing her sister reunite with the garment brought about a strange feeling of happiness in her. Even as her sister quite abruptly rushed to the uniform and hugged him, an alarmed Iori following after her, she couldn't help but smile.

"I bet he needs blood!" Ryuuko replied urgently, "Iori, you think you could- never mind!"

In her impatience, Ryuuko pulled out a small pocket knife out of nowhere and sliced her finger open, letting a few drops fall onto Senketsu.

"I already tried to feed him, but-" Iori began, a bit too late. However, just as he spoke, Senketsu's eye shot open, and Ryuuko smiled, tears in her eyes.

"I don't care how it happened, I'm glad you're alive, Senketsu!" Ryuuko clutched the garment happily.

Senketsu looked down at the girl hugging him, sitting there for a long while before finally replying with words that broke Ryuuko's heart.

"Who… who are you?"

To be continued...

AN: Hey! This looks familiar!

For those who recognize this story from before (and are confused by it's reappearance)... turns out, somehow this story got deleted. I don't know what happened to it and honestly I'm not very happy about it, but it's not like I can do anything about it besides reuploading.

Unfortunately, I had the whole story as one solid file, and I didn't label where it broke up into chapters (nor did I name them), so chapter titles and breaking points in the chapters might vary slightly from the original, but I'm not changing any of the actual text.

If you've reviewed the old story before, I'd appreciate it if you went and left a review here as well, and it you're new to the story, then new reviews are always appreciated. Normally I like to leave Author's Notes at the end of each chapter, but since this is a re-upload and I'm probably gonna repost all the chapters at once, there's no need.