Ryūko Awoke early in the morning meeting the sight of what appeared to be a pile of pink clothing peaking just above the back of the sofa, the sight quickly alarming her as she pushed off the sofa to sit up and observe her surroundings.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the apartment around her was filled with clothes of different types and various shades of pink and purple along with a mix of both. There was dresses, bikinis and everything in between when it comes to feminine clothing.

Ryūko looked over the back of the sofa and aforementioned pile of clothes like she was a soldier peering over cover amidst a battlefield. Of course the rest of the room was covered with the various clothing as well, with sitting at the foot of her bed was true Nui, who was already in the middle of severing the end of a pink thread with her nail from another finished dress.

"Er Nui...? What the fuck?" Ryūko raised her head higher upon seeing Nui, looking at her with a confused gaze.

Nui pulled her head away from her work to look at the newly arisen Ryūko, "Oh you're awake! Morning Ryūko! You're quite adorable while you sleep you know~"

Ryūko's face immediately shifted to her angered irritation, "You're asking for a broken jaw, but first off, what the fell is all of this?"

Nui answered with a proud joyful tone as she picked up one of her dresses and spreading it out between her two hands and presenting it across her chest, "Oh these? You like them? Used a fair bit of fabric but I managed to sew 'em all this morning!"

Ryūko seemed somewhat taken aback in her befuddlement, "Ok... but why?"

Nui answered cluelessly to Ryūko's confusion, "For you to try on of course!"

"Not happening." Ryūko's befuddlement quickly turned to stern rejection.

Nui's voice quickly shifted to the pleading of childlike entitlement, "Oh come on pleeeeeeeease, you'll look absolutely gorgeous!"

Ryūko snapped back in frustration, "Forget it! I ain't wearing any of the crap you sew! Besides I don't wear purple and pink shit."

Nui reacted by seemingly coming to an epiphany, "Oh yeah! Black and red should do right? I'll get the nudists to send me those colours as soon as I can!"

"Are you even listening?!" Ryūko's voice built up alongside her irritation, "I said I'm not. Gonna. Wear. Your. Stupid. Freaking. DRESSES!"

Returning to the nudist beach HQ, Rei Hōōmaru in her light blue and white suit, skirt and thigh high boots, sat on a standard office chair within what appeared to be a doctor's office in the Nudist beach's medical ward. Her injured arm from the battle with the Reaper being held in a white cast.

Before her sat a male doctor wearing a white lab coat over nudist beach gear. The man was bald but had a large grey moustache that he seemed to consistently run his fingers through during his contemplations. In front of the doctor was monitor displaying X ray scans of presumably Rei's damaged hand.

The doctor began to explain to Rei as he continued to stare into the scans, gesturing with one of his hands towards sections of the screen while his other hand carried on fiddling with his moustache, "While the surgery was resounding success, we can't guarantee you won't experience any withstanding pain, I recommend avoiding putting pressure on that arm for the time being, lest you aggravate the injury."

The doctor looked at Rei, seemingly expecting a response. However he was met with Rei's silent stoicism.

He turned back to the monitor, typing into a keyboard, "I'm going to prescribe you some Tylenol, take two of these per day and call in if the pain in your arm doesn't go away. For now head home, relax your arm and we'll have another appointment in a few weeks to see how you're getting on."

A few seconds later and slip of paper churned out of a modest sized printer on the left hand side of the monitor. The doctor took out the slip and handed it to Rei, who accepted the slip without a word, her eyes filled with an unwavering determination behind her azure lensed shades.

Rei made her way out of the medical ward and exited the nudist beach HQ building. She was bathed in sunlight from the warm summer day as soon as she stepped out from the lobby doors. Various individuals in business suits and nudist beach uniforms walked past her in and out through the main doors.

She immediately pulled her phone from her jacket pocket, quickly selecting a number before placing the phone against her right ear, "Lady Satsuki?"

Satsuki's voice replied with casual friendliness, "Ah Rei, how did your appointment go?"

Rei replied, her usual cold demeanour softening somewhat, "It went alright, however the doctor said there should be just some lasting pain."

Satsuki mumbled as she contemplated future complications, "Hm I see... Well you are free to take as much paid leave as you require."

Rei answered quickly, a tinge of sternness now resonating through her voice, "That won't be necessary."

Satsuki's tone began to ooze with concern, "Rei are you sure about that? It won't be an issue, really, its best that you take as much time for your arm to heal as possible."

Rei closed her eyes calmly as she attempted to assuage Satsuki's worries, "I'm sure, trust me I'll be alright, never mind that for now..." Rei opened her eyes as she watched a pair of butterflies fly around each over above a patch of grass running along the entrance of the HQ, "How is the experiment going with Ryūko and Nui? Has one of them ripped the other's head off yet?"

Satsuki chuckled slightly, "Not yet, although I can imagine the temptation for Ryūko is strong."

Rei's posture relaxed as she replied, "It's an interesting ploy putting them two together, Nui's emotions must be an ocean of ecstasy and rage, practically one in the same for her."

Satsuki responded with an air of curiosity, "You seem to understand her quite well, but to me it never seemed like you and her were close."

Rei answered, her voice bearing a subtle level of melancholy, "We weren't close, I was trash to her just like any other human and she would even threaten to kill me at times, only not going through with it since I was required still by lady Ragyō. But I was around before Nui was born and I watched her grow up into who she became, so its fair to say I know some of what makes her tick."

Satsuki detected Rei's solemnness, matching it with her own, "I see..."

Rei's mouth curled into a sombre smile, "Its not like she didn't surprise me at all however even when she was a child, like the time when her handler was off sick, with lady Ragyō assigning me to temporarily watch over her, Nui still small enough to be beneath my knees was terrified, by that time she didn't trust anyone but Ragyō to the point she would hide anytime anyone entered the room, didn't help that the handler that usually "watched" over her was not very... tactful in his methods. But even still, one night she asked me to read her a bed time story... It was an action that threw me for a loop given I made myself not see Nui as a child so much as an... asset, although moments like those tended to slip through the cracks in that outlook, I suppose she must of been desperate for any affection to come to me of all people..."

Satsuki was pierced by a sudden reflective dejection, however she tried to keep her voice calm and empathetic to bury her emotions, "I'm... Sorry Rei."

Rei replied seeing through the façade and tried to soothe Satsuki's distress, "Its alright, I actually feel in higher spirits after speaking to you, so thank you lady Satsuki."

Satsuki bared her own smile, only hers was of calm appreciation, "My pleasure Rei. Will you be coming home now?"

Rei responded quickly, "Oh well no, I actually have somewhere I need to go first, shouldn't take too long though."

Satsuki was somewhat surprised but understanding, "Oh I see, well take all the time you need, just please don't strain your arm too much."

"Thank you lady Satsuki, I'll see you later" Rei Hung up the phone, her face quickly returning to cold seriousness, as she began to journey away from the HQ.

She began Walking through the busy streets of Tokyo, her eyes drifting over many random faces in the crowds; students heading to school, business men and women going to work, tourists purveying the vistas of the city. It was a whirlwind of liveliness, however Rei cared not, for she had a destination fixed in her mind. She eventually stopped at a rather modest sized gym, the exterior being a large glass window on the left side of a pair of glass double sliding doors beneath a large silvery sign featuring the title "Tokyo super gym." Within the large window, a multitude of individuals wearing gym clothing operated several types of exercise equipment in a decently sized light grey walled room, these equipment ranging from running machines, cycling machines, pull up frames, rowing machines to of course dumbbell sets and weight benches.

Rei entered through the sliding glass double doors reaching a small reception area, flashing her membership card to the receptionist, before entering through a pair of grey swinging double doors with circular windows situated at eye level, the doors leading to the exercise area. Rei quickly gained the attention of the several men and women exercising due to the rarity of seeing someone enter a gym in a clean cut suit. Rei ignored this however as she made her way to the weight bar.

She immediately attached a pair of 15 kilogram weights on both sides of the bar before lying down on the bench. A few moments passed by with Rei bench pressing 20 times before standing back up.

She uttered beneath her breath to herself as she now attached a pair of 20 kilograms onto the weight bar, "Not enough..."

She lied back down and began doing bench presses again, the sight began gathering spectators around her, muttering amongst each other impressed by Rei's feat with consistent mentions of the cast on Rei's arm.

Rei stood back up to add another pair of 20 kilogram weights onto the bar.

One of the spectators, a fairly muscly bald man man in a blue vest and shorts tried to interrupt, a sweat dripping down his forehead, "Woah there lady, you're gonna hurt yourself doing that."

Rei of course ignored him, simply muttering to herself again, "Not... Enough..."

She lied back down and carried out more bench presses. Her movements slowing with each one as a surge of pain flashed through her injured arm. She continued however gritting her teeth through the pain, her mind filled with the image of true Nui sprawled out on the ground convulsing while the Reaper's threads ravaged inside her. This image being followed by the vision of Ryūko, a puddle of blood gathering in front of the bloody stumps of where her legs used to be.

"Not enough." Her voice began to rise as she forced the weight bar above her through staggered breaths, a final image of the child version of Nui seemingly crouched down before something on the ground in the pouring rain.

"I'm not enough...!" She finally shouted out as she completed one more bench press before suddenly throwing the weight onto the ground beside her, the falling of the bar narrowly being avoided by the nearby spectators.

Rei sat up turning her body to the side as she held her face in anguish. Her breathes were heavy and rugged while she stared at the ground, another surge of pain shooting through her arm. Members of staff of the gym quickly made their way into the room at the sign of the commotion, however Rei merely pushed pass them, quickly making her way out of the gym and back to the streets outside.

A single thought filled Rei's mind, as she wandered down the street, her serious expression attracting the curiosity and concern of many passer-by's, "I won't let things continue this way..."

Going back to the hotel room, Ryūko sat arms crossed with a fed up expression on her face on the right hand side of the sofa. While Nui, she was sitting on the left hand side, her face a cocktail of annoyance, anger and even a hint of sadness, as she fiddled with a needle in a small pink textile.

All across the room was the dresses sprawled out across the floor and across the various furnishings, only now the dresses where torn apart with small pieces of the dresses spread all around the room.

The two sat silently, a hint of tension hanging in the air.

Nui broke the silence with a pouty huff, "That wasn't really necessary you know..."

Ryūko snapped back, quickly raising her voice, "That wasn't necessary?! How about filling the room with shit and trying to get me to wear your crappy dresses immediately when I wake up!? How's that for necessary?!"

True Nui strangely enough seemed somewhat taken aback as she appeared genuinely offended, "My dresses aren't crappy! I put my heart and soul into every one of my dresses!"

Blood seeped out of true Nui's arm and formed clone Nui, "Hey... How about you both take a moment and calm down..."

Both true Nui and Ryūko quickly turned to the blood version of clone Nui, snapping at her furiously, "Stay out of this." Clone Nui slinking back anxiously before the blood seeped back into true Nui's arm.

Ryūko turned her head, returning to fighting with true Nui, "Hard to put in something you don't have, The only thing you put passion into is killing! With a grand couturier like you, it makes me wonder why REVOCS didn't go out of business years back!"

The fury burned in Nui's eye as she bared her razor sharp teeth if a furious grimace, "You take that back!"

Ryūko snapped back, the tension in the scene climbing, "Make me!"

The room went quiet as the two gazes met, clone Nui observing the two in a panic over a possible fight breaking out.

Despite this however true Nui simply turned away, shifting her gaze back to her textile as she continued to lazily fiddle about with her needle.

Ryūko continued looking at Nui for a moment before turning to face forward with crossed arms, vocalising a simple judgemental "Hm."

The quiet returned. The only audible noises within the room being the quiet sounds of Nui's fiddling.

The frustration built up in Ryūko's face before she suddenly turned back towards Nui, "Can you just answer a question? And without your usual bullshit."

Nui pouted but seemed to acquiesce, "...What question?"

Ryūko answered with a subtle tone of pain emanating through her voice, "What did you feel when you... When you killed my dad?"

Nui stared blankly for a second to take in the question. She then turned her head to the side to ponder over her answer, "Hmm... Honestly? Not much really, almost nothing."

Ryūko was taken aback, "Really? No enjoyment or anything at all?"

Nui replied almost casually, "Well he was good at fighting so I wasn't exactly bored, and it was rather frustrating when he cut out my eye, but in the killing itself? No I didn't really feel anything."

"W-why?" Ryūko uttered back, her voice quiet and shocked.

Nui responded quickly, "Well because it was just a mission to me, he was just another human, standing in mine and lady Ragyō's way, did you expect me to be super happy over having killed him or something?"

Ryūko answered in calm frustration, "Well you always seemed so joyful when you told me that you murdered him."

Nui replied with a sigh as if the answer was obvious, "Well of course I did! I wanted to toy with your emotions, someone like you is an open book after all so it was easy to tell how to infuriate you."

Ryūko grumbled in reluctant acceptance, "I... I guess that makes sense."

Nui replied with a simple "Of course it does!"

The scene quickly became quiet once again, Ryūko crossing her arms once again as she stared at the floor, baring a furrowed brow and became lost in thought.

Nui however cut through the silence this time, "What about you?"

Ryūko snapped back in confusion, "What?"

Nui answered the question with her own, her tone was straight to the point, "How did you feel? When you killed lady Ragyō."

Ryūko was taken aback once again, this time in hesitation to answer, the topic poking at her emotions, "H-huh...?"

Nui continued her face beginning to draw close to Ryūko's, "I don't expect you to regret it, but to you she was more than just an enemy, did you feel relief perhaps? Or maybe melancholy..."

Ryūko remained hesitant, a solemn befuddled expression crawling onto her face, "Nui..."

Nui leaned in however, her face almost touching Ryūko's as Nui shot a gaze of increasing intensity into one of Ryūko's eyes, "Tell me, I answered your question so you should answer mine..." Her voice's intensity began to match her gaze, "Tell me."

"I didn't kill her!" The tension in Ryūko's face exploded like a geyser.

However it was Ryūko's words that shocked Nui the most, "W-wha-?!"

Ryūko cut her off as she repeated herself to settle the tension in the air, "I didn't kill her..."

Nui's shock melted into confusion, "Wait... But then how did she die?"

Ryūko answered with a troubled sigh, "I... After I defeated her and shredded Shinra-Kōketsu, there was a moment where we floated above the atmosphere of the planet. There I asked her to just... come home with me, to put everything behind us. Instead, she ripped out her heart and crushed it between her fingers, before dissolving into the darkness of space."

Nui's face dropped into dejection, "I see... That... sounds like something she would do..." She her raised her face, another curiosity sparking within her eye, "But why would you offer her that? Did you forget that she ordered me to kill your father?"

Ryūko spoke through clenched teeth, reluctant to provide her justification, "I was... I was just tired of the fighting, tired of all the bullshit strife and grudges... I just wanted to move on... and despite everything that happened, she was still my Mom."

Nui stared back at Ryūko for a moment, lost in silent confusion, before suddenly turning to face forward and fiddle with her textile, replying with a pouty spiteful tone, "Hm, makes me wonder if you would of offered me the same opportunity if I was in such a position."

Ryūko took her turn to face forward as she responded, cold melancholy permeating through tired sighs, "I... I don't know... Would you had accepted the offer if I did?"

Nui refused to answer, foretelling the return of the silence.

As a few more moments passed by, Ryūko staring longingly out the window to the room in bored frustration. Nui however continue to fiddle with her fabric, although her eye noticeably twitched as thoughts crawled their way to the surface.

Suddenly Nui placed down her textile turning back to Ryūko, "Its not like you wouldn't of killed."

Ryūko snapped back, "What?"

Nui elaborated, her words slithering out from her snake tongue, "You were ready to kill your own friends and "Family" just for your happiness, you were so scared of losing it after all... But now you're telling me you couldn't kill when you faced someone responsible for taking your dad away Because you were tired?"

Ryūko's stalwart expression broke into untamed ferocity, "You got a real death wish bringing that shit up, You know Ragyō fucked with my head!"

"Of course." Nui began shooting a smug venomous stare towards Ryūko, "But my dear Ryūko, do you wanna know what Ragyō once said to me? The best way to control someone is by giving them what they desire, and no not what they say they want, but the desire held within their heart, when those desires are satiated you can lead that someone like a lamb to the slaughter."

Ryūko was speechless, her shield of stoicism being ever so slightly pierced by Nui's unrelentingly fanged discoursed, the cracks in her shield unveiling an unsightly question consistently debated within Ryūko's mind; was that really the happiness she wanted? Ryūko refused to accept that.

"I..." Ryūko struggled to reply, her shock obvious on her face. However suddenly her eyes narrowed as she realised what to say, "And what about you Nui?"

Nui answered with confusion in a simple "Hm?"

Ryūko elaborated, her tone was calm and precise in it's malice, "What desire did Ragyō use to control you?"

Nui's pupil constricted as a cold look of rage within a silent frown displayed itself upon her face.

However just as Ryūko braced to clash with Nui's fury, Nui turned away, hiding her face, her voice surprisingly serene but melancholic, "...The right to live..."

Ryūko's eyes widened with shock, not expecting an actual answer, but before she had a chance to reply, Nui suddenly got up and quickly walked into the hotel room's bathroom, before slamming the bathroom door almost hard enough to send it off it's hinges and crack the attached wall.

Ryūko took in a moment to take in what had just happened, the shock slowly draining from her face.

Once the tension subsided she laid down on the sofa staring up at the ceiling, a single thought now resounding through her mind, "I'm hungry..." She then leant down to pick up her phone off the floor.

About an hour passed by before outside the hotel, bathed in the afternoon sun a man on a red scooter pulled up to the hotel entrance before pulling a couple of square shaped boxes from the back of his vehicle before running up to the door. Down the street from the hotel a black car held two gruff looking men in the front seats. One in the driver's seat smoking a cigarette with the car window rolled down, while the second man riding shotgun seemed to be looking through through a pair of black binoculars, focusing their view at the person on from the scooter.

The first man pulls the cigarette from his mouth, "So?"

The second man answered putting down his binoculars, "Looks like pizza."

The first responds, a casual consideration in his voice, "You know maybe we could try poison?"

The other retorts, "They're probably checking food from outside sources, and anyway, our... associates didn't mention whether or not poison would even do anything to them so I think its safe to assume it wouldn't work."

The first held his cigarette outside the car window, tapping it with his index finger to flick off the excess ash, "Hey... Why ain't our associates attacking this place? They know where this is too right?"

The second answered as he pulled out a phone out of his pocket, "You're joking right? Its obvious; this is the hornet's nest, kicking it like we're planning to do will brew up a shit storm."

The other snapped back, "Wait then why the hell are we gonna kick it then?"

A flame of fury sparked in the second man's eyes, targeted at the hotel, "Because we can't take this lying down, because we are the ruthless monsters of this world and this city belongs to us... Weakness is unacceptable for the highest demon."

The first placed his cigarette back in his mouth staring out the window with a fed up stare, "Man... I don't care about that shit, I just wanna get paid..."

The second answered back, "Yeah yeah I know, don't worry man, our associates assured us that the weapons they gave us will work on those two."

The first looked at his comrade raising a sceptical eyebrow, "And you sure these guys know what they are doing? They seemed pretty freaky to me..."

The second looked back with a sly malevolent smile, "Trust me, after seeing that shit they pulled in Akihabara? I know these guys are the real deal."