"So let me fee if I've got thif ftraight," Ryuko spoke up around a mouthful of croquette before swallowing. "We're going back to school again?"

"That is the situation," Satsuki observed calmly as she ate in a more controlled, respectable fashion. She carefully observed her sister for any sign of negative reaction. "You...seem to be taking this news far better than Nonon did."

"Satsuki-san!" the diminutive pink-haired girl sitting beside her whined as she ate, only to glare as the lanky, green-haired young tough next to her chuckled. "Shut up, monkey!"

"It's not like this should come as a surprise to anyone," Uzu Sangeyama joked as he warded off Nonon's hostility. "Since when has anything we've tried to accomplish been easy? Did we really expect 'being normal' to be any different?"

"That's about how I saw things," Ryuko admitted easily as she sprawled back, her empty bowl sitting on the table as she patted her full stomach. "Thanks for the meal, Mankanshoku-san!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it!" Mako's mother offered warmly as she continued to fight with her husband, children, and dog over what hadn't been claimed by others of the expansive - if limited in variety - repast.

Turning back to her sister, Ryuko shrugged. "So we gotta get a normal education before we go looking for work. I'm fine with that. And it's not like we actually got job skills with everything else that was going on, now did we?"

Satsuki's mouth twitched ever so slightly downward as she attempted to suppress a frown. After all, with the Kiryuin family's impact on the world forgotten, she was down to what was in her personal accounts, which wouldn't last forever. As glad as she was to be without the specter of her mother overshadowing her endeavors, combat skills alone were not going to earn her a living, or get her a job where her natural commanding presence would do her any good. She was not going to settle for Franchise Manager of a fast food joint, which was the best she would be able to get without records showing her talents. "A valid point," she admitted ruefully.

"I fon' fee why iff fo bad!" Mako declared excitedly with her mouth full. She then attempted to speak further, only for her words to be garbled as she continued to stuff her face, continuing to attempt to speak as she began to gesticulate crazily while somehow making her outfit change at random. Satsuki raised her eyebrow.

"She says that she is looking forward to enjoying her high school years again with more friends, a girlfriend, and not having to fear for her life every day," the giant to Satsuki's other side translated as he calmly ate. "...though in far more words."

"You understand her when she's garbled like that?" Ryuko asked Ira in surprise.

The former Disciplinary Committee head turned to stare at Ryuko, even his amicable expression managing to be intimidating. "You may be romantically involved with her now, Ryuko Matoi, but I have known her for far longer than you have."

"She managed to survive Honnouji Academy that long on her own before I got there?" Ryuko gasped in surprise. "How?"

Uzu and Nonon smirked. Houka's eyes turned towards Ira with an amused glint. Gamagoori refused to meet anyone's eyes.

"Gamagoori-san has a thing for lost puppies!" Mako offered happily once her mouth was empty. "No idea why he said that so often, though." Ryuko promptly burst into laughter. "Or why that's so funny. Come on, Ryuko-chan, share the joke!"

"So where are we going, anyway?" Uzu demanded crisply once he had his fill of everyone being amused at the giant's unexpected softer side. "Satsuki-sama never brings up a problem unless she already has a solution."

"There is a particular high school that somehow escaped involvement in our takeover attempt," Houka explained calmly, the top of his jacket snapping open and shut as he spoke. "Up until recently it was an all girl's school, but it recently went co-ed. It's systems had...unusual security, but I have already enrolled most of us. We will begin next week, which will give us time to acquire uniforms and otherwise prepare ourselves for attending a school where we are not in charge."

"That'll be a sight to see," Ryuko joked playfully. Her frown quickly faded, however. "Wait...uniforms?"

"Yes," Houka confirmed calmly. "The school has a uniform dress code that we will need to abide by. The girls' uniform is a white button down long-sleeve shirt, black ribbon, shoulder cape and corset, and a magenta skirt. The boy's uniform is far simpler - likely due to how recently the doors were opened to boys - being a white dress shirt with black blazer and pants. Simple enough for all of us to acquire."

Ryuko lowered her eyes thoughtfully. "...yeah..." she murmured quietly. She turned to stare out the window, her eyes towards the sky.

Satsuki noticed her change in behavior instantly. "Before we do anything else, Ryuko, Shiro has a present for you, to help you get started."

"...oh?" Ryuko asked curiously.

"He's downstairs," Satsuki stated firmly as she stood up. "Come along."

Down in the basement, Ryuko was unsurprised to see that Shiro Iori was exactly as he'd been at Honnouji Academy, his blond hair dangling around his orange breathing mask, the rest of his body concealed in a white lab coat. He blinked in surprise when he saw the two sisters arrive. "Satsuki-sama...are you certain?" he asked in concern.

"I'm certain," Satsuki responded firmly. "You have it in the right pattern?"

Shiro nodded. "And Houka's already filed everything to slip it by."

"Is someone going to tell me what's going on?" Ryuko demanded curtly. "I know what Shiro's into, and I was honestly hoping this-" She gestured disdainfully to a few small looms where glowing pink fibers were stretched, their glows far fainter than what she'd seen before. "-part of my life was over and done with." Her eyes quivered as she said that, but she quickly tensed herself against it.

Shiro sighed. "I suppose I should start at the beginning. When you fell from space, I...found something that fell with you." Reaching to a sealed container, he input a few command keys. With a hiss of steam, the container slowly opened, revealing three threads like those stretched on the looms, but glowing pale grey and seeming dead.

Ryuko flinched back as she saw the threads, clutching at her chest as though in pain. "Are...are those..."

"From Senketsu, yes," Shiro offered apologetically. "I've been...researching them ever since-"

Ryuko suddenly lunged forward, only Satsuki's instant grasp on her keeping her from throttling the weaving scientist. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" she screamed out, agony in her voice. "You've kept them down here, right under my nose, and-! And-!"

Shiro waited until Ryuko's cries quieted, then spoke again. "At first, because I wanted to see if I could revive them before telling you of it." Seeing that froze Ryuko, he nodded. "Yes. They still have Senketsu's energy imprint, and the neural imprint derived from yours that made him so...unique, but there's no life in these Fibers. Despite my efforts, I couldn't find a way to do so...and then you moved on, and I didn't want to bring that pain back. I wanted to leave you with your closure, so I continued my research in silence." He turned to the threads. "I learned quite a bit from them. I doubt if I'll ever be skilled enough to weave a Kamui, or have enough active Life Fibers to make the attempt...but I did learn how to imprint individual Life Fibers with a human neural pattern. And...that's why Satsuki-sama brought you down here. While I only found four threads-"

"Four?" Ryuko demanded in shock. "I only see three! What did you do with the fourth?!"

Smiling, Shiro opened another container, revealing a uniform. It looked like the design that had been described for the new school in pattern, but in black and red rather than white, black, and magenta. "A medical note about the sensitivity of your skin to 'certain fabric aspects' meant we could give you a custom color uniform, even if it had to follow the new pattern. It has 5% Life Fibers mixed in, which won't boost your combat abilities at all..." His smile turned into a smirk. "But it does make it self repairing, which I'm sure you'll need."

"Hey!" Ryuko snapped out angrily, but paused as she saw something that froze her. At the ends of the ribbon were two shapes in the design that looked like eyes, but crossed out as though permanently closed.

"I used the fourth thread as the Banshi," Shiro offered softly. "Satsuki-sama and I didn't think you'd be comfortable wearing a uniform that...wasn't in some way him." Carefully, he took the folded cloth and handed it to her.

Ryuko took the uniform from him and held it close, keeping her eyes closed to hold back gentle tears. "...thank you..." she whispered softly.