Sunday, Kiryuin Manor, main entrance, 10:00am
A butler who Ryuko instantly dubbed "Fat Hitler" showed her into the main dining hall. If it were possible for something to be beautiful sordidly, it would be the house that she had just entered. All the walls were white, giving it that classy asylum feel, but they were covered in large, unidentifiable artwork painted all in only the warmest of tones. The blinding brightness of the walls together with the deepness of the paintings made being in those rooms feel like one was at an exhibit of the infinite. Ryuko felt that if she reached out her hand her arm would go through a painting and into the twisted world depicted inside.
The doors were disproportionately large, and she was glad Fat Hitler was there to help her open them. Nervously, she fiddled with her recorder as Harime's pale purple eyes turned to her without her ever turning her head. The small blonde stood so fast that it resembled a poorly-made stop-motion in which the only pictures taken were of sitting and then fully standing. Just as quickly, she was in Ryuko's face, grinning.
"I'm so glad you could make it!"
"Yeah, my editor was all over this piece, so... ah..." Ryuko rubbed the back of her neck, blushing. She was ushered to her seat next to Satsuki, who was neatly dressed and perfectly still, obviously not engaged in the scene before her. Nui sat on her sister's other side, but unabashedly reached and leaned over her to get to Ryuko. The food was already laid out, but no one was touching it, so Ryuko took the hint and resisted her desire to begin wolfing the exotic-looking spread. Instead, she absently rolled a guava over her bread plate and considered Satsuki.
All she wanted was to talk to her, no, to get her to talk, but the expression in the model's cold eyes instantly killed the possibility. A tiny bit of hatred sparked in Ryuko's chest.
Who does she think she is? Sitting there all beautiful and perfect. She won't even look at me! She's too good for me and everyone else on this goddamn planet!
At this point, however, Ryuko's fascination with Satsuki went beyond good will - it was a matter of pride. Ryuko resolved to unravel her and take her secrets by force, if necessary. Her childhood was spent pestering her exhausted yet unforthcoming father for the details of his odd behavior, riding the metro around and around for hours, hoping she would come back, looking up her name in the phone book and calling every number listed. No, she wasn't damn well about to give up now.
Ryuko opened her mouth to ask an unformulated question when the room was suddenly filled with brilliant light and Nui and Satsuki rose from their places. Following suit, Ryuko jumped to her feet, just barely stopping herself from impulsively saluting.
With sedate yet clacking steps, a statuesque woman dressed all in white entered the room, grinning behind pale, heavily-applied lipstick. Her face was the picture of Aryan perfection, but it was overshadowed by her impossible hair. Defying gravity with ease and perfect aloofness, it rose effortlessly from either side of her head, shimmering in colors as equally impossible as its shape. Fat Hitler pulled her chair back for her, bowing.
Kiryuin Ragyo, Ryuko thought, interested. She watched as she sat at the head of the table, several places up from where the three girls were lined up. Nui was closest to the Kiryuin matriarch, but still further than arm's distance. They all sat down at the same time, though admittedly Ryuko was a little late. Kiryuin Ragyo picked up her silverware and considered Ryuko with an amused tilt to her mouth.
"I see one of you has brought a friend." she lilted in a deep, resonant voice. "Satsuki?"
"No, Mama," Nui buzzed, reaching over her sister's lap to grab Ryuko by the lapel. "I brought her! She's working for the Jakuzure brat and she wants to ask you some questions."
"Interesting..." and she did look interested, her deeply-colored eyes burning against her ivory skin. Ryuko felt pinpricks on the back of her neck as all her hairs began to stand on end. She breathed a sigh of relief as Ragyo averted her gaze and attended to her food, addressing Nui.
"You know better, Nui. No, I won't take any questions today." Harime pretended to look surprised, but Ryuko couldn't help but feel manipulated. "Today is Sunday," Ragyo continued, a far-off look in her eyes. "Today is the day the world-spirit rests in its ceaseless search for self to make itself pure. It is our duty as well to make ourselves pure and those around us who would insult the apex of history!"
Ryuko blinked, unsure how to deal with the odd mix of a random biblical reference and distinctly Hegelian philosophy.
"Today is the day all are purified!" Ragyo looked so excited about her private little world that Ryuko didn't have the heart (or the guts) to point out that she wasn't making any sense. To her amusement, she thought she saw Satsuki rolling her eyes, though she couldn't be sure, for the gesture happened with great speed, if at all. Satsuki leaned forward to mix some milk into her oatmeal, her hair falling in a curtain over her face, but Nui quickly pushed her back and away from the table so she could continue staring fervently at Ryuko, who was now feeling very out of place.
She knew, Ryuko thought, narrowing her eyes, she knew all along I wouldn't be allowed to ask any questions. What a bitch. What the hell does she want from me?
Nui reached over and put her hand on Ryuko's arm.
"That's too bad, but as long as you're here, we might as well make good use of our time together..." Nui's hand drifted up her arm and over onto her neck before slowly gliding down...
Satsuki suddenly jerked forward and grabbed her teacup, gulped from it ferociously and slammed it back down on the table with such force that it shattered, forcing Harime to draw back her arm to keep from being cut on the large shards. Nui glared at Satsuki, who murmured an innocent apology and begin to pick up the debris. Ryuko sensed a silent power struggle, and she could have sworn she heard Nui whisper,
"You'd better keep that glass, 'cause I'm gonna make you eat it!"
"It's china, not glass," Satsuki retorted audibly and almost amicably, though there were dark overtones in her voice. Nui's eyes took on a crazy expression and she lifted a hand as if to lunge out in a vicious backhand, but at the last second her eyes shifted again to Ryuko and she smirked.
"Say, Ryuko," she chirped, reaching over to her again, sprawling her arm over her sister's plate, "Why don't you stay today? Mother's right about Sundays. I think everyone should know how our little weekly ritual is done. It really does wonders, doesn't it, Kiki?"
"I...I...well..." Ryuko stuttered, now thoroughly disturbed. She had heard of sibling rivalry, but this battle was operating on a plane that may as well have been in the fourth dimension. She wanted to get up, yell at the top of her lungs, and run out, waving her hands over her head.
Satsuki had bent the fork in her hand and her cheek twitched. Quickly, she glanced over at her mother, who had stopped eating to watch with a mildly amused smirk sprawled lazily over her face. Shaking her head in a 'to hell with it' gesture, she brought the fork down onto Nui's arm.
Nui screeched and gripped herself by the wrist, staring at the blood that gushed out of her arm.
"Nui!" Satsuki cried, "What was your arm doing on my plate? I'll go get you a towel." Without another glance at the inhabitants of the room, she stood smoothly and, casually flipping her hair over her shoulder to keep it from her sister (who was trying to catch hold of her), she grabbed a thoroughly confused Ryuko by the upper arm and dragged her out of the room.
She all but threw her out.
"And don't come back." Satsuki murmured, turning to go back inside the house.
"Wait!" Ryuko called, breathless and completely baffled. But Satsuki didn't wait. She turned her back and shut the door with a loud boom. Angry, Ryuko stood there for a few moments before slinking off, her mind bustling with the force of all she had just witnessed. Even as she moved further and further from the manor, all she could think about was how to get back in. Her intense desire was far from sated. She used to be hungry for the answers behind her little mystery.
Now she was ravenous.
xxx
Monday, Kiryuin Manor, master bedroom, 4:30am
Satsuki lay awake, staring at the ceiling as her mind buzzed. She wanted to take a shower, run until she collapsed, then shower again, but she knew better than to get up without permission. Her thoughts drifted to Matoi, and an angry fire lit in her stomach to match the burning between her legs.
She had remembered her at first sight, the girl with the red streaks in her hair who had invited her to lunch. She had thought of her with a reminiscent fondness ever since that day. Closing her eyes, Satsuki smiled a little, thinking back to the girl who had not prodded at her to divulge her troubles, but had merely and kindheartedly offered her food and rest. That memory (among few others) had held her together over the years, and she regretted her inability to express her gratitude.
The fire of fury grew larger and began to lick her lungs as she reflected on Nui's intentions. Satsuki firmly resolved to never let that sweet childhood memory be taken and twisted into a macabre depiction of horror. She resisted the urge to pound her fist into said sister sleeping to her left and instead let her mind drift to other thoughts.
It was clear that Ryuko had thought her high-handed and disgustingly aloof. And she had been. Never before had Satsuki wanted to much to divulge her plans, her secrets, her true intentions. The loss of what could have been a friend sent her into an unexpected whirlwind of emotion.
She must think I'm an idiot, a sham, she thought with a pained twinge, before she grabbed hold of her feelings and shook them violently. No. "Don't regard what anyone says of you, for this, after all, is no concern of yours."
Despite her inner admonitions, Satsuki still found herself still out of her own control, and the passion rose in her throat so that she almost choked herself on the metal prongs that dug into either side of her windpipe. Slowly, so as not to disturb the two monsters resting sedately on either side of her, she wormed a finger between the nylon of the collar locked around her neck and her skin, tugging futilely.
Disgusted, she let her hand fall. It was insulting being forced to wear a training tool for unmanageable dogs. She much preferred the beatings of the past, but models must remain unbruised, flawless. She grit her teeth and almost laughed. Her mother's excuse for using such methods had long ago crossed the line between ensuring her daughter's continued compliance and her own absurd sexual sadism. It was so sick that thinking about it made Satsuki want to vomit.
Fortunately, her loathing had pushed out the unexpected sadness and Satsuki was able to relax again. So long as she didn't think about Ryuko, she should be able to sleep for an hour or two. She closed her eyes and slid her legs under as much sheet as she reach and forced her muscles to loosen against the mattress. Though she always hated it when the activities of Sunday night ended up in her bedroom, she wished that she was in her bed so that she could reach between the headboard and the mattress and pull out the small, well-used book she kept there.
Soroi had given it to her for her fifteenth birthday, and she must have read it hundreds of times since then. She could almost feel the letters embossed on the leather cover: The Enchiridion. She could almost smell the old, dog-eared pages and hear the words of Epictetus in her mind. Many times, on days full of stress and pain, she would recite those long-since memorized words to herself.
"Some things are in our control and others not."
She felt Nui shift beside her and she turned her back, rolling onto her side. She was cold and her clothes were...somewhere. Satsuki furrowed her brow, honestly unable to remember where she had been stripped. She bit back a groan as she felt an icy hand lazily stroke her between the shoulder blades.
"Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions."
"Kiki," Nui whispered, gently biting her shoulder, "are you still awake?" Ragyo, from the other side, stirred and chuckled, reaching out languidly to take Satsuki by the hip.
"The things in our control are by nature free, but those not in our control are weak, belonging to others. Remember, then, that if you suppose that what belongs to others is your own, then you will be hindered. You will lament."
"I'll see to that that," their mother purred, pushing her oldest child over onto her back before suddenly letting go. Satsuki felt rather than heard the sharp click of the button against its plastic casing.
"You will be disturbed, and you will find fault both with gods and men."
Her back arched off the bed as the electricity drubbed her body and pulled her nerves taut. Pain flashed in her mind in spurts of static and white noise. When it ended, she collapsed, trembling and unable to breathe as Nui giggled and reached out to touch her again.
"But if you suppose that only to be your own which is your own, then no one will ever compel you or restrain you. You will do nothing against your will."
Her mother took her by the face and, ignoring the sparks that jumped from black hair to pale digits, stole a leisurely kiss, fingers moving to her jaw to pry her mouth open. Her sister's hand was spread over her belly.
"No one will hurt you, you will have no enemies, and you will not be harmed."
Satsuki held firmly to those words as Ragyo climbed over her and Nui twined their legs together. Her body was not her own, and thinking of it as such could only make her miserable. Her mind, however, would always be free, and soon, if all went according to plan, her body would join her mind in its liberty.
You will be free.
xxx
Fork you, Nui!