Anyway sorry it's been four years.

Ryuko couldn't stop kissing her.

The softness of Satsuki's mouth and the way her hands roughly rolled into Ryuko's hair was intoxicating. Ryuko moaned into Satsuki's mouth as she grabbed for her neck and ran her tongue across Satsuki's bottom lip, seeking entry. To her surprise, Satsuki's teeth came crashing down on her tongue, savagely biting.

"Ah what the fuck Kiryuin?" Ryuko pulled back for a moment, indignation written across her face.

"Keep your damn tongue to yourself, Matoi," Satsuki growled, her voice sweeter and lower than any Sweet'N Low. Satsuki dipped her head towards Ryuko again, aiming to grab her ear between her lips, but Ryuko grabbed Satsuki's shoulders and pushed her away.

"You think you can just tackle me, push me to the ground, bite me? You've got another thing coming!" Satsuki sneered and snatched at Ryuko's hands.

"You think you can break into my house," she shot back, voice high and mocking, "kidnap me, kiss me?" She wrenched Ryuko's arms to the side and stood up, pushing Ryuko to the ground again as she tried to follow her. Ryuko fell with a soft thump onto her backside, pouted and folded her arms.

"Hmph."

Satsuki peered doubtfully over the side of the bridge balustrade into the dark water beneath. Ryuko watched her consider for a moment, and her eyes widened as she saw Satsuki take a deep breath. Ryuko just managed to catch Satsuki's ankle right before she jumped over the side of the bridge. Satsuki squirmed.

"Let go!" she shouted, pushing her forearms against the railing to try to tip her center of weight over the side. "I wouldn't have to do this if you hadn't-"

"Laptops can't swim, Kiryuin! It's dead!" Ryuko clambered up Satsuki's body, grasping at her knee, her hip, and finally caught Satsuki with her arms around her waist. She tried to pull Satsuki back from the railing, but Satsuki refused to relinquish her grip on the concrete.

"You're dead," Satsuki growled, making the mistake of removing one hand to pry Ryuko's fingers away from her waist. Ryuko only clung tighter and shook Satsuki back and forth like a puppy with a chew toy. Stubbornly, Satsuki held onto the bridge with one hand while reaching back with the other to box Ryuko's ears. "There's always rice!"

Ryuko initially pressed her face into the back of Satsuki's head to avoid the sharp blows, but found herself suddenly overwhelmed by the scent of Satsuki's hair and the tickle of the soft strands against her cheek.

"Y-You're the dumbest smart person I've ever met," Ryuko stuttered, exasperated, trying to catch Satsuki's offending hand in her mouth. "Rice never saved shit!" Ryuko managed to catch Satsuki's hand with her teeth, and she quickly pulled Satsuki's pinky and ring finger into her mouth to keep her from escaping.

Satsuki growled and yanked at her hand. How dare Ryuko suck on her fingers, but her arm was now trapped over her head at an awkward angle and she wasn't quite certain whether Ryuko would sever her fingers with her teeth if she pulled too hard.

Biting through fingers is juuuust as easy as biting through carrots, Nui had told her while tracing the tips of her fingers with her tongue. Satsuki wiggled her fingers experimentally in Ryuko's cheek, and yelped when Ryuko bit her. Goddamnit, Matoi.

"Fughnin bnch!" Ryuko yelled around Satsuki's hand, furious that Satsuki was still fighting her, and with a final heave of effort pulled Satsuki away from the edge of the bridge. They fell backwards together, and although Ryuko immediately released Satsuki's fingers she did not relinquish her grip around Satsuki's waist.

Satsuki seemed to go limp as Ryuko held her, finally defeated. Ryuko suddenly became acutely aware that Satsuki's shirt had slid up in the scuffle and that her fingers were clasped around her bare stomach. Ryuko was suddenly struck with how wildly inappropriate it would be to slide her hand over Satsuki's skin, so instead she lay still, smothered by Satsuki's soft weight and her own unbearable emotions.

Satsuki lay on Ryuko and stared at the ceiling of gray clouds above her. Ryuko was right, as much as she hated to admit it. Even if she did manage to root around in the river mud long enough to find Ragyo's laptop (and probably catch a brain eating amoeba), all the rice in the world couldn't recover the images saved inside.

The laptop was gone, and Satsuki was dead.

I sharp twinge of fear began to develop in Satsuki's stomach. Mere hours ago she had been chained to a bed for god knows what reason. In a knee-jerk reaction, her mind conjured images of what Ragyo was capable of if she actually had a reason to be angry. She knew better than anyone how long it took Ragyo to amass her personal porn stash. She hated that laptop, but now that it was gone… Satsuki considered stripping right in that public park and making Ryuko take pictures while she posed provocatively with a street lamp.

The absurdity of the image grounded her, and she was able to push away her fear only to be flooded with a dry, hissing anger. Instead of getting up, Satsuki ever-so slowly turned around on top of Ryuko and placed an elbow on either side of her head. She watched Ryuko's throat bob as she deliberately positioned her hair in curtains around Ryuko's face so that the entire outside world was blotted out. Ryuko's wide eyes were like spotlights, illuminating her on this dark stage of charcoal hair.

Satsuki sighed and examined Ryuko's face, pausing to push Ryuko's hair away from her forehead and twiddle her fingers around the frayed ends of what was left of her red stripe. The texture of the red was markedly different from the surrounding waves of dark hair, and the feel of it between her fingers disgusted her instinctively. Satsuki released the strand and instead wrapped a hand around Ryuko's jaw, forcing her lips closer to her own. Satsuki reminded herself to be angry with Ryuko, distracted by the swell of her lower lip as Ryuko gasped harshly. Slowly, she lowered her head to Ryuko's neck, and followed the curve of her jaw and cheek with her nose before finally, finally reaching her ear.

"Matoi Ryuko," she whispered against Ryuko's earlobe. Ryuko squirmed, but Satsuki quickly pinned her with a thigh between her legs. "You have killed me." Ryuko opened her mouth to retort, but quickly closed it again. Instead, she averted her eyes and lay silently. "Ah, silence," Satsuki said, bitterly, "A marked improvement." Slowly, Satsuki backed away to sit between Ryuko's legs. She had thought she would have more to say, but the fight drained out of her before she could catch and hold on to it, so Satsuki instead stared at the palms of her hands in her lap.

Ryuko sat up slowly, unsure what to do. The sudden, unexpected contact with Satsuki's skin left her hard of breath, but she was desperate to hide her gasps for air. Releasing a breath as slowly as possible to hide a particularly large huff, Ryuko tentatively reached for Satsuki's upturned hands.

Shit, I've already looked at her porn and macked on her. Hand holding has to be on the table. Satsuki looked up as Ryuko slid her palms into hers and squeezed gently. Satsuki's hands flexed open for a moment, and Ryuko held in another hiccuping breath as she waited to see if she would be rejected. Satsuki eventually relaxed into her hands, but did not return her squeeze.

"Will she…" Ryuko gulped. "Will she really kill you?" Satsuki met Ryuko's eyes, then looked away suddenly as the color drained from her face.

"I don't know." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I… She could…" Satsuki pondered it for a while, chewing at her lower lip. Eventually she shrugged, a barely perceptible motion of her shoulders that Ryuko felt through her hands. "Then again killing me would remove any chances to replace her… material." Ryuko winced and withdrew her hands. Satsuki did not stop her. Thinking about the "material" reminded Ryuko how she had invaded Satsuki's most secret life, and holding on to her just felt like a further trespass rather than a comfort.

Ryuko didn't know how to tell Satsuki how desperately she did not want Ragyo to make more material. It didn't feel like something she had a right to want. So instead she just said,

"Sorry."

Satsuki gave her a hard look and stood.

"You should be sorry," she said, and it was true. For a moment Ryuko thought Satsuki would offer her her hand to help her up, but instead Satsuki turned away and pointed her face back the way they came. "We'll need to cover our tracks." Satsuki cast an eye over her shoulder at Ryuko. Do I dare to hope…? "You didn't… Who saw you at the manor?" Ryuko stood and dusted off her jacket, pausing to make sure nothing had fallen from her backpack on the wild sprint across the street.

"Uh… What are the odds your security guys are snitches?" Satsuki tapped a finger against her own cheek mockingly.

"Hmm… I wonder." The frown that had become a permanent fixture of Satsuki's face deepened. Ryuko figured she didn't need to see the Alps anymore- she'd already seen the world's craggiest mountains in the wrinkles between Satsuki's eyebrows. Satsuki paused for a moment to turn and press her hands against the stone railing, taking a few deep breaths.

"I.." She somewhat resented the need to be vulnerable in front of Ryuko. Again. "I have-" Satsuki wondered if she said "coup d'é·tat," Ryuko would understand what that meant. "I have a plan." Satsuki knew it sounded stupid the moment it came out of her mouth.

"A… plan?"

"Yes a plan," Satsuki snapped. She took a few more measured breaths. "But," another breath, "Mother also has a plan." Ryuko shuffled to the railing beside Satsuki, mirroring her stance by placing her hands on the cold stone. "And…" Satsuki continued. "Her plan is better than mine." Her voice quieted to barely above a whisper. "She could break me in half with her little finger." Ryuko let out a long, sympathetic sigh.

How can that be possible? Ryuko thought. This woman is not a bison she can't just break people in half. Still, she was willing to lean on Satsuki's expertise a little, even if was only because Satsuki had absentmindedly pressed her shoulder into Ryuko's while leaning against the balustrade. Ryuko leaned into her in more ways than one.

"Well…" Ryuko said, finally. "If I can help… I just…" Satsuki looked up at Ryuko, and Ryuko found herself nearly tongue-tied as she struggled to force her feelings-her true, painful feelings- through her teeth and into the air. "I just want to be there for you-with you- I just…" Ryuko could hold Satsuki's eyes no longer, and dipped her chin into the collar of her shirt. "I just want to be wherever you are."

Satsuki moved suddenly, a fire lighting in eyes that had been empty mere seconds ago. She wrapped an arm around Ryuko's neck and shoulders, holding her firmly, as she gripped her chin with her other hand.

"Matoi Ryuko," her name seemed to fill the whole park as Satsuki boomed into her ear. "You do not want to be wherever I am. I will never forgive myself if you go where I go." Ryuko tried to protest, look away, but Satsuki's grip was like iron. "The only reason we, I, any of us, are here and in danger is because you cannot bear to be anywhere I am not."

That hurt, and Ryuko couldn't stand it. It was all she could do to even tell Satsuki that she couldn't be apart from her, and Satsuki had rejected her in the strongest terms possible. Everything I do just hurts her more, Ryuko thought, and her eyes welled with tears. She tried to run, push Satsuki away, who needs you anyway? But Satsuki held her tighter and tighter until eventually her face was pressed between Satsuki's breasts as she wrapped Ryuko into an aggressive hug.

"I'm afraid, Ryuko." It was Satsuki's turn to bare her true feelings, and all she had to share was fear. "I don't-" Satsuki fell silent. She didn't want to encourage Ryuko by telling her she didn't know if she could bear to lose her, either. For a long moment she held Ryuko against her chest, feeling her sniffle into her shirt. Satsuki struggled with the despair rising inside her, yet she was unable to cry alongside Ryuko. So instead she held Ryuko's head, gripping onto her for dear life as her own head tilted towards the sky. Satsuki could not weep-that had been taken from her years ago- so instead her mouth opened in a silent, agonized wail, and she soundlessly screamed her fear into the sky.

I'm afraid, I'm afraid, I'm so afraid. Satsuki wasn't afraid to die. She wasn't afraid of the cage she lived in. She was afraid Ryuko would be taken from her and turned into something ugly. Something as ugly as her.

Xxx

She had never invited these shareholders to her home before. I'm sure they considered it quite the honor. Ragyo was never certain why she had to look at this group of men with big wallets and tiny cocks. Ah, yes. Because the American state of Delaware required her to meet with her U.S. shareholders once a year.

But today, Ragyo was very pleased to see her loyal servants.

This wasn't the first party she'd thrown that weekend, or even that day. Her Indonesian shareholders were here for brunch a few hours ago. France, yesterday evening for cocktails. Ragyo still had several more parties to throw, and she was eager to get through this one.

She didn't exactly shake hands with them all. But she did make sure to extend her hand towards each of them before whisking her hand away before they had a chance to put their greasy palms on her flawless silk glove.

Rei had been concerned that they would find it odd to be led to the basement a few hours into drinks and hors d'oeuvres. Ragyo never worried for a second. She didn't even need to drug them. A few strong drinks and they would follow her into the mouth of Charybdis.

Well, more or less.

But first, the reveal. These men shouldn't have to live the rest of their lives without seeing the most beautiful thing in the world. It didn't matter that Ragyo had made the big reveal to all the parties before now. It didn't matter that she would make many other revelations. Her stage was set up on the bottommost floor of the manor, a microphone perched in front of the gigantic double doors.

They were still closed, for now, but soon they would be open, and Ragyo couldn't wait. Ordinarily, she would have slowed down for her speech, pausing to boom on all the right syllables, but she just couldn't wait.

"Gentlemen, welcome." They started to clap, but Ragyo did not leave time for applause, and they didn't dare make noise while she was speaking. If you asked any of the men if they believed the Director were a dangerous woman, they would all deny it. "Madam Director? She's a shrewd businesswoman, but I wouldn't say she's dangerous." But the timid way they whispered and shuffled around her belied their true feelings. You would think Ragyo would enjoy their worshipping fear, but she genuinely never thought to wonder about how they felt about her. She would be glad to see them transformed into something holier.

Ragyo clipped through her speech at a brisk pace- loyalty being rewarded, REVOCS expanding, their role in the grand scheme of the universe- they were eating out of the palm of her hand. Ragyo knew the words by heart, so she spared a few seconds to daydream. She wished Satsuki were there to eat out of her hand. She could stain her soft lips red with a ripe strawberry, pressing it against…

Ragyo stumbled over a word, and frowned a little. It's not as if the shareholders even noticed, but she had to be flawless. There would be plenty of time later to think about Satsuki.

...and Ryuko. Her lips curled into a smile again as she added Ryuko's name to the end of her thought. She wasn't accustomed to having another girl to think about. It was a strange feeling, but decisively pleasant. She would have wondered how Soichiro managed to hide her all those years, but such a thought strayed dangerously close to forcing her to admit she had underestimated him. So her mind slid over that unpleasant thought and turned to her deep contempt for her late husband.

Soichiro was a fool. Now her contempt held a new layer of resentment. He had taken away her right to raise her daughter, to be there for her through her childhood. And for what? So he could hide in a hole for two more decades and die a pathetic death anyway? Ragyo's emotions rose, and added that punch to her speech she was lacking. She finished with a flourish.

"... and we shall rise, just as I have promised! Do you accept?" Finally, she paused for applause. Those sad, weak men clapped wildly, filling the acoustic chamber with thunder. Ragyo slowly raised her arms, and her servants scrambled to open the doors behind her at the exact same pace she lifted her hands.

"Behold"

The Original Life Fiber pulsated behind her, open and ready to accept offerings. The insides of its two mouths burned white-orange against its dull red outsides, and the men gasped and murmured. A few of them backed away, but it was already too late. Before anyone could scream, tendrils snapped out of the slitted mouths to grasp its human feed. Screams turned to moans as the threads sapped the strength from their victims and drew them inside.

It was a scene Ragyo had seen a dozen times. Still, all she could do was laugh.

Xxx

It was Satsuki's turn to drag Ryuko behind her by the hand.

Their tender moment had been interrupted by the sound of something wooden being absolutely ripped apart. The sound of splintering wood reverberating through the streets into the small park had sounded like a giant splitting a tree's trunk with their bare hands.

Well, not necessarily a giant. Just someone with terrifying, omnipotent strength. Satsuki was familiar with such a person, and she wasn't fond of her. She certainly didn't trust her to keep things PG with Mako. So in a second she whirled Ryuko around in her arms and yanked her by the wrist, dashing back the way they came.

Satsuki gasped for air as she ran, and not only from effort. She hadn't expected them to find her so soon, and realizing she'd wasted all her time to prepare by napping in a stranger's house and sucking on a paparazzi's face made her feel like a fool. Like an impulsive idiot who has to think with her junk because her only two brain cells are occupied with trying to squeak together fast enough to make a fire.

If I were such an idiot, what would I be like? Satsuki turned briefly to look at Ryuko, who had caught up to her but had refused to let go of her hand. She managed to look Ryuko up and down before she had to turn back to look where she was going. Yes, exactly like that.

It had been a mistake to run out of the house without taking note of the streets, and Satsuki would have found herself lost inside the narrow maze of roads without the groaning and shredding of wood and cement to guide her.

"What is that?" Ryuko shouted over the scream of bending rebar. It sounded like a demolition, but Satsuki's reaction had a spike of dread throbbing in her stomach. Satsuki didn't answer her, but as they turned a corner Ryuko could see for herself. The door to Mako's house had been ripped off the hinges and half of the house sagged as though the foundations inside had been pulled apart. Ryuko nearly stopped, dumbfounded. What the fuck?

Satsuki charged ahead, immediately furious. The doorway was black, hidden in shadow from the sagging frame. She barely slowed, but held her arms out to grip the frame as she entered to keep Ryuko from heading inside first.

I'll pull that goblin's head off if she's hurt Mako. Really, Nui?

Satsuki's eyes struggled to see through the swirling clouds of dust, but an electric spark shot up her spine nonetheless. A warning. Satsuki gasped and threw herself backwards, still holding on to the doorframe to keep from tumbling back from the force of her throw. Her elbow smashed into Ryuko's throat, and the girl choked audibly.

Satsuki felt something tug at her pants, and the button clasping the fabric around her waist ripped off so forcefully it buried itself inches deep into the ruined remains of the door. A purple flash of lighting cut the air up from her waist to her nose, slicing through Satsuki's shirt and zipping threateningly over her skin. The blade caught on the clasp of her bra between her breasts, but nearly instantly ripped through, taking a patch of skin with it. Satsuki tossed her head back to avoid the swing, but she could not avoid the blinding light of a camera's flash as Nui casually withdrew her blade and snapped a photo.

"Helllooooo Kiki" Nui drawled. Satsuki wasn't sure how she managed to drawl a name with two short syllables and two hard K's, but it was insufferable. Nui winked at her, but with her eyepatch it looked like she was just blinking. She peeked around Satsuki's shoulder, pulling a face like she was about to coo at a baby, and dangled the cell phone she'd just used to take Satsuki's picture. "Oooooo hewwo Ryuko. Cute phone."

Satsuki knew better than to take a swipe at the phone, but Ryuko didn't. Growling, she lunged to take her phone out of Nui's hand, and was met with the device smashing at blistering speed into her face. It struck her mouth so hard the snug black and red case popped clean off, and Ryuko barely managed to catch the phone in an instinctive clutch at her bleeding lip.

"That one's on me, sweetheart." Nui folded her arms behind her back and smiled sweetly as Ryuko struggled to force her stinging eyes to focus on the screen. "Allthoouuugh. You do owe me quite a few of those."

Seeing the picture on her cell phone reminded her Satsuki was in fact a famous fashionista, and her hands started to sweat as the evil gremlin part of her brain screamed at her about how much she could make selling it. The photo captured Satsuki stepping through the doorway, her hands clutching either side of the doorway and eyes snapping in surprise as she twisted away from Nui's knife. Ryuko gawked artlessly at the smooth lines of Satsuki's stomach framed through the flaps of her bisected shirt and plunging down into the V of her buttonless pants zipper. Ryuko suddenly realized why Satsuki's apartment was filled with kale and yogurt, and she could barely pull her attention away from her pictured abs long enough to recognize Nui was talking again.

"You know, Kiki, as your handler I had considered the possibility that some deranged paparazzi might find a way to get their grubby hands on you, but this comes as such a shock anyway." Nui turned her single unblinking eye to Ryuko. "So, how did you do it?"

"How did I wh-"

"-did you take her into the park so no one could hear her scream?" Ryuko gaped helplessly, her hands falling to her sides. Nui noticed and smiled. "It was a good idea, but let me tell you. Totally unnecessary. She's quiet as a corpse." Nui effortlessly dodged a heated swipe from Satsuki while crossing her arms over her shoulders, a crude pantomime of a mummy. "I think I've developed a necrophilia fetish because of her." Nui backed further into Mako's house, shrouding her face in shadow until her eye seemed to glow in the dim light. "You could have violated her on… say… that chair," she pointed, "and no one would have even noticed."

The fact that she had in fact violated Satsuki-although not in the way Nui implied-in that very chair was not lost on Ryuko. Paranoia crept up Ryuko's scalp and she began to lose control of her hot, gulping breaths.

Was she here the entire time?

"Kiki, how will mother take it that you lost your virginity to the first random creep to kidnap you?'

"My WHAT?" Satsuki boomed louder than necessary, accusal implicit in her tone. Though perhaps it was necessary, because her shout seemed to deflate Nui, if only a tiny bit.

"Awwww Kiki don't be upset." She shouldn't have been close enough to touch Satsuki, but Nui reached out and out until she could press the blade of her finger against Satsuki's lips. "Hush, baby. I don't mean nothin'."

"I DIDN'T FUCK HER" Ryuko blurted out with utter artlessness, distracting Satsuki and Nui long enough for the tension between them to dissipate. Nui giggled, though the laugh sounded more like a pulsing blender than anything else.

"Oh you didn't did you?" Nui seemed to turn herself inside out, suddenly flipping so her back was to them without ever turning around. She peered back over her shoulder and licked her lips. "I find that hard to believe. The only reason I would break into someone's house would be to fuck someone inside." Somehow, she looked both of them up and down simultaneously, and Ryuko could feel chills starting in the small of her back. Satsuki rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, it's always with the 'fucking' with you," Satsuki sighed, treating her ruined shirt like a cardigan by crossing each half across her chest and folding her arms over it. Nui didn't appreciate the dismissiveness of Satsuki's comment.

"Yes, yes," she mocked, imitating Satsuki's exact tone, "It's always with the 'don't fuck me' with you." Nui returned to her usual high lilting, "Well, my question is, which one of us usually ends up on top?" Nui's voice deepened again, but this time in threat, "And which one of us usually ends up with her ass bent over the kitchen counter when she can't just shut her mouth and look pretty?"

Ryuko blanched at the ever-escalating barbs, but the fact that Satsuki seemed utterly unperturbed soothed her. Ryuko feigned a squeak and hid behind Satsuki, using the moment to slide her scissor out of her backpack and into her back pocket.

Satsuki sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, gesturing with the blade of her hand like she was calmly attempting to make a point during a contentious university seminar.

"Nui, if you think YOU are the one who 'usually ends up on top,' you're more delusional than I ever thought possible." Satsuki seemed to soften, if only for a moment. "You and I really should be in this together."

"Huh? In what together? Who have you been in?" Ryuko peeked around Satsuki's shoulder just in time to watch her fingers strangle her own arms for a second before they relaxed back into the crooks of her elbows. "I thought you just said you haven't been in that thing." From the tilt of Nui's head in her direction, Ryuko could tell "that thing" was her. "Buuuuuttt…" Nui seemed to be everywhere at once. Leaning against the bathroom door, perched on the couch, twirling in the center of the room, and finally, a few inches from Ryuko's face. "Kiki, dear, I would LOVE to be in that thing together with you."

Satsuki's eyes widened, and she whirled around and suddenly gripped Ryuko around the waist. For a brief, hot second, Ryuko thought Satsuki intended to follow up on Nui's advice, and she grabbed at Satsuki's shoulders to shove her away.

"Don't move, Matoi!" Satsuki barked, and Ryuko felt the arms around her hips tremble and clench tighter. Ryuko felt the hot breath of a silent laugh ghost past her ear, and her back instinctively arched as she realized Nui had moved behind her.

She felt the sting of something sharp against her inner thigh. Ryuko looked down to see that Nui had threaded a blade between her thighs, the sharp edge millimeters away from gashing her open. Nui had angled the blade upwards to keep her from stepping over it, and had pressed the tip into the bottom of the V made by Satsuki's undone zipper. The blade trembled, and Ryuko felt it catch the inner seam of her jeans, scraping it roughly from side to side in some obscene metaphor. Ryuko ventured a peek over her shoulder, and saw Satsuki's white knuckles gripping the odd circle of the knife's hilt, holding it down and away from Ryuko's crotch even as Nui inched it upwards.

Ryuko shuddered as Nui laid a few sloppy kisses on the nape of her neck, arching onto the tips of her toes for more space. She stared down, breathing hard, focused on the shuddering circles the tip of the knife traced into Satsuki's stomach as Satsuki and Nui struggled for control. Ryuko felt a tug at the seat of her pants, and she half expected them to be pulled down around her ankles. The reality was worse.

"I wondered where this thing went off to!" Nui cackled directly into Ryuko's ear, guffawing so close there could be no doubt about whether it was on purpose or not. "That old goat just couldn't keep it in his pants long enough to hide it."

"What are you talking about?" Satsuki groaned, sweat dampening the dark wisps of new hair that grew around her ears. Nui did not respond. She only laughed louder and louder, her voice reaching a fevered pitch. Nui suddenly forced her blade all the way to the ground, tearing it free from Satsuki's grip and letting it clang carelessly on what was left of Mako's linoleum. Just as quickly, she forced the blade up again, and Ryuko gasped as she expected to be cleaved in two. But Nui had flipped the blade before she smashed it between Ryuko's legs, so only the flat of the knife cracked into her pelvis.

Ryuko had always assumed she would never have to suffer the indignity of being kicked in the balls, but when Nui's blade smashed directly against her clit, all the balls she had kicked in her life started to flash before her eyes.

I'm sorry, oh god, I'm so sorry. Ryuko gripped mindlessly at Satsuki's shirt, crumpling into her chest with a wordless, burbling groan. The pain seemed to shoot all the way up into her heart, and she could already read the headlines: "Woman found dead from massive heart attack after suffering extreme genital trauma." Before she could recover, Nui planted a heeled foot into the small of her back and shoved, sending them both sailing into the house.

Ryuko landed on top of Satsuki, pushing her into the couch so hard the springs broke and the couch folded around them. Satsuki found herself actually inside the couch, her knees gathered up to her chest from being forced inside the hole between the cushions. She struggled to move quickly, react quickly, to do anything at all, but the broken couch and Ryuko's limp body on top of her kept her from moving. Satsuki flitted her eyes around the room, knowing it was the only way she had a chance to catch Nui's flitting movements.

For once, though, Nui stayed still. Even rarer, she stayed silent. Satsuki glared bitterly at her as Nui put on a show, flourishing her blade and the blade she had stolen from Ryuko's back pocket together in intricate patterns. Satsuki first thought the two oddly-shaped knives were separate colors, red and purple, but seeing them together made her realize they had always been the same purply-red color and only appeared different by virtue of their separation. Satsuki fought back frustrated tears-tears she hated herself for-as Nui crimped the blades together into a pair of giant scissors.

"Ta-daaaa!" Nui proclaimed, finally holding the scissors aloft. Satsuki's eyes widened, and she struggled to free an arm from the couch. "Ooh, Kiki want a closer look?" Nui brandished the scissors and stalked Satsuki slowly, circling nearer and nearer for no other reason than to scare her. Satsuki resented the attempt, but knew better than to scoff.

Not when she was like this.

Nui turned her back, and as soon as she did Satsuki began to wiggle furiously, frantic to extricate her arms from the couch and her legs from Ryuko. Nui snipped her new scissors in the air, taking apparent joy in the sound the blades made as they clicked together. "Whoopsie!" She crowed, disingenuously, as she snipped through the door frame with all the effort of cutting a dandelion stem. The ceiling immediately crumbled, chunks of cheap plywood and fiberglass insulation quickly blocking the only exit.

Satsuki's elbow was caught in a spring, the sharp metal tearing into her flesh whenever she tried to pull free. Satsuki gasped as she arched her back repeatedly, struggling to force Ryuko off of her body by pressing into her with her chest. The motion roused Ryuko, and she slowly began to come to. Too slowly.

"Ryuko! Ryuko!" Satsuki called Ryuko's name, abandoning her attempt to escape without Nui noticing. Nui stared at her with a fascinated expression, turning away from the door to circle her again.

Fuck.

Satsuki bit her lip and prepared to rip her tendons out of her arm to escape. She had never been presented with the opportunity to mutilate herself for her freedom before, but she had always told herself she would do it, if necessary. Satsuki tested the spring again, just in case it decided to release her. It did not, so she took a deep breath and…

"Satsuki," a warm hand wrapped around her wrist, and Satsuki realized Mako had wormed herself under the couch before they arrived. She didn't know if she had hidden or if Nui had chased her there, but regardless, she was there. Satsuki felt a flood of relief, followed immediately by the stress of having another person to protect. She dearly hoped Nui didn't know where Mako was.

Satsuki continued to control her facial expressions, feigning subsuming interest in Nui's slow stalk. Every once in a while, Nui reached out to snip something in half-a lamp, a chair, a portrait of Mako's parents. It would have been funny under different circumstances, watching Nui walk around the room snipping furniture in half with a pair of comically large scissors. Without moving any other parts of her body, Satsuki pressed a single finger into Mako's palm and dragged out large, deliberate letters.

S-H-H

Mako squeezed her hand, and Satsuki hoped that meant she understood. Ryuko was moving again, and, suddenly, she shook herself free of whatever stupor she had fallen into. Ryuko sat up in Satsuki's lap with just enough time to look her in the eyes before she was forced forward by a blow to the back of the neck. Nui had opened the scissors almost as wide as they would go and jammed the knot where the blades connected into the back of Ryuko's head. Gleefully, she forced the blades into the back of the couch so both Ryuko and Satsuki were pinned by their necks against the furniture. Sighing dramatically, Nui perched on the couch next to them as if to make small talk at a brunch get-together.

Nui went to wrap her arm around Satsuki's shoulders, realized Satsuki's shoulders were inside the couch, and settled for idly stroking her hair. Satsuki's head was craned away from Nui, forced to the side by Ryuko's face pressed against hers, so she allowed herself to bare her teeth at the contact.

"Girls, I've had a wonderful time with you today," Nui sighed, twirling a piece of Satsuki's hair up against Ryuko's cheek, "But I can't help feeling like I've interrupted something between the two of you." Nui leaned in and rubbed her face against both of theirs, nuzzling Ryuko's cheek and pausing to leave a hickey at the base of Satsuki's neck. Using the moment of distraction, Satsuki frantically pinched the back of Mako's hand, desperate to get her instruction across.

"Get your filthy mouth off of me!" Satsuki shouted, thrashing to make the couch groan as much as possible to conceal the sound of Mako forcing open the spring that held her arm. Nui blinked, frowning.

"Kiki? Just because you found a new girl doesn't mean all our time together means nothing!" Nui grabbed them both by the hair on the napes of their necks, and Ryuko screamed as Nui craned her head backwards. "Don't worry, I know how it is, new love. When you first start you just can't keep your hands off each other!" Still holding them both, Nui lowered herself so her eye was level with their mouths, watching intently. "Let me see."

Ryuko shook her head, growling and desperate to be free from Nui's iron grip, but she could not escape as Nui forced her mouth against Satsuki's. Ryuko figured she would rather die than be forced to smooch for Nui's amusement, but she quickly became overwhelmed as Satsuki kissed her passionately. Satsuki pressed a few tender kisses to the corner of Ryuko's mouth to soothe her, then immediately pressed her tongue into her mouth. Ryuko gasped, surprised, but returned the attention tentatively. She wanted to fall into Satsuki, let herself go completely and enjoy the feeling of her lips and gently swirl her tongue around Satsuki's, but Nui's exclamations were… a bit much.

Shortly, Nui's coos and sighs turned Ryuko off. WAY way off. Ryuko started to squirm, but the grip in her hair only tightened as Nui's bulging eye inched closer and closer. Ryuko tried to close her eyes and enjoy herself—Satsuki continued to mack on, totally unfazed—but Nui was one inch away from her face and she felt like all she could breathe in was Nui's panting air. Ryuko started to resent Satsuki for trapping her in this never-ending lip lock.

God, Satsuki. Fuck.

Ryuko struggled to gather her legs beneath her, her knees crooked at awkward angles in the soggy softness of the ruined couch. She managed to press a foot to an arm of the couch, and pushed. She felt the armrest start to tear away as her thigh trembled with effort. Just as Ryuko took an inch of space back from Nui's hand and went to pull away, Satsuki's eyes shot open. Satsuki's eyes took hers as urgently as if she had grabbed her hand, then softened into a lazy, heated gaze. Ryuko paused from tearing herself away just long enough for Satsuki to gently grasp Ryuko's lower lip between her teeth. She gasped as Satsuki's teeth rolled over the tender skin beneath her lip.

Ryuko could not tear her eyes away from Satsuki's, but she could feel Nui's eye dilate. Satsuki finally turned her eyes to Nui, and Ryuko felt the broken connection like a sudden rush of cold air.

Satsuki fixed Nui with that same tenderness she had just bestowed upon Ryuko. Like Ryuko, Nui paused, transfixed. Satsuki's grip on Ryuko's lip suddenly shifted from soft to businesslike. Satsuki tossed her chin back, forcing Ryuko's head back with a sharp tug of her lip. Ryuko screamed, pushing harder against the couch, and their faces finally came apart. The air felt freezing against Ryuko's burning cheek as her skin pulled away from Satsuki's.

Something black and sharp stabbed past Ryuko's face, startling her into throwing her head back even further. A hot, wet spray erupted against her face and neck, soaking her hair and filling her ear. Nui and Ryuko screamed at the same time, Ryuko finally forcing the scissors out of the couch and tumbling to the floor.

Nui's shriek rose to a frenzied pitch as she clawed at her one remaining eye. The white handle of a black blade jutted from her skull, blood dripping from the tip of the hilt like a bloody nose. Nui ripped the knife free and immediately rocketed it back towards Satsuki, but her aim was sloppy, and Satsuki batted it out of the air like a bear.

Satsuki shook herself free of the couch and advanced on Nui without an instant of hesitation. She wrapped her hands around Nui's neck and squeezed so hard the tendons in her forearms stood out like hot iron rods. Nui choked desperately, but still sounded somewhat sarcastic, so Satsuki squeezed harder and harder until her fingers bruised black.

Ryuko surely would have been fixated by Satsuki's roiling muscles had she been paying any attention. She held the joined scissors before her face, but her violently shaking hands quickly shuddered the blades apart. The two blades-once again obviously different colors-clattered to the cheap carpet as Ryuko's arms went limp.

That's my father's scissor blade.

Her eyes flicked over to Nui, whose face was in the middle of transitioning from purple to black, and grit her teeth until she tasted blood. A flood of blistering emotion filled Ryuko, washing away any words and replacing them with a dull roar.

"You BITCH!"

She staggered to her feet, her hand somehow finding her half of the scissors. Ryuko launched at Nui, body slamming both her and Satsuki to the floor. Satsuki's grip on Nui's throat loosened, and Ryuko just caught the garbled foreign phrase that Satsuki had so desperately tried to keep inside Nui.

"Mon-Mignon Prêt-à-Porter"

"Fuck," Satsuki said, reaching out to grab Ryuko and pull her to her chest. But it was too late, and they were forcibly separated by a sudden crush of bodies. It was like someone shook up and suddenly uncorked a carbonated bottle of mosh pit. Ryuko bounced against Mako's table twice before being forced against the kitchen window, every inch of her skin touching some part of Nui's multiple bodies, crushed against that freezing papery flesh. Ryuko screamed and screamed, her rage turning from panic to fear back to rage.

The house screamed along with Ryuko, the ruined building suddenly filled to the bursting. Ryuko gasped as she felt the wall beneath her crumble, and the crushing force of a thousand Nui's rolled her into the street.

Ryuko never let go of her scissor blade. It seemed to grow in her hand, feeding on her furious fixation. The second she rolled to her feet, she brought the blade down in a sweeping red arc, screaming one word:

"BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH"