Chapter 2: I Certainly Didn't See That Coming!
It's been a week, and what a week indeed. It's felt like months, but only a mere seven days have passed since I arrived at Honnouji Academy, thrust into a veritable tornado of emotion and experience like none I had ever felt. Within half a day of arriving, I had found myself a girlfriend, one whose hand was entwined with my own as we made our way home after another day at that peculiar fortress that was our school.
Ryuko Matoi. The source of most of my confusion, the girl next to me caused flutters in my stomach no matter how twisted her scowl of the moment was, and when she smiled – wow. The weirdest part about our companionship was the suddenness of it. Before meeting Ryuko, I had never had any contact with a female outside of a handshake here and there as I travelled. Even when the females in question tried to initiate something with me, I was never interested.
Why then, was I so enamored with Miss Matoi? From that first experience in the bathroom, I knew for certain that she was somehow important to me, but I wasn't sure how. Did I know her before I lost my memories? If so, why doesn't she remember me? Moreover, why is it that we aren't the only ones who get along so well, our Kamuis do as well? They even have the same general color scheme!
Whatever, I thought, brushing off my perplexed mood. I'll figure out the answers at some point. What matters is that I'm happy, something new for once. I had always been content with my quiet way of life, but I had never experienced the joys of a human companion, not that I begrudged Kurai with any blame. It certainly wasn't his fault we found each other bound together when I awoke, and he had as little memory as I did.
"So," I spoke, a wry smirk on my face, "Ready for another spar where I kick your ass, Ryuko?" In the short time we had been together, the two of us had decided to hone our skills against each other without the benefits of our Kamui transformations – though this was mainly done to avoid destroying too much of the slums – and up to this point I had only lost once in the first battle. I had underestimated my girlfriend's fighting capabilities and ingenuity and very nearly caught a nasty scar from the event.
At least, I hoped it was a scar. I seemed to heal unnaturally fast from wounds that would be deadly on a normal person. As handy as that is, scars are awesome and remind you of memories. Come to think of it, why didn't the scar on my hand go away as time progressed? Ryuko's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "You wish, Isa. One of these times I'll get you, and then where will you be?" I barked out a laugh.
"Probably at your side, of course. I'd much rather be your equal than your superior, and truth be told, the only reason I beat you so often is my tendency to avoid damage whenever I can while you seem to enjoy taking hits. Have a fetish or something, dear?" Ryuko choked at my seemingly innocent question and used our hands to beat me, even as I laughed hysterically.
"Oi, Mako, help me out here! Ryuko's going bat-shit on me again!" I managed to get out, directing my statement to our mutual friend. Mako looked at us, smiled as usual, and waved to me in a clear gesture that said she wouldn't be helping me get out of my own mess. I sighed mentally and braced myself.
Suddenly, at least for Ryuko, I fought against her next hit and drew her in close, smoothly kissing her on the cheek and then falling over when she stomped on my foot. "Ow, what the hell was that for?! I thought that was well executed!"
Ryuko grinned at my pain and sweetly replied. "It was, dear. You just left yourself open is all." I groaned and picked myself up, reaching out with my hand again. When Ryuko made no move to fill it with hers, I grumbled a bit and put it in my pocket, slouching forward slightly and kicking pebbles along the path to Mako's house. I knew I deserved it, but that didn't exempt me from some good-natured pouting.
After what seemed like an eternity, we arrived at the house, proceeding like normal up to the evening, where things got a little interesting. As they usually did, the males of the Mankanshoku family attempted to peek at Ryuko as she was changing out of Senketsu to get into the bath, or into pajamas, leaving me to beat them up for her. One of these days I had the feeling I'd have to really threaten them, but I suspected that day would be a long time coming since they had toned it down in the wake of our announcement.
Once we were all in bed for the night, I laid my hands behind my head and stared at the ceiling, frowning severely as the questions burning in my mind made themselves known again. "What am I?" I asked under my breath. "I know my name, and I certainly feel human, but I have a weird feeling about all this…"
As I silently reflected on the past week, I felt a presence snuggle in next to me. Startled, I glanced over and smiled warmly at the adorable sight of a sleepy Ryuko. "What's up?" I inquired, grabbing her hand in one of my own. "Nightmares again?" She nodded, and my grin faltered a bit. Over the past week, we had found solace in the other's bed on occasion, both of us having nightmares of what was to come or what had long since passed.
"Come here, then," I nearly cooed, dragging her closer to me and under the thin sheet that served as my blanket. "I love holding you, and sleeping next to you always keeps the pain away." My girlfriend hummed in contentment and snuggled into my side, falling right back asleep without another word. Looking up at Kurai and Sen, both of whom were hung across from our beds, I was treated to the peculiar sight of two Kamuis winking at me. I snorted slightly, careful not to disturb the sleeping Matoi and leaning my head against hers as I too drifted off to sleep.
(((…***…***…***…)))
A blaring alarm woke us from our slumber, and Mako was on top of us in an instant, pulling us both out of bed with supernatural strength. "Get up, get up, oh god, we're so going to be late, and this is the worst day to be late…" and so on and so on. Looking to where our outfits usually hung, however, we were shocked to find neither of them there.
"Uhh… Mako?" I stopped her tirade mid-way through, causing the over-excited female to blink at me owlishly. "Where are Kurai and Sen?" Her mouth made a comical 'o' of realization, and she led us to her mother, who was washing the garments, both of whom were screaming in pain from the process.
Groaning, I turned to Ryuko. "Looks like we'll be without our Kamuis for a bit. It's a good thing that we've been training without them, right? Then again, I suppose it's also pretty good that way since I've bulked up a bit. Going out in public without a shirt would normally bother me, but now I'm confident enough in my appearance…" I trailed off at the thunderous glare afforded me by Ryuko.
"Don't worry, you two, I'll have these to you soon enough. In the meantime, you ought to go, it's No-Late Day after all." Sukuyo reassured the pair of us, though I supposed it was more for Ryuko's benefit than mine.
"Oh! I almost forgot to panic! Come on Ryuko, Rou, we can't be late today or else we get expelled from Honnouji!" I frowned at the backwards logic before shrugging. Well, I tried to shrug anyways, but Mako had grabbed the two of us and was already out the door. Soon enough we were being carried on the backs of a hundred students, Ryuko riding the case for her scissor blade while I just dealt with it the best I could since I didn't have anything quite as stable as that.
Luckily, as we were leaving, I had managed to don my blades in an alternate fashion, having one over each shoulder instead of horizontally over my back. Without Kurai, it was more comfortable this way, and I had no real reason to try and keep the things hidden in any case. All of a sudden, however, a massive battering ram-like device burst through a row of slums, topped by the Disciplinary Committee Chair Ira Gamagoori.
Spotting us, the hulk of a man beckoned us to the top of his tower. I glanced at Ryuko, who shrugged, and followed her up, Mako on my back. "How's it shaking, Gamagoori?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at his traditionally stiff posture and facial expression, which soon reformed into righteous anger at our state of dress.
"I'll have you know that it is 'shaking' quite well, Mr. Isa. Now, why are you wearing such an absurd form of dress?! You too, Matoi!" I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose as Mako went on the usual epic rant on how we'd have our uniforms soon enough, that they were being washed and ironed, and something about making the large man wear pajamas to bed to avoid catching cold.
"A-Alright, Mankanshoku, I'll keep that in mind," Gamagoori stroked his chin thoughtfully before shaking himself out of the stupor he was in to address the rest of the cowering students below us. "Welcome to No-Late Day, students of Honnouji Academy. One day out of the year, if a student fails to arrive at their homeroom before 8:30 AM, they are summarily expelled from the Academy!"
"This year, the Disciplinary Committee has made sure to increase the difficulty of the Gauntlet to accommodate the two Kamui users as well as challenge the rest of your strength! Good luck, and may you reach the school on time!" I groaned as a flurry of mechanical activity signaled the arrival of the most gruesome obstacle course I had ever seen. It went in loops and everything.
"I certainly didn't see that coming!" Mako exclaimed, and I pounded my head against the proverbial keyboard at the blatant use of the chapter name, cursing the author of my existence. During this time, Gamagoori monologued a bit more, and Ryuko argued with him some more, and then we were set upon the deadly course as the Chair seemed to fly away from us on some other mechanical contraption.
"Alright then, Mako, Ryuko," I smirked, cockiness flooding my frame. "Ready to go all Captain Britain on this bullshit?" the two looked at each other in confusion as I cracked my knuckles and we proceeded through the first obstacle.
"Who the hell is Captain Britain?!" Ryuko asked me, voice ripe with her usual angry determination. I laughed arrogantly.
"Only my favorite superhero ever! He gets more and more powerful as his arrogance grows! He's a total jerk, but he has to be in order to be awesome!" My compatriots didn't find this nearly as funny, but I still laughed at the memories of the few comic books I had come across in my travels. (A/N: Promise this is the only one of these in-story A/Ns. Captain Britain is actually in the Marvel universe, and he's a hilarious character. Look him up.)
"Oh. Alright. That makes total sense. Remind me why I'm dating you again?" It appears that my endless sarcasm has rubbed off on Ryuko. Emphasis on the endless, because not really. She is rather good at the art, though. Not that this has any bearing on the current situation.
"Because I'm such a handsome son of a bitch, clearly. Although, I don't really know my parents. Whatever, let's just go. We're burning the morning away here!" The bitterness in my tone was overlooked by my friends, though Ryuko slugged my shoulder in what I supposed was meant as a show of comfort, but instead hurt like hell. My girlfriend had quite the arm.
In due time we had passed the first objective and found ourselves at a checkpoint. "1 out of 999…" I read on the side next to the peon guards. "Really? In four measly hours? Sounds like a challenge to me." I shrugged, throwing an arm over the shoulders of Ryuko and Mako. "Ready to go, ladies? We seem to have a long road ahead of us. Oh, and Gamagoori, don't bother monologuing, it'd only waste more of our time."
The Disciplinary Chair tried to protest, but we had already progressed past him to a set of stairs with no supports that led to the next challenge. However, before we could get much further, a girl with her arm wrapped in a cast made a dramatic show of falling down in pain, and I frowned at the poor acting. It was clear to me this girl wasn't injured at all, and I had a sneaking suspicion this was just another trap, though I supposed that I would be overruled by Ryuko and Mako.
I was right. After an admittedly good suck-up-fest, the girl, now identified as Maiko Ōgure, charmed her way into my companions' hearts while I slammed my head against the nearest hard surface in the background. Soon enough, though, we were well on our way through the course, with a few hiccups in between.
Numerous times, I had noticed that the Mankanshokus were attempting to bring us our uniforms, but every time they got close, they would crash from sudden nosebleed syndrome when Maiko 'accidentally' exposed my girlfriend's underwear. Every time it happened, I found myself quite annoyed, but consoled myself that the people around me saw much more of her when she was transformed. Then again, this was her underwear, and I somehow felt it was different.
After a bit more time had passed, we had only reached the bottom of the one-star living space. Seeing that we had so much more ground left, with so little time, the four of us had the bright idea of hijacking a bus full of one-stars to get the rest of the way up. Unfortunately, what we didn't account for was the gun-laden residents sent to stop us. Really?! I thought to myself as the bus we were in was peppered with bullets. Guns?! Do we ever get a break?!
Suddenly, Maiko hit a button on the bus's console that caused a massive minigun to spiral out of the floor, one which Mako was currently holding on to for dear life. Unsurprisingly, the girl pulled the trigger, spinning wildly and decimating the enemy forces around us. After a pretty large bump, however, the gun was forcibly brought down – the catch: Mako was still holding the trigger. I sighed as the assault now came from inside the old vehicle, cursing this stupid school once again.
While in the process of cursing Mikisugi, since I had run out of other things to complain about, I heard a damning call of "RPGs!" from one of the girls. And so, we found ourselves in the air, hurtling at quite a high speed toward the school itself. Once we had landed, I looked around before exiting the bus. Apparently we had lost the roof at some point and I hadn't noticed in my swear-fest.
Turning about towards the school entrance, I saw the last remaining member of the Mankanshoku family, the dog – of course it had to be the bloody dog – running at us with our Kamuis in its mouth. I met it midway and instantly pulled on Kurai, marveling at how comfortable he was after being stuck without him for so long. When I turned back to Ryuko, Mako, and Maiko, though, Maiko had stolen Senketsu from my girlfriend while Guts was bumbling about and had revealed that she was the Head of the Trap Development for the Disciplinary Committee.
"Of bloody course she is," I grumbled as she activated her last trap card, causing a massive slab of stone to stand on an impossible track and start speeding down to the bottom of the school. Of course, since I had run out of the way long ago, all I could do was watch as the three sped by me, Maiko having switched into Senketsu and transforming. I groaned, slamming my head into the wall repeatedly before glancing at the sun and blanching.
I could only hope that Ryuko would find her way to class somehow, seeing as I didn't really have a way to reach her. At least, that's what Kurai told me in his usual annoyingly logical tone. Though I was still wracked with worry for my significant other and her best friend, I tried to shrug it off the best I could and made my way to my seat in homeroom.
With five minutes left, a sudden sense of foreboding creeped its way into my mind, but I brushed it off, knowing that any moment Ryuko and Mako would burst through the door. With two minutes left, the feeling had grown ever stronger, and I glanced towards the window. The sight that greeted me had me at the front of the room and pressed up against the door faster than light. Mikisugi looked at me curiously, but I led his eyes out to the outside world.
My teacher – as dodgy as he was – understood my urgency and soon had joined me at the door. The rest of the students, still too exhausted from the morning's festivities, didn't bother to look, and I could only hope there were no fatalities if what I thought was going to happen actually happened. "So, teach," I laughed nervously. "Since I've got you here, wanna tell me how I can get to you out of class? I have some questions you might be able to answer, since I'm pretty sure you were connected to Mr. Matoi."
"W-What?! How did you – !" Whatever response that Mikisugi was about to give me, it was cut off when the wall facing outside imploded with the impact of a cable car, a cable car that Ryuko and Mako climbed out of, the former looking pretty exhausted while the latter seemed pretty exuberant from the ride. Well, at least I nailed our dear teacher with my suspicions.
Seeing that Ryuko was about to fall over, I moved to her side with quite the speed, supporting her with my arm until she could collapse into her seat. "30 seconds left, girl. Cutting it close, aren't you?" I asked, a wry grin on my face. Too tired to reply to me, Ryuko simply flipped me off, and I laughed hysterically. This was going to be a long day for her.
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After school, Mikisugi had predictably disappeared again, though he at least told me that Ryuko knew where to find him. Throwing my hands in the air, and after waking up my girlfriend, I told her I needed to see the Teach at his place, wherever that was. Since Ryuko had apparently slept through the day, she was a lot less lethargic when the final bell sounded, and agreed to lead me to the man's apartment.
Needless to say, it didn't take long to get to our destination, a seedy part of the slums – then again, in this town every part of the slums was shady. A decrepit apartment building overlooked a good portion of the entryways to Honnouji, and I rightly figured Mikisugi was in there somewhere. "You sure you want to go in alone?" Ryuko asked me after pointing out the window into our teacher's room.
"Yeah," I sighed wearily. "I'd love to bring you, but this feels like something I have to do on my own." My mind flooded with the memories I had of a younger Ryuko. Distracted, I almost didn't notice her turn to leave, but I stopped her. "Look, I'll see you at home in a couple hours, alright?" I said, kissing her full on the lips for a second before entering the building, looking back just once. The look of surprise on her face as she held a finger to her lips caused me to blush slightly when I realized what I had done.
"So, Kurai, ready to finally get some answers?"
"Of course I am, Rou. Of course I am." My Kamui seemed just as distracted as I was, and I played with the button on the jacket of the suit idly, still lost in thought as I made my way to the door corresponding to the window from outside. When I reached it, I didn't bother knocking, choosing to just head straight in.
"Who is it?" I heard the voice come from around a massive pile of papers and Mikisugi ducked his head around the corner to see me. "Oh, it's you. Come in, come in." Shrugging, I followed the narrow path between stacks of dead tree to find a somewhat-open space with a ratty couch and a crotchety old desk. Perched on one end of the couch was my homeroom teacher.
"Alright then, Mr. Isa, so what would you like to ask? Now that you've sniffed out my identity, anyway." Mikisugi made a flourish of pushing his trademark glasses off his head, revealing a whole different person. I raised an eyebrow as he began unbuttoning his shirt.
"Is that really necessary?" I asked sarcastically as his pants also dropped to the floor, leaving him pretty much starkers. "Looking like that in front of your student makes me wonder if you're a pedophile or just a nudist…" His eyes widened in a weird combination of resentment and shock.
"How did you know I was a part of Nudist Beach?!" he demanded, and I lamented that there was nothing hard around to bang my head against, sitting on a couch as I was.
"I didn't, but I've heard some rumors of a rebel organization against clothing in general. Having known how fucked up this town is, I wouldn't be surprised at how plain a name like 'Nudist Beach' is for a revolutionary army. That isn't what I'm here about, though."
"What are you here about, then?" the nude man asked me, suddenly serious even after finding out I had 'sniffed out his identity.'
I took a deep breath to pull my thoughts into order before responding. "Do you know who I am?" my voice trembled a bit toward the end. Mikisugi sighed and made to respond, but I interrupted him. "I understand you may not be able to tell me everything, being an important figure in your organization and everything, but I don't understand this." Taking off my glove and showing him the scar, I continued. "When Ryuko traced this with her finger, I remembered my full name. I also have memories of the girl from a younger age, but I don't know why, and she doesn't remember ever having met me!"
"Speaking of that, why is it that the two of us get along as well as we do? Kurai and Sen seemed to know it was going to happen, but within twelve hours of meeting each other in living memory, we were a couple! That doesn't happen to normal people, let alone girls with dark pasts and guys who can't remember a thing of his life before waking up. It's so confusing, and I don't want it to end, but I have a bad feeling that this is all some sick experiment! Can you give me any of those answers?!" I was yelling at the end. After I finished, I let my head sink into my hands wearily.
"Who am I, Aikurō? What am I?" My voice was now low, and I knew that this outburst was the sole reason I hadn't brought Ryuko with me. She would start to worry, and then things would get worse. Then again, weren't they already worse?
Mikisugi sighed, and got up from his side of the couch, sitting across from me on the desk instead. "You were right when you said I wouldn't be able to tell you everything, Rou," he started. "I don't even know everything. Only Isshin knows that, and he's dead. But I can tell you some, and if you can prove you're trustworthy of the rest of the information I can give that to you as well." I looked up, hope in my eyes at the very thought of learning more about myself.
"Alright, that's that. Here's what I know. Kuraiketsu wasn't always yours. He was created in secret by Isshin Matoi, specifically for someone else, but then something forced his hand and he had to give it to you," I nodded, having expected this much. "Pay attention, this is where it gets messy. You were created by Revocs 18 years ago. I couldn't tell you how or why, but you ended up with Isshin in his lab."
"W-What?" I asked, incredulous at the story unfolding in front of me. Mikisugi ignored me.
"After a few years, Isshin made you a room in the attic of the house from which you could watch Ryuko growing up. Again, I couldn't tell you the first thing about how or why he managed to do this. I'm only going off what he told me himself, knowing I would have to tell you. Ryuko doesn't remember you because to her, you never existed, even though you lived above her nearly your entire life."
"There's more. From what I've been able to gather, you aren't entirely human, which is why you can perform the unprecedented act of communicating with a Kamui. I don't know how else your DNA has been altered, but it seems you may be able to heal from deadly wounds at an alarming rate."
Silence filled the room when the revelations stopped. My mind was a mess, and I was pretty much catatonic as I tried to process what I had learned, though I failed quite spectacularly. "I – I've got to go," I said finally, ignoring my teacher's cries for me to wait – and Kurai's for that matter – as I stumbled out of the apartment building towards the house I now called home.
It took an eternity to reach the clinic, and I fell through the doorframe, eyes wide and unseeing as the numbers added up again and again, though I tried desperately to ignore it, to wish it weren't true. Mindless, I heard Kurai shouting for Ryuko and Sen as if from a great distance, and I curled into a ball on the floor, tears streaming down my face as I denied everything.
Why did I have to ask? I thought desperately. Why did I want to know? Now that I do – how can I face anyone, knowing I'm not even human?! I wasn't able to shake off the questions this time, and I didn't feel it as I was lifted into someone's arms and taken to my bed. I couldn't sleep, though, not until I felt something warm press into my back. Relaxing slowly, my eyes closed on their own and I fell into a troubled slumber filled with more answers than questions, and what they could possibly mean.
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When I woke up in the morning, I waited a bit to get a bearing on my surroundings. I was in my bed, and there was a body cuddling me from behind. I felt for the hands that were around my waist to find that they were Ryuko's. Once I had identified my surprise guest, I relaxed the tense form I had developed and tried to get a handle on what had been revealed to me the previous evening now I was lucid.
The one thought running through my head after I finished – what should I tell Ryuko? Rather, how much should she know? I felt inclined to reveal all of it, but then a ghostly Mikisugi floated through my mind and warned me against it. I asked why, and his form morphed into my own, this one with a cruel smirk. It told me that if I told her, she would forsake me, and I grew very fearful, tensing enough that the girl in question woke up.
Shushing me, Ryuko misinterpreted my tension for wariness, and she reassured me it was her. Inside, I violently pushed away the apparition of myself, my logic finally kicking in as I realized it would only be worse later if I didn't tell her now. Relaxing in my girlfriend's arms, I turned my body around to look her in the eyes. "I have a lot to tell you," I murmured.
"Is it about last night? I was pretty worried, you know, thought you had been attacked or something when Kurai yelled and you didn't respond to anything I did." My lack of response stopped her humor in its tracks.
"Y-Yes. It does. C-Could you promise me something first?" I asked, a deep anxiety settling into my bones as I tightened my own hold on her.
"Anything," she whispered, and I sighed to try to relieve some of the pressure.
"C-Could you promise not to leave me after I tell you? I'm so afraid that you'll hear what I have to say and I couldn't bear it if you left. I just – please promise to stay. Mako can tell them we got sick or something." I was babbling, and Ryuko's gaze hardened before softening slightly to let me know she wasn't angry with me.
"She already has, Rou. It's well into lunchtime by now, I'll have you know. I promise, though I don't know why you would ever think I would leave you…" I drew in a shaky breath and hugged her, flipping our bodies so she lay on my chest. I couldn't bring myself to look her in the eyes as I told her my story.
After I was finished, I closed my eyes and waited for the warmth to leave me. When it did, I whimpered, but it didn't return, and I shut my eyes tighter as tears threatened to leak out. "Please come back," I squeaked out pathetically, broken by what I assumed was rejection. However, just as I started hyperventilating, Ryuko returned and hugged me tighter than I thought possible.
"You're a fool if you thought I was going to be gone more than a moment. I had to go take care of a couple things, that's all." It took what felt like an hour to recover from my panic attack, and my breathing eventually slowed as I opened my mouth to speak again. Unfortunately – fortunately? – Ryuko's mouth covered mine before I could respond, instantly bringing her usual passion to the table.
When we separated, I couldn't really remember why I was worried. All that remained was my girlfriend's unique taste on my lips and a buzzing in my mind had since associated with adrenaline borne of pleasure. Before I could fully regain my mental faculties, the mouth returned for another, shorter bout before I found myself able to open my eyes again to the beautiful sight of a smirking Ryuko, cheeks red from her actions.
"Why is it," I began to ask, "That every time we do this, I end up on the bottom and you end up both straddling me and initiating it?" My usual sarcasm was back, and I smiled faintly.
"It must be because you're a handsome son of a bitch," Ryuko responded, just as sarcastically, kissing me again. I grinned and let out a little laugh.
"I'll be right back," she said, standing again and leaving the room. Now I had something new to worry about. What the hell was that for? We had known each other a week – well, more than that if Mikisugi was to be believed – and in that week we had met, become friends, fought together a lot, fought with other people a lot, started dating, and slept in each other's arms – the last one more than once.
"What the hell?" I asked the empty air, shocked when a pair of voices actually responded to me.
"Dammit Rou, how come you get so lucky?!" Kurai complained, while Sen had the same response I did, except a bit more pronounced. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"
I laughed harder at the reactions. It felt like nothing could ruin my mood as it was after all that shit. What a rollercoaster of emotion. I certainly didn't see that coming!