Kill La College

by wellthizizdeprezzing

Whelp this is my first fanfic ever and I know this show came out two years ago but what can I say, it's so good and I just found it now. Anyways enjoy Kill la Kill college style, with more badassery and deception than ever before. Plot: Ryuko gets an all expanse paid ride to college. The only problem? Its president is a girl named Satsuki who is hell bent on making Ryuko suffer.

23. Chapter 23

Kill la College

Chapter Twenty Three

It all Started with Satsuki-fucking-Kiryuin

A/N: Woo, can't believe this. Only two more chapters to go until the end of the series. I hope I can fit everything in them, because I have no desire to write over a hundred pages like I did for the last chapter. This story has been dragging on for almost a year now and I'm hoping to end it by March, which is the same month that I first posted the series. There's no real reason for my wanting to end it in March, except for the fact that it would give me motivation to finish on time and it would just make an even year by then that I had written the fic. I hope you guys will stick with me to the end of the ride. :)

And the music is back now. Everything can be found on Youtube. Here's a list to enjoy:

Panic Music 2- Fesliyan Studios

Horror Theme Piano 4

Eau de Vie- Shiki OST

See Through- Book of Circus OST

Yami Ou- XXXholic OST

Dark Urgent Music, Unwanted Attention- ErikMMusic

Empty Reflections- ErikMMusic

Zombie Game Music Reborn Main Menu- ErikMMusic

Eerie Ambient Music, The Mystery Unravels- ErikMMusic

Layer of Fear OST Track 2

Alex Barry- Reminiscing

There's Still Magic- Lucas King

Panic Music 1- Fesliyan Studios

Hurt- Lucas King

Horror Theme 6

Pendulum Shiki OST

---

Inumuta was not one who easily worried, but when Satsuki hadn't picked up his 34th phone call, had completely disappeared off the grid of his GPS that he used to keep tabs on all his friends, and was not accounted for with being with anyone their acquaintances or her sister, he could readily admit he was distressed. He hadn't been this worried for her since the Grand Battle and that had been three years ago when she was in a critical condition.

But he wasn't the only one who was disquieted. Ira was trying to kill himself for letting down Satsuki, calling himself a failure of a security guard. Uzu was busy trying to stop him, Aikuro had started stress stripping, Iori had started wringing his hands incessantly, Ryuko had broken three chairs already and a couple of windows, and Nonon had gnawed through several pairs of batons in stress which was better than what she had done before. Which was grab Inumuta by the front of his shirt, feet digging into his stomach as she shouted obscenities in his face until Iori peeled her off of him and sat her down.

Really, no one had a calm enough head to deal with this. Usually Satsuki had been the cool and rational one and they just left all the deliberating up to her. But with her gone, they were lost.

(Start Panic Music 2)"Houka, do something!" Nonon had demanded for the umpteenth time. "Use your thousands of cameras to find her!" Houka had been the first one to notice that the lady was missing and he had immediately alerted the elite four, Aikuro, and her sister because this was highly irregular for her. He had attached GPS tracking devices to all his friends without them knowing (it was for their own good really, not that he was a creep) and when her mark had disappeared on his map he feared the worst had happened, and that fear was only magnified when she didn't pick up her phone or respond through any other form of social media to him. The elite and others had all arrived in minutes, yet their presence had not been as helpful as Inumuta had hoped it would be.

"Nonon I already explained this to you. I cannot find her. She's gone, as she's disappeared off the radar." This was true. After her signal had disappeared he had searched the camera's around the building she was last at, yet they showed nothing suspicious, the raindrops on them covering most of their field of visibility. Was it possible she had seen the tracking device and taken it out? If it was Satsuki though, she probably knew a long time ago that Houka was tracking her and would have taken the device off then and not now. This was most perplexing. (1:00)

"Well, then put her back on the radar!" Nonon sputtered childishly, stomping the floor and pointing her finger into his stomach. He had explained this GPS concept to the others but they didn't fully understand how it worked, proving it pretty much pointless for him having explained it in the first place. He sighed and rubbed his brows. He was already freaking out internally. He didn't need any of the others panic rubbing off on him. But he didn't know how to get them together and working to solve this conundrum.

"Guys, we need to calm down," Aikuro said as Iori draped a lab coat over the man to make him more decent. He had thrown his clothes somewhere out the window Ryuko broke so there was no way of getting them now.

"And why should we listen to you?" Nonon spat back, raising another one of her chewed up batons in his direction. She was an anxious mess and had immediately insisted they be out there searching and scourging the city for the lady but Iori had placated her by saying no good would come of acting irrationally. That they should figure out what was happening before overreacting and rushing to action, an action that might not be needed. Houka was grateful that Iori was able to somewhat help out even if he did whine and fret more than he provided helpful words to the others. But he had gotten Nonon under control so far so that was good. "Satsuki could be out there in danger or something. We have every right to freak out!"

"You need to be calm and listen to me because none of you numskulls have lead a large group of people besides Satsuki and me. And since Satsuki's not here, you'll be leaving me in charge." Aikuro crossed his arms over his chest, looking commanding and serious. Inumuta let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness someone had taken charge. He wasn't meant for that; he was more comfortable working behind the scenes. (1:49)

"Also, I have glowing nipples so your complaint is invalid!" Aikuro proudly lowered the shoulders of his lab coat down to reveal two flashing pink nipples. Their glow was so bright that everyone had to shield their eyes momentarily until the glow died down. Whelp, so much for having a responsible leader. Inumuta sighed and shook his head in exasperation. Had his friends always been this useless and stupid? Had Satsuki's brilliance in intellect and in her ability to unite them, hidden this glaring truth?

"Where did you get those stupid things?" Ryuko asked, surprised that she was surprised by the flamboyant mans antics. She should be used to this by now, knowing him for as long as she did. Yet here he was, doing something even more ridiculous than usual and in such a random situation.

"I got lights implanted into my nips for photo shoots. It helps with selling ads," Aikuro proudly stated covering them up so that everyone could see again.

"I'm so not letting a perv like you be the leader!" Nonon shouted out, pissed off that the man could act like this in such an important and severe situation.

"While I do not...approve of Aikuro's glowing nipples or his methods of expressing his emotions through removal of clothing, I do think we should let him lead," Ira admitted and the pinkette snapped her head up so sharply at him Ryuko swore the girl had to hurt her neck. Ira had stopped trying to cut open his guts and was now sane enough to join the conversation, Uzu by his side.

"Remember how Nudist Beach used to be a pain in the ass back in our university days?" Uzu added, glancing at the pink haired girl.

"But that was back then. So many things have changed. Besides we're not attacking something. We're on a mystery solving quest, rescue mission if anything," the girl argued, miffed that her friends were not taking her side but the perverts. (2:45)

"Jakuzure, I'd like to add something if I may," Inumuta spoke up, hesitant, but not from fear of going against the girl.

"Only if you're on my side, dog. Other than that you better shut it." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'd only like to offer this piece of information that Satsuki divulged to me. Three years ago, back when the company was still young Satsuki entrusted me with the task of hunting down someone that was considered a threat to us and to our future." Inumuta decided now would be a good time to let the others know. What if this was the reason for Satsuki's disappearance? Then he could never forgive himself if he did not tell them. And if this wasn't the reason then he would apologize profusely for spilling the secrets Satsuki had trusted him with.

(3:15)"Who?" Iori asked, shaking visibly as if he already suspected the answer. (End song) (Start Horror Piano Theme 4)

"Nui." Inumuta said the word bitterly.

"You were hunting down Nui?" Uzu blurted out. "Didn't she die?"

"No. She hadn't, at least there was no conclusive evidence to point to her death. That is why Satsuki had me looking for her. She wanted to wipe out the last of Ragyo's evil fibers. But there was also another reason. One that had Satsuki deeply concerned and perturbed. Nui had warned Satsuki that another evil was going to arrive. One worse than Ragyo, bringing with it an even worse fate for humanity." (0:36)

"That's unbelievable," Nonon snorted derisively. "There are no other life fibers that could attack us. Nui was probably bullshitting like the little blonde troll she is."

"No, it's true. I was there." All heads turned to look at Ryuko at her input. "I heard it as well on the day of the Grand Battle after me and Satsuki had taken down our mother. Do you think that's why Satsuki is gone now? She finally found what she needed and went after the evil?" The possibility wasn't out of question, given how the girl had gone behind her friends backs last time to fight the primordial life fiber.

"Is that why she never told us any of this?" Uzu questioned, looking a tad hurt. "She wanted to fight it herself?" (1:01)

"That could be. She did want to keep this a secret from everyone else. She didn't want to worry any of you, unless there was a real concern. She only told me because I was the tech whiz and she couldn't track Nui down otherwise," Inumuta reasoned. "But there were no signs of any impending doom of an arrival of Nui, so I..." he paused as he tried to phrase his next words correctly, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"What?" Ryuko asked impatiently, curling and uncurling her fingers.

"I don't know," the head of intelligence admitted. He was at a loss for what was going on. Everything had been fine and then Satsuki had simply gone off the charts. There had been no sign of any going wrong, no sign of an impending struggle or anything.

"You don't know?" Nonon choked, pale in the face of her friend's disappearance. "You're the guy who always knows everything. Just plug some numbers into your phone and give us results."

He had already done that and failed. Inumuta shrugged apologetically, feeling stupid and totally inept with technology for the first time in his life. No matter what type of calculations he tried to put into his phone the results read error. There was no way of calculating the results for this.

"Oh my god, what are we going to do now?" Nonon slapped her hands to her face, her voice high in pitch enough to break glass. "What do we do?"

"That's why you leave this in my hands," Aikuro smoothly interjected and Nonon turned to glare at him. "I told you we don't need a combat leader-" (1:57)

"Yes, you do," he stopped her cold with his confident assurance and her hands fell from her face to her sides limply as worry creased her face.

"Given the sparse facts of how Satsuki was on the lookout for Nui and a great new evil we can conclude that there will be some type of conflict awaiting us. Satsuki would not have set out to find the truth if she didn't think there was some semblance of it turning into a reality." Aikuro flipped his lab coat with flourish as he announced this. "That is why I order of all of you to sit your asses down at the conference table and listen up. We're going to find lady Satsuki, wherever she is!" The people obeyed his orders, each taking a chair around the gray large table except for Ira who found there wasn't enough chairs. He cast a look at Ryuko who was twiddling with a piece of plastic in her hand that suspiciously looked like it had once belonged to a chair. She gave him a guilty smile and threw the piece away. With a sigh he stood against the wall, crossing his arms to look intimidating and tuned in to what Aikuro was saying.

Seeing that everyone was seated, Aikuro took to the white board in front of him, scribbling things down in marker. (End at 2:44)

"Inumuta can you tell us where Satsuki was last registered?" he pointed the marker at the boy who eagerly went to find the coordinates on his phone. "She was in the downtown area of the Shinobi district, specifically in a small office she had rented out three years ago. She held business meetings in that office while she completed making deals with the governmental members in that area."

"Perfect," Aikuro muttered, turning to the board and writing down 'office in Shinobi'. He circled it three times for emphasis. "And when was she last registered?"

"Six hours ago," Houka answered.

"And what was she doing in that office?"

"She was packing up her stuff. She said she had wanted to do it alone but didn't explain to me why."

(Start Eau de Vie) "Hmmm, perhaps she did have a ulterior motive in attending that office alone?"Aikuro mussed to himself, biting on the end of his marker as he pondered.

"Why was she alone?" He questioned and the tech head answered. "She refused to have guards with her."

"Again I am deeply ashamed and regret my compliance in letting her go unprotected!" Ira roared, dropping to the ground on his knees and pulling out a sword to pierce his abs with. Uzu once again was left to stop the man from cutting out his guts. As they fought, Uzu trying to pull the knife away, the rest continued on, ignoring their grunts of exertion and cries of protest.

"This all seems suspicious. Is it possible that Nui contacted Satsuki somehow? That she could have found her?"

Inumuta shook his head vehemently at this. "I had trackers all over the planet, tracking life fiber signatures so if Nui had been alive I would have know. That is why I am not entirely convinced that she is alive. It could be the great evil since I don't know what energy signatures it's giving off, unless..." the man trailed off thinking hard. Was it possible that Nui was alive but no longer a life fiber being? The idea seemed preposterous but now that it had wormed its way into his head he couldn't ignore it! "Perhaps Nui is not inhuman anymore?" he offered. (0:38) The idea seemed ridiculous but anything could be an option now and they had to consider everything.

Aikuro frowned at this. "Is it possible for life fibers to do that?"

Inumuta pulled up the collar onto his face higher, feeling uncomfortable. Even though he had offered the suggestions he didn't have logical backing for it. He hadn't calculated that yet. "I suppose it is. With Ryuko she doesn't give off a signal and we all know she is a life fiber hybrid. The systems only work on full life fiber creations which Nui is." Even as he said this Inumuta realized something horrific. Sweat began beading down his back and his eyes opened wide as he whispered out, "unless she became half human..."(0:56) Had he overlooked this option in the blind belief he was smarter than most people, overlooked it in his arrogance? The room was quiet as everyone let this sink in. Only the patter of rain was heard through the broken windows, distant thunder rumbling.

Ryuko broke the silence. "How is that even possible? I mean, with me it's different since I was originally human. But a life fiber becoming human? Is it possible, cause it sounds stupid!"

"Eloquently put as always," Nonon snarked although it missed her usual bite. She looked horrified by this idea being true.

"Is it? Is it possible?" Aikuro asked and everyone turned to Houka who began to sweat more. Why was everything on him? Iori saved him.

The little blonde cleared his throat. "I think I may be able to answer that. As head of Satsuki's sewing club and her fashion industries, I was in charge of crafting her Goku informs. We tested out many Goku uniforms on willing test subjects and sometimes if the uniforms were too powerful they melded with the student forming a half human half fiber creation. The patients often did not live long and suffered a lot during this period of conjunction with the life fibers." (1:24)

"But that's with clothes-" Nonon was cut off.

"Exactly. Nui is essentially cloth. So if she melded with someone human she could basically be half human. That would be my hypothesis anyways if we're considering this option of being true."

"It makes sense in a weird way. Well, its the only clues we have so we have to take them," Uzu said rubbing his head. He had subdued Ira's second suicide attempt and had a couple bruises to show for it.

"What do we do now, with all this?" Nonon asked, spreading out her hands in front of her.

"Now, we go to where she last was," Aikuro stated and no more was needed to be said. They rushed forwards, entrusting the driving to Nonon. She wasn't the best but her massive Hummer fit all of them and her bad driving would get them there quicker. They were quiet during the ride, steeling their nerves for whatever awaited them.

When they got to the office, they found the door unlocked and slightly ajar. They stood uncertainly in front of it, exchanging looks with one another. What if they found something unpleasant inside? Ryuko, ever being impatient, rushed to go inside, pushing her feelings of unease aside when Ira grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her back. (1:54)

"What was that for?" she questioned.

"Relax, Matoi. What if there is an enemy inside? What if it is a trap? We have become soft during these years of peace, therefore we must go back to our ways of thinking from the past and consider that this could ploy to drag us into the clutches of the big evil," Ira sensibly said. He was voicing something that everyone had thought of but didn't want to say out-loud. "Additionally we do not have our Goku uniforms, or your kamui-"

Ryuko cut Ira off at that with a smile. "Actually, my kamui is still around. Which reminds me, I should probably add this. A week ago, on the day of my graduation, Senks awoke."

"Really?" Uzu questioned and Inumuta nodded his head to confirm this point. "I picked up an energy signature but it quickly went away so I figured it could be Ryuko's kamui and not a threat to us." They were all aware of Senks state of slumber.

"That's great and all but can we go in?" Nonon asked impatiently. Every second they waited more outside the door, the more her nerves were jarred.

"In a second," Aikuro dismissed, intent on learning what Ryuko had to say.

"He warned me that he had awoken because our peace had been broken and that something evil was coming. He was going to help me and then he went back to sleeping." The group took this information in gravely.

(2:32)"So it is as we feared," Inumuta admitted. "Some new evil is arriving. But how would Senks know this?"

Ryuko shrugged. "He said he could sense it. Maybe it's because he was created to protect me and woke up when he felt some danger."

"Could it be that the evil was at Ryuko's graduation?" Aikuro mussed and Nonon stamped her foot. "Can we go in now?" They were being stupid. What if the culprit had been in the room but had left by now because they heard their voices? (End song)

"It was probably Nonon," Uzu teased, jerking his thumb at her and she kicked him in the ankle, her patience wearing thin. He let out a hiss of pain and rubbed his poor ankle.

"I think you should wear Senks, even if he's still sleeping. He could detect this new evil better than Houka's sensors," Aikuro suggested and Ryuko shook her head in. The jacket was back in her apartment. She couldn't wear him now.

Normally Inumuta would be offended by someone calling his technology lacking but in this case it was. It had failed to prevent Satsuki's disappearance.

"Now can we go in?" Nonon whined and everyone turned around to shout a "yes!" at her. "Finally!" she growled. "I'm going in!" She strode first into the room.

"Jakuzure, wait it could be-" But Ira's giant hand missed the tiny girl and she pushed the door open all the way. She walked in, doing a spin to face them, hands on hips. "It's perfectly fine. Now come in you big babies."

They filed into the small room. It was dark inside, the only light coming from the lamp that was askew on the desk. Boxes lined the floor. "Houka, give Sats phone a call," Ryuko ordered and the blue haired boy did. In a few seconds there was a noise from a coat hanging on the wall and Ryuko reached in to pull out her sister's phone.

"She left her phone and coat in here. So it looks like she didn't go outside, but then where is she? The lobbyist said he hadn't seen anyone of her description leaving," Uzu mussed. "Then again if it was Satsuki and she didn't want to be seen she has plenty of ways of hiding her appearance or of leaving this building." (Start See Through)

"Let's turn on the lights," Iori suggested. "Maybe there are some clues in the room that can help us find her." The tiny boy flicked on the switch and the room lit up, illuminating broken shards of glass on the floor. Ryuko was the first to step further into the room, all the others still loitering by the door. She knelt down next to the broken glass, picking up the mirror frame. She noticed the photo of her and Satsuki was gone. "She dropped this." The girl picked it up and showed it to her friends. "I don't know what to make of it." She handed it over to Ira who examined it. "Satsuki is not one who is clumsy. Is this a sign of struggle?"

"The photos of me and my sister are gone from the frame too. Why would they be missing?"

Nonon grew a bit jealous at hearing those words and covered it up with a barb. "Maybe she got tired of seeing your ugly mug?" Ryuko narrowed her eyes at her. "Now is really not the time for your hate and spite. I'm trying to find Satsuki, and if you wanna yammer instead of helping with that, you can just leave!" Ryuko pointed at the door they had just come in through.

"You have no right to kick me out, Satsuki is as much my friend as she is your sister!" Nonon shot back.

"Girls, cut this out right now!" Ira ordered, placing himself in between the two fighting girls. "Ryuko is right Nonon. Put aside your mutual hate for now and let us search for the lady!" Nonon sucked in a huge breath at having Ira take Ryuko's side. The other girl stuck out her tongue at her in victory. (0:46)

"The boxes look clean," Aikuro noted. He had been going through them to make sure nothing suspicious was inside them. "And I've done a sweep around the room. Nothing." He held out his hands at his sides in exasperation.

"And my scanners aren't picking up any life fiber traces," Houka admitted, pocketing his phone after he did a full round around the room.

"I think I might have something," Uzu said, turning to them. The man was still blind but he had his other senses attuned widely to the world around him. "I'm picking up a lot of bad vibes from this room."

"That might be us," Houka pointed out. "We're all under duress." (1:04)

Uzu shook his head, his green bandanna shaking. "No. It's not stress, but something else. Something I can't name. But it's not good."

"Well that's helpful," Nonon muttered sarcastically and the green haired boy growled at her. "As if you've done anything useful in your time here! All you've done is bicker with others!"

Before Nonon could retort, Iori let out a cry of curiosity. The boy turned to them, a pair of tweezers grasped between his fingers and a magnifying glass over his eye making it look like the giant eye of a monster. "Look what I found," he exclaimed excitedly. (1:21)

"What?" Aikuro asked, none of them being able to see what the tweezers were holding up.

"It's a strand of fiber. Black. And we all know that Satsuki doesn't wear black."

"Where did you find it?" Houka asked.

"On the boxes."

"It could belong to someone who bought the boxes up here. Or it could have gotten there somehow accidentally," Uzu stated, not convinced this fiber was a clue.

"Besides Nui, if we're still thinking there's a possibility of her being alive, wears pink not black clothes," Nonon pointed out.

"Regardless," Iori said, refusing to let the others bring down the joy he had made at the discovery. "I will take it back to the lab and analyze it. It could proffer some answers."

"So what now?" Ryuko was not satisfied with the results of their little search. "Satsuki's still missing and all we have is a string and a broken mirror as a clue." (End Song)

They all looked at Aikuro who had self appointed himself as leader. "We don't give up," he said at last. "We're going to split up and look for more clues."

"More clues for what?" a stern voice interrupted them and they all turned in the direction in which it had come from. With eyes open wide and jaws slack they saw Satsuki standing in the entrance of the room. "What are you all doing here?"

"Lady Satsuki!" Nonon was the first to speak and she launched herself at her friend, hugging her. "I'm so glad you're here! I was so worried!"

"Worried?" the girl asked, confusion rife on her face as she looked down from the girl around her waist to the friends still standing before her. They elite exchanged a look with one another with Ryuko and Aikuro. In it was the unspoken promise that they would not mention the true purpose of their arrival.

"You didn't pick up my phone calls so I got worried," Houka said. He decided he wouldn't mention the GPS tracker to her. He'd find a way to attach it on later, a new one. He figured it must have broke. Or the lady had simply gotten tired of it and taken it off.

Satsuki gently disentangled herself from the pinkette's grip and walked over to her phone. She frowned when she saw all the missed calls. "I apologize for that."

"We were worried that you weren't picking up as you always pick up if not on the first call than the second."

"So we came to check it out, thinking maybe you got crushed under the boxes or something. Cuz you don't have muscles like me," Ryuko teased, glad to see her sister was alright. But what had happened?

Satsuki smiled at this. "You don't have to help me with packing. I already told you I am fine and that I wanted to do it by myself."

"Now that we are here we might as well do it," Uzu grinned, glad that the worry had turned out to be nothing. But his smile quickly faded when he heard a groan erupt from Satsuki mouth. The girl doubled over clutching her head in both hands.

"Sats, what's wrong?" Ryuko cried over similar cries from the others. (Start Yami Ou)

"It's nothing. It's...just a headache. It'll pass," the girl panted, turning away offers of help.

"My lady, you must sit down!"

"I'm fine, it will pass. Like the last one." But Satsuki looked incredibly pale and Ryuko pushed past the elite four who were too scared to touch their lady.

"Hey, don't touch her, you heathen. You'll break her," Nonon shrilled but Ryuko ignored her. She slung Satsuki's arm around her shoulder and let her weight rest on her. She slowly maneuvered her to her desk chair and sat her down. The girl sighed in relief as her head lolled back, her eyes closed against the lights. Sweat was beading down the side of her face. (0:29)

"Ira get her some water, Uzu bring her some towels, Iori shut off the lights, Nonon shut up, Aikuro get some pain pills and Houka get someone to finish this packing. Call Satsuki a cab. We're going home," Ryuko ordered, her loud voice causing Satsuki to wince. The group immediately went to work. The lights were turned off and everyone cleared the room, even Nonon who cast Ryuko a repugnant stare. But Ryuko didn't care about the small girl's ire. She was worried about her sister. Was this a side effect from how Ryuko had beat Satsuki up all those years ago? She swallowed deeply, her throat tightening in guilt.

She held onto her sister's hand. "Squeeze my hand, it'll help with the pain." Satsuki didn't need to be told twice. She nearly crushed her sister's hand in her grip and Ryuko bit her lip, taking it in. She had forgot how strong her sister was.

Now that the room was in the dark, Satsuki was able to crack open her eyes. The desk light illuminated her face, giving it a sickly glow. Outside the storm continued to rage. (1:04) "Hey, are you okay?" Ryuko asked softly, stroking her sisters knuckles with her thumb in a gesture meant to soothe.

"Of course I'm fine, N-nh." Another spam of pain hit Satsuki and she grit her teeth as she felt her head was literally crawling with thousands of insects, all of them burrowing in and biting and snipping at her brain. What was going on? She recalled she had felt this pain earlier in the afternoon too as she was packing up. Then she had blacked out from pain, or she had too because everything was a blur and then she had woken up in the bathroom of this building fine, if a bit sore. She chalked it up to having gone to the bathroom even in her blacked out state and splashing water on her face until she revived. Or had someone else done it? She remembered she had talked to someone...? or had someone talked to her?

"Sats, what's going on?" Ryuko's eyes glimmered with concern. "How long have you been feeling this way?"

"Just today," Satsuki panted once the worst of her pain had left her. She was silent afterwards as she placed her head on the cool wood of the desk, the difference in temperature feeling nice on her burning cheeks. Ryuko was quiet as she let her sister rest, but if she had looked up she would have noticed that Satsuki's shadow, cast by the desk lamp, on the wall was contorting wildly in silent laughter. (End Song)

---

The elite four were very concerned for their lady and kept a close eye on her the week following her severe headaches. They insisted she take it easy at work but she refused to listen to them, stating that this was nothing serious and that she could still function. She stubbornly went about all her regular duties and avoided all their efforts to help lighten her work load.

But what sat most heavily on their minds was the great evil that Nui had spoken of. If Nui was around they had found no trace of her and even Iori's strand of black fiber had garnered no results, leaving them scratching their heads on what to do. They could not outright ask the lady about it as she clearly hadn't wanted them to know in the first place. So they were left with the only option of figuring it out by themselves. Since Inumuta had been the only who had known about it in the first place they sent him to ask her more about it, hoping he could get some new information out of her.

"Satsuki, is there anything more you'd like me to do for the search on Nui?" Inumuta stood in front of her desk, bowing his head slightly in greeting.

"No, just keep up with searching for her energy signals for now. I am beginning to think she might have simply fell apart after the primordial life fiber died since she was originally a part of it." Satsuki stopped briefly in her typing to look up at Inumuta. "I have a small kernel of hope that she was merely bluffing when she told me about the great evil."

Now it seemed that Satsuki didn't even really want to find Nui anymore. Was Inumuta over thinking it? Had the elite four overreacted on Satsuki's disappearance?

No, something did not sit right with him still. He just couldn't figure out what.

Ryuko in the meantime took to wearing Senks around the office as she worked. He was still asleep around her shoulder's but she felt more reassured having him there. Also, he was being worn just in case the evil came close. Then he would wake up and alert them to the presence of it, if it was even there or real. Ryuko believed the threat to be real. After all what were the chances that the rest of their lives would be peaceful? Or maybe Ryuko just missed the fighting and wished for a chance to pull out her scissor blade and wipe the floor with her enemies.

She must have grown over the three years because Senks sleeves came a bit short on up to her wrists and the shoulders were tight if she moved too much forwards. She had been wearing the jacket for a week, and had completely forgotten about the true purpose of wearing him when with a loud gasp he awoke.

"Ryuko!" (Start Unwanted Attention at 0:38)

"Ah! Senks!" Ryuko cried out, her hands flying off the key board she had been typing her report on, and up into the air in surprise.

"Ryuko, the evil-it's back!"

"Where? Where is it?" Ryuko grabbed the front of her jacket and shouted down at him.

"Quick, follow me!" He jumped off of her shoulders and ran out of Ryuko's room, the girl following after him. She pulled out her phone and dialed Houka, as she ran around corridors, pushed past people, knocking them down by accident as her kamui swerved and bounded down the hall rapidly.

"Ryuko, what's up?"

"It's Senks. He's woken up and picked up on the great evil. He's leading me there now."

"Did he tell you the exact location of the great evil-of where you're going?"

Ryuko shook her head as she ran up the staircases the kamui was leading her up. "Hurry Ryuko!" the jacket called out to her as he pulled himself up by every third step. "I don't know. He just woke up and said the evil was near. So I followed him. And we haven't left the building now. We're still in it." A pause as Ryuko stopped on the stair landing to catch her breath, hand on her knees. Since when had she been this out of shape? "I have a bad feeling about this Inumuta."

"Why's that?" The boy on the other end was already tracking down Ryuko's position from their call and trying to get the projected trajectory to figure out her destination.

"I think you already know where Senks is leading me," Ryuko said with a grim smile as she raced up the stairs again. "Get the elite four here asap." (1:20)

"On it." Houka ended the call and swiveled around in his office chair to turn on another one of his computer screens. Immediately Nonon's, Ira's and Uzu's faces showed up on the screen.

"What's up?" Uzu greeted.

"This better be good," Nonon grumbled. "I'm in the middle of writing a music piece."

"It is important. Senks has awoken and is leading Ryuko to the evil. And you won't believe where it is."

"Where?" Ira shouted out, making everyone cringe from the volume of his voice.

"Satsuki's office." (End song)All of the elite four's faces paled. Without another word they logged off, leaving the screen blank. Inumuta got up from his seat, straightening his outfit out. He hoped it was nothing, that it was some sort of mistake but his phone calculations never lied.

Ryuko got there first, coming in through the already open office doors. Senks was lying in a puddle on the floor, having fallen back asleep. Ryuko crouched down to pick him up, calling out to her sister. "Satsuki? Are you okay?" Her sister was face down on her desk top, papers strewn all over the floor and computer screen broken. What had happened here? Had the evil come and hurt her sister? But there was no signs of blood anywhere. (Start song Empty Reflections)

"Satsuki?" Ryuko took a tentative step forwards, then another.

"Ryuko?" was the muffled response.

"Satsuki!" Ryuko rushed towards her sister, helping her to gently sit up into her chair. Her sister's hair was stuck to her face and she had a pained expression. "What happened?"

"It was another headache. But nothing you should be worried about." Satsuki tried to shrug off her sister but Ryuko was not going to dismiss this so easily.

"Satsuki this is dreadful! These headaches look very painful and I don't want anything bad happening to you! You need to get this checked out."

"I don't need to get anything checked out. I'm stronger than these headaches." Satsuki got up from her chair, wobbling slightly and strode over to get a bottle of water from a cabinet on the other side of the room. Ryuko followed closely behind her, making sure she wouldn't fall. (0:31)

"Lady Satsuki, are you alright?" Ira and crew burst into the office, startling Ryuko who had not expected them to be here so quickly.

"Of course I'm alright," Satsuki said, looking more normal than she had before. Her skin was nowhere near as pale and her expression was back to neutral.

"That's a lie!" Ryuko pointed at Satsuki. "She had another headache!" Ryuko ratted out Satsuki like a little kid.

"What?" Satsuki shot Ryuko an annoyed look.

"My lady is this true?" Ira demanded and soon all elite four and Ryuko were chattering and speaking over one another. Satsuki, caught in the middle of this, closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. They were going to give her another headache.

---

"Thanks to you delinquent, now Satsuki's mad at us," Nonon pointed an accusatory finger at the dark haired girl. (0:55)

"Oh, shut up," Ryuko grumbled. Satsuki had snapped all all the elite four and her sister and kindly-not so kindly- kicked them out of her office.

"Yea, Nonon, it's not entirely Ryuko's fault. She was trying to help Satsuki just like all of us," Uzu interjected. Nonon crossed her arms over her chest but didn't say anything else, too upset with Satsuki's blatant refusal to accept her friends help and concern. And she knew she shouldn't be blaming Ryuko for this, but it just made things so much easier. Ryuko was an easy outlet for her stress.

"We need to focus on helping her in a non-intrusive manner," Ira suggested. "Inumuta what about if you set up cameras in the lady's office-"

"I already tried, multiple times. She always finds them and destroys them. The lady does not want us spying on her." Ira frowned at what Houka was saying. "Then I guess I'll have to body guard her 24/7."

"As if," Nonon scoffed. "The lady would never let you do that, would never even agree to it if you asked her."

"Man this is all so confusing." Ryuko put her hands behind her head. Senks was back on her shoulder's, sleeping soundly. The elite four pulled up to the elevators, waiting for one to come up so they could descend back to their working spaces. (End song)

"What is?" Uzu asked. (Start song Reborn)

"Senks woke up because he claimed there was a giant evil around. But when I got there, there was no one there, only Satsuki with a headache. So unless Senks is suggesting the headaches are the evil themselves, I have no clue what the threat was."

"Anything is evil that threatens the well-being of Satsuki -headaches included!" Ira pounded his giant fist into his palm for emphasis.

"Maybe your kamui is losing his touch," Nonon offered, not malignantly. "After all, you said he collapsed upon arrival in the office."

"Yea. And if we're thinking in terms of headaches then it would coincide perfectly with the end of Satsuki's headache. Once it passed he fell back asleep." (0:32)

"I don't know. This whole headache theory is weird. It doesn't make sense as to why these headaches would be evil-much less the great evil," Uzu piped up. The elevator doors swung open with a beep.

"Like I already said, anything that threatens Satsuki is-"

"Evil, yea we get it," Uzu interrupted Ira. "But still." The doors swung close after the group and the elevator descended downwards. "All this worry over Satsuki is giving me a headache." Uzu rubbed his forehead.

"Oi, you said you can sense things that we can't. Did you sense any evil in that room?" Ryuko asked and everyone's attention turned onto the boy in question. Uzu's face was grim. (0:54)

"I did. And it was stronger than before." The elevator stopped on his floor, and he exited, turning on his heel to address them. "Whatever this is, we need to figure it out and quick before something drastic occurs, that threatens all of our lives." The doors closed on this, locking the others into the elevator with the green haired mans ominous words. (End song.)

---

(Start song Mystery Unravels)

It was two days time after Ryuko's kamui had woken up and gone up to Satsuki's office and the elite four still were no closer to figuring out what was wrong with their lady. Nonon heaved a huge yawn and stretched her hands above her head. The company was closed for the night, save for a few stragglers that were working late. Nonon was one of them. She was working on a piece in her music studio and she was so close to getting it right but she was just missing that one touch, something that she didn't know how to incorporate into her work because she hadn't figured out what it was just yet.

(0:21) She had been working at it for almost twelve hours straight and she needed a break. She got out of her chair and decided she would go visit Satsuki under the guise of bringing her coffee. The girl always worked late and Nonon wanted to check up on her to make sure she was fine. Satsuki hadn't seemed to suffer from another headache as Ryuko's jacket hadn't gone off, but still it was best to check. Senksetsu wasn't here now and the lady could very well have an attack during the night.

Nonon made a quick trip to the cafeteria and bought a soda for herself and a coffee for her lady. Satsuki still insisted on drinking that black tar because it kept her up longer and Nonon disapproved only for the sole fact that her friend was changing and she didn't like it.

With beverages in hand, the girl made it to the top floor where Satsuki's office was housed. The lights were off in the hallways and as Nonon walked down the hall she couldn't help but feel a bit creeped out. (1:00) There was some weird energy in the air she couldn't describe. She hurried her step, casting suspicious looks at the shadows on the walls. As she approached Satsuki's office she heard voices and she slowed down to listen to them. Did Satsuki have a customer over? She didn't want to intrude if that was the case. But it certainly was a weird hour to have someone over. She pressed an ear to the door.

"I like the new look." That was Satsuki's voice-or it had to be. It sounded a bit off, as if she was speaking but her vocal chords were being strained, making her voice raspy. "It reeks of power. Of nobility." (1:20)

"I'm glad you like it, moi cherie." There was an unmistakable giggle at the end and the drinks from Nonon's hands fell to the floor. Coffee splattered everywhere and the soda can burst, spraying white that mixed in with the hot brown liquid. (1:30)

"What was that?" Someone inside the room asked and there was some shuffling about. But all Nonon could think of right now wasn't on getting away because she would be caught eavesdropping, but on the voice she had just heard. That high pitch, the french phrasing and the little giggle all screamed Nui at Nonon. Her brain flashed a thousand miles an hour. Was the blonde haired monster back?

The door creaked open. "Nonon?" The pinkette turned a horrified gaze to look at her friend-only it wasn't her friend-it was Ragyo. Nonon gave a terrified yelp and fell to her butt, slipping on the spilled drinks. (2:00)

"Nonon, calm down. It's only me, Satsuki. What are you doing here?" Satsuki frowned down at her friend and then at the mess she made.

"Satsuki-you-you look so different," Nonon stammered, trying to regain her composure. She got up to her feet, dusting off the seat of her pants. Satsuki was sporting a different hair cut-one that was shorter and that in the dark had looked reminiscent of the one that Ragyo had had, except darker. Now that Nonon really looked at it, it didn't look too similar. It was a bit longer than the older woman's had been and her bangs were straight. Yet still, combined with Satsuki's regal features and full lips, she looked so much like her mother in that moment. (End song)

"Yes, I decided it was time for a change. I had a hairdresser come over to my office as I didn't have time to schedule an appointment at a boutique, and she was generous to accommodate to my ridiculous request of cutting my hair this late at night. Gathering from your reaction it is a shocking change." Satsuki's voice was neutral but the girl seemed to be struggling to keep it at that pitch, some of her earlier raspiness coming back.

"Yea, a bit," Nonon mumbled. So that's who was in the office. Just a hairdresser. But still she felt a bit uneasy. (Start Layers of Fear track 2)

"What were you doing up here?" Satsuki asked.

"I came to bring you something to drink, but I heard you were talking to someone and I didn't want to intrude, so I was going to knock but then the drinks fell and spilled." Nonon blabbered as she tried to explain herself.

"You were coming to check up on me," Satsuki gave an all knowing smile and Nonon fidgeted with her feet. The voice of Nui rang in her head and she couldn't get it out. She had to check if she was still there. She had to know. She tried to peer into the office but it was dark inside and Satsuki was standing in such a way that she was blocking most of the view of the inside.

(0:32)"Yea. You know because you've been working late and all. Can I come in?" Nonon poised the question and silence stretched out. Something flickered on Satsuki's face but then she moved aside. "Sure, come in."

Nonon flicked on the lights as she entered and the room lit up. She gave a look around but saw that no one was there. "Where did the hairdresser go? I didn't see her leave through the door and we were there the whole time."

Satsuki looked a bit taken aback by the empty room too but quickly recovered before Nonon could notice. "I have more than one exit in and out of my room, Nonon."

The pinkette wasn't satisfied by this answer. She didn't like being suspicious of Satsuki but this was for her friend's own good. "Which one? I didn't know you had other exits. Can I see it?"

Satsuki frowned at this. "Nonon why are you acting suspicious of me? Did I do something to garner your distrust?"

(1:02)"It was-it was Nui," Nonon whispered. She had felt incredible fear race through her body when she had heard the blonde's voice. She only wanted to assuage that fear; to have it assured that the blonde was really dead and that Inumuta's theories on her weren't real.

"Nui?" Satsuki's brows furrowed. "Where did you get such an idea?"

"I heard you talking to her. In this office." Nonon pointed to the floor with her pointer finger, and swallowed harshly.

Satsuki shook her head at this and went to her desk, pressing a button on her intercom. "Send cleaning service up to my main office. Thank you." Ending it, she pressed both hands to the top of her desk and looked at Nonon who was fiddling with her hands. "Nonon, you mustn't let figures from the past haunt you. I assure you that the hairdresser most certainly wasn't Nui. Nui is dead. She is gone. She is no longer a threat to us."

Oh, yea then why did you ask Inumuta to look for her? Nonon wanted to point out, but instead she asked this, "Are you really sure she's dead, Satsuki?" (1:30)

Satsuki's face darkened minutely at this and she heaved a great sigh. "Nonon I am certain. I would never lie to you about something so serious. And if I ever found out the truth I would tell you because you are my friend and I trust you. I rely on you." As Satsuki said this she circled out from behind her desk and neared Nonon. "And I hope you think the same of me."

"Of course!" Nonon stammered out, straightening up, wondering why her friend was asking such a thing. There was no need for such such words to be exchanged between them. All the elite four had wordlessly promised their undying loyalty to their lady just the same as she had pledged reliable leadership to them. "I rely on you greatly Satsuki. You are a pillar of strength for me and the elite four. That's why we are so concerned for you."

"And you trust me?"

"Certainly." Nonon nearly bit her tongue in her urgency to assure her friend that she trusted her, even though she hadn't for a couple of minutes back there. But Satsuki's assurances had made her feel better. If Nui had been here, then Satsuki most certainly wouldn't be talking to her but fighting her. She hated the blonde sister. Maybe Nonon had been so tired she had merely misheard the voices-or had even imagined it. She had been on edge for a while ever since Inumuta had suggested that Nui could be alive but in a mutated body.

"Then you have nothing to worry about Nonon."

"But Satsuki, you still have the headaches and I want to help you with them. You need to relax more and leave the work to others. We elite four are here for you." Nonon took a step towards her lady. Satsuki turned on her heel and went to the window. She gazed outside, looking silently at the city she had rebuilt from rubble with her own hands. Nonon hesitantly joined her, watching her instead of the city but the girl didn't turn to look at her. "Nonon?"

"Yes?" They were whispering now for some reason, the conversation they were about to have something that would weigh heavily on their future. "How loyal are you to me Nonon?'

The question caught the pinkette off guard. What kind of a question was this? "What?"

Satsuki's face was hard. "How far would you go for our friendship?"

The answer for this was a given considering all that Nonon had already done for Satsuki. "I'd do anything!"

"Good. I will hold you to your word and when the time comes, do not fail me." Satsuki gave a smile at this. Nonon was going to ask what this all meant when the cleaners came up.

"Lady Satsuki what mess would like us to clean?" the balding man asked and Satsuki stepped away to guide him towards the mess Nonon had made on the floor. The conversation was over. Nonon made her way back down to her music studio, casting her friend a concerned stare. Satsuki merely smiled back at her. (End song)

---

"God, I'm so glad I was able to convince you to leave your fucking office Sats."

"There's no need for such vulgar language." Satsuki reprimanded as she wiped a finger down the diner table she was sitting at. An inch of grease came off. "This place is already vulgar enough. Do you see this, Ryuko?" Satsuki shoved the finger with grease in Ryuko's face, trying to make a point. "This place is absolutely filthy. Why would you bring me here?" She took out a handkerchief and wiped her finger clean.

"Relax, you won't die from dust and coffee stains." Ryuko waved her hand dismissively and popped open the menu. "Beside, this place is special to me. Mako and I would go here a lot back when we were still broke young adults. I figured I'd take you here because all my good memories are here. And the food is good too."

"The food is absolutely horrendous." Satsuki grimaced in distaste as she glanced at her menu. "Everything is literally saturating with fat."

"They have a salad if that bothers you," Ryuko suggested, raising her hand to signal the waitress.

"You call this a salad?" An offended Satsuki showed Ryuko her menu and tapped on the picture of the salad with her pointer finger. "There's two leafs of lettuce and one tomato. Everything else is a compilation of bits of bacon, chicken and croutons."

Ryuko sighed and turned her head away from the extended menu. Satsuki only pressed it closer and closer to Ryuko's face until it was pressing against her cheek. "Do you see this blasphemy?"

"Yes, Satsuki I see." Ryuko gave a tired sigh and smacked the menu away as the waitress approached their table. "I'll take the plate of bacon with a side of eggs, and as for my sister-"

"I'll have a dark coffee and a croissant." Satsuki finished for Ryuko and crossed her arms over her chest, challenging the other girl to contradict her. Ryuko shot her a look and didn't accept that answer. "Get her some eggs and toast too."

"Very well," said the waitress, scribbling down their orders. She left, her high ponytail bouncing behind her.

"Ryuko-" Satsuki started in warning but Ryuko put a hand up. "You have got to eat. I can't recall the last time you've had a decent meal." Ryuko reached over and pinched Satsuki's cheek. It was thinner than she recalled. "See, there's nothing to even pinch." Satsuki smacked her hand away.

(Start song Reminiscing) "Fine. I'll eat your diner food, but I don't have to like it."

Ryuko smiled at Satsuki's concession and leaned back in her seat with a triumphant smile, arms on the back of the red booth they were in. They were quiet for a moment and Satsuki took out her phone to shoot off a couple emails. Ryuko drummed her fingers on the back of her booth as she watched her sister typing away. Her hair was short, curling gently around the back of her neck. It made her look older, more mature, especially coupled with the blue diamond earrings she was wearing and the white business suit. But there was also something else about her hair that Ryuko couldn't quite put a finger on. Something that bothered her.

Ryuko's own hair had grown longer. It was now to her hips and her red streak had grown more prominent in the front of her bangs. She was wearing Senks and casual black jeans.

White and black.

Blue and red.

Again, she was reminded the difference between the two of them. They had grown up in such different worlds. Ryuko wondered how it would have been if she had grown up oppressed under Ragyo's thumb and if Satsuki had been under the slipshod care of Isshin Matoi. Would Satsuki be the one in the leather jacket right now, and Ryuko in the suit? (0:50)

"Hey, Sats," Ryuko said, breaking the silence.

"What Ryuko?" Satsuki looked up.

"Why did you cut your hair?" Ryuko propped her chin in her hand.

"I simply decided it was time for a change. And when change is needed is it not natural to alter one's physical appearance first?"

"I guess that's right," Ryuko mumbled to herself, casting a gaze out the window. For her, change had come in growing out her hair. But change in hairstyles had come to all of them. Mako had grown hers out too, Uzu wore his in a long green ponytail, and Ira had grown a beard. Nonon had dyed hers a violent purplish color, Inumuta had cut his short and Aikuro had shaped his into a Mohawk in honor of Kinagase. Yet none of their changes had bothered Ryuko's as much as Satsuki's had. "I kinda don't like it."

"Are you insulting my hair cut?" There was amusement in Satsuki's voice.

"Yea, I am. It just reminds me of something I've seen somewhere and it's bothering me."

Satsuki's lips dipped. "I didn't get the hair cut to please you."

"I know, I know," Ryuko hurriedly said. "It's just how I feel about it. I probably only feel this way since it's still so new." There was silence again and Ryuko narrowed her eyes as watched a man through the window crossing the street. The weather was getting chillier, leaves falling from their trees. A swirl of leaves passed by the window as a strong breeze blew them by. Satsuki was clicking something on her phone, back to responding to her emails. (1:40)

"Ryuko could I ask you something too?" Satsuki's voice drew the black haired girl out of her thoughts. "Yea, what?"

"Why are you wearing Senks again?" Ryuko snapped her head back at this. Shit, what did she say to this? Could there be anything to say at all without giving away the elite fours plans? She had figured Satsuki would be too busy to notice. "Uh, that-it's for nostalgia reasons." Satsuki arched a brow at that poor excuse. "Ryuko I know it's not for that. Beside he stormed into my office a couple of days ago. I thought he was asleep?"

"Well, that's the thing," Ryuko fiddled with the napkin holder, unable to meet her sister's eyes. She was going to go with the half truth-certainly easier to say then a full out lie. "He's been asleep for a while but recently he's been waking up and I've been trying to wear him in hopes of being there when he fully wakes up."

"Do you know why he's waking up randomly?" Ryuko paused in her motions of tearing the tip of the napkin off. "You could get Inumuta to run some tests."

"Nah, I think I'm good. I trust Senks to come back on his own. I just have to give him some time."

"I never thought you to be the patient type," Satsuki smiled, a smirk in her eyes.

"Well, I guess I changed from since I was a teen."

"Ladies, your meal." The waitress came in at this time, two plates in her hands. She set them down in front of the girls and then left them to eat.

"Oh my god, Ryuko what is that?" Satsuki tentatively poked the gelatinous mass of yellow eggs on her plate. It wobbled, the fork's spears not even making a dent in it. "It's like some sort of monster." (End song)

"Relax, it won't kill you," Ryuko laughed, before she dove into her plate of crispy bacon. Satsuki heaved a sigh. The things she did for her sister. She stabbed down on the eggs.

(Start song There's Still Magic)

After lunch the two girls strode through the city, their bellies full. Satsuki hated to admit it, but after you got past the look of the food, it was pretty decent.

"Where to now?" Ryuko asked, burping loudly.

"We're going to go visit this special spot. Since you showed me yours I'll show you mine. It's a place I went to when I was a young girl and wanted to think. It's very peaceful and relaxing." The two girls walked away from the main streets of the city and took sidewalks that were less crowded if not empty entirely. Ryuko didn't complain, only followed her sister, burying her nose deeper under the red scarf she wore.

"Here," Satsuki announced when they finally reached their destination. They were at a small bridge over a canal of water in the middle of a small heavily wooded park, having to go through tons of trees to get to it first.

"Ugh, annoying ass branches," Ryuko grumbled, not being anywhere near as graceful as Satsuki when it came to avoiding the branches that snagged at their clothes. Ryuko pulled her scarf free, hurrying to catch up with Satsuki.

The girl was standing on the small stone bridge, overlooking the water. Ryuko had just finished exiting the trees when she saw her sister's figure wobble. "Sats?" Oh no, is it another one of her headaches? Ryuko rushed over to her sister, grabbing her by the shoulder and steadying her. (0:47)

"I'm fine, Ryuko," Satsuki admitted. "The headaches have been getting more manageable. They don't even hurt anymore."

"I still think you should-"

"Ragh!" Senks let out a huge yawn, his one eye swiveling open. "Man, I knocked out again, huh?"

"Senksetsu?" Satsuki breathed out. "He's awake." The girl couldn't understand the jacket but she could see that it was awake and alive.

"Hey, Senks you're awake!" Ryuko was happy about this, but a stab of worry hit her hard. Again he seemed to wake up when Satsuki had her headaches. What did this mean? It was making no sense at all. (1:04)

"Yea I am. And sorry, but I gotta do this." Without another word of warning the jacket harshly tugged Ryuko backwards. The girl let out a yelp as she was thrown off her feet and tumbled head over heels to the bottom of the bridge.

"Oi, Senks what was the idea?" Ryuko growled, grabbing her jacket by the front once she had recovered and gotten back to her feet.

(1:28)"Ryuko, something's wrong with Satsuki," the jacket whispered. "You have to stay away from her."

"I gathered that much," Ryuko replied. The headaches were a big indication of this. "But I'm not keeping away from my sister. She needs me."

"Ryuko, what's going on over there?" Satsuki stood on top of the bridge looking down at her sister. The midday light made her figure glow and Ryuko was reminded of their old days, when Satsuki had stood above her like this and demanded they fight.

"I'm fine. Senks is just acting up." Ryuko began to climb up the bridge back to rejoin her sister's side. Internally she was speaking to her kamui. Senks you gotta explain this to me. You said you would only awaken when the evil came so to protect me, but you've only awakened in the presence of Satsuki and after she's been having bad headaches. This makes no sense.

I'm not sure what's going on either, Ryuko.

You think maybe you've lost your touch? It has been years after all and you've gone through a lot.

We've both gone through a lot and we don't need anymore fighting. That's why I hope I'm wrong. That this is all some crazy fluke. Because if I'm right, then that means Satsuki is evil. (2:12)

Ryuko felt like her heart had dropped from her chest straight to the bottom of this river. No, that's not possible. How could Satsuki be evil? She saved the world-!

Ryuko gripped the stone of the bridge, her nails digging in. "Ryuko are you okay?" Satsuki asked, concern in her voice for her sister. "Is something bothering you? Hey?" Satsuki placed her back against the railing and using her finger, directed Ryuko's chin towards her, so she could look into her sister's fear ridden eyes. "What happened?"

"Uh, nothing," Ryuko jerked her chin away, unnerved by her sister's piercing blue eyes and the way they tried to read her soul and secrets. "Just you said this was your thinking spot and I got scared because I'm not much of a thinker, so I was worried I might ruin it." Ryuko tried to cover her fear up, and throw her sister off topic with a self depreciating comment.

Satsuki frowned and looked away from her sister. "I know something is bothering you and you're covering it up, but I won't delve deeper. I'm guilty of doing the same."

Ryuko's submerged heart beat harshly at that, sending ripples on the surface of the water. Is she talking about the being evil part? But it just doesn't make sense. How would she be evil? She's only ever tried to help the world the whole time.

Ryuko, your guess is as good as mine. I don't want to assume because she's your sister, but to me you come first and if worst comes to worst I will fight her to save you.

Ryuko thinned her lips. I understand. But how do I tell the elite four about this? (End song)

---

(Start Panic Music 1) Ryuko tossed herself onto her bed face first, letting out a long exhale. Her body, heart and mind were heavy with what Senks had told her. He had gone back to sleep after Satsuki had suffered from a brief second headache on the bridge. Again, this timing really pissed Ryuko off because she had no clue what it meant. Was Satsuki evil? No, that was ridiculous and without a doubt untrue. So there was no point in telling the elite four and getting them riled up. Especially Nonon. The pinkette would kill Ryuko for saying such things about her lady.

"Ugh, Senks, why do you have to make things complicated?" Ryuko groaned as she turned to her back and stared at the dark ceiling in her room, knowing he wouldn't answer. She hadn't bothered to turn on the lights when she came back, too tired from her busy work day to even think of doing anything else but go right to bed. She got up and changed, diving right back into her bed. She was asleep in moments, snoring loudly. What she wasn't aware of was that someone else was in her apartment. They moved like a ghost from the shadows of the kitchen where they had been hiding and cracked her closet door open slowly. There, inside on a special hanger, was the kamui. It did not awaken, snoring blissfully as it was grabbed and stuffed into a bag. (0:46)

---

"I brought a gift. Have fun with him!" A cheery voice rang out and that was all Satsuki heard, the voice echoing around her head before she awoke. Her mind was fuzzy, popping like a TV but it no longer hurt. She had been blacking out recently like this, but she didn't know why. It had all started with those painful headaches. She would come to in different places of her company building, either wearing different clothes, or having felt like she had just had a conversation with someone but with who she didn't know. And then that one time when she had come to she had cut her hair. Why was she doing this? Was it from stress? Was she so overworked her mind would blank out and do something else with her body? She had lost precious hours of productivity this way, coming to find all her files disrupted or ripped apart. It was really annoying. Maybe she would go to the doctor's like her friends insisted. She was blacking out more and more often. She could barely remember a day when she hadn't blacked out. Most of the time it happened at night, and instead of sleeping, her body wandered the city. She knew this was true because she would come to in the middle of a park, or coming back from a bar. Just what exactly was she doing?

(1:25) To be honest, this terrified Satsuki. She was losing control of her body, of her life and she didn't like it one bit. Did she have a split personality perhaps? She had heard this happened in patients who had undergone a lot of childhood stress. A second persona would be created in order to protect the initial persona. In Satsuki's case she had had numerous stresses in her childhood and even in her adult life. She had thought she would be stronger than some mental disorder but even she had limits. She knew her will of steel would do little against something like her mind. She couldn't will herself to be better. She needed help.

Satsuki gave a huge sigh and rubbed her hands over her face, stopping when she noticed she was wearing white latex gloves. She looked at them and at the way her sleeves had been rolled up. What had she been doing? She gave her surroundings a look and let out a choked gasp. She was in a small lab room of some sorts and next to her on an operating table was Senks. His seams had been ripped, his stitches pulled out and his leather cut and ruined with some corrosive liquid.

His one eye was glimmering at her, pain brimming out of it. "Senksetsu, what, what is going on here?" Satsuki asked in a whisper, knowing she wouldn't hear anything from him. Had she done this to him? She cast a nervous glance at the utensils on a tray. They consisted of a scalpel, scissors, knives, bottle of acid and a lighter. She did this? Who else-she was the only one in the room.

"I'm sorry, so sorry Senksetsu. I didn't mean to do anything like this." Satsuki's voice wavered at this. She was so scared of herself. She needed to tell her friends-she needed to ask them if she had ever done something like this to them. (End song)

With disgust she tore off her gloves and pulled out her phone. She needed to call Iori to help fix up Senksetsu. And then she had to call the elite four and Ryuko- they deserved to know.

The elite four stood in their pjs in Satsuki's office, yawning and scratching their heads. Only Inumuta looked awake and that was because he had downed three cans of energy drink to stay up and play online matches on his Xbox. (Start song Hurt)

---

"Lady Satsuki why did you call us here?" Ira asked. His coconut patterned pj's were disheveled.

"And where is Senks?" Ryuko had been awoken by Satsuki's call at three in the morning and when she had gone to get dressed she found her kamui missing. Where could he have gone? Had he gone to hurt Satsuki behind Ryuko's back so that Ryuko wouldn't have to do it herself? But no, he would never attack someone without Ryuko's permission. Perhaps he was just spying on the girl, collecting data on whether she was evil or not.

"Senks is getting fixed up right now," Satsuki informed. She held a glass in her fingers, some mysterious brown substance swirling in it.

"What happened to him?"

"He-he got hurt." (0:24)

"How?" Ryuko took a step forward, her hands curling up.

"I hurt him, Ryuko," Satsuki admitted, her gaze level and eyes dark.

"What?" Ryuko gasped out, her shock felt by the elite four as well. "What did he do? Did he try to hurt you and you-"

"No." Satsuki set down the glass on her desk with a loud thunk. "There is something I must ask you all before I tell you the truth."

Oh god, please don't let her be evil. Don't let her admit to this, Ryuko pleaded, cold sweat running down her back.

"What? What's going on Satsuki?" Nonon asked, her eyes frantic with worry. All traces of sleepiness had left her body at the words of her friend.

"Is someone hurting you? Who do we need to punch?" Uzu swung a fist at an imaginary foe. (0:49)

"Is this about Nui?" Inumuta quietly stated. This quieted down the elite four, who waited with baited breath.

"No. This isn't about her anymore. This is about me. I need to know, have I been acting strangely recently? Is there anything you can tell me? Any signs?"

"Why do you ask-"

"Just tell me." Satsuki's order brokered no more discussion. She looked desperate for answers, her foot jiggling impatiently.

The elite four exchanged looks with one another before shrugging haplessly. "Well no. We haven't." (1:24)

"You've never seen me walking downtown in the middle of the night? Or in the park? Or even just saying things that I normally don't say?"

"Uh, no," the elite four shook their heads, confused by their friend's questions. They had only ever seen Satsuki in the office or out on business meetings. Inumuta had tried to attach a tracking device to her but been unsuccessful. "I can check the camera feeds of the city if that will make you feel better," Inumuta offered and pulled out his phone, typing away madly.

"Yes please, that would be much appreciated," Satsuki said. Her body was on edge and it was all she could do to portray a calm facade. Inumuta's fingers stopped abruptly as a black screen greeted him. "The files-their all gone!" He was in shock. How had this happened? Had one of his workers done this? Oh, they were so going to get a stern yelling at for this, and sound whooping in a video game.

"I'll contact my workers immediately and we can get this figured out," Houka offered, upset at himself for failing his lady. This looked to be very important for her and he had wanted to succeed and help her but he couldn't. "It might take a while but I am sure we can get the files recovered."

"That's fine. Forget that then." Satsuki waved a hand dismissively.

"Wait, I think I know of something that could be of use to you Satsuki," Nonon piped up. She had almost forgotten about this incident because it had been weird and unnerving and she had pushed it out of her mind. But now that her friend needed some help she was going to provide her with this. (2:08)

"Do you remember that day, all that time ago when you got your hair cut? I came into your office in the middle of the night to bring you coffee and you had just sent the hairdresser away." Nonon continued on when she saw her friend was listening intently. "I asked you who that person in your room had been because they sounded a lot like Nui." She could feel the elite four and Ryuko stiffen behind her. She had never told anyone about this because she had chalked it up to simple hallucinations, or an overactive imagination. "You told me I was just imagining things and I took your word for it, because I had been on edge the whole time with worry for you and your constant headaches." Nonon realized that now she should have paid more attention to that night in Satsuki's office. What if something had happened that night and it really was Nui in that office?

"We had a conversation afterwards and you said something that was really confusing."

"What did I say?"

"You asked me how far I would go for our friendship and I said I would do anything. I meant it. I just thought it was weird you were asking me this because I had already proved myself so many times to you that I would not leave your side; that I would take on any enemy for you."

"I see," Satsuki was quiet and rain began to patter on the windows, obscuring the dark world outside them. "I don't recall ever saying or asking you anything like that Nonon, and as for the haircut-well, I don't remember getting one." (3:00)

"What do you mean?" Nonon asked, her voice a whisper.

"I don't remember a lot of things. It all started with that first headache. I blacked out for a majority of it-that's why I missed all those phone calls, why I went missing in the first place. When I woke up I was in the bathroom and fine and I saw you all in my office, worried for me. I had thought at the time it was a fluke. But then the headaches kept up. And each time I would have one the same would happen. I would black out and wake up in a different place, not recalling anything that had just happened or how I got there."

"Satsuki what are you trying to tell us?" Uzu's heart was beating quicker in anxiety and he sensed barely controlled panic radiating from his lady. What had happened to her?

"I'm trying to tell you that I am not longer in sole control of my body. I believe I have a split personality." Satsuki clenched her hand at this and looked down at it, her fist slightly shaking. (3:26)

Ryuko was blown away by this revelation. So that had been the evil Senks had warned about. It all made sense. He would awaken during Satsuki's headaches, and that must have been when she lost consciousness and turned to her other persona. It wasn't Nui that Senks was warning them about-she was long gone after all.

"Sats-" Ryuko was glad this was it. It could be so much worse. After all there was a cure for split personalities. They could combat this.

"I'm afraid." Satsuki's soft admission froze all of her friends. They had never heard the lady admit to this before. She was always the rock they looked up to; fearless and powerful, a force to be reckoned with. They could be afraid, they were allowed it since they were below her and weaker. But she was not allowed to admit her fear even if it ate up at her. And that she was saying it so openly now only worried them. (4:00)

But Satsuki hated having no control over things and the fact that it was her own body she couldn't control frightened her. It was like the time Junksetsu had tried to take over her body. Only she had fought her last time and won. This time she was the own enemy. She couldn't fight herself.

"It's getting worse. And I'm not talking about the head pain. Those are barely an issue anymore. It's what happens afterwards. Today I woke up from a black out and I found that I had stolen Senks and ripped him to shreds."

"What?!" Ryuko's shout brought the elite four out of their brooding and worry for their lady.

"He's alive. I had Iori fix him up before it got to that point. He's fine. And I am so sorry for doing it. But I had no control over it."

"Sats, we need to get you professional help," Ryuko was relieved that her jacket was fine but she was worried about her sister. It seemed her other side was violent. Today it was a kamui, but tomorrow it could be a person. And there was no way of telling the personalities apart. (End song)

Satsuki picked up the glass and downed it, letting out a sigh as her face crunched up in pain. "I know. I know. I fucked up. This is so difficult." (Start Horror Theme 6)

"Whoa," Ira put up his hands. Had the lady just dropped the f bomb? Was she really this stressed out?

Ryuko let out a low whistle. "Uh, damn sis. You finally cursed. I knew you had it in you. But don't worry. We're here for you. We'll help you get cured."

"Yea, you're not a fuck up just because you have this," Uzu reassured. "The only fuck up in the room is Ryuko."

"Hey!" Ryuko shot him a dirty look.

"I'm not talking about that," Satsuki insisted, leaning her head back and staring at the ceiling, placing her glass down. "Man, I was so close and then the stupid bitch had to find out and tell you everything. She couldn't keep her mouth shut for another day or two? Like, come on!"

"Who?" Nonon voiced the question that was running through everyone's head.

"Well, she's not entirely right," Satsuki leaned her head back to look at her friends, a smile on her face. "But she's on the right path."

"Who?" Nonon shrilled, shivers running down her back. Was this the same Satsuki or had she switched? But hadn't she said it happened all with a headache? There hadn't been one.

"I'm talking about Satsuki of course." That was all the proof they needed to cement the fact that it was no longer Satsuki indeed.

"You give her back right now!" Nonon pointed at the floor and stomped her foot. "That's not your body." (0:40)

"It's not your body," Satsuki mocked in a higher pitch.

Seeing her sister not be her sister was surreal for Ryuko. It felt like she was in a bad dream right now. Her hands were sweating and her stomach churned in nerves. What's going on? I wish Senks were here. He would know what to do.

"So you don't need headaches anymore to change personas," Inumuta stated coolly. Satsuki was gone, but that didn't mean they needed to lose their heads. She would come back. (0:57)

"Right," Satsuki clapped her hands. "How smart of you. I definitely want you on my side when things get dicey."

"What is the meaning of all this?" Ira looked as pale as a ghost. He wanted to protect his lady but how could he when the lady was her own enemy?

"It simply means she's able to slip in between personas easily. Her condition has progressed to such a high point."

"We told her to go get help and she refused!" Uzu grit his teeth. He was pissed off that Satsuki had let it get to such a point. She was smart-she should have known this would happen.

"I know. Lucky for me Satsuki didn't get help or else I wouldn't be able to do everything that I wanted to. Not that getting help would stop me." (1:26)

"Who are? What's your name? What do you want from Satsuki?" Ryuko shot off the questions without pause causing the thing in Satsuki's body to laugh. It was a sycophantic laugh, one that sounded ugly coming from Satsuki's mouth.

"Wouldn't you like to know? All I can tell you is that Senks was right."

"He was right?" Uzu barked out. "What is she talking about?"

"Senks told me yesterday about how Satsuki was-is the next evil." Ryuko spat out, refusing to believe her own words even as she uttered them.

"That's impossible! The lady could never be the next evil thing! Your kamui is lying!" Ira shouted out, refusing to believe what Ryuko said.

"Yea, what Ira said!" Nonon added.

"Does this coincide with what Nui said about the next evil?" Houka's question was aimed at Ryuko but it was Satsuki who answered. "Yes. You're spot on with that. I am the next evil." She raised her arms up dramatically. "And I will kill you all." (1:50)

Shivers ran down everyone's backs. Satsuki looked positively menacing right now, her smile vile.

"Give her back! Give her body back!" Nonon screamed out, tears running down her face. She rushed towards her but Uzu pulled her back by the shoulders. "Don't. We don't know what she's capable of."

"But it's Satsuki-"

"I know. All we can do is wait until she switches personalities. Then we can help her."

"Oh, I have no intention of giving her her body back. This is mine to keep." Satsuki placed a hand on her chest. "I worked hard. I think I deserve it."

"Like hell!" Ryuko was seriously getting pissed of by whoever it was that had taken over Satsuki's body. "Sats, get back out here! I know you're somewhere in there. I have to tell you your second persona really sucks ass. She's as much of a bitch as you are!" Ryuko cupped her mouth to project her voice.

Satsuki's face went neutral at this, her eyes going blank. (2:14)

"Holy shit, did that work?" Ryuko was really shocked. She had had the idea and decided to go with it, not believing it would actually work. That stuff only worked in movies not real life.

"Ryuko?" Satsuki rubbed her forehead, her features confused.

"Satsuki you're back!" Nonon freed herself from Uzu and hugged her friend who was nearly crushed under the tight hug. "Nonon. What did I do this time?"

"You said you would kill us," Uzu approached the two hugging girls.

"I did?" Satsuki looked positively horrified by this. "It's worse than I thought." (2:30)

"Yea. But we warned you about this!" Ryuko wagged a finger in her face, Ira behind her as they joined the lady by her desk. "And you didn't listen because you were too stubborn about it."

"Satsuki, until this passes we will keep a close eye on you. We won't let you hurt yourself," Ira promised, hands behind his back, relieved to see his lady was back. He was really worried back there.

"I'm not worried about myself. It's you guys who I could hurt," Satsuki sighed, letting her arms come around Nonon's back. "I need to talk to you guys. Individually. There are things I need to leave with you in case things take a turn for the worse."

"Don't say that!" Nonon looked up, her cheeks still wet from tears. "You're going to get better. All you need is medicine and therapy.".

"I wish it was that simple. Someone will have to run my company for me while I get my treatments. Now if you will excuse me, I would like to speak to Ryuko first since she is my sister."

Nonon peeled herself off of her friend. "Okay. Will you be fine?"

"I will. And Ryuko will be too. She's capable of holding her own against me." The elite four looked hesitantly at each other and then Satsuki. Could they really trust her? What if the other persona came back? (End song)

"We'll be outside. Not too far." Houka nodded his head and then left, Uzu, Ira and Nonon slowly following him and keeping Satsuki in their sights until the door closed behind them. Satsuki let out a tired sigh and went to refill her empty glass with more brown liquid. It smelled sharp and Ryuko wrinkled up her nose.

"Have you been drinking sis?"

"Just a little. It helps me to ease my mind off of the current worries I have." Satsuki took a sip and winced at the taste.

"This isn't like you," Ryuko said, sitting down on Satsuki's desk.

(Start song Pendulum)"I am aware of that. Now, let's not get distracted by that. I want to tell you important information before I run out of time." Satsuki settled herself by the giant glass windows of her room, her back to Ryuko whose focus was on the door. Satsuki leaned her head on it, the cold glass feeling nice on her head. It was hot, like she had a fever. "Whoever this other persona is, she means harm. She knows that your kamui is a source of power to you and wanted to weaken you. And I'm pretty sure she would have come after you first, as she sees you stronger than the rest, so that you wouldn't get in the way of her plans."

"And what are her plans? Do you know?" There was a clink of ice on glass as Satsuki took a sip of her drink before something hard smashed against the back of Ryuko's head. Liquid and small shards of glass spilled down her hair and she grabbed the back of her head where a throb was growing. "Sats what the fuck-" (0:36)

Ryuko was cut off when her hair was grabbed roughly from the back and she was slammed to the desk top. Ryuko's hands went to grasp those in her hair, trying to pull them out but the grip was too strong. Satsuki's face peered down at her. "I didn't get to destroy Senksetsu but I can still finish you off before the others find out." A silver blade flashed in the light. It was Bakuzan. How Satsuki had got it, Ryuko didn't know.

"Shit, you're back!" Ryuko squirmed on the table top. The persona switches were really getting quicker. (0:54)

"I never left. I've perfected being Satsuki to an art." Satsuki sneered at this. "You really thought calling me by my name would bring me back? Pathetic. Stupid shit that only you would believe in." Then Satsuki placed the tip of the blade on Ryuko's throat. It bopped as she swallowed nervously. "I'll scream. They'll know your back and they'll stop you."

"You'll be dead before the scream leaves your throat. Satsuki generously let leak information on how to kill a life fiber hybrid body." (1:12)

"Satsuki stop this!" Ira burst into the room, followed by Inumuta, Uzu and Nonon. Inumuta had calculated the chances of them being able to trust the lady after this and it had turned out to be really low, so they had eavesdropped on the conversation and when it had seemed to take a turn for the worst they had burst in.

Satsuki tsked angrily, retreating the blade and backing up towards the window. "Well, I guess I really ran out of time for this plan." She smashed the floor to ceiling window pane with her sword hilt. Cold wind blew into the room carrying with it the rain and sounds of traffic from down below. She placed her feet on the edge of the window, gripping the pane with one hand. (1:30) The elite froze where they were, horrified by what the person controlling Satsuki's body was going to do. Satsuki didn't have her kamui, there was no way she could survive the fall. And neither of the elite four had their goku uniforms.

"Hey, don't do it, buddy, I'm warning you!" Uzu growled, fear for his lady fueling his anger.

"You step one toe over the edge-"

"And what?" Satsuki asked condescendingly, cutting Nonon off. "You'll hurt me? This is your friends body not mine."

"Just step away from the window," Inumuta raised his hands in a calming gesture.

"Like this?" Satsuki leaned further out, the wind tossing her hair and spreading it out behind her.

"No!" The elite four all cried out in unison, shaking their hands in a stopping motion.

"You know it's pretty slippery out here," Satsuki hmmed playfully. "I think I might just fall. Whoops." She gave a careless shrug and left go. (1:59)

Everything was in slow motion. Ryuko hopped off the desk, her hands outstretched, grasping wildly for her sisters leg. "Until next time!" Satsuki's voice bid as she fell like a rock to the ground, disappearing amidst the heavy rain.

"Satsuki no!"

"My lady!" The elite four all rushed forwards but they had even less of a chance of catching Satsuki then Ryuko did. When they got to the broken window only dark greeted them and the heavy rain. They couldn't see Satsuki anywhere. (2:16)

"We have to check the street right now! She could have survived the fall. If she did we need to get her medical attention," Ira ordered and they all ran to the elevators, nearly tripping over one another to get to their lady. Ryuko stayed where she was, kneeling in front of the gaping hole to the outside world. Rain stung her face and she rubbed her neck where the blade had pricked it, unintentionally smearing blood on herself from the cuts on her hands obtained from touching the broken glass. Her knees were also bleeding but she couldn't feel the pain. She closed her eyes, her sister's malignant face flashing in her eyes. With her cruel sneer and dark eyes, Ryuko finally realized why her sisters hair cut bothered her so much.

It looked like the younger version of Ragyo.

Things had definitely taken a turn for the worse. (End song)

A/N: So I wanted to make Satsuki turn evil as the last major plot point because why not? Ryuko got to be evil in the original series not once but twice. And maybe even thrice, but honestly I can't even remember right now. It's been three years since the show came out, can you believe how time flies?

Besides, an evil Satsuki? How cool is that. I mean actually evil, not like how Ryuko thought she was evil in the beginning but was actually faking it. Like what would a strong willed, determined and no holds barred Satsuki who was evil act? Pretty bad ass I bet, and definitely way smarter than her mother. So welcome to the end of the world as Satsuki would bring it. And bring it she does.