Earning Stars; Chapter 3: Even Cowards Can Show Courage!
All eyes stared at Ei, now downed in a new, skimpy yet strong looking uniform.
"What is this?", Ei wondered looking over the tight clothing, "What happened to my clothes!?" looking over her new clothing wondering where they came from and feeling virtually naked.
"Ah!" Mako gasped, "That's amazing! Ryuko-chan she's got an outfit like you and Lady Satsuki!" Mako said
"But how?"
'This is impossible? Senketsu and Junketsu were the only uniforms created by my father' looking at the design she couldn't help feel something…strange about it
"Hey Senketsu do you know who that outfit is?" she asked her uniform quietly
"This is new to me, I've never seen that outfit before" Senketsu said looking at the uniform, he knew there was something about that girl.
'Nagareboshiketsu' steely blue eyes looked down at the student, she was a weakling and a coward by all account, 'Let's see how you handle the power of the fibers, little pig'
"This is weird,though not as strange as some things I've seen" she couldn't explain it, but there was a power pouring into her.
"Oh this is getting interesting" Nonon smirked
"Hm, this should provide some interesting data" Immuta said typing into his computer, scanning and copying information.
"Looks like another fight" Uza added thinking of fighting with her, if she proved worthy enough to fight.
"Feh" Takaharu spit, "I don't care what she's wearing! She's not defeating me!" he declared refusing to be defeated, especially in front of Lady Satsuki and the student council.
"I don't know what's going on, but I'll go with it!" she declared, she had no choice really, she was outnumbered and out clothed, so to speak
"You talk way too much!"
"Iron Fist Pulverizer!" he attacked, but unlike before Ei seemed to effortlessly dodge the many jabs and punches.
"Wow! Ei-chan's gotten really fast!" Mako awed
"The attacks can't touch her"
"Stay still you!" he growled, augmenting his glove to spiked mode, "Dodge this!" the glove landed a direct hit
"Got you!" he smirked, soon his smile feel when he notice something wasn't right. With a crack the glove shattered like fragile glass.
"It broke!"
'Did do that?'
"My glove, you bitch!"
'Alright let's see what this outfit can do!' an energy began building up around her, flowing through the suit, as the energy burst forward, it thinned into her hands, forming a solid object. The handle was a sleek black that curved on one end and was a shining blue brittles that looked like blue flames.
"Calcifer is the you?" she awed looking at her new broom before setting her eyes on the club captains who were just as shock.
"This is for kidnapping my friends, attacking me, holding them hostage, and JUST BEING TOTAL BASTARDS!" bringing the broom back in a swinging,
"Nagareboshiketsu Flame Blue Dragon!" with a large swings the blue flames burst out, the burst shooting forward like a blazing dragon, catching and sending her opponents flying back at immense speed, before crashing into platform that held the council members who didn't seem faced. After the attack all there was a large number of craters in the podium along with the bodies of the club captains and their members and a scorch on the ground. Murmurs filled the stadium,
"She…did it?"
"I did it?" after a moment she gave a wince, "Hot! Hot!" she blew on her broom to make the flames go down a bit before giving a sigh of relief.
"Ei-chan won! She did it!", Mako cheered from her tied up place, she didn't even care that people could see her underwear. Wouldn't be the first time.
"Huh? So she's not completely weak and worthless after all" Nonon groaned
"Might be worth fighting" Uzu said
"I've gathered some interesting data"
"Troublemaker" Ira huffed
Ei gave a short sigh of relief,
"I can't believe I actually did it…" she said in disbelief, but happy it was over, suddenly with a short twinkle her uniform returned to normal.
'My clothes' looking down at the uniform she felt happy to see them back to normal.
"Ei-chan!" looking up her eyes fell on her friends who were still tied.
'Ryuko-chan, Mako-chan…' she gave a small smile,
"You…bitch" Takaharu growled from the rubble, "I not done with you yet!" he prepared to attack with the other captains.
"That is enough!" suddenly a shining light caught everyone's attention, a figure walked down the long steps, black hair flowing effortlessly in the wind with eyes and aura that commanded and demanded obedience.
"Lady Satsuki!" student's bowed, kneeling before the student council president
'It's her'
"Lady Satsuki!?" Mako gasped
"So she finally showed up" Ryuko sneered not at all impressed
Once at the bottom, her stern eyes looked around before falling on Ei
"Ei Nova" even with just saying her name Ei could sense the ice, "I'm Satsuki Kiriyun, Student Council President" it was a simple introduction
'Satsuki Kiriyun'
"Tell me, where did you get that outfit?" it was more of a demand then a question
"Um…?"
"Well" Ei tensed a little
"To tell you the truth I don't know where it came from" she said quickly, "It just kind of appeared...on me" she said carefully as she was given a stern look.
"Hm, I see" with that she turned and began walking away
"Hold on!" she called out, "What about my friends!" Satsuki stopped, a silence forming in the arena
"What's was that?"
"Listen! Alright! I beat your captains, now release my friends!" she demanded, though there was still some timid in her voice she stood tall.
"Um, please give me back my friends" gripping the handle of her broom Calcifer she stood there anxiously as silence filled the stadium
All eyes were on the two standing in the arena, all wondering what would happen next
"Ei-chan…"
Ryuko gave a small growl as she stared down at the two
"Hm, very well" she turned and began walking away, "You can take your friends, but think this is the end Ei Nova" as she walked away Ei released a breath of relief.
"That was scary" she sat on the ground her les felt like jelly from the tenseness.
'Though she's not as scary as…'
"Ei-chan!" looking up she was suddenly pulled into a tight hug by the newly freed Mako
"Mako-san, Ryuko-san, you're both alright!"
"Yeah, arms are kinda tight from the rope" Ryuko said casually, "But nothing major"
"Ei-chan you were so cool! You were like pow, whoosh! And everyone was all punch, kick, hit, and then you were all 'Nagareboshiketsu'! And kicked all their butts!" Mako rambled replaying everything
"You were pretty good out there" Ryuko added, before giving her a thumbs up
"Oh thanks" she gave a hesitant thumbs up, "Now then can we go to a hospital"
"Huh?"
"I feel…oh look what a pretty moon" with a dazed laugh she fell back shocking the two girls
"Ei-chan!?" Mako screamed, "What happened?" she questioned looking at her fainted form
"Damn, she must have fainted from the blood loss" she concluded
"Ah! We have to get her to a doctor!" Mako exclaimed
"Fine" she sighed, "Here help me get her up" Ryuko said
"We'll take her to go see dad! Hang on Ei-chan!" as the two carried the unconscious body of Ei away, being watched by many, many eyes.
At Mako's House,
After being bandaged up, she, Mako, and Ryuko were all sitting in Mako's room.
"Thank you again for bandaging me up" she thanked Mako who just smiled happily
"No problem dads a pretty good doctor!"
"Yeah…anyway" Ryuko sighed, "Listen Ei we need to talk" she began
"About what, Ryuko-san?"
"It's about your uniform" she stated, "Where did you get it from?"
"I…I don't know" it was true she couldn't explain where it had come from
"Oh! Maybe it's a magic uniform, I wonder can it talk?" she said pressing at it
"Um that's my boob"
"Not likely there's no such thing as magic" Ryuko said, "Just fiber aliens"
"Um you're pressing kinda of hard…"
"I wonder if it's like you Senketsu" she said to herself, "Lying dormant until you got woken up"
"Possibly…" the uniform hummed
"Um Mako-chan please stop poking there" she seemed to beg
"But seriously, that uniform is a no laughing matter" Ryuko stated as Mako seemed to halt her poking
"Kumai are dangerous pieces of clothing, in the wrong hands they can cause serious damage" Ei trembled at the others grim tone.
"Oh…" now she was nervous, not that she wasn't nervous before, but having or rather wearing something that powerful, "Can I handle this? I don't think I'm strong enough?"
"But don't worry!" Mako said holding her arms in cross shape, the room somehow went dark and a light shined down followed by the sound of a chorus.
"Kamui are dangerous made from high quality fibers! Ryuko-chan has one made by her father!" Mako explained, "But Ei-chan is strong! Strong! She won the match and saved me and Ryuko-chan!"
"Ei-chan might be afraid but you have friends! Even if you fail you have friends!" she exclaimed very close to Ei who blinked in both shock and confusion
"Um is this normal?"
"Just let her have her moment" Ryuko said with a slight wave of the hand
"Nageraboshiketsu is powerful and tight, but it's a part of Ei-chan! Just like we're apart of Ei-chan!"
"Um…I"
"So let's all do our best!" she smiled with twinkle in those big, mocha eyes
Ei blinked once, then twice, then twice again, before giving a smile and nodded
"Alright I'll do my best!" Mako cheered with a clap
"Heh, well alright"
"Girls dinner is ready!" Mako's mother called
"Yeah! Food!" Mako cheered, "Hey Ei-chan wanna stay for dinner? Huh!? Huh!?" Mako asked
"Um, I don't want to impose" she said blushing
"Come on it will be fun!" Mako insisted
"No use saying no, she'll just keep pestering you until you agree" Ryuko said
"Well, if I'm not imposing, then yes I'll join you for dinner" she smiled agreeing
"Hurray!"
At the small, yet humble dinner table Ei was introduced to Mako's family
Her mother, Sukuyo Mankanshoku
"Is nice to meet you" she was now and gentle looking
'Such a carefree flow in her spirit'
Her Father, Barazō Mankanshoku
"Welcome to our home!" he was a goofy looking but seemed nice, "It's nice to have a patient not die on me" he laughed
'His soul screams of death'
Then there was her little brother, Matarō Mankanshoku
"So you're Mako-chan's little brother" he looked like a nice enough kid
"Why does sis always bring home her friends, isn't this house small enough already"
'His soul hues with trouble'
And finally there was the dogs, guts
"Well aren't you a cute thing~"
'Gut-su?' it barked
"Alright who's ready to eat!" a large plate was dropped on the table, "Dig in everyone!" in no time they attacked it scarfing down as much as they could.
"Hey Ei aren't you going to eat?" Ryuko asked taking a bit of the food, however Ei was staring at the questionable food on the plate.
'Oranges, fish bones, is that a shoe?' though she didn't get a chance to find out as Gus gobbled it up
'Oh…'
"Um yeah" she didn't want to be rude, managing to grab one of the fried buns, she bite into it and blushed
"It's good…" she whispered, it truth it wasn't the weirdest thing she had ever eaten, but it was good none the less.
"So where are you staying at?" Mako's mother suddenly asked
"Oh, well I actually I've been trying to find a place, but it's been kind of hard" she admitted
"Yeah that's this city for you"
"Oh! I know!" Mako said, "Ei-chan can stay with us!" she stated
"Huh?" she blinked confused, "I can?"
"See! You can room with me and Ryuko-chan!"
"Huh? Great another girl in the house" her brother ground
"Oh our families getting bigger" her mother giggled
"Any friend of Mako's is welcome to stay as long as she wants!"
"Wait! No, I couldn't" she declined, "Dinner was one thing, but I could ask you to house me"
"Huh? But we can't let you live on the street" Mako stated, "You could get robbed, or kidnapped, or eaten!"
"But…"
"No but's! You're staying right here!" she declared definitively, "It'll be just a like a sleepover!" she stated happily
"I guess I have no choice…"
"Yeah! Slumber party!" she cheered, not even a second later everyone went back to eating
"Is this normal?" she whispered over to Ryuko
"Huh? I guess, as normal as normal is" she said
"Oh" looking back for a second, her eyes traveled down to her uniform, Senketsu, is what she and Mako had called it. She couldn't place it but, she could sense a living presence a wavelength emitting from it and for a second she swore she saw it looking at her.
"Get it together, Ei" she told herself before going back to eating
'So this is a family dinner' she thought looking up at everyone, 'It's nice'
"BATH TIME!" Mako said, "Ei-chan the bath is all yours!" she said after she and Ryuko had gone
"Oh thank you" she said
"I know it's small, but it's comfortable once you get used to it"
"The hot waters on the frits today, sorry" Ryuko apologized
"Oh? It's fine" with that she closed the door, going to the small tub she turned the handles only to be met with a rusty crank
"Huh?" she turned the knobs again, when the water came it, she placed her hand under only to receive a cold shock on her skin.
"I guess it is cold" she wonder, reaching into her robe she pulled out her book, the book she always carried around.
"Let's see" flipping through the pages she stopped on one, reading the writing before giving a nod, "I think this is it"
Taking a deep breath, Ei began reciting the verses in the book, markings glowing on her back slowly branching out. At first nothing happen, suddenly there was a shaking, like an earthquake shuddering the house. When it was done the small tub was filled with steaming warm water.
"It worked" shedding her rob the marks disappearing, she stepped into the water giving a relieved moan as the water touch her skin.
"This is nice, so warm~" she sigh contently, even if the space was tiny it still felt nice, suddenly the door was slammed open revealing Ryuko and Mako
"What's happening out here!?" Ryuko question as Ei nearly jumped from the top, covering herself
"What are you two doing !?" she squeaked covering herself
"Earthquake!" Mako exclaimed falling into the room,
"Huh? Earthquake?" maybe she had used more than she was supposed
"Didn't you feel the house shake?"
"Yeah it was really scary! We we're in our jammies and the house started shaking and shaking" Mako explained quickly, "Hey? Is that hot water?" she noted seeing the steamy water
"I thought the hot water was broken" Ryuko said having just taken a lukewarm bath
"Oh uh? Yeah I kinda fixed it" both girls looked at her
"You fixed it?" Ei nodded quickly
"Yeah I just messed around with it and hot water came out" she explained, though it was a lie she couldn't tell them the truth.
"I think that might have been the 'earthquake' you were feeling, the pipes" she explained
"I guess that could happen" Mako thought
"Sorry about barging in" Ryuko apologized, "Come on Mako"
"Oh right!", and soon she was alone again, with a sigh she sunk back into the water,
'Theirs is going to be more difficult, Mako-chan, Ryuko-san, please…'
"That's was strange" Ryuko said
"Huh? What do you mean?" Mako asked as she began setting things up for bed, setting up another place mat and pillow.
"Well, do you actually believe she fixed the pipes" Ryuko said, "With no tools"
"Well it does seem strange" Mako implied, "But why would Ei-chan lie to us?"
"I don't know" she folded her arms, "But Senketsu thinks there might be more to her then she letting on. Even so we should be careful until we're sure we can trust her" she stated
"I don't know…Ei-chan seems trustworthy…huh?" as she was picking up some clothes something dropped out
"Huh? What's this?" picking it up she noticed it was a picture,
"What's wrong Mako?" walking up to her she was meet with a picture in her face
"Huh? What's this?" in the photo was a variety of people, very strange looking people. Two were wearing hoods so it was hard to tell if they were male or female, though one was shorter than the other and the two seemed to be arguing by their postures. In the middle were two figures who seemed normal, one was a figure with midnight blue hair that was straight down with three star clips in their hair. They were wearing a light yellow sweater vest that looked rather large on them with a white dress shirt and large black shoes and with midnight blue stars on the snaps.
"Look at the girl in the picture!" she pointed to the girl on the side
"Is that Ei?" it was definitely her, "But who are all these people with her?"
"Maybe it's her family or some friends of her" Mako offered
"Maybe?" it wasn't anything strange or out of the ordinary,
However, miles away from the island in a place that divides two major halves. In an area currently unnamed and classified. In a room decorated in a variety of purple hues and gold, three figures sat on a large black marble high rise
"More tea your highness?" with a silent confirmation the male calmly poured the tea into the china cup, before presenting it to the long purple haired woman seated on the coiled seat, legs crossed elegantly. Two males dressed in black leather stood on the side of her, one was fanning them with a large feathered fan, while the other stood holding a silver tea pot. Suddenly the doors opened and a figure walked in, their short straight gray hair that framed their face, the bar clips glistening under the lights. As the figure came closer to the throne, the stopped, with a quick movement they kneeled on bended knee respectfully bowing to the other,
"I have returned your highness" purple irises peered down at the other, silently sipping her tea
"So I see" they smirked, "Did you bring back the reports?"
"Yes your highness" they replied still bowing, "The agent has made contact within the target area successfully"
"Excellent, any new information to report"
"Not at the moment your highness" he said, "But the agent will be keeping us posted"
"Hn" they hummed, "Very good, things appear to be going smoothly" they hummed
"I'm deeply humbled" they said continuing to bow,
"So it looks like things are going smoothly" a voice cooed, "Should be interesting seeing things play out"
"Speaking of which, where is Lascivious?" the purple haired woman asked
"I believe in their lab, your highness" the male spoke
"Hn" the other hummed, "He better not be slacking off with his projects. The only reason we're even here is for his purposes"
"You sound like you didn't want to come" the voice chuckled, "I for one can't wait to see this place. It'll be nice to get out of this place and stretch my legs!" they chuckle holding their legs up.
"Even so, we must remain patient until all the necessary information is gathered" they spoke
"Usually I assign such a menial task like this to some of the subordinates, but our sibling just has to have his fun" they chuckled, "At any rate this place will meet the same fate as all the rest"
"Oh, think Lucy-chan will share evenly this time?" the other cooed
"Hn, probably not" they said simply, "You know how he hates sharing"
That night, as the family snored and slept away, Ei sat up in her blue pj's unable to fall asleep.
'What am I going to do?', looking toward the ceiling, her eyes looked out wondering if the moon was looking back or smiling, 'I guess I have no choice, hopefully Starr-sama won't be too upset with me for being gone so long" she sighed, as she turned to the side, now aiming at the wall her eyes made contact with Ryuko's uniform,
The next day at school, the three girls had arrived at school and everything seemed to go back to normal. Ryuko had come up with the idea of training Ei on using her kamui,
"Um Ryuko-san are you sure about this?" standing face to face on the field, the red and blue haired female nodded.
"Sure this is the best way to practice using your uniform" she explained
'Plus, we need to see what the uniform is fully capable of"
"If you say so" she said wearily, it's not that she didn't like her uniform, she just wished it wasn't so small
"Right, Kamui Senketsu!" clipping the glove she transformed into her battle uniform spinning her scissor blade
"Okay, Nagareboshiketsu Kamui!" Ei called, but after a moment something seemed wrong
"Um nothing's happening…"
"Huh?" looking down at her uniform she tugged at the fabric, tapping it lightly, "What's wrong with it?"
"Not sure?"
"Maybe you need to say its name louder!" Mako offered
"Louder?"
"Yeah things sound so much more powerful when their yelled out louder!" she exclaimed
"Okay…I'll try" they gave an exhale
Taking deep breath she yelled at the top of her lungs, "Death Fiber Resonate, Nagareboshiketsu Kamui!" she shouted louder.
"Nothing…" Ei sighed
"I can't believe it didn't work" she groaned sadly, "It was working yesterday" maybe she was doing something wrong
"This is weird, man what a drag" she gave an annoyed groan, "If we can't activate it, we can't practice"
"How do you activate Senketsu?" Ei asked as Ryuko made a thinking look
"Well, Senketsu requires my blood" she explained, "When I snap the syringe on my glove it sends a good amount of blood into his fibers" she spoke
"B-Blood?" come to think of it, she was bleeding rather badly when she was in her last fight, maybe because there's no blood she couldn't activate it.
"So I need to feed it blood?"
"Ryuko-san can I ask you a favor?"
"Are you sure you want to do this?" she question holding out her scissor blade, with her arm out Ei gave a nod, closing her eyes, "Alright…" with a careful swing she made a cut on the skin, not enough to do any major damage, but get a good blood flow going. The blood trickled into the fabric absorbing the others blood,
"So do you feel anything…different?" they watched to see if anything happened
"I feel…I feel…" she tensed, "Very dizzy" she stammered, with a small spin she fell forward
"I don't think it worked" Mako stated
"I'll get the bandages" Ryuko sighed
After grabbing some bandages, Ei state as Ryuko dressed her wound tightening the gaze to keep it secure.
"Thanks Ryuko-chan" Ei said looking at the white bandages wrapped around her arm,
"What now?"
"Well if blood didn't wake it up, maybe it was a one time deal uniform"
"I don't think so…" Ei seemed to disagree, "I can't explain it, but I know there's something about this uniform"
"Well I guess we'll have to figure it out together!" Mako said
"Together?"
"I told you we're friends and friend's help friends learn to use powerful articles of clothing!" she declared
"So let's do our best!" Mako said with a smile as, looking over at Ryuko who smiled too, Ei smiled and nodded
"Yes we'll all work hard together"
"Come let's get to class before we get detention" Ryuko said dryly as they went toward to school, on top of the a figure looked down below dawned in a purple robe, a golden scorpion pin on the cooler,
"Kamui" and then they vanished
To Be Continued….
Next time; Suck the Poison From my Veins