Mako woke me up screaming. That "No Late Day" was an exhausting drain on me. Still, Mako was with me all day, so it was important experience. I wanted to get the obstacle course done as soon as possible, and though I was not wearing Senketsu, I felt confident Mako and I could make it. Things didn't get tricky until that girl showed up: Oogure Maiko, or "Maiko-chan" as Mako said.
I still didn't know if I "liked" girls in that way, but one thing was for sure: I liked playing the part of the rescuer, even if it caused some battle disadvantage. I brought Maiko along because of her damaged arm and mako's insisting. I was impressed she wanted to keep trying the obstacle course even with her injury. So, I put my arm around Maiko to support her so we could all begin to walk. I liked the way her eyes shimmered gratefully behind her cute glasses, and I smiled like a rogue.
Before long, the three of us girls felt like fast friends. I began to think Oogure Maiko would stay our friend after all the challenges we endured that day. She impressed me. But Maiko dropped the act when Senketsu was delivered to me. She explained she wanted power in the school, and stole Senketsu from me even after Mako's soulful plea that she return my uniform, or "only joy in life."
After Maiko tried to hit Mako, and Senketsu became too stiff for the tricky bitch to move, I reverted to juvenile delinquent mode and nearly broke Maiko's jaw with an uppercut. She still managed to send us falling back to the start of the start of the obstacle course, and pulled off a nearly suicidal escape, too.
"To hell with that bitch," I thought. "No way Mako's getting kicked out of school because of some lying wench."
In the end, Mako and I made it to class right as our names were called, both safe and in one piece. The classroom, however, was in pieces thanks to our shuttle's crash-landing.
"None of the bitches around here impress me," I grumbled to Senketsu later. "And none of the idiotic boys either. I thought it was Maiko who had spirit, but all along the one with the most spunk was Mako. She's the only thing impressive here; even if Satsuki is a hell of a woman, she's too conceited to be human! Mako's the only human who's really my friend."
"And maybe a little bit more than a friend," chuckled Senketsu.
"Ryuuko-chan," said Mako at lunch that day. "Haven't you noticed something strange? We're always by ourselves when we eat lunch at school! What does this mean? That we like eating with each other more than with anyone else in Honnouji Academy?!"
"Mako, everybody else in this school is our enemy," I reminded her flatly. "Of course we eat alone, the two of us."
"You, and me, and Senketsu toooo!" sang the hyperactive Mako.
"Well, for whatever it's worth," I mumbled when she had finished her ridiculous song, "what you said earlier was true, too. I'd rather eat mystery croquets with you, Mako, than have a five course meal with that Satsuki bitch."
The next few days were hell as club captains began to hunt me down, a number of them attempting to kidnap or kill Mako. She would throw her skinny arms around my shoulders or neck and half strangle me with the delight of being rescued. Mako was the only reason I kept my sanity those days. Ironically, she probably wondered about my sanity, since I had taken to talking to Senkestu in public, and nobody but me could hear his voice.
When Tsumugu, or "the Mohawk man" shot Mako full of needles, it scared me pretty badly. In fact, that guy scared me, period. Back in boarding school, if any guys came onto me, they did so with the knowledge that I could beat them to pulps. When Sensei Aikurou flirted with me, I considered it a poor joke. But this man Tsumugu had weapons I didn't understand, was easily twice my weight, and had me on the ground in seconds. Whether he wanted to steal Senketsu or just make me take my clothes off, Tsumugu was the first man I had met who could probably do anything he wanted to me.
I escaped him once, and began to walk to school alone, in case Tsumugu saw me with Mako and decided to target her with something scarier than acupuncture needles. I could tell it made Mako sad to walk alone, but I vowed to myself to keep her safe.
Being Mako, however, she once again came flying out of nowhere when I was cornered. I was up against the bathroom wall in my underwear, glaring at Tsumugu. Senketsu had stripped himself off me to provide a distraction for my escape, and the Mohawk man shot him down with powerful starching needles. Mako suddenly attacked from behind, thwacking Tsumugu with a hefty broom and barely missing his kidneys.
She launched into a spirited rant about how ardently I love Senketsu, simultaneously saying my affection for him was creepy, and patting my head and hugging me as if unaware that I had nothing but underwear. When Tsumugu blankly stated that clothes and human could not be friends, Mako argued otherwise. She said something that proved to me how deep our bond had become.
"Up until now," she said firmly, "my only friends were in my head, but then I met Ryuuko and made a real one! A girl like her can be friends with anyone, even clothing! In fact, she already has!" (Mako tore Senketsu from his pins on the floor and handed him back to me, smiling.) "Shame on you, Ryuuko. You have to take better care of your friends."
I thanked Mako and hugged Senketsu to my chest, embarrassingly emotional. I was trying so hard not to cry that I barely noticed Mako leaving the restroom to attend to her cleaning. Tsumugu threatened me again, but Senketsu defended me. Finally Tsumugu and I were attacked by one of Satsuki's Elite Four warriors. I think Mohawk man escaped, but I lost consciousness after the explosion.
The nonsensical Pervert, Sensei Aikurou, found me and helped restore me to health, but I still couldn't make him talk about what he might know: secrets about my father's death and Senketsu. He said something about a Nudist Beach and after that I gave up and left.
"Ryuuuuuuuko! Ryuuko-chaaaaaan!"
When I walked into the Mankanshoku house and took off my shoes, Mako flew at me again. I decided not to dodge out of pure weariness, and to my surprise, she knocked me onto my back with the force of her embrace. For a few seconds her body lay on mine, her arms around my shoulders, and her cheek against my own. I noticed that she was a bit shorter than me, and about my own weight. I noticed, too, that somehow her skin was amazingly soft, and her smell strangely sweet (under the scent of fried croquets). Then I jerked back to my senses.
"Get off me, goofball," I said, sitting up and pushing Mako off. "What are you so worked up about anyway?"
"I didn't know if you were coming back or not!" exclaimed Mako in relative seriousness. "You can't have so many fights and keep disappearing and making me worry!"
I smiled a little sadly. "Sorry, Mako. This is likely to keep happening for a little while longer. I still have many enemies to face at school. You know, I don't want to keep exhausting myself and worrying you, either. But I'm fighting for something extremely important. I have to face Satsuki again so I can avenge my father."
"So basically," said Mako matter-of-factly, "you really liked fighting Satsuki-sama. You still haven't proved to the world that your body is sexier than hers! Right, Ryuuko?"
"Sure Mako," I frowned. "Think of it that way if you want."
With Mako, things always went in one ear and out the other. I wondered if she really understood that avenging my father was critical to me. Another thing bothered me about what she had said, too. I definitely wanted to fight Satsuki again, even if it turned out she was not my father's killer. My desire to fight her was hardly distinguishable from the desire to see her and hear her again. But that would be a ridiculous thing to feel. What was going on in my head, I wondered?
I tried to put all of my confusing thoughts away for the time being. I focused on fighting as hard as I could, and I scolded myself whenever I had strange thoughts about Mako or about that Satsuki bitch. I fought and beat one of her Elite Four warriors, Sanageyama. They called a rematch I was not prepared for, however. If Sanageyama's Ultima Uniform hadn't overheated, I would have been killed without a doubt.
"I won't let this stop me," I growled. "I'll fight even harder to find out what I need to know. Sorry, Mako. I can't get entangled with you any further. If I do, it will interfere with my mission."
I didn't stop to think that someday soon, Mako might take her own stand against me.