. . . Twelve Days Later . . .
A chamber in Honnoji Academy prepared just for her wasn't anything she could touch. She didn't see the silken fibers sewn into her skin, jutting from every part of her nakedness. It kept her docile.
"Why does it feel so ...?"
"Exquisite. It is a pleasure only you, Nui, and I can experience. A full synchronization with the Life Fibers. Junketsu was always yours, my dear. Only you can draw out its true potential."
"I can?"
The images on repeat weren't quick to change. What she knew before was a lie. Her mother was caring, devoted to raising her, to protecting her, everything a mother should be. Everywhere around her had a velvet's gloss but what mattered most was seeing her life flash before her eyes.
Its climax was her best friend waiting for her at an altar. When she glanced down at her bosom, she was draped in perfect linen. Her off-the-shoulder dress was white as a dove's feathers, elegant, otherworldly. She made sure to hold a bouquet of flowers with colors she never knew existed. She left her veil alone, but she could see him waiting through it past watering eyes.
"This is true happiness," she said.
"Of course. Only the best for my daughter."
She walked the aisle, not caring that no one else was present because her groom was grinning in his all-white tuxedo. Finding his side, she kept her attention on him, hoping he would speak.
"There she is," he said. "It's okay, Ryuko. Go ahead and say it."
"... Life Fiber Override: Kamui Junketsu ..."
As the blinding flash was too much she shut off any view of it, and when she didn't, she saw eye-to-eye with the beginning of dusk. The highest point in the academy and the former Student Council President's tower. Her armor covered the softest part of her chest pressing into it, leaving her midriff bare, like the unwrinkled *hakama attached to leg segments exposing the sides of her thighs. It was perfect. Blue highlights reached along the ends of her short hair, all the way to the red fringe.
"Find your sister." Her mother fondled her cheek. "Make her and her allies suffer for their ignorance."
"I will, mother." She kissed her hand.
Taking off blew away the dust on her feet, and the lighter garments on those present.
Her mother kept a stare on her riding the wind. "... Nui."
"It will be ready soon, Mistress," Nui gushed, peeking from behind her. "Junketsu looks incredible on her. Super chic!"
"We knew it would," Ragyo's cunning smile spread across her face.
x.x.x
"... It taste's fine," she said.
"I hope so, Milady," he bowed, unable to contain himself.
Despite their surroundings, her survival warmed his heart. She opened her eyes to see the Naked Sol's combat information center; a black steel reminder. It was too gloomy with its large, digitized maps providing the only light source. She and Inumuta had a seat while Mikisugi and Tsumugu stood ahead of hers. If she ever looked, Inumuta's ammo holsters and neck protection weren't unlike her dark trench coat. The change in style wasn't a choice.
"Inumuta." She kept her legs crossed.
"Singapore and Kazakhstan were tallied last. Revocs is now the supplier for one-hundred percent of the world's apparel market."
The upgrades to his laptop left its display crisper. "It's been over a week, Lady Satsuki. Maybe we can't rely on him anymore."
"And with Ryuko captured, you're our best bet. Word is you can fly without a Kamui? We're still wrapping our heads around that."
Less believing of her change of heart, Mikisugi kept an eye on her. Satsuki let Soroi take her teacup with its saucer. She stood amongst the beeps, the clicks of Inumuta's fingers jumping across his computer's keyboard. They all waited to hear her say it.
"Son and I learned it to be called Bukujutsu in our youth. The harsher truth is that he and Ryuko are in a completely different league now. If the worst has happened, Senketsu and I may not be enough. We need him. I need him."
"Milady," Soroi said.
He didn't expect to see her assure him with kindness.
"... Don't worry. I've made peace with it," she said. "However, sentimentality is a distraction we cannot afford."
As she stopped herself, Tsumugu was the first to sigh. He felt powerless, arms folded and his attention elsewhere. Mikisugi let him dwell on it, curious of Satsuki as she accepted two things she would need.
"Bakuzan-Gako and Bakuzan-Koryo. Repurposed per your request." Inumuta lowered his head, holding both out for her.
"Remind me to thank Iori later," Satsuki said, interested in her weapon's new shorter-longer molds.
"Do you have a plan?" Mikisugi asked.
"I do," she replied. "Let us hope she knows where to look."
Helping her relax was knowing that her smooth-leather combat boots also lacked Life Fibers. The temporary freedom from them was its own reward.
x.x.x
"C'mon Mako. It's up to you to find him! For Ryuko! For Senketsu! For everybody!"
Talking to herself and her scooter made it go no faster. The irony was it moving with no sputter. She stood over its seat, gripping its handles too hard, but she knew where she was headed. She almost sped past a mansion's ruins, stomping on the brake as that was her stop. Throwing her scooter aside, she hopped from it, jogging up to where the front door used to be.
"Son!" she called out through cupped hands. "Where are you?!"
Birds chirping, forested mountains some ways from it, it was all she would get. As she walked through an interior with no walls, the eerie quiet didn't reassure her.
"We need you," she added.
Whatever was under her shoved away from her buckled shoes. She couldn't walk on air, even as she frantically grabbed at it.
"W-W-Waaahhhh!" she squealed on the fall.
Curled up in a ball, death wasn't so painful. When she tried peeking, she realized the hard yet comfortable cushion were his arms and not the afterlife.
"Mako?" Her friend raised one of his dark eyebrows. "You drove all the way here by yourself?"
"I had to!" She reached around and wrung his neck.
Setting her on her feet was no small thing, as she wouldn't let him go. Her presence, and her wearing her sailor-fuku with the long socks when she shouldn't be, set him aback.
"What are you doing, you big dope? It's been over a week!"
Son looked at piles of debris taller than they were. It was familiar. An escape.
"... I promised the old timer I'd look after her. I couldn't even do that right. Ryuko let herself get kidnapped, Mako. She doesn't trust us. Me. I don't blame her."
Mako let him speak. Light beaming through the lab's trap door hit them both and little else. An odorless stench wasn't her focus, his melancholy was, and he stepped somewhere else with it.
"I thought I was ready. I was wrong," he said, lifting his right hand to check.
When he caught wind of her determination, her arms were raised, and they crossed at the top of her wrists.
"That's a load of hogwash! You and Ryuko never quit. You're her guy and she's your girl. A cute couple I'd ship in a heartbeat! All this time she's gotten stronger because YOU'VE gotten stronger! Senketsu too! And what about Satsuki?! Gonna keep pretending there's nothing there when there COULD be?! The Son I know wouldn't run away from a challenge! He isn't some emo jerk! He doesn't mope around in the dark! He gives one hundred percent effort every time or nothing at all! That's just who he is! Who he is! Who he is! WHO HE IS!"
Son had no words for it. That she could say so much in one breath never ceased to baffle him, as much it impressed. Mako in his face and staying there, he struggled mostly with the truth.
"... And if I let you guys down again?" He stared at anything but her.
"You're the only one saying you let us down!" she said, cheeks puffed out, with a frustrated glare fixed on him.
{She's right, Son.}
A voice he never heard before clicking in his mind changed his tune.
"Senketsu. I can hear you?!" he nearly shouted, glancing everywhere he could. "Are you nearby?"
{No. I'm on the Naked Sol. Everything Mako told you is true. We are stronger. They need you now. More than ever!}
Son quit his hunching and scratched his scalp. He needed a moment, but was sick of thinking. He upturned the tensing height of his knuckles, as they cracked the harder he squeezed his fingers together.
"All right," he said.
His gi, knitted cuffs, tied into a knot obi, and undershirt were considered by the one person there to see it. He held a hand out, but she clung on his arm instead.
"I'm all set!" she said.
"... Me too," he said, believing in her. "Senketsu. Can you and Satsuki hold her off until I get there?"
{That's the plan. However, we cannot fully synchronize.}
"I expected as much. Do what you can," he said, and by then they were moving forward and not higher.
Mako clenched around his waist with her thighs, pulling on the second collar behind his neck as she held on tight.
"Yahooooo! Flying is so awesome! Up, up and away!"
"Hehe. I owe you another one, Mako," he smiled warmly.
He wanted to prove why, to hasten it. Turning into twists while he flew along the sky kept her eager.
x.x.x
Satsuki couldn't fret the bad vibes. It wasn't because she wore Senketsu with the matching glove that would feed him her blood. COVERS weren't there to get in the way anymore. Her Bakuzan now gripped in two hands instead of one, she heard the blue in the sky tearing apart. Getting a feel for what was coming was smart. Only she could. She had the Naked Sol's spacious deck as a stage, thanking her good fortune that it was mostly cleared.
"Here she comes," she said. "Mister Mikisugi. Keep your people below the main deck."
*Copy that. We've got you covered.*
{I know you can't hear me...but I'm with you, Satsuki.}
She couldn't hear him, or acted like she couldn't, glancing at how short the miniskirt snagged by the suspenders was, then the scarf that wasn't hers, as it was looking right at her.
"Lend me your strength, Senketsu," she whispered.
Taking the hook from her glove the needle stabbing her wrist wasn't so grievous. Everything about the transformation was familiar, yet different. As she gracefully spun to her feet, she hoped the boost she gained was legit.
"Life Fiber Synchronize: Kamui Senketsu!"
Ryuko's aggressive landing creased steel, breaking it. Her pointed shoulder pads slowly stood up with her. Both could copy how she leered at them.
"... Traitor. I always knew you were an unfaithful rat," she daringly fixed her lips to say.
{You've left me no choice, Ryuko!}
Her smirk was for no one but Satsuki there to greet her.
"Hiding like the losers they are. It doesn't matter. I'll deal with their princess first."
She meant to drag out her hostile approach. "Hear that princess? That's soon-to-be-death getting closer."
"Matoi. Know this. I cannot be beaten by a silly girl being worn by her Kamui! This is for your own good! Senketsu Senjin!"
Ryuko watched the spikes line Senketsu's edges, as Satsuki's dash changed to break her line of sight. She turned a swing of the protrusions coating her form and her blades in tandem, with the intent to kill. Taking her back, she drove her along her heels, cutting through the deck until Ryuko thought they should both stop.
"Is that all?!" She swung her blade's handle into her neck.
"Rahnn!" Satsuki's face slammed into the knee Ryuko raised.
Rolling to avoid her swipe, they traded a spin of tries, ending as a resounding clash. Knocked from the burst between them, Satsuki's body tightened for the strain being unique. She didn't notice the gash over her eye, nor it dripping down to her chin.
"Where's the high and mighty schtick? The twenty minute speeches about shit that doesn't matter?"
Ryuko flashed a demented smile, dropping her blade's tip as she flicked away any blood on it.
She wagged her finger, leaning her head to the side. "I'm waiting."
Enveloped in flame the sudden blast wasn't heavier than a helicopter's arrival. Satsuki quickly looked to see three of her Elite Four dressed like Nudist agents. They rappelled with the tools they would use.
"Lady Satsuki will not fall here, Matoi!" Gamagori led the assault.
When Nonon found the time to get a skull-painted beanie, and Sanageyama his ribbed gauntlets, she didn't question it, and couldn't. Ryuko was making her way through the smoke, unscathed.
"You think a missile is gonna do it? Humans are so pathetic," she said.
When she moved it was faster than lightning. Her instant impact against Satsuki's blades tossed the barrier Nonon, Sanageyama, and Gamagori tried to form. They opened fire, muzzles flashing and doing all of nothing. Ryuko gladly took the punishment, the bullets ricocheting from her face.
"Annoying pests!" She swung her blade in their direction.
Watching her allies blow back as the unseen opened the clouds, her fist jammed Satsuki's stomach. Before she could fall with the breath snatched out of her, Ryuko yanked her back up by a wad of her hair.
{Stop this, Ryuko! Right now!}
"Or what, traitor?!" she turned to shout once.
Satsuki's uncontrolled travel whistled, and she met the highest point of the ship's hull, back first. She had the ire to cross her swords as Ryuko was there. Wherever she looked, Ryuko was there. Turning over her swapped their positions. For her mistake, she received two, midair boots. One against her chest and the other across her jaw. Sent to the deck again she tumbled the length of it, stopping hard from a violent slide along the bow. As her eyes clenched shut, she heard Ryuko's blade stab next to her skull. She set one of her white heels between the cleft in her bosom to keep her from getting up.
"You look better on your back," she said mockingly.
That was before she noticed the nicked orbs rolling to a halt...and their detonation. Tsumugu's trap allowed Satsuki a chance to breathe. She carried herself from the sulfur fumes, and she spat blood like it was irrelevant.
"She's unstoppable," she said, shaking off the pain. "Everyone."
"Here, Lady Satsuki!"
"Here, Lady Satsuki!"
"Here, Lady Satsuki!"
Her gaze never moved for Gamagori, Nonon, and Sanageyama manning a line behind her.
"I want you to join the Nudists below deck," she pleaded with them.
"Not a chance! I am and always will be your impenetrable shield! Ryuko Matoi! If you want her you'll have to kill us all first!" Gamagori blocked the way.
Nonon cocked the slide of her submachine gun, training it forward, leaning to his right, as Sanageyama readied another by his left.
"Ira always knew how to yell his point like a lunatic," she ribbed.
"In other words, chill out or we chill you out, Matoi!" Sanageyama said just as loudly.
"... Teenagers." Tsumugu flicked a cigarette butt, showing off an automatic rifle's heft.
He pulled its longer hammer into an emptied slot.
"Tch. It's never ending with you assholes," Ryuko scoffed, cocking her head back.
"That's the humanity you sacrificed. Our true strength. I thought you of all people understood that!"
Satsuki's rebuke annoyed her. Ryuko appeared to their right, their left, up, then down, then in front. One nonchalant wave of her arm sent everyone but Satsuki from a gust strong enough to dent the metal of the upper deck they were all thrown to.
"Go to sleep princess. Permanently!"
She used two hands to bring her Scissor Blade up and back. Watching it unfold and extend, Satsuki noticed that Senketsu was reverting.
"Senketsu!" Her eyes widened over his lesser state.
{ ... }
"HOIYAAAAAAAAAAA!" Ryuko swung her weapon down like she thought to cut what they stood on in two.
Contact was too clamorous, too much on a solid, flat surface forced to curve until it split. Waves tossed around the Naked Sol didn't drown it when they crashed over top of its intimidating breadth. After a while, the sea calmed with the atmosphere. Ryuko expected to see a red smear and pieces of cloth...but her arms were trembling. It was the resistance to her attempt. It stood with her blade in his hand and a scowl that made her shudder.
"What?!" she gasped.
"That's enough, Ryuko," he frowned.
As Mako was on the approach, Satsuki hurried to stop her.
"Stay back Mako!" She reached with a hand, blocking her path.
Mako hesitated, but she could see the stillness in her eyes, as Satsuki's head slowly shook. They watched Son's gi waving with his coarse hair. The fervent worth he could emit matched Ryuko's, joining with it.
"... Y-you think I care that you showed up?! You're just another monster. A freak! It's all we are. It's all we'll ever be!"
Son didn't care for the red makeup darkening the space around her eyes. She looked exhausted. His hand cooked, but he wouldn't let her weapon go. As he suddenly shot up he took her with him. He noticed she let her Scissor Blade fall into Satsuki's lofty jump to catch it. Her stare moved for anything up, and to her surprise, she could see what the rest of them couldn't.
"... You were supposed to be the one I could trust! The one I could always rely on!"
Ryuko slammed everything but Son's face with her fists.
"You're a piece of SHIT! Just like them! You AND Senketsu! COWARDS THAT KEEP SECRETS IF IT MEANS SAVING FACE!"
He had to adapt on the fly. She was faster, able to call upon dizzying motion as was needed. But what he focused on most weren't the small pops altering the pressure around them; it was her tears starting to form. Vapor circled every time they flew into each other, tapering off, then meeting to do it again. As he caught her by the hands, he could feel the sting in his palms when they wrapped over her knuckles. Ryuko clenched her teeth and struggled to free herself.
"Say something. SAY SOMETHING YOU SON OF A BITCH! LET ME HEAR THE BULLSHIT EXCUSE!"
Son let her carry on in vain for a time.
"... I'm sorry, Ryuko," he soon said.
"Let me go! LET ME GOOOOO!"
{Now, Son!}
As he struck her in the chest, it knocked her still, negating sound as the sphere around them dispersed like it was never gathered. She froze with her mouth open, and she wasn't breathing. When she could hear again, she remembered. She remembered where she was and what she was doing. She understood what she was wearing. Arms hanging by his sides in the distance, his blank expression weighed on the guilt hitting her all at once. Her lower lip quivered.
" ... "
"Wow. It worked." Son watched his hand like he couldn't believe it himself.
"It?" she said, finally calm.
"Senketsu's idea," he told her. "He thought I'd only need one blow on the right spot at the right moment."
The mere thought of Junketsu still hugging her flesh made her nauseous.
"... You gonna take that thing off or what?" he said, if it reminded her.
She gawked at him like he made no sense. Pulling at her depowered top wasn't easy. Aware that some of her skin was tearing, she wanted to grit and bear it.
"I don't...care if I...die trying," she strained, never feeling pain like it before. "Get...the hell...offa...MEEEEAAAAAAA!"
Harder segments the last to go snapped away from her effort, leaving her stark naked. Her healing was quick, natural, what was left fell away, and she could push herself into his arms. He closed them around the small of her back and pulled her in.
"... I can't believe that hag forced me to wear it," she sniffled, struggling with the lump in her throat.
"Me neither. It wasn't really your color," he made light of it, glad to hear how she sometimes snorted if she laughed.
Her arms around his neck she wanted a guarantee. Pressing her head into his wasn't it. He thumbed away the wetness trapping dirt bits on her face. As they had the heavens to themselves, her palms softly grazed his cheeks. He let her lips touch his. Her brow furrowed, because it didn't happen enough for their tastes. Ignoring anything else, she thought his kissing technique improved, but she blamed it on them just doing instead of thinking. They were done with thinking.
*hakama = a type of traditional Japanese garment designed as skirt-like pants worn over any type of Kimono