Chapter 2 - Chapter II

Day 2


 
               Ryuko stood at the foot of the stairs to Honnouji academy. Above her, the sky is a vibrant shade of orange - classes having long-since been dismissed. Students make their way past her, down the steps and out into the city with no obligation to remain at the academy above. Most clubs had even concluded their activities for the day - but, to her disappointment… Not the chemistry club.
 
               She looked down to her hand; her fingers curling and tightening into a fist… This, she could manage today. When she’d awoken, it was the first thing she tested. The fact that she actually managed to put some force into her grip made the day prior feel like a bad dream… But, as the morning went on, the reality of her situation cemented itself. She’d regained a modicum of strength, but it was just that - a small sliver of her rightful power. 
 
               However, her figure hadn’t gotten any better. After her little escapade with the chemistry club, she’d had a big lunch with Mako - followed by a big dinner, and a bit midnight snack… She blamed the chemical for making her hunger, even if she wasn’t wholly sure about that. What she was sure about, however, was that it was to blame for the weight she was piling on. This morning, she’d awoken to a softer stomach than before - to underwear pinching in against the curvature of her plumper rear and thighs. She hadn’t seen any growth up top - but truthfully, she didn’t really want to. 
 
               The night had left her a mess, too - hair dishevelled, body soaked by overnight sweat; even a bit of stubble under her arms and… Well, she’d usually be inclined to say over her crotch, but to say it was under her belly was her first thought today. She had a late start to the day taking care of herself - showering, shaving, and showering again because she still felt gross. Every time she looked at her body, she found some new way to hate it. A new curve, a new spot of softness, a new spot - she had little dark flecks popping up here and there, across her face and body - they were sparse, but it  felt like every time she looked in the mirror, there was another there to greet her.
 
               Yesterday’s events didn’t just impact her body, either. Senketsu was still out of sorts; and true to her hopes, Mako diligently agreed to help take care of him. Mercifully, it only seemed like he was frozen from the starch, but Ryuko wasn’t quite sure. This LAME stuff was meant to treat fabric - life fibers, even, but she wasn’t sure how. She had to get some information out of the club president - but, with her two closest companions occupied, she had nobody else to rely on but herself.
 
 
               Even once she was up and about, she quickly came to the realization that she couldn’t really… Do anything. As much as it pained her to admit it - she couldn’t really put up much of a fight if she wanted to. She was usually pretty confident in her skills even without her uniform; but without any strength to back it, she doubted she’d even be able to handle a one-star. Worse still, her scissor blade was still in the chemistry club - so she wouldn’t even be able to arm herself in a worst case scenario.
 
               Thusly - most of her day was spent waiting. Twiddling her thumbs, passing the time… Waiting. Truth be told, when three o’clock came around, she was tempted to head for the academy early just to do something… But she still wasn’t convinced that sitting through Toki droning on about classes and homework would be better than doing nothing at all. So - she waited until the lab work was set to begin. She figured that’d be the extent of her obligations, now that the damn president was blackmailing her into joining. That dweeb didn’t have much of a backbone - but at the very least, she was smart enough to play the situation to her favor. While Ryuko was thankful she wasn’t ‘mean’ enough to leave her totally high and dry… Indentured servitude didn’t exactly rub her the right way.
 
               Her walk to the school proved… Informative. Her walk through the city streets was lonely - the company Mako provided was something she expected to miss, but with Senketsu being on her all the time, it was easy for her to take his company for granted. All she had to occupy herself with was her own thoughts - simply to keep herself entertained, she thought of revenge on Toki. She’s the one who decided to run away - if she fight back; or, hell, just accepted her fate, then Ryuko would’ve been on her way, but no she had to flee. She had to be doing an experiment. She had to…
 
               Well, okay, Ryuko recognized that she was at fault for blowing it up. After walking a few blocks, she was ready to admit that she was the aggressor too. She wiped some sweat off her brow as she came to the conclusion that it probably would’ve been best to leave the chemistry club be… For a while. If she just skipped over to another club, then maybe when she went back for the chem nerds they’d be working with something that wouldn’t poison her. It was frustrating to think about…
 
               But it was more frustrating that Ryuko had to keep stopping to catch her breath. Maybe her strength wasn’t as bad as it had been the day prior - but her stamina seemed to have taken a hit to compensate. She’d started sweating only a couple blocks away from Mako’s house - and she still had a couple to go before she even reached the stairway. She wasn’t sore; not yet, anyway, but she kept feeling winded… But she soldiered on. 
 
               Ryuko stood at the foot of the stairs to Honnouji academy. Above her, the sky is a vibrant shade of orange - illuminating a glossy sheen of sweat on her face, and on the defined curvature of her exposed stomach. With Senketsu being taken care of, she had to borrow a more… Typical school uniform. She felt dirty wearing it; the same garment as all the others - but she realized that, of course, it was better than being naked, and furthermore that it’d be damned satisfying to tear off and tear up when she was back to normal.
 
               Ryuko brushed a lock of red hair out of her face - feeling slightly damp - as she took her first step up the stairs, anticipating a greater challenge in the absolute mundanity of scaling them than she’d had in an actual fight over the course of the week.
 
               She eventually reached the top of the stairs, her uniform was sticking tightly to her body; the white top nearly transparent in some spots. She leaned over the guard rail, huffing and wheezing. Walking them was so effortless on most days, she hardly even remembered that she’d done it - but today, she felt like it was a miracle  that she’d even managed. The towering arch of Honnouji’s gate greeted her, looking ever-more ominous under the evening sun. 
 
               Despite how many departing students she’d passed on her ascent, a few still lingered around; particularly in the courtyard. In her experience, most wouldn’t be caught dead milling about there - not unless they were called for one of Satsuki’s assemblies, but she hasn’t made an appearance like that in quite a while, by Ryuko’s recollection. On her way into one of the buildings, Ryuko passed a small congregation of students - one of which perks up as he notices her.
 
               “Hey,” he begins, jabbing one of his friends. “Isn’t that… Y’know?” His friend nods, and seems to take a few steps away from her. He follows suit. “Yyyyeah. I don’t really feel like getting in a fight today. But, would you believe she actually joined a club?” Another girl around him muses “Really?”
 
               Ryuko stops a few steps away from the door. Giving a ragged sigh, she redirects her course, moving over to the gossiping boy.
 
               “Yeah, it’s the chem-” He looks back, seeing Ryuko approach. Defensively, he raises his hands, only for Ryuko to grab his shirt and pull-
 
               Well, she pulls the shirt. The student himself isn’t particularly strong, but he remains solidly in place. Undaunted by her own weakness - and moreover, unwilling to give him a chance to notice it - she barks in his face. “Who told ya that!?” 
 
               “Nobody!” he says, stepping away - and, still holding onto his shirt, Ryuko is pulled along with him, staggering a little. “It’s- uh…” What fear he had of her seems to lessen with each word he speaks. “It’s just a rumor that’s going around, but… I guess it’s… True?”
 
               Ryuko releases him, sneering. “And what’s it to you?” she spits.
 
               The girl beside him mutters “Sure doesn’t make me want to join the chemistry club.” Ryuko glares at her, and she looks away - not fearfully; but coyly. 
 
               Ryuko shakes her head and steps back. “Yeah, well, it ain’t up ta me anyway. Doesn’t matter what people are sayin’ about it.” Before they have a chance to pry further, she turns, making her way back toward the building. She throws the door open… Slowly - not anticipating it to be so heavy - and makes her way in. 
 
Just before it closes, she can hear the boy chuckle. “She’s not as strong as I thought she’d be.”
 
Ryuko fumes all the way to the chemistry room.
 
Even then, her frustration isn’t enough to abate the surreality of making her way through the battle-scarred halls of the academy. The craters she’d left, the deep cuts into the concrete; the occasional shred of a uniform stick in a crack. While yesterday she’d been here on the hunt - now, she was forced to be here. She averts her eyes from the sight of a sneaker-print embedded in the concrete - she knew damn well she couldn’t manage to do anything like that now. 
 
Part of her wondered… If this was what those one-stars felt like when they saw her fighting. Before she dwells on it for too long, Ryuko perishes the thought. It didn’t matter what they felt - they ain’t her. More importantly - she had arrived.
 
Ryuko lingers outside of the chemistry room’s doorway - seemingly still lacking a door from her… Explosive entrance. They seem to have recycled their sign, though; having taped it up beside the doorway. Still a little hot under the collar, she was tempted to barge in - but… Knowing what she’d done yesterday, she figured keeping quiet was in her best interests. The room’s ambiance seeped out from inside - light conversation, the occasional clinking of glassware, a discordant guffaw or snort; the longer Ryuko listened, the less she wanted to enter. One thing she couldn’t hear, however - was Toki. Maybe if the club president wasn’t there, she could just leave? After all, she had no obligation to the club itself; just to doing… Whatever dirty work the president had in mind so she can fix herself.
 
 It was a longshot, but she figured it couldn’t hurt to check. She braces a hand on the doorframe, slowly looking around the corner. Her eyes scan across the two long counters; through the bevy of equipment and textbooks covering them, and past the students crowding them as they prepare for a long evening of labwork. From her angle, she couldn’t see the main desk, though - so Ryuko inched inward, craning her neck around to see if she can make out the mousey-looking girl that got her into this mess in the first place…
 
“Ooh! There she ish!” Before Ryuko can spot Toki - the club president spots her. Ryuko jumps, looking around wildly before she spots the bespectacled girl wedged between two of the other students. “Hey! Ryuko!” She waves excitedly...
 
But the other students aren’t nearly as eager to see her. Most duck for cover behind the counters; a couple others run for the supply rooms, and one student grabs the nearest textbook she can find and holds it over her head. The sight… Makes Ryuko smile a little; affirmed that she still had some power over these small fries.
 
Toki, however, wasn’t nearly as pleased. “H-hey, no! Uh… Guysh, she’sh not here to fight!” A couple of the club members peek up from their cover, and Toki extends her hands, trying to ease their concerns. “She’sh here to help! Ryuko joined the club yeshterday, she’sh one of ush-” 
 
“Hell no I’m not.” Ryuko defends, marching over to Toki. “I’m here ‘cuz I gotta be - I didn’t sign nothin’, so don’t act like I’m part of your club. I’m just… Gonna be around, okay?”
 
Despite her outburst, a couple of the students around her feel comfortable enough to come out of hiding; though they still look worriedly between their president and the belligerent girl before her. “Actually… I had a feeling you’d shay shomething like that, sho…” Toki grabs a folder from the counter before her, withdrawing a sheet of paper. “I took care of all of the paperwork for you! The club regishtrar didn’t sheem to mind.” Handing it to Ryuko, she can see that it’s… A signup form - a damningly official looking one. “Sho, like it or not…” Toki begins, hardly able to hide her excitement. “You’re a member of the club!” 
 
Ryuko looks between the club president and the paper before her - stilted sounds spill from her lips, but she can’t quite formulate a proper response; inundated with frustration. Eventually, she sighs, shaking her head. “Whatever.” she grumbles. “Let’s just get this over with.”
 
Despite the begrudging nature of her response, Toki squeals excitedly. “Okay! Okay, let’sh… Oh- firsht…” She looks away from Ryuko, placing a hand on her hip. “Everybody, you can get shet up for today’sh experiment! It’sh a do-over of yestherday, becaushe… Uh…” She looks down at Ryuko, then back up. “You should all remember the shetup; if not, check page eight hundred and forty two!” Toki reaches down and grab’s Ryuko’s hand - while her first instinct is to pull away; she’s quickly reminded of how futile that is, as the scrawny chemist pulls her along, moving to one of the supply rooms. 
 
One timid student remained in the room Toki pulls her into - though quickly vacates as soon as they see Ryuko; shutting the door behind them. For a moment, they’re in the dark - but the club president quickly hits a lightswitch. Ryuko winces and holds her hand over her eyes, grumbling. “Hey-” she whines. Her eyes adjust quickly to the light, but before she has a chance to pull her hands away, Toki seems to grab them, pulling them away for her. “Hey!” she scowls. “What’re you-”
 
“How’re you feeling?” Toki muses, leaning in close. “I wash really worried about you! I had my theoriesh about short-term exposure to LAME, and technically we’re shtill in that period, but you’ve had over twenty-four hoursh of time for it to metabolize and shettle in your body, and-” Ryuko weakly tries to pull away, only to bump against a rack behind her. Toki’s hands feel cold and clammy around hers; but tight - tighter than even the strongest student’s she’d ever faced. 
 
Ryuko’s cheeks flush - it was even worse than this, yesterday. For as harmless as Toki seemed… She was stronger than Ryuko. The dark-haired delinquent figured she should be glad that she wasn’t ‘mean’, in her own words - because she could do whatever she wanted with Ryuko. The thought of that cut deep, as the gawky girl loomed closer. 
 
“Any shide-effectsh? Anything new? Or shtrange? Or-”
 
Ryuko sneers. “It’s all strange.” she snaps. “It’s all fucked up - I feel like I’m swellin’ up like a damn balloon. I keep gettin’ tired, I look like shit, I’m sweatin’ like a pig-”
 
“I can shmell that.” Toki chimes passively.
 
“Exactly.” she spits. “That all ya wanted ta know, genius?”
 
Toki pushes her glasses up a little, leering at Ryuko. Admitteldy, Ryuko can’t used to that - the way her glasses magnify her eyes makes her actual eyes look tiny in comparison. “Have you looked in a mirror?”
 
Ryuko snorts. “Not if I can help it.” she says bitterly.
 
“From what I can shee… I believe exposhure to LAME has prompted a number of shkin cells to begin to rapidly melaninize, but I’m not shure why… Intereshting…” She shakes her head. “In other wordsh, you have, uh… Frecklesh.”
 
Raising her hands to her face, Ryuko groans. “Just fucking great. Let’s see how far I can go before I’m a fucking laughing stock.”
 
“H-hey! Uh, um…” Toki releases Ryuko’s hands and takes a step back. “Don’t feel bad They don’t look bad, and they’re shparce, for now… For now. A-a-and…” Toki reaches up to her facemask, pulling it down under her chin. “I-I have them too! Sh-sho, you’re not… The only one, or… Or anything… And technically over three hundred and eighty-sheven million other people have them too, but… Wh-who’sh counting?” She offers Ryuko a shaky smile - the dim light of the storage room glinting off of the braces covering her teeth.
 
Dully, Ryuko murmurs “Great. I feel so much better.”
 
Toki quickly raises her mask again, smoothing it out. “You do?” she muses excitedly - but the look of scorn on Ryuko’s face causes her excitement to dampen. “Well, um…” She turns away, reaching for a cardboard box behind her. From it, she pulls a white garment - one that Ryuko quickly recognizes. “Well, if you wanna get right to work, then let’sh get you… Shafe and ready for the lab.” She hands Ryuko a lab coat - just like the others. After that, she hands her a pair of goggles.
 
“Do I have to wear these?”
 
Toki nods, making her way around the shelves as she digs for some more supplies. “Yesh! It’sh shuper important to have the proper equipment in the lab! If you had the proper protective gear, then you wouldn’t even be here!” Without looking, she points toward Ryuko - accidentally jabbing her in the gut. “Lab coat and pantsh would’ve prevented shkin contact,” She pokes Ryuko’s forehead. “gogglesh prevent eye damage,” She misses Ryuko’s mouth - but the dark-haired girl was baring her teeth, preparing to bite her  if she made contact. “facemashksh prevent inhalation… Etcetera.” 
 
Begrudgingly, Ryuko pulls the goggles over her head, letting them slip past and rest on her neck. She sticks her arms into the labcoat, leaving it unbuttoned. “Fine. That it?”
 
Toki whines a little, placing a hand on her lip. “Well… We’re out of pantsh, sho… Button up your lab coat. It’ll do in a pinch.” Ryuko rolls her eyes - reaching for her buttons. The first few come easily, but as she gets to her stomach - the garment starts getting a little tighter - but manageable. Though Toki’s face remains hidden by her mask - Ryuko can tell that she’s smiling.
 
Ryuko looks down at herself with a grimace - even if the coat did cover her stomach; she could still see the defined curvature of it against the sterile white fabric. “I look-” 
 
“Great!” Toki chimes before she can finish - reaching forward to grab Ryuko’s hand; but, this time she’s quick enough to avoid it. Blinking in surprise, Toki backs off, clearing her throat. “Well, then- um… Your tashksh for the day…” She reaches up, tapping at her mask. “How much do you know about chemishtry?”
 
“Nothin’.” Ryuko replies bluntly.
 
“Shcience?”
 
“Nothin.”
 
Looking away, Toki thrums. “Uh… Reading…?”
 
Scoffing, Ryuko raises her arms. “Hey, I don’t know any a’ this high-level shit, but I’m not totally braindead.”
 
Her response, at least, gives the club president a little more enthusiasm. “Perfect! Then you’ll jusht be… Doing some asshishtant work today. Jusht, um, ashk if anybody needsh any help. Shuppliesh, an extra pair of handsh…”
 
Ryuko leers. “Grunt work.” she replies gravely. When Toki sheepishly nods, she shakes her head. “C’mon - how’s that supposed to help me? Look, if ya know what ya need to fix this, just send me out ta get it.”
 
She can see Toki shudder a little, then take a step back. “Mm-... N-n…” she whimpers. “N-no. Um. Don’t hate me, but I’m n-nuh-not going to help you u-uh-until you... You...“ She swallows audibly. “P-prove you desherve it.”
 
Ryuko balks. “Prove what!?” 
 
“Y-y-you really… Really shcared my club yeshterday! You do that to a lot of people, and… And… That’sh a really mean thing to do!” she asserts. “Sho, I want you t-to… Mmmake it up to them.” She seems to take a deep breath, getting a little more steady on her feet. “You’re not gonna apologize,” Disarmed, Ryuko opens her mouth to protest - but, well, the dork was right. She had no intention of doing so. “but, uh, actionsh shpeak louder than wordsh. Sho… Help them do what they love doing.”
 
Ryuko’s mouth closes slowly; after it does, she grits her teeth. The club president had her dead to rights - and as much as she hated admitting it; she was the one with all the power her. Ryuko just thought she’d be doing a couple errands when she agreed to join this stupid club - not actually doing work for it. “Damn it…” she hisses through her teeth. “Fine! Whatever, order me around, I don’t care - but I swear, if you don’t fix this-”
 
Toki holds her hands up, her voice cracking a little as she asserts “I will!” Gone was the confidence she momentarily regained, her knees starting to knock together again. “Jusht- uh… Be nice! I’ll do it, b-b-but you j-jusht have to… Trusht me.” She moves over to the door - opening it a crack and gesturing out.
 
As the door is opened, a breath of fresh air rushes in - in doing so, stirring up the stale scent that’d begun to pervade the room. It wasn’t musty on account of the cardboard boxes, or chemical on account of what lay within - rather, it was salty. It was…
 
Ryuko’s cheeks flush red. It was her. After having spent an extensive period of time standing still, she’s cooled off a little - enough to feel the wetness of her clothes and the sweat on her body. She hadn’t picked it up while she was just standing there - and Toki didn’t seem to react. Did she not notice it through her mask, or…? 
 
“Whatever.” Ryuko murmurs, pushing past Toki and back into the chemistry room. “When do we get outta here?” 
 
Toki follows close behind her, gingerly shutting the door behind her. “When we’re done with labwork for the day!” While she seemed confident enough in her answer to let it linger, a glare from Ryuko prompted her to clarify. “Uh… I-it could be a few hoursh. Two ushually, shometimesh four...” 
 
Motioning to the students, Ryuko groans “What the hell - you guys are here all day?”
 
“Only if we can help it!” Toki chimes. Ryuko shakes her head, grumbling. The club president scans through the room - then stops, pointing toward a student on the far end of the counter. “Ooh! There you go - go help her.” 
 
Ryuko looks over the students - looking between each one. Standing up at the front of the  desk, the room seemed a little… Longer than before. She could hardly see the students at the far end, where Toki was pointing. She squinted, and they got a little clearer, but… “Which one? All you nerds look the same to me.”
 
Toki chuckles a little, pinching the collar of Ryuko’s labcoat and pulling her along. “You’ll shtart to pick up differencesh! She’sh a shpecialisht in inorganic chemishtry - I know her particularly for her theshish on fabric shyntheshish, you should ashk her about it shome time!” 
 
Struggling to keep up with Toki as she leads her, Ryuko grumbles. “Remind me not to.” Before long, she’s standing behind the labcoat-clad girl, who seems hunched over the counter. When she looks over to Toki to introduce her - all she’s given is a pat on the back; perhaps friendly, but in her weakened state, it sends Ryuko reeling forward, bumping into her.
 
The girl yelps; and drops a pair of tweezers on the counter. “Hey-!” she begins, furious at first - but the scant bit of skin she shows, past her own goggles and unmarked mask, Ryuko can see the color drain from it. “O-o-o-oh! You-! Y-you, uh, uh…” She backs against the counter, trembling - a couple other students around her sheepishly step further away, taking their work with them. 
 
Ryuko rolls her eyes. “I ain’t here to fight. You’re…” She looks behind herself - but Toki has already disappeared. Great. The dark-haired delinquent snaps her fingers. “Innnnorganic chemistry… Girl?” Timidly, the student nods. “The, uh, president said you looked like you needed some help.”
 
Steadying herself a little, she nods again, picking up her tweezers. “Um… Yes- I… do.” she murmurs, looking around. “Is the president going to, or…?”
 
Jabbing a thumb toward herself, Ryuko asserts “I am.”
 
It takes a moment for the student to process that - after which, she moves aside. At her workstation is a bunsen burner; a beaker settled over it. A length of tubing - glass and rubber - connected it with another beaker; bearing a yellowish fluid inside. “Well, um… I… Have everything set up, but I need some granules of Kalinate to, uh… Begin.”
 
Ryuko shrugs. “Easy enough. What’s Kalinate?” 
 
The timid student tilts her head. “Say again?”
 
“What’s Kalinate?” Ryuko repeats, trying and failing to restrain the anger building in her voice.
 
The goggle-wearing student looks down, then away. “Does she really not know?” she whispers, then looks back to Ryuko. “U-uh… Is this… A joke? I don’t… Hah… Get… Jokes…”
 
Reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose, Ryuko shakes her head. “Look, I don’t care if ya’ve gotta draw me a picture - I don’t know what ya need. Gimmie a little somethin’ to go on, and I’ll grab it.” So what if she didn’t know if some stupid chemical was? She’s prepared to walk away when she hears the student… Snicker.
 
“E-eheh. Uh- sorry, sorry. It’s, uh- y’know, the first thing you work with in… Advanced inorganics. Remember?” Ryuko shakes her head - and she snickers again. “Oh! Oh, uh… Eheh. Sorry, maybe you didn’t get that far. It’s no problem, no, really, eh…” She motions toward the supply room. “It looks like small, grey beads.” She tilts her head. “You know what beads are, right?”
 
Ryuko can feel the heat building in her cheeks. What was it with these guys? Just because she didn’t know something stupidly-high level didn’t mean she didn’t know anything. Her hand balled into a fist - something the bespectacled student didn’t notice. “Got it.” she hisses, moving away. She nearly kicks open the door to the supply room when she arrives, poking through the boxes in her search for ‘Kalinite’; or whatever it was. She squinted in the dim light before she finally pulled out a container with a sealed glass lid - inside, a handful of small, metallic beads. She leered at the label - and as far as she was concerned, it said Kalinite.
 
She tried to lift it up…
 
And after lifting it out of the box, she had to set it down again. It looked like a jar full of sand - but it felt like she was carrying a block of concrete. She wraps both hands around it, hefting it up again - and she manages to make it as far as the door before she has to rest. “Damn it,” she grumbles. “damn it, damn it!” 
 
She’s tempted to drag it across the floor - but that was the last thing she needed to show these nerds. She already had one laughing at her; she didn’t need the rest to see her struggle with a damned jar. She hefts it up again, biting her lips, and makes her way back outside… Down the torturously-long path running behind the counter her student is working at. God - why did she have to be so far down…?
 
“Yo!” she barks, interrupting the student from a conversation with a couple of others. “I’ve got your…” She bites her tongue, keeping herself from saying something ‘mean’. “Kalinite.” 
 
The student looks down, seeing an… Especially odd sight. Ryuko, red-faced and hunched over, with both hands held under the container to keep it upright; her knees buckled inward as she keeps herself upright. She reaches down and gingerly takes the container in both hands - it’s clearly not effortlessly light for her; but she carries it with a sense of ease Ryuko could only envy. She turns it around in her hand, and then…
 
She snickers again. “Oh- oh, gosh.” she begins, tittering and showing the container to the students around her. “I can see where you made the mistake, but, uh… This is Kallidite. I can tell from a glance, but I figured you’d be able to tell from the label…” She offers it to Ryuko - who balks. She moves in close, and she’ll be damned - it clearly read Kallidite. 
 
“God damn it.” she blurts out. At first, the students around her seem confused - disarmed, just as hers had been, but it doesn’t take long before a couple begin to titter. Ryuko glares at one - and he stops… But the others don’t seem to. 
 
“What chemistry class are you in again?” one muses. 
 
The question catches Ryuko off-guard. “Intro.” she says; still breathless from her trip from the storage room. 
 
Her student leans in, tilting her head. “Intro to polychem? Thermodynamics?” 
 
Ryuko places a hand on her hip. “... To chemistry.” In that moment, Ryuko can feel the entire atmosphere shift around her. She stood, panting and winded; a sweaty mess simply from carrying some fancy chemical sand from one side of the room to the other, as the students around her balked behind their goggles and masks. She knew she was weak - they saw she was weak, but that was insignificant compared to the realization they’d come upon. Frail and weakened - she was in their domain. Part of their club. Playing by their rules. While the glare on their goggles hid their eyes - she could tell that their looks, fading away from shock, had turned predatory. Looking around, Ryuko felt an odd chill run up her spine.
 
The silence that spread among the students was broken when her own student snickered again. “Well then… Lab assistant…” she begins, offering the jar of Kallidite back to her. “I still need Kalinite for my experiment. Why don’t you go fetch it?”
 
When Ryuko took the container back, she felt not just the weight of the jar return to her - straining her trembling arms - but she felt the gazes of every chemist in the room. Looking past the fear that shielded her the day prior. Her cheeks burned and teeth grit as she saw herself through their eyes: small, weak, and dumb. She didn’t exactly have a complex about the lattermost, but in this club - in this room… Something about that felt more dangerous than any weakness she could ever have.
 


 
“Alright, it’sh nine o’clock! I know shome of you are a little bummed we didn’t go until ten again, but look at it ash a meashure of your shkill ash a chemisht that you finished sho quickly.” Toki chimes from her desk. The students before her are all filing their glassware into drawers and packing up their books, preparing to leave. “Tomorrow, we’ll work on the next shtage of hybrid polimerization. I know it’sh a little remedial, but we’ll need it going into the next few labsh.” 
 
As a couple students offer their goodbyes, Ryuko watches from a corner, slumped into it and exhausted. She’s unbuttoned her lab-coat, allowing her stomach to stick out from it. She’d done four straight hours of backbreaking work - and she felt every minute of it. It’d be a breeze if she was back to normal - but her frail, now sore muscles made even the lightest of loads an ordeal to haul. Eventually, the students picked up on that fact - she wasn’t just hauling containers of this and bottles of that because they needed it - they started giving her textbooks to bring from one end of the room to the other just for their amusement. Frankly, she was surprised nothing blew up - all eyes seemed to be on her.
 
With the last of the students making their way out, Toki approaches her, leaning over the exhausted and sweaty Ryuko. For a moment, she seems at a loss for words, but eventually, she finds something to say. “I didn’t know you were, um… That far behind in your classhesh.”
 
“Fuck off.” Ryuko grumbles. As angry as she was; she couldn’t will the fury into her tone - fatigue draining it before she can even express it. 
 
Toki raises her hands, shaking her head. “Oh! I’m not judging, I… Um, I’m not too shurprished, either, but…” A low growl from Ryuko is all she needs to shift to another topic. “But, um, it looksh like you did a good job today!” 
 
Ryuko bitterly groans “I look like shit.”
 
Toki opens her mouth to refute it, but… Stops short of doing so. “But, um… You put your all into it. And that’s what countsh! My, um, club membersh really sheemed to like having you around,”
 
“So they can laugh at me.” she interjects. Again, Toki stops herself before she tries to argue.
 
“... Sho you wanna… Be mean to them, right?” she utters, a little worriedly. When Ryuko nods, she looks away. “Would it make you feel better?” Again, Ryuko nods. Toki whimpers a little, then kneels down beside her. “Well… I think that’sh becaushe… You want them to shee you differently. Right?” Ryuko cocks her brow. “Shee you ash… Better. But, um, to them, I don’t think that jusht becaushe you can beat them up makes you better to them. Right now, they think you’re…” Toki takes a moment to mince around what she wants to say - before finally saying it. “Dumb. But- you’re not, right?”
 
Sighing, Ryuko looks away. “I thought you were a chemist, not a shrink.” 
 
Toki chuckles a little nervously. “I’m jusht shuggeshting… You can change what they think, and… Be nice about it! Prove them wrong, there ishn’t anything wrong about that.” She leans in a little closer, her shoulder nudging against Ryuko’s. “If you come for classh review tomorrow, I can give you shome lesshonsh-”
 
Ryuko forces herself to stand - her body aching, but her mind begging to be anywhere but here.  “I’ll see you tomorrow.” she grumbles on her way to the door - specifying “At five.” 
 
Toki jumps up, calling out “W-wait! I… Have shome thingsh for you.” 
 
Begrudgingly, Ryuko stops. She turns back to Toki - who reaches under her desk. She returns with a backpack slung over her shoulder, and… In both hands, she’s struggling to carry Ryuko’s scissor-blade. 
 
“I… Thought you might want thish back.” She offers it to the sweaty, dark-haired girl; her arms trembling as she holds it.
 
Ryuko looks over the sleek, crimson surface. She reaches a hand out, but… Bitterly, she averts her eyes. “I’m a little too wiped out to take it today.” she admits. “Keep it here. I’ll be back for it.” Sighing, she runs a hand through her sweaty locks. “Y’know I’m gonna take that uniform of yours the moment I can hold the damn thing up, right?”
 
Toki is quiet for a moment, sheepishly putting it back under her desk. “I know.” she murmurs. “I, um, worked real hard for it. A lot of folksh do. It’sh the way of the academy; you’re either the besht or you’re nothing.” She adjusts her glasses - for a moment, she could swear she could see Ryuko wince at her words. “But, um, it’sh not right not to fix you jusht sho I can keep it.” She drops the backpack into her hands, and offers it to Ryuko. “O-on a brighter note, shince you did sho much today, I’m gonna… Shtart helping.”
 
Taking the backpack, Ryuko is pulled to the ground by its weight. “What the hell is in here?” she grunts, unzipping it. 
 
“A notebook,” the club president begins, nudging her fingers together. “Among other thingsh.” Other things? She could see textbooks, pens, a spare lab coat… “B-but, you can ignore the resht… If you want. The notebook ish the important thing. I need to know the intenshity of the afflictionsh you’re undergoing. Outline any noticeable alterationsh to your body, appetite, habitsh, anything like that in ash much detail ash you can manage. It’ll let me know where the LAME ish affecting you, and help me refine shpecific ratiosh, doshage… Um…” She lowers her mask, offering Ryuko another brace-faced smile. “I can shtart making the cure.” 
 
Zipping up the backpack, Ryuko bluntly muses “So it’s homework?”
 
Toki seems to perk up. “That’sh exactly how I’d think of it!” 
 
Great. That was the last thing she needed. It takes some effort hefting it up onto her back - but at least it wasn’t putting any more strain on her arms. “Fine.” she relents. “Whatever helps.”
 
Toki opens her mouth - but a harsh growl interrupts her. For the first time, not from Ryuko herself… More specifically, from her stomach. Both look down at the sweaty pudge hanging from her midsection.
 
“I’ve gotta get outta here.” Ryuko says, turning back to the door and giving the president a parting wave. “I’m starvin’.”
 
“U-uh…!” Toki begins, calling back. Ryuko looks over her shoulder, noticing a bit of color flush into the bespectacled girl’s face, for once. “Um… I… If you’d, uh… Food…” She nudges her fingers together, them hastily pulls her mask up over her face, as though hiding. “Nevermind. N-nevermind. See you… Tomorrow.” 
 
“Whatever.” Ryuko rolls her eyes, and makes her way out the door. Every step causes a wince of pain - and the heavy load she’s carrying on her back doesn’t make it any easier. Her stomach growls again, and she claps a hand over it. “Shut up - we’ll be home soon.” she chides. With as shitty as today had been - the thought of heading to Mako’s place and stuffing herself was positively blissful. She didn’t know if she had to watch what she ate because of this LAME thing, but…
 
After another groan from her stomach, she figured she could afford a little extra comfort food for tonight. Just to make it through tomorrow...