Chapter 1 - Chapter I

Day 1


 
“Okay! So… Math club?”
 
               “Check.
 
               “Chess club?”
 
               “Check.”
 
               “Geometry club?”
 
               “Check.”
 
               “Geology club?”
 
               “What’s the difference again?”
 
               Ryuko Matoi walked through the halls of Honnouji with her head held high. The once-pristine, drab halls now bore proud scars of battle - battles she was proud to say she both started and won. Behind her, Mako follows along, her nose buried in a notebook, and teeth clenched around a pen as she makes her way down a list.
 
               “I think one plays with rocks, and the other plays with triangles. But I think they both meet up when they have triangular rocks.” 
 
               Ryuko snaps her fingers. “Oh, yeah - check.” Since she’d arrived at Honnouji, the law of the land became clear - this was a place where only the strongest survived. If you weren’t ready to fight for anything; you’d end up with nothing. While she hated the bitch that put that bold law in place - she can’t say she totally hated it. In fact; since she’d gotten more used to using Senketsu, it’s become a little fun. A bit of a hassle, sure; but knocking the teeth out of some thug that wanted to take her down a notch beat actually doing schoolwork. 
 
               She aspired to make a lasting impression on the student body - going all the way up the ranks; through the elite four and all the way up to the president herself: she wasn’t just at the top of the food chain, here - she was beyond it. While Satsuki got her kicks treating the rest of the students like animals - Ryuko was proud to assert her humanity. 
 
               Of course… She might’ve gotten this point across a little too well for some of the students.
 
               Ryuko found herself in an awkward position - on one hand, she’d thoroughly intimidated the one-star student base; even some of the two-stars, so she wasn’t getting jumped every moment of the day. In fact, most seemed to avoid her - they knew damn well that she’d kick their ass if they tried anything funny. However - the elite four still wouldn’t give her the time of day. They recognized that she was a problem - her disruptiveness was what they saw; not her strength. Those high-and-mighty assholes looked down at her like an insect - bothersome, but wholly harmless.
 
               Worse still, the class president wasn’t even responding to her anymore. She felt like she was raising hell - but nobody was noticing. For a while, she was at a loss, but…
 
               “Chemistry club?”
 
               Ryuko pauses. “Eh… No, actually - I don’t think I took care of them yet.”
 
               The brief period of respite she had was torturous. She felt like she needed to do something - anything was better than sitting and waiting for those assholes to acknowledge her. The closer she got to beating them down, the closer she got to finding answers… But that all depended on their willingness to provide it. They felt like they could ignore her now - because, at the end of the day, they had the liberty to do so. All she’d really done was beat down a few dozen students that someone like Nonon or Gamagōri wouldn’t think twice about. She needed to do something they couldn’t help but notice - something they couldn’t ignore; for their sake and for the sake of the academy they held so dear. 
 
               Ryuko swore, she’d destroy every single life fiber uniform in the damned academy, one by one.
 
               Her best bet to see this done was to pay a visit to each of the clubs - their presidents, and occasionally some of their higher-ranking members were usually issued a uniform; one star or two. If all of them were busted - if she cut down every, solitary life fiber the sewing club was pumping out, they’d have to deal with her.
 
               Ryuko and Mako made they way down the hall - slowly, the blast scars, cracks, shattered windows and assorted debris slowly faded away - transitioning into one of the few untouched areas of the lower academy. Truthfully, Ryuko’s crusade hasn’t been particularly fast - but she’s… Well - to say she was patient wouldn’t exactly be right, but she’s willing to wait, as long as she had something to occupy herself with in the meantime.
 
               Ryuko held the grip of her scissor blade tight as she made her way down the hall; dragging it across the wall as she made her way past a few classrooms. Eventually - she came to a heavy, steel doorway. There was a window built into it; reinforced by wire - but it was covered with a sign on the other side. 
 
               Ryuko leers as she reads it. “Shh,” she begins, hissing. “sensitive experiments inside, please be quiet for the courtesy of oth-” She rolls her eyes, looking back to Mako. “This is the room, right?” 
 
               Mako nods excitedly. “Yeah! But…” She places a finger on her lips. “You might wanna take them out a little more carefully! They work with real dangerous stuff in there.” 
 
Ryuko waves her off. “Yeah, yeah.” she mumbles. “Wait here - this ain’t gonna take long.” She smirks, looking over her shoulder to Mako. “What’s my record again?”
 
Mako flips through her notebook, eventually settling on one page. “Twenty-three seconds for the astronomy club!” she chimes. 
 
With a cocky grin, Ryuko gives her a thumbs-up. “I’ll be back in twenty.” With that, she faces the door, scissor blade in hand. She inhales deeply - and rears back, delivering a forceful kick to the reinforced door - leaving a deep imprint of her sneaker on it as it’s torn from its hinges, sailing into the room. “Yo, nerds!” she booms, stomping inside. “I’m here for the president!”
 
The chemistry club’s room was a long one - two long counters ran most of the length of the room; with sinks and gas lines built into them, and their surfaces covered with stacks of books and equipment… Which seemed to be in-use. The students of the club all wore lab coats over their uniforms - most buttoned all the way up - as well as goggles; the glare of which disguised their eyes. For a moment, they all stared Ryuko - most in confusion, but a select few students who were quicker on the uptake stared agog in fear. 
 
Ryuko opens her mouth to belt out another demand - but is interrupted by a sudden blast from deeper in the room. A sharp snap, followed by the skittering sound of shattered glass, precedes a billowing cloud of smoke erupting across a corner of the classroom - as it clears, one of the students is covered in soot; and the bevy of glassware she was working with seems to have been demolished. 
 
The belligerent girl points her blade to the blackened student, glowering. “I’m gonna do a helluva lot worse than that if the president doesn’t man up n’ get out here!” With that, the students all seem to scatter; as Ryuko was accustomed. Few of these clubs’ members actually had the balls to face her - hell, sometimes even their presidents didn’t want to throw down. She really hated having to chase them down - most of the time, it was harder than actually fighting them. The students around her seemed to duck under the counters they were working at, or rush for one of the doors. As they passed, Ryuko tried to get a look at their uniforms - to see if there were any one-stars scattered among them. Though, with their lab coats; it made it hard to tell.
 
As Ryuko walked the length of the counters, she grumbled. “I’m gonna have to take all of ‘em out just to be sure, huh?” she resolves. “Eh, well - I’ll knock out the prez first. Damn - I was really hopin’ I’d break my record.” On the far side of the room, the counters eventually terminated; leaving a few feet between them and a desk, with a chalkboard sitting behind it. Just looking at the intricate formulae interspersed with intricate honeycomb patterns gave Ryuko a headache. Set on either side of the blackboard was a doorway - each labelled ‘SUPPLIES’. One was shut, and the other ajar - a couple students peering fearfully out of the opening. 
 
Ryuko growls, marching toward the open door. “Hey - who’s in there?” she barks, only for the door to quickly slam shut.. She marches forward, reaching for the doorknob-
 
Only to feel something hit her back. It was plastic- nearly empty outside of a bit of liquid that splashed over Senketsu; given the hollow sound it made when it bounced off of her and fell at her feet. Ryuko whips around, a scowl on her face-
 
And behind her, peeking out from beneath the desk, was her target.
 
The girl before her didn’t look like much - but then again, most of these low-level club presidents didn’t. She was slim; gawky - she was shuddering fearfully as Ryuko glared daggers at her; her knees knocking together and her body struggling to stay upright. She looked rather plain - her hair was brown; a short and messy mass of curls, pulled into two sloppy buns. Her eyes were green and tired - magnified by the thick, square-framed glasses she wore. If nothing else - it made her worry considerably clearer. The lower half of her face was covered by a mask; a thick, black line drawn across it and intermittently marked with crosses. Even if she didn’t look like she’d turn any heads in a crowd, there was one thing that stood out against the bulk of Honnouji’s students: she didn’t show a lot of skin. What little Ryuko could see was around her face and hands - showing off a pale complexion - but everything else was covered; first by her uniform, then by her lab coat, and then even by a pair of grey pants beneath her skirt. 
 
Clattering together in her quaking hands were a number of empty pieces of glassware. Ryuko leers. “That all you go-” With a high-pitched squeal, the club president chucks one of the empty flasks at her, forcing Ryuko to knock it aside with her blade. “Hey!” 
 
“Get away! Sh-shtay back!” The bespectacled club member shouts, continuing to lob flasks and beakers at her. Ryuko parries the first two; sending them bouncing off the blackboard and shattering on the floor. When her hands are empty, she scrambles to the desk, picking up more. “Shtop! Go! Away!” 
 
“Goddamn it- cut it out!” Ryuko grunts, slicing her way through a textbook coming her way. The club president rounds the desk, using it to maintain some distance from Ryuko. She keeps a watch of her through the structure of connected beakers and tubes sitting on it; passing yellowish slime through them for some sort of experiment. When Ryuko moves to the left, she moves to the right; but the Ryuko can tell she’s getting tired. She can hear the girl wheezing already - even if they hadn’t been going at it for terribly long. “Alright - I’m done with you!” She hefts up her scissor blade, squaring up to cut across the desk-
 
The bespectacled president picks up what she’s doing instantly. “Wait no-!” 
 
The first thing Ryuko’s blade impacts is the glassware, bowling it over. As one of the bulbous instruments is shattered, some of the goo spills into a beaker of red fluid below - the instant it comes into contact, Ryuko is knocked back by the resulting blast, and smothered in a wave of white smoke. She gasps - and she can feel the misty smog slip down her nostrils and throat; tangibly damp and heavily as it makes its way into her lungs. Reflexively, she coughs - raising a hand to wave it away as she sputters; but it clings to the air like a thick fog. 
 
Over the ringing in her ears, Ryuko can hear a wheezy cry of “Oh gosh!” The gawky class president breaks through the fog, leering through it as she looks for Ryuko - finding her sitting on the  floor. “Oh gosh, oh heck, oh jeez…” she whines, falling to her knees beside her. “A-are you okay? Are you awake- oh,” She reaches up to Ryuko’s cheeks, patting them.
 
“Hey! What the hell- hands off!” She reaches up to pry the club president’s hands away from her face, but… She can’t seem to tighten her grip around her slim hand. Her brow furrows as she tries again - and for a moment, she thinks she’s successful… Before she realizes the girl is pulling her hands away of her own volition.
 
“Sh-shorry.” she whimpers, looking away. “And… Shorry, but… Wh-what were you thinking? D-don’t you know Mashpyx and Plusheium when you shee it?” She leans forward, balling her hands into fists. “If you mixed anymore of it, the Lenticulainomaleonitrile would be the leasht of our problemsh!”
 
Ryuko tries to stand up; but she can feel her arm shaking as she braces it against the wall behind her. “Look, I don’t know what any of that means-” she begins, easing herself back down. “And I ain’t here for a science lesson. But now that you’re close…” She reaches up, grabbing a hold of the chemistry student’s collar - hooking her fingers around it; but once more unable to fully grasp it. Her free hand squeezes the handle of her scissor blade; preparing to strike. If actually getting to the president wasn’t so frustrating, she might’ve actually felt bad about taking her down. Her arm tenses, preparing to raise her blade-
 
But as it does, the heavy handle slips out of her fingers, clattering on the ground. Ryuko looks down, tilting her head. The president is silent - looking, paralyzed, down at the delinquent girl’s hand on her collar. “U-uh… Um…” she murmurs, raising her own hands upward, but hovering them tentatively around Ryuko’s. 
 
“You… You just stay there!” she barks, causing the girl to flinch. She reaches down, trying to grab her blade again. It’s a chore just to get her fingers around the hilt; for some reason, it feels ten times as heavy as it normally did. Did those chemicals do something to it? She, eh… Didn’t really know what it was made of, and she couldn’t think of any reason for it to get heavier… But, as she tried and failed to lift it again, she figured there was nothing else to blame but the chemicals. Her arm shook as she tried to lift it - a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead as she manages to pick it up an inch… And then drops it again. “Damn it!” she spits. Frustratedly, she tries to shove the club president away…
 
But all she manages to do is plant her hand somewhat-firmly on her breast. “Eh!?” she whimpers. Her hand reflexively clasps over Ryuko’s; securing it in place, to their mutual surprise. Catching her mistake, she tries to pull away; but the gawky girl’s cold hands form a vicegrip around her own. How the hell could she be this strong? Her uniform doesn’t even look that special - she doesn’t even look like a two-star. It takes the club president a few seconds to release her and step back, still shaking a little in place. Her glasses have grown fogged up from her hot and hurried breaths; to the point that she has to lift them up and squint down to Ryuko. 
 
“It’sh… Jusht what I thought…” she murmurs. She drops her glasses and looks down, thrumming. “Exposhure to Lenticulainomaleonitrile washn’t really teshted, but I always theorized it’d have sheverely deleterioush effectsh on the human body, shtarting with a shenshation of weaknessh as the mushclesh are…” Her voice lowers, and she turns away from Ryuko, slightly hunching over as she mutters to herself. 
 
Ryuko snorts, moving her hand away from the scissor blade and onto the floor. Her body shudders as she eases herself back up and onto her feet. Truthfully, she didn’t… Feel much weaker, passively. It was only when she tried to exert herself that she did - but that didn’t bode well. “Hey, nerd!” The club president was already on her way to one of the chemistry sets; seemingly haven forgotten about Ryuko. She jumps up as she’s called to, turning around quickly. 
 
“Oh! Oh, no, no no no-” She quickly walks back over to Ryuko, placing a hand on her shoulders. “You shouldn’t be exerting yourshelf! Not while it’sh shtill courshing through your-” 
 
Ryuko takes a step back, bumping against the blackboard. “Hands off!” she snaps - and the mousey girl before her complies. “What the hell did you do to me?” 
 
The president removes her glasses, squinting at Ryuko as she wipes the steam off of them. “U-um… I didn’t… Do anything?” she whimpers. “B-b-but! Shomething did happen, and- a-and, uh, it… Ishn’t good.” She releases Ryuko and moves over to the blackboard, picking up an eraser and quickly getting rid of the bulk of the formulae on it. With speed hardly betrayed by her scrawny figure, she begins to sketch out a few… Uh, honeycombs? Ryuko didn’t really know what she was looking at - but she didn’t like the fact that she was being ignored. 
 
“Hey, I asked you a question.” She demands - but… Looking down to the scissor blade, which the bespectacled scientist before her was stepping around like nothing more than something in the way, she realized full well that she couldn’t really… Enforce her demands. 
 
Mercifully, she seems to have heard her. “And I have the anshwersh!” she declares proudly - using a piece of chalk to push up her glasses. She points to one of the honeycombs, beginning to explain. “I wash in the middle of refining Fibrominiditine, which the shewing club ushesh to treat their, eh… Shpecial ingredient in their uniformsh… Which requiresh Mashpyx and Plusheium, but they need to be filtered through Triotine…” She draws a line between two of the honeycombs - the grinding of the chalk on the board causing Ryuko to grit her teeth.
 
“Look, get to the point alrea-”
 
“But what you made, wash…” she continues, ignoring Ryuko’s interjection. “An unshtable compound that formsh when unbonded Mashpyx and Plusheium mix! It createsh a ton of heat, inshtantly vaporizing the mix and shending it into the air ash shmoke and particulate matter! Lenticulainomaleonitrile - I dishcovered it accidentally, and brought it to the shewing club… It hash shome theoretical applicationsh for fabric treatment, and I called it…” She looks down from the board, nudging her index fingers together. “Tokinium! Becaushe… My name… is Toki.“ She looks back up sheepishly, giving Ryuko a little… Introductory wave. She clears her throat and straightens up a little, pointing to a particularly complex honeycomb. “But they called it… Um… LAME. I’m… Preshuming it’sh an acronym, but it’sh a bit of a shtretch… But… What they shay goesh!” She drops her chalk into the board’s tray, turning back to Ryuko. “To conclude, um… You have a very, very dangeroush chemical in your body.”
 
Ryuko spreads her arms, groaning. “You coulda told me that before the science lesson!” She raises a hand to her forehead, wiping some sweat from it. “Shit - I was hopin’ I’d die doin’ somethin’ cool, not because I got poisoned by some dork.” she grumbles.
 
“O-oh! No, no, you won’t die.” Toki assures her. “You’ll jusht shuffer irreparable damage to your metabolishm, hand-eye coordination, hormonal balance, mushcle development, eyeshight, and digeshtive shyshtem. Theoretically.”
 
Ryuko moans. “Why don’t ya tell me the bad news while you’re at it?” She grits her teeth, removing her hand from her head and approaching the blackboard. “Whatever - it doesn’t matter; ‘cuz it ain’t gonna happen. You’re gonna fix this - fast.” She jabs a finger toward the club president, who holds her hands up defensively. “You can fix this, can’t ya?”
 
Toki takes a step away, shivering a little. “A-anything is posshible through shcience!” she chimes, as boldly as her delicate, nasally voice will allow. “But… Um…” She looks away, shutting her eyes and shuddering a bit more intensely. “But… B-b-b-b-but… Why should I?” Her voice rises into a squeak; forcing the words from her lips. 
 
Despite her obvious trepidation - Ryuko is taken aback by the response. “Why?” she parrots dumbly. “What the hell kinda answer is that!?” 
 
Toki keeps her eyes shut, maintaining her position.“Y-you came into m-my club, th-threatened to beat me up, and... And you’ve been doing that a lot lately!” She opens her eyes again, and takes a step closer to Ryuko. “Y-you beat up a lot of my friendsh - o-or, um… Well, they wouldn’t shay sho, but our club roomsh are closhe so that counts! You t-took their uniformsh, and they worked for thoshe!” She takes another step closer, now advancing upon her. Caught off-guard, Ryuko takes a step back - prompting the club president to continue. “A-and you’re really mean about it! My club doeshn’t wanna fight, but you came in and tried to hurt ush anyway! S-sho…!” Ryuko bumps against a wall, finding herself pinned in by the scrawny scientist. “Sho… I-I’m not gonna help you!”
 
Ryuko growls, trying to ball her hand into a fist - but failing. “Oh yeah?” she challenges; only to be met by a weak nod from Toki. Maybe she was weak, but that didn’t mean she was utterly incapable. “Senketsu,” she begins. “let’s teach her a lesson.” He’d been oddly… Quiet, today - but she didn’t think much of it. She only started to suspect something was wrong when he didn’t respond. She reaches up to pat at her uniform. “Hey, uh, buddy - work your magic. Can’t do this on my own here.“ she whispers. Looking down, she can see his eye-
 
Frozen. Hell - his entire body was. Ryuko had noticed she’d started to feel a little stiff; but she wasn’t sure whether to attribute that to the… Uh, whatever chemical she’d been exposed to. Just a glancing touch to Senketsu was enough to make it clear that something was wrong - he was totally stiff. More than that - he was resting particularly tight around her body. It wasn’t just the subject of whatever had become of Senketsu - she could clearly see that her once-athletic stomach was looking a little… Softer. Accusatorily, Ryuko looks up to Toki. 
 
“What the hell did you do this time?” she shouts. 
 
Toki immediately recoils, then looks down. “Um… I might’ve thrown a container of shtarch at you.” she sheepishly admits. “Or it’sh an unintended shide-effect of the LAME - your uniform wouldn’t happen to have anything… Shpecial about it, would it…?” 
 
Ryuko shakes her head. “None of your business.” she defends. “Shit - this is all messed up.” She ducks away from Toki and turns to the door, stomping away… Or, well, with as little force as she could stomp, she simply walked away. “Gotta fix this - maybe Mako can do somethin’? Or… Uh… Who do I know that can do science shit?” 
 
She reaches the broken, metal door by the time the club president pipes up. “H-hey!” she calls. Ryuko whips around, shooting a glare at her that paralyzes her. “I… Um… I…” She stammers, struggling to maintain eye contact. “I… Can fix your problem, but…” The labcoat-clad girl spreads her legs a little, settling into a new position - straightening her back and pointing boldly at Ryuko. “Y-you have to do shomething for me firsht!”
 
Ryuko cocks her brow. “Yeah?” she murmurs. 
 
Toki nods, drawing her hand back and crossing her arms. “You have to… Uh…” She’s tempted to avert her gaze, but manages to maintain it. “Join my club!”
 
For a moment, Ryuko is silent. “... Yeah?” she repeats, this time in disbelief.
 
The club president nods boldly. “Y-yesh!” she affirms. “I’m… Not mean, sh-sho I’m not going to let you shuffer! But, the… Materialsh I need to shyntheshize a compound that can counteract the LAME are hard to come by, and shince a lot of shtudentsh shtarted to, uh, avoid thish part of the academy…” Ryuko can only imagine why. “We’re short on lab asshishtantsh. Sho...” She points at Ryuko again. “You’ll have to help ush out in exchange for your cure!”
 
On one hand - Ryuko still hardly understood any of this stuff to begin with. She didn’t know anything about science - chemistry, astrology, or… Whatever science was. She was sure there were plenty of others who knew it better than she did - but then again, she did have a lot to take care of now. Senketsu was out of commission, and she could hardly keep herself upright. Maybe Mako could take care of the former, but the latter… She shook her head, waving Toki off. “I dunno. Hard pass from me. I ain’t gonna be any help ‘round here anyway.” With that, she turns around,
 
“Your shtomach!” the chemist blurts out.
 
Ryuko turns back toward her, tilting her head. “My what?” she murmurs. “What’s wrong with my…” She runs her hand down the stiff surface of Senketsu, then down to her midsection. She can feel her own skin - soft, warm, and… Soft. Very soft. Too soft. Ryuko’s brow furrows and she looks down - she’d noticed she was looking a little less slim before, but now, there was no denying what lay before her: she had a gut. Her hand jumps to her belly - feeling the flesh beneath it dimple in. Her jaw drops, and she looks up to Toki. Before she even has a chance to shout at her, the bespectacled girl holds her hands up. 
 
“Th-that’sh the chemical at work. It… Worksh fasht, but... I can shtop it! The cure alone won’t fix the damage that’sh already done, but it’ll keep it from getting worshe, and… That’sh not to shay that we can’t fix it another way!” she assures, nudging her fingers together again. “I alwaysh shay… A-anything is posshible through shcience.” she concludes, a little dreamily.
 
Ryuko sneers, taking a step back. “How long?” she blurts out, wiping a little more sweat from her forehead. She wasn’t sure if she was getting a little too worked up - or if this was another effect of the chemical. 
 
Toki raises her hands. “Ash long ash it takesh to get the materialsh. That,” She gulps. “ish up to you. If you, uh, really help out, then… It’ll go fashter!” she promises. “Maybe, um, you’ll even shtart to like i-”
 
Ryuko turns away. “I’ll do it.” she resolves. “But you better not be messin’ with me.”
 
The club president is quiet for a moment, taken aback. “You will?” 
 
“If it’ll fix this shit, sure.” Ryuko assures. She can hear a high-pitched squeal behind her - it’s odd enough that she can’t help but look over her shoulder, seeing the club president bouncing up and down and clapping.
 
“Excellent! We meet at 3pm for post-class dishcusshion and homework, then we shtart labwork around 5-”
 
Ryuko waves her off. “Then I’ll see ya at 5.” she calls. She can hear Toki trying to get her attention again, but when Ryuko points back to her, she can hear the scientist stop. “And keep my blade somewhere safe. I’ll be back for it.” While she tries her best to sound intimidating… She omits the fact that she couldn’t use it if she wanted to.
 
As Ryuko walks out, she sees Mako, perched on a windowsill, kicking her legs to and fro. “Oh! Ryuko! You were taking really long, so I got worried! I was gonna peek in, but you said stay here and wow” She claps her hands on her cheeks in shock - Ryuko flushes pink when she realizes where Mako is looking. “You got… Big! What happened? And hey- where’s your sword thing? Or scissor- or… Is it a different word if it’s only one half of the scissor? Scis? Hm, hm...”
 
Ryuko turns away, back down the battle-scarred hall. All of this had given her one hell of a headache - and, as her softer stomach growled, she figured it’d given her an appetite too. 
 
“Long story.” she grumbles. “I’ll tell ya over lunch.”