Chapter 3 - Chapter III

Day 3   


 
Tap tap tap tap tap tap crunch tap tap tap tap crunch tap tap crunch tap tap…
 
               Ryuko idly drums the top of her pen against her desk, staring downward at the notebook before her. The page she was staring down at was blank - mostly empty; save for the few crumbs tumbling down from her mouth to the page below. While her eyes bore down upon the blank page, her mind sluggishly drudged through her recollection of the morning.
 
               Well - perhaps it wasn’t quite right to say morning.
 
               Her day began with a groggy awakening from a fitful sleep. She didn’t get home until near-midnight - while she was gorging herself on Mrs. Mankanshoku’s cooking, she nearly passed out. Even after she was fully stuffed, she didn’t have the energy left to change or bathe - passing out as a sweaty mess in a labcoat. Her sleep was stilted - jolts of pain from her aching arms and legs thrusting her from the dreamless blackness of slumber into a state of half-conscious delirium before letting her lapse back into the restless dark once more.  She usually preferred to get up somewhat early; but when she finally roused herself at the crack of one in the afternoon, she still felt like she hadn’t even gotten any sleep at all.
 
               It was a small mercy that her body didn’t hurt the same way it had yesterday; if anything, she only felt a little stiffer. She felt plenty of things, as she got out of bed - sweaty, filthy, hungry, stiff, frustrated, hungrier… But what eclipsed all of that was how tired she felt. It took a surprising amount of effort to will herself out of bed and onto her feet - from there, to strip off yesterday’s... Fragrant clothes, then to the shower - and from there, to actually bathe instead of sitting in the tub and letting the water spray her. Each step of her morning ritual felt like a battle against herself. Ryuko didn’t know whether to be disgusted with herself that it was so hard, or proud of herself that she managed to surmount the challenge.
 
               Even as far as she’d gotten into her routine, her mind was still firmly in bed through most of it. It was only when she stepped out of the shower and rubbed the steam off of the mirror that she really got a start to her day…
 
               And it was the discoveries she made at that point that brought her to where she was now.
 
               The club president gave her a ton of stuff yesterday - but most important was a notebook. Even if she’d only spent one day at the gawky chemist’s mercy, she already felt like she wasn’t making any progress toward actually fixing her problems. The notebook seemed like the first step to actually doing… Well, anything… But having it didn’t do her much good. She had to record her, eh… Observations. If she did that, then Toki could get to work holding up her end of the bargain. Thinking on it on the way home last night, she had no idea what she’d even write… But taking a look at herself this morning gave her all the inspiration she needed to get on it. She rushed out of the bathroom and to her desk to get a head start…
 
               But, well, she couldn’t really do any writing on an empty stomach, so she got some breakfast first.
 
               Tap tap tap tap crunch.
 
               By the time she’d returned to her desk, the memory of her reflection had already begun to fade into her soupy, sleepy subconscious. She wasn’t sure if it was purely a result of her tiredness, or if her brain was already trying to repress the sight.
 
               “Damn it,” she hisses, shaking her head. “Focus.” She shuts her eyes; brow furrowing as she tries to conjure the image she’d seen in the mirror. Deprived of her sight for the moment, she tries to paint a mental picture. 
 
               The first thing that returns is the sight of her silhouette, framed in the mirror. The moment it returns, she bites her lip - tasting the lingering crumbs upon it - and stops her tapping. Blindly, her hand brushes over the crumb-strewn desk to guide her pen to the paper. Ryuko was… In a word, familiar with herself; at least, familiar with herself as she was supposed to be. While she didn’t take terribly much time, each day, to fixate or agonize over her appearance, she had a conditioned, passive familiarity with how she was supposed to look… And what she saw today underlined how far she’d come from that familiar sight. 
 
               When she opens her eyes, she finds herself looking down at the notebook; a solitary word scrawled upon it.
 
               Fat.
 
               It was the first word that came to mind. Be it the LAME or her… Somewhat more excessive diet, she clearly saw a bit of pudge building up on her body. No longer was she strictly slim; athletic - she could see weight building along her thighs; thick and chunky, and her stomach was getting large enough to show signs of a developing fold across her navel. Her breasts seemed a little bigger, but softer - not as perky. Hell; she could swear her nipples were getting bigger too. In any case, she’d outgrown her old bras - her other underwear were… Tight, but still fitting - but between her breasts’ own growth and a bit of broadening around her chest overall, she couldn’t manage to fit it.
 
               While one hand was busy committing her observations to the page before her, the other pressed against the surface of her stomach, leaving a bit of a greasy print from the croquettes she’d been snacking on. Ryuko really didn’t know how to describe how she felt; scrawling reverse phantom pain? in her notes. Having her body… Extending further than what she remembers, mentally and physically, was a downright surreal. She knew that if she touched her stomach, it should just be a flat, firm surface of muscle - not… This. 
 
               She shook her head and grumbled. She’d already wasted enough time dwelling on this - and each word she wrote felt painful. It was like she was formalizing what was wrong with her, in a way - and even if it wasn’t making her situation worse… It was still a pain in the ass to have to address it. Even worse - she still had more to write about.
 
               Pasty. she wrote. Her complexion had certainly taken a hit - and maybe she’d missed the development of her freckles yesterday, but it was downright impossible to ignore now. Her freckles were blatant upon her face - and even started developing elsewhere. Along her shoulders and arms; a smattering across her breasts, too. She’d never been the self-conscious type - hell, she never thought she’d ever have a reason to be - but something about the blemishes felt like… Well, blemishes. 
 
               That brought her to another observation. Goddamn zits. Maybe she was overselling it a little - but she was especially bitter about this development. She noticed a bit of light acne popping up - in any other case, she probably wouldn’t be that worried about it. Yet, her current condition wasn’t exactly something that got better with time. If it was light now - she was convinced it’d only get worse… Especially with as much as she started to sweat.
 
               What’s with this hair, anyway? Ryuko had been tempted to shave after  she stepped out of the shower - she noticed, as she was washing up, that the hair under her arms and upon her crotch was coming in faster and thicker than it had before. Hell; there was even a bit of hair - just a little longer than stubble - coming in on her legs. Mercifully, her pubes hadn’t yet gotten to the point of peeking over her waistline, but… If she wasn’t careful, it would. 
 
If she hadn’t been so aghast at her reflection, she probably would’ve shaved it all off, but at this point, she was much too focused on her notation to bother. She could swear the hair on her head was getting a little shaggier - and the dye that gave Ryuko her brilliant red streak was starting to fade. 
 
               Ryuko began to write another sentence detailing her hair - but halfway through, it started to get a little blurry. She blinked a little, then leaned down; closer to the page. Ever since she’d started writing, this had been happening to her. It usually went away after a moment or two - but it felt distinctly similar to when she was searching the chemistry club’s storeroom for… What was it again? That stupid chemical the chemistry bitch wanted. Ugh - her skin crawled when she thought back to yesterday. The work she put in; the snorting laughter of those fucking-
 
               Ryuko stops herself, feeling her temples start to throb. She was way too tired and way too frustrated to dwell on that. She assuaged herself, thinking of what she’d do when she was out of this mess - how she’d kick their asses when she was back to normal. The thought was tantalizing, but slightly soured as the nasally voice of Toki started to haunt her. 
 
               “Prove them wrong, there ishn’t anything wrong about that.”
 
               “Shut up.” Ryuko grumbles, waving a hand in the air as if it could dispel the thoughts. “I gotta hear your whiny voice enough when I’m there, don’t bother me here.” Ryuko puts her pen back on the page, continuing to write. While the thought of the club and its president had left her… Her own words lingered, echoing through her head - crisscrossing the tracks of her train of thought and threatening to derail it. At first, she couldn’t explain why she was so… Haunted by what she’d said, but after a few minutes of writing, she realized… 
 
               She felt a little bad for saying it.
 
               “Tch. I didn’t say nuthin’ to her. I doesn’t matter.” she reasons. Toki was… Very, very easy for her to be frustrated with. Hell; in Ryuko’s eyes, she started this whole thing. Even now, she could fix it - or at least be a little more proactive about fixing it, but… Something about her rubbed Ryuko the wrong way. The right way? She couldn’t tell. Toki was too… Excitable? Too happy? Too… Something for Ryuko to feel totally justified in hating. Toki…
 
               “Oh shit- fuck fuck fuck…” Ryuko looks back down to her notebook, and feels a chill go up her spine as she realizes she’d been writing about Toki for a paragraph. She wraps her entire hand around her pen, violently trying to scratch off what she’d written. Despite her best efforts - the impression of her handwriting still lingers behind the thick black scribbles drawn over it. Bitterly, Ryuko tears the page off - slamming it on her desk beside the notebook. 
 
               “God damn it.” she hisses. “I don’t wanna do this over again.”
 
               She drops her pen, reaching for another croquette. As she chomps into it with another satisfying crunch, she winces, dropping the greasy ball of fried mystery meat onto her notebook. “Fuck!” she yelps - a bit of crumbly batter and meat falling from her lips and onto her top. One hand claps over her mouth as she retreats to the bathroom, choking down the largely-unchewed food on her way. 
 
When she returns to the mirror, she removes her hand from her mouth and sticks her tongue out - seeing a red mark on the very tip. “How thuh hell did ah do tha?” she blathers out, tongue outstretched. She retracts her tongue, running it across her teeth and clearing it of the lingering bits of food; and as she makes another pass, her brow furrows. 
 
               As she starts to open her mouth again - she pauses. Something inside felt odd, but… As hard as it was to write about what she discovered in the mirror earlier, she can’t help but wonder… If she even wants to know what’s wrong. Each change she’d discovered - from the weakness, to the weight, to all of the gross shit popping up on her body… It was all demoralizing. Even worse, the end to it - the solution she’d been promised wasn’t anywhere in the near future. 
 
               Besides, didn’t Toki say the effects of the LAME were irreversible or something? Ryuko could feel a bead of sweat roll down her forehead - she honestly couldn’t remember. Even if she stopped this; would she ever be back to normal? She… She…
 
               Ryuko shut her eyes. She could feel herself starting to sweat; she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She was… Scared. But, to be scared wasn’t… Her. She was acting like she was somebody completely different, and that wasn’t any way to fix anything. She opened her eyes again, staring at herself in the mirror - her hair just a little shaggier, face a bit paler, smattered with freckles, and… Was that a bit of croquette in the corner of her mouth? She licks it away, shaking her head. 
 
               Maybe she was fucked up - but she was still Ryuko Matoi. She couldn’t forget that, no matter what this bullshit poison did to her. With a renewed sense of resolve, she opened her mouth…
 
               And immediately wanted to shut it again. 
 
               Her teeth looked… Different. Not hideous by any account, but not what she was used to. They were… Out of place; shifted. The word jagged comes to her mind; and her fingers immediately flex, trying to tighten their grip on a pen that wasn’t there. Ryuko eagerly turns away from the mirror, making her way back into her room. She plops down at her desk - her chair giving a discouragingly-strained groan as she did - and looks back down at her notebook.
 
               It wasn’t totally blank - the croquette she’d dropped on it left a bit of a yellowish stain on the page. But, already having wasted one sheet of paper, she didn’t feel like tearing out another. She picks the ball of fried meat back up and takes another - careful - bite out of it, as her other hand paws for her pen. With it in hand, she looks over to her first page of notes; feeling… Slightly more confident, even if she was frustrated to have to copy them. 
 
               After all - even if she had something new to jot down, all she was doing was copying the rest. How long could it possibly take?
 


 
               Ryuko huffed and puffed as she made her way up the steps of the academy.
 
               She’d grossly underestimated how long she’d already taken to get ready for the day by the time she got to taking notes about her condition - and she severely overestimated her own ability to properly take those notes. Before she knew it, five o’clock was fast approaching - and sure; maybe she had enough time to finish scribbling in her notebook, but she didn’t have time for a few more… Important things.
 
               She’d been in such a rush to get to writing that she hadn’t really done anything with her hair since she’d stepped out of the shower - so it just… Remained in a bit of a shaggy state. Moreover; with as messily as she’d been eating, the uniform she’d thrown on had gotten a little messy. Her top had a particularly noticeable greasy stain on the breast - enough that she knew better than to hope folks would ignore it. 
 
               “Goddamn it,” she pants out as she finally reaches the gates. “God… Damn it.” With the club’s lab time fast approaching, she had to run as far as she could to help make up for lost time - Ryuko made it about a block before she was totally out of breath. Whenever she recuperated, she tried to sprint a couple feet; but she didn’t feel like she was moving any faster; rather, her efforts only left her tired and sweatier. It wasn’t long before she gave it up - resigning herself to lateness.
 
               Besides, she thinks - Toki was much too… Nice to really punish her for it. At the very least, she hoped her notes would show that she wasn’t just slacking off.
 
               Ryuko caught herself, biting her lip. As if she cared what Toki thought of her.
 
               Another thing that helped to convince her to slow down was how… Fundamentally different her body felt in motion. When she launched off into a sprint, she could feel gravity yield for just a moment - and in that moment, she could feel the weight of her body lift. Her breasts; her gut - rising up, preceding a firm drop downward following her first footfall, the force of which threatened to overpower her greatly-weakened legs and send her careening to the ground. The fat upon her wasn’t just… There; it was tangible, with every rise and fall of her bosom; with every time her thighs rubbed together. 
 
She tugs at the collar of her uniform’s top - peeling the soaked fabric off of her sweaty flesh and fanning it a little, trying to give the pent-up heat radiating off of her some room to escape. 
 
Just as it was yesterday, students pass by Ryuko as she makes her way into the academy. Just as it was then, they don’t pay her much mind - and while Ryuko’s first instinct is to be resentful… Part of her couldn’t help but be thankful. If they didn’t notice her, then they didn’t notice what was wrong with her. That’s the mistake she made with the chemistry club, she thinks - she put herself on their radar, those four-eyed bastards clearly saw how weak and… Outclassed she was. Even if it meant being… Forgotten, for a while, she was willing to let herself be ignored, if only to avoid any further damage to her reputation.
 
She’d just have to come back with a bang, she thinks. The prospect of that made  her smile as she made her way into the building - for the first time in a while, holding her head high as she hones in on the fantasy.
 
As Ryuko walked, she noticed that the hallways were starting to look a little… Nicer. A few sections had fresh coats of paint; there were tiles along the floor that were a little less worn-out than the rest, and some of the windows she remembered tossing students through had been replaced. It was a little harder for her to tell when she crossed over into the untouched section of the building - while she couldn’t rightly complain about the academy looking a little better…
 
It felt like they were stripping away her mark on it. Every crater on the floor, every kicked-down door, every fragment of shattered glass - it was all proof of where she’d been. Part of a message she wanted to send, and even if it’d only been a couple days since she’d been… Sidetracked, it all felt like it was fading into memory. Ryuko’s smile had faded by the time she reached the chemistry club - her fantasy thoroughly ruined. 
 
Its door had been replaced - the sight being… Conflicting. On one hand, it made her first… Visit to the club feel even more useless, but on the other hand… It wasn’t like nothing had come of it. Things had just gotten… Significantly worse. Ryuko grabbed the handle, and-
 
Is suddenly and forcefully knocked over as the door swings open. Ryuko yelps, landing flat on her ass and dropping her backpack - staring up at the student that’d barged through the doorway. Ryuko looked up expecting Toki - but for better or worse, it was just another one of the club members. 
 
“Oh!” they yelp, reaching down. “I’m so sorry! Let me…” They trail off, adjusting their glasses. “Oh.” Their panicked tone disappears, and their brow furrows. “If it isn’t Intro Ryuko.” 
 
Ryuko grits her teeth, struggling to stand back up on her own. “Watch where you’re goin’.” she grumbles - only for the student to cross their arms. 
 
“You’re late, you know. I wouldn’t mind if you were assisting today - frankly, you’re more…” The student pushes up their glasses. “Harm than good, so I’d rather not have you around… But the president has me doing your job today. You really should be more considerate about other peoples’ time.”
 
Ryuko can feel her hand balling into a fist. “My job?” she barks confusedly. 
 
The student nods. “Assisting the club president in their experiment - they need materials from another club.”
 
Her eyes widen. That sounded like something… Helpful. Shit, was Toki actually getting a move on? For a moment, she smiles - but then, she returns to her prior look of annoyance. “Yeah, well, I’m here now. Go back to playin’ with your chemistry set.” She strains as she picks up her overloaded backpack again -  she hadn’t had enough time to take out any of the extra stuff Toki had given her yesterday. Securing it on her back, she shoves past the other student.
 
“Well, that’s a relief. Oh - wait.” Ryuko stops just short of the doorway. “You might want to put on your lab coat before you go in. For safety’s sake, and…” They look down for a moment, then back up to Ryuko. “Ah, nevermind.” 
 
Ryuko shakes her head as she makes her way in - the other student following in tow, eager to get back to work. Late as she was, the other students all seem to be preparing their experiment for the day; with Toki at her desk guiding them. The atmosphere is… A little morose, as the typically-vivacious president seems to be making her way through the setup without her energetic cadence.
 
“Turn to page sheven hundred and eighty five… Follow figuresh one, two, three, and four… You have to wait until the mixture fully catalyzesh before going on to figure five.” She recites gloomily. 
 
“What’s got her so down?” Ryuko murmurs over to the student beside her. They take a moment to ponder, then shrug.
 
“I’m not sure, but…” They seem to perk up a little, looking down at Ryuko. “I have a hypothesis.” They raise a hand, calling “Hey everyone! Look who showed up!” 
 
Heads turn in Ryuko’s direction as soon as the other student shouts - for a moment, the attention is… Surprising, as the other students look down through the room at her. Toki jolts up at her desk; having previously been slumped over her textbook. “She’s here!?” she yelps excitedly. At first, the others are a little confused, but after a moment of observation… 
 
They start to laugh. 
 
Ryuko glares at them, then to the student nearby-
 
Who doesn’t seem to be nearby anymore, having retreated back among the others. 
 
Wheezy, snorting laughter dogs her as she walks up to the front of the room. “Yeah, so what, I’m late. Happens to you assholes too.” she barks. She looks to Toki for some support, but the president seems… Frozen. Even with most of her face covered by her mask, she could see the president blushing for… Some reason. Ryuko rolled her eyes. 
 
Finally rounding the counter and advancing on Toki’s desk, Ryuko can hear a student remark “Has she even looked in a mirror today?”
 
That’s enough to stop the dark-haired girl in her tracks. She looks to the row of chemists, barking “Yeah, what of it!?” As she channels her fury into her voice, it seems to… Waver; her voice cracking a little, and immediately prompting her to clap a hand over her mouth. “What’s so funny?” she demands, muffled.
 
One of the students, through a fit of laughter, points down at Ryuko. “It’s… It’s your… Snrk… It’s... “ Ryuko’s eyes follow their finger down - at first, her eyes fall on the tiny stain on her top. Was that what they found hilarious? She wasn’t sure - some of the chem students walked around with stains on their lab coats. Hell - the student whose experiment blew up in their face a couple of days ago still hadn’t gotten all of the soot off of her coat. Now that Ryuko was looking, though, she did notice a bit of discoloration - the white fabric of her shirt was more… Pinkish? Especially down by her breasts - especially…
 
“Eh?” Ryuko’s voice wavers as she realizes what’s happened. She… Was well aware that she’d been working up a sweat on her way here, and that her top had sorta been getting a little… Damp, but… The thin fabric seems to have become just a tad… Easy to see through, as it clung to her sweaty skin. Of course, this wouldn’t be a problem if she was wearing something to preserve her modesty, but… 
 
She wasn’t. 
 
She could see her nipples - and now, feeling heat rushing into her befreckled cheeks, she could swear they were bigger than normal - clearly through the fabric of her shirt. The student’s remark about her lab coat returned to haunt her - echoing around her head as the other student’s laughter died down, and they refocused themselves on their experiments. Ryuko only distantly registered a hand wrap around hers and drag her off into the storage room as she processed what she’d done - how she’d looked to the others.
 
Ryuko was snapped back to sobriety when she heard the storage room’s door click shut behind her. “Fuck.” she sighs out, raising her hands to her head. “Fuck, fuck, fuck-”
 
Toki stood on the opposite side of the room - even in the dim lighting, Ryuko could see her blushing. “L-language.” she whispers, reaching over to a shelf and pulling another labcoat out of a box full of them.
 
Ryuko holds up a hand, shaking her head. “Hey! Hey, I got one, I got one, just… Hold on.” She drops her backpack on the ground, rifling through it. 
 
“Oh! Oh, I wash… I thought, uh…”
 
“I was in a hurry, okay!?” she shouts; the sound in the cramped room making both of them wince. She pulls out the white coat Toki had given her yesterday - bunched up in her backpack, it’d grown crumpled, and… A little smelly. But, as she was now, Ryuko doubted it’d make a difference. She slips it on, then pulls out her notebook. She shoves it against Toki’s chest as forcefully as she could - which didn’t even make the club president flinch. “I was busy doin’ this.”
 
Toki takes the notebook, flipping through a couple pages. “You… O-oh!” She looks up from the notebook and to Ryuko - then back to the notebook, and back to Ryuko, then back to the notebook again. “I… I thought, uh, you… I…” She pants a little, closing the notebook and hugging it close to her chest. 
 
“You gonna say somethin’, or just keep blatherin’ on?” Ryuko challenges.
 
Toki gulps, nodding. “I… Wash hoping you’d do thish. But, when you didn’t show up, I got worried that… Uh, maybe yeshterday was a little too hard on you, or… Or I wash a little too awkward or forward or… Sh-shomething…” She trails off. “B-b-but! I’m glad you did! Thish ish gonna help a lot, jusht glancing over your notesh, there’sh a lot of shtuff I hadn’t even conshidered!” She places the notebook on the shelf, and lunges at Ryuko-
 
Trapping the delinquent in a tight, sweaty hug. “Hey!” Ryuko protests, reflexively wrapping her arms around Toki. “Get off- I’m all sweaty n’ gross. Jeez, take it easy, all I did was show up.” she gripes. “One of those assholes out there said you had somethin’ for me to do.”
 
Blushing again, Toki pulls herself away, nodding in affirmation. “Yesh! Yeah- uh… Yeah!” she blathers out, taking the notebook again. “Uh- sho, um… You, uh, coming yeshterday showed me you’re willing to…” She waves her hands nebulously. “Play along. Sho, thish ish a good time to shtart working toward fixing the effectsh of the LAME. Shtarting with…” She flips open a page in the back of Ryuko’s notebook, and pulls a pen out of her labcoat’s pocket. She writes hastily - and tears out the page. “Thish.”
 
Taking the page, Ryuko leers at it - having to bring it so close to her face that her nose brushes against it. “Aur...idium Oxide?” she muses. “From the orthodontics club?” Ryuko pulls her face away from the page, muttering “We have one of those?”
 
Toki nods in affirmation. “We do! They’re actually not too far from here. Down the hall, back towardsh the exit.”
 
Ryuko holds up the note. “And they’ve got this stuff?” Toki nods again. Ryuko folds the paper up, stuffing it into the pocket of her own labcoat. “Nnnnow they’re soundin’ a little familiar. Have I been there before…?” She clicks her tongue. “Whatever.” She starts to button up the lab coat, and it’s tight around her chest - but it fits. Around her stomach, however… No matter how much she sucks in her stomach and tries to pull each half of the coat toward the other, they’re too far apart to meet, and she’s too pissed to do anything about it. Her sole solace is that she covered what needed to be covered.
 
               As Ryuko turns to leave, Toki places a hand on her shoulder. “H-hey, um…” she begins, quickly trailing off. “Can you…” Toki points to her bespectacled eyes. “Shee alright?”
 
               Ryuko looks down to the notebook in Toki’s hand. “Look - I wrote everythin’ down that’s wrong with me. Give it a read - I got work to do.” She turns the doorknob, pushing it open a crack.
 
               Disarmed, but recovering quickly, the club president pipes up. “Y-yeah. Got it. Um… Ryuko?” Whining a little, Ryuko pulls the door shut again, looking back to Toki. “Thanks for coming today.” Rolling her eyes, Ryuko makes her way out of the storage room. 
 
               She expects to be greeted by another cacophony of laughter - but be it the concealing nature of her labcoat or their own focus on their work, the other students mercifully ignore her on the way out of the chemistry room.
 
               “Orthodontics club.” Ryuko murmured as she made her way through the hallway. She couldn’t tell if it was something that’s always been here, or if it was one of the… Oddly-specific pop-up clubs that formed just to give her a run for her money. Well - with a club like that, she doubted it’d have done anything to her when she was in her prime.
 
               But, now… Ryuko bit her lip - a little too hard, causing her to wince. “Shit.” she grumbles raising a hand to her lip, making sure she didn’t draw blood - mercifully, she didn’t. Even if this club had something she needed, it felt like the last place she wanted to be. It reminded her of what was happening to her body - what was happening to her teeth. She’d already spent way too much time obsessing over it in the morning; the last thing she wanted to do was think about it any more than she had to. 
 
               Of course - that was easier said than done. It wasn’t like she could escape her own body, but… It’d be nice not to not think about it 24/7. 
 
               The droning sound of drills echoed through the hallway as she approached the orthodontics club - it had a door similar to the chemistry club’s - but its window wasn’t covered. She peered inward, and… The room itself was an odd mixture of darkness and light. Most of the illumination came from surgical lamps hanging from the ceiling - projecting a focused beam of light on what the club members were working on; but painting the rest of the room in darkness. She could see just a bit of the club members, lit by the lamps they were shifting to and fro. They all seemed to be dressed in lab coats and masks, like the chemistry club - but also had nets over their hair, and each wore a set of goggles with round lenses that stuck out an inch or two. Every so often, they’d twist one of the lenses - focusing more intently on their work. They all hovered over largely-featureless rubber heads - with, eh… Appropriate sets of teeth within. It looked eerie enough for Ryuko to avert her eyes, grimacing. 
 
               As she stood outside the door, Ryuko felt plagued by deja vu. Something about the odd lighting and club uniforms felt familiar. Moreover - the dummy heads they were working on made her skin crawl in a way she swore she’d felt before. Taking a deep breath, she lifts her fist, and pounds on the door - waiting for them to respond.
 
               After a second, she can hear the drills stop. She peeks through the window-
 
               And in that moment, the room’s lights come on, prompting her to stagger away, rubbing her eyes. By the time the momentary blindness wears off, the door opens, and one of the students pokes their head out. “Hel...lo?” they murmur.
 
               “Yo.” Ryuko greets them, pulling Toki’s note out of her coat’s pocket. “I’m here from the chemistry club. President needs somethin’ from you guys.” The student doesn’t respond at first - with their face wholly hidden, Ryuko can’t tell what they’re thinking. “So, do I talk to you, or your club’s president, or…?”
 
               The student reaches up to their goggles, twisting the lenses with an audible clicking. “U-uh…” they stammer out. “You’re… You’re Ryuko, right? The one with the sword? You’re back? You’re...” They look down. “What?”
 
               Huffing, Ryuko takes a step forward. “I don’t like repeatin’ myself. I’m here for the chemistry club. As far as I know, I ain’t been here before,” She shrugs. “could be wrong. Could care less.” She motions to the door. “So, you gonna let me in or what?”
 
               The student timidly holds up one finger, then retreats back behind the door. Less than a minute later, they return. 
 
               “You’re back.” she notes, huffing a little.
 
               “I could say the same…” the student growls - their voice is different this time; softer, angrier, but a little more feminine.  Ryuko squints at them - was this a different person? 
 
               “Yyyyeah.” she mutters. “I told… You? The other guy?” She isn’t too sure. “Whatever - I told someone why.” Holding up the list, she repeats herself again. “I’m here from the chemistry club.”
 
               The student twists the lenses of their goggles. “You? From the chemistry club? For what? For-” She looks to the list, and visibly flinches. “Auridium Oxide? That’s...” Toying with their goggles again, they mutter. “Huh. I suppose you wouldn’t know what that is; not without their help.”
 
               Ryuko growls. “You got it or not?” she demands.
 
               The student looks away quietly, tapping at their mask-covered chin. “Hmmmmmyyyyes. Yes, I think we do.” They shrink back into the room, and push the door open behind them - bidding Ryuko entry. “Why don’t you come in, Ryuko of the chemistry club? Let’s see what we’ve got…”
 
               Ryuko of the chemistry club. The… Title makes her sneer. She already knew it’d been getting around that she was helping them out, and that was bad enough; but treating her like she was… A part of it, or some subsidiary element of it was just… Wrong. She steps into the club room - looking around. As she was accustomed with most of these clubs, the students looked rather similar - enough that it was easy to treat them as part of the environment. Especially since the environment… Really, really creeped her out.
 
               The room had several counters acting as workstations for the club members; set under their surgical lamps, set up with their dummy heads… But even worse was what sat on the periphery of the room. Sitting on shelves lining the walls were mannequin heads kidded out in all kinds of orthodontic headgear - masses of wires and belts; stuff Ryuko couldn’t help but shudder when she caught sight of. Much like the chemistry room, there were a pair of supply rooms on the far end - but instead of a desk at the front of the room, there was a leather-backed chair, sitting under a surgical light.
 
               Ryuko gave the seat a wide berth as the student made their way to one of the supply rooms. “Stay there.” she orders, stepping inside. 
 
               As Ryuko waited, she looked back to the students - and found them looking back at her. She could feel herself sweating a little more as they seemed to observe her quietly - predatorily. She averted her eyes after a moment, turning back around-
 
               Only for the student that let her in to be standing right behind her. “Here we are.” she says, holding up a small plastic bottle; pellets within it audibly shaking as she holds it out to Ryuko. The dark-haired girl reaches for it-
 
               And the bottle shakes violently as it’s pulled away from her. “What the hell?” she grunts.
 
               “Ah, ah. We have it - but we don’t have a reason to give it up. Maybe to the chemistry club, but to you? Not at all.” she hisses.
 
               Ryuko glares. “And why’s that?” The students around her start to murmur - and the one standing before her grumbles. 
 
               “You don’t remember? Not at all?” The bottle shakes as her hands tremble around it. “You don’t remember me?”
 
               “How could I? You all look the saaaa--!” Ryuko shouts as she’s shoved into the chair by the furious club member. The shove is comparatively light - but it’s enough to move the weakened delinquent. “What the hell!?”
 
The student looks down to her hands; surprised. “Huh… You weren’t that much of a pushover a week ago.” she murmurs, stepping forward. “A week ago… You barged in here, beat down my entire club, and tore up my uniform! Mine!” She jabs a thumb against her chest, beginning to huff. “I used to be a two-star - but because of you…!” 
 
               Ryuko tries to sit up in the seat, but the apparent club president places a hand on her chest - it might as well have weighed a ton with as aptly as it kept her pinned. “Yeah - I did that to a lotta clubs. Can’t change the past.” she spits. “But, about that Auro-whatever… Ah!”
 
               Ryuko quickly finds a thumb, clad in a rubber glove, invading her mouth. Gracelessly, it peels her lips apart, showing off her altered teeth. “Can’t change the past? What a careless attitude. Certainly hasn’t helped your dental health.” Ryuko tries to bite the club president’s thumb, but she withdraws it quickly.
 
               “You shut up about that! That ain’t me, it’s-” Ryuko stops herself. It was bad enough this bitch knew she could push her around; but she didn’t want her to know why - least of all, she didn’t want anyone else to know.  “Whatever. You said you’d do it for the chemistry club, right? Do Toki a favoooaah.” Once more, the president sticks her fingers in Ryuko’s mouth - but this time, as the dark-haired girl goes to bite them, she finds her teeth coming down on a piece of firm plastic, keeping them spread. “Ah?”
 
               The president thrums. “A favor…” she murmurs. “Hm, hm. Well, there has been a project I’ve been wanting to work on… But unfortunately, we need someone whose teeth aren’t… Already taken care of. You, though…” She reaches up, clapping her hands twice - and the room goes dark. Light only returns when she activates the surgical lamp above, craning it over to glare down on Ryuko. “Perhaps we can arrange a trade. If this works as planned, then… I can work myself back up to a one-star uniform. And you; you’ll get your Auridium Oxide, and… Well… A perk I’m sure you don’t even know you need.”
 
               Ryuko glares up at the president - leering through the bright light. In the darkness surrounding her, she can see the glare reflecting off of the other student’s goggles as they approach. “Ahah?” she ineloquently muses.
 
               The club president chuckles, handing the chemical bottle off to another student, hiding in the shadows. “Is that a yes?” she muses; prompting Ryuko to furrow her brow. “Blink once if yes, twice if no.”
 
               Ryuko stared at the president for a moment - with all eyes on her, she couldn’t help but feel… Timid. Being powerless before Toki was one thing, but against someone like this, it was something else entirely. She could feel her palms getting sweaty and her body shuddering. The sensation was alien and disgusting. 
 
As she felt her eyes getting tired, Ryuko blinks once.
 


 
               Ryuko still felt groggy. She didn’t expect the orthodontics club to knock her out - so when she woke up four hours later, she felt like she’d just… Lost that time. She was still dazed and confused when the president shoved the bottle of Auridium Oxide into her hands and shoved her out the door, leaving her to sluggishly make her way back to the chemistry room. 
 
               The rest of the club was getting ready to leave by the time she returned - which gave her a little hope that she wouldn’t be stuck in the club until midnight every day. Toki seemed overjoyed to see her with the chemicals - taking them and setting them aside as she bid her club farewell. For the time being, Ryuko plopped herself in a seat; supporting her head with one hand.
 
               When the last of the students had left, Toki returned, carrying Ryuko’s notebook. “I didn’t expect them to keep you that long! Ushually they jusht want shome dental x-raysh from me when I show up.” She leans a little closer. “You look tired - did they work you hard?”
 
               Ryuko shakes her head. “I washhh…” Ryuko lisps, feeling spittle fly from her lips. Her blood goes cold, and she licks her teeth. She’d… Noticed their work on her way back, but she hadn’t spoken since they’d finished. “I was ash- I was asleep through… Most of it.”
 
               Toki pulls up a chair beside her, sitting nearby. “They operated on you?” she balks. “Uh- oh gosh, oh geez… Um… Ryuko, you could’ve come back to me if they were doin’ that do you. I wouldn’t have let ‘em-”
 
               “It’sh fine.” she barks. “It’s fine.” She looks over to Toki wearily. “You can… Take ‘em out, right?” Ryuko sits up a little, opening her mouth and baring her teeth. She didn’t get the liberty - rather, the curse - of a mirror when she’d been discharged from the club… But the reflection in Toki’s glasses was fine enough for her purposes… To say nothing of the look of surprise on her face. 
 
               Ryuko could see tiny metal plates braced onto each tooth; linked with a fine wire. She’d say it was clear, but as Toki tilted her head, she could see a glint of red run across the wire. While the work was minimal… She was convinced that anyone with a good pair of eyes would notice that she had braces. Toki was quiet for a moment.
 
               “That bad, huh?” Ryuko mutters, shutting her mouth and licking at them again. 
 
               Toki shakes her head, removing her mask. “Nuh-uh - it’sh… Not bad. Looksh like good work!” she says, trying to encourage her by flashing her own brace-faced smile. 
 
               Ryuko holds a hand over her face; with every time Toki lisps, she can feel flecks of spittle getting on her. “Shay it-” She winces. “don’t spray it.” 
 
Timidly, Toki nods. “If you want to hide them, there’sh a mashk in your bag-” 
 
Ryuko holds up a hand. “You didn’t answer my question.” 
 
Toki nods again. “Um… I can’t. But they can.” Ryuko groans. “B-but, in the meantime… It’sh a blesshing in dishguishe. They should counteract the effectsh of the LAME on your teeth - judging by my projectionsh, they’d be getting even worshe without them.”
 
“Well, at least there’s a silver lining. I just-...” She bites her lip. “Don’t wanna go back there again. I didn’t exactly leave a good first impression.” Toki takes a moment to register what she means - then perks up. 
 
“O-oh. Well, uh… Did you apologize?” 
 
Ryuko sneers. “What good would that do?”
 
Toki leans forward, raising her hands excitedly. “It could do a lot! You don’t know if you don’t try. Um… I don’t know how many clubsh you… Uh, bullied…”
 
“Hey- it ain’t bullying. I just kicked their ass.”
 
Toki jabs a finger toward Ryuko. “Which is bullying. And mean. And probably why the orthodonticsh club wash sho… Unhappy to shee you. Sho, if you did… Jusht shay you’re shorry. It’sh...” She bobs her head from one side to the other. “A shtart.”
 
Ryuko crosses her arms, leaning back in her seat. “Sounds like a waste of my time. I’m already doin’ too much a’ that.” Toki leans back a little, looking at her quizzically. “I ain’t doin’ much like this - I hardly had enough time to wake up, write those notes, and get here; just in time to get laughed at n’ knocked out by somebody elshe-” She raises a hand and frustratedly brings it down on her thigh. “Damn it!” she barks, causing Toki to jump.
 
“Ryuko…” Toki begins, nudging her fingers together. “Maybe today was jusht a bad day? I mean-” She looks down. “You can get shome resht tonight, and-”
 
“Wake up in the middle of the afternoon?” she interjects. “I ain’t got anythin’ to do except come here in the evening.”
 
Toki pauses. “But… What about…”
 
Ryuko already knows what she’s about to say - the class discussion. She’s prepared to interrupt, but before she can get anything out of her mouth, her gut interrupts for her. Her stomach gives a low wail of discontent, and she lowers a hand onto it, uttering “Shut up.” Quickly, she looks back up to Toki, asserting “Not you - keep…” Damn it. “Keep going.”
 
There’s a smile on Toki’s face as she continues. “Lunch!” she blurts out. Ryuko tilts her head. “I… I’ll bring… I… Food…” She takes a quick gulp of air, trying to steady herself. “I have lunch before classh dishcusshion. You could… Shoot for that?”
 
Ryuko leers a little, looking away. “So, what, two thirty, or…?” Toki nods. But why would that be a reason to get up earlier? It wasn’t like she’d be any more… Productive, but… Ryuko’s stomach growls again. The prospect of food did entice her… Body, at least. She gives a noncommittal grumble, wavering a little. “You better bring somethin’ good then.”
 
Toki stiffens up, a little squeal escaping her. 
 
As the president is  paralyzed, Ryuko stands up, working out a bit of soreness in her legs. Even if she hadn’t done as much back-and-forth as yesterday, the walk to and from the academy was still killing her. “I’ll… See you then.” she begins, reaching for her notebook-
 
Only for Toki to snap into motion again, snatching it away. “Oh! Hold on!” She moves over to her desk, picking up a small case before running back to Ryuko. “Um- thish… Ish for you.” 
 
Taking her notebook back first, the delinquent girl leers at the case. She stuffs the notebook into her backpack, then opens it… “Oh.” she mutters. Inside the case is a simple pair of glasses - they have thin frames; enough that they don’t stick out too much… But the fact that she’d be wearing glasses would stick out quite a bit to begin with. 
 
“They’re an old preshcription.” Toki explains. “Sho I dunno if they’ll work well, but they… Sh-should help with reading and writing. Sho you don’t have to shquint ash much. Uh… If you want, I could shend you to the optometry club! They’re one of four clubsh that have Imidazoline-”
 
Ryuko closes the case and drops it into her bag. “Don’t bother - I kicked their asses a couple days ago. That much I remember.”
 
Toki whimpers a little, then nods. “Then, um… Tomorrow… Lunch. Then, classh review, and labwork…” She chuckles giddily; her laughter terminating with a harsh snort. “Your… Notesh helped a lot, Ryuko. Keep at it - we’re making progressh!” She gives a quick thumbs-up to Ryuko…
 
And, seeing her so upbeat, Ryuko can’t help but feel a little encouraged. “If you say sho-” She clicks her tongue. “Goddamn it.” She turns to leave, licking at her new braces.
 
Today would be an early day for her - at least… Relative to the past couple of days. Walking down the cleaner halls of Honnouji Academy, she feels a bit of Toki’s excitement lingering on inside of her. This place… It was still the last place she wanted to be, but… 
 
Knowing she was getting closer to her goal just made it a little more tolerable.