KlK oneshot: At the End of Days

Rating: T for blood, violence, mild language.

Spoilers: Up to episode 18. Written after I saw episode 22, though, so minor elements might have inadvertently been woven in.

Pairings: None. Sorry, not the place!

Summary: "You know humans don't live in this world anymore, Onee-chan. They only survive." In what should have been a final battle, something went awry. Two warriors now drift through a dangerous world, but amid the endless struggles, Ryuuko has picked up a questionable habit of throwing herself in front of Satsuki - or rather, any attacks that come too close to her. Spoilers through ep18.

Yo! Just a quick idea I had to get out of my system. Kill la Kill turned out to be a great series, start to finish, though from the point Ryuuko and Satsuki's relation was revealed, I was really hoping for some sisterly bonding that the flow of the series itself understandably didn't really have much space for. Well, that's what fanfiction's for, right?

Though I can think of more plot for it, this is meant to be a oneshot, unless there's interest in it. In that event, though, there won't be any continuation until after I've completed my main fanfiction. I'm way too busy now to try to work on both.

Speaking of which, readers of J3F who happen to be looking at this – the final chapter is still underway, don't worry about that!

Well, here we go. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kill la Kill! I'm not nearly insane enough to come up with such brilliant ridiculousness XD

At the End of Days

–"You know humans don't live in this world anymore, Onee-chan. They only survive."–

Sharp blue eyes widened in the moment Satsuki's back bumped against stone, and flecks of crimson sailed past the hand she had upraised in some instinct of defense, landing on her face and the wall behind her. Fine spears of living thread, electrically crimson and ghoulish black, were streaming with blood as they whizzed past her. Her mouth was opening as the score of diverted attacks pierced and sharply cracked the wall in several places.

–"But if humans still hold on to the will to survive, even in this shitty world… we might as well do the amount we're able to help, right?"–

One moment – one moment of frozen breath was all the time she had to see the rigid body tensing up before her, the spilt life bursting profusely from her arms crossed in defense, from a shin, from stomach and chest and exiting her back – and the short blue hair, whisked backwards by a shockwave, dancing and jumping along with a single lock of red. A scream.

"Ryuuko–!"

BOOM!

And Satsuki flinched out of her younger sister's path as the smaller girl's body, amid beginning to twist from the various angles of the Life Fibers' strikes, was abruptly blasted backwards and into the wall.

Damn it! The long-haired woman thought, rising to leap from the path of a new shower of attacks. With the crucial moments she'd been given she grasped the Bakuzan Gako dagger from where it lay half-wedged into the ground. Lashing the recovered weapon around in an acute sweep, she cut down another incoming throng of fibers. Satsuki spun on heel, teeth clenched fiercely as she narrowly evaded another quick attack, and slashed through a third.

The Life Fiber system of this nest – it was vicious, intent on overwhelming her, and seemed almost to scoff at her impudence in resisting death; but its opponent was one Kiryuuin Satsuki, a human who would not so easily succumb. Nonetheless, the fibers would not allow her to retrieve her other weapon. She scowled as they loomed up before her, an amorphous web of spindly threads contemplating their next method of attack.

"Come!" she barked in challenge, furious, as a heaping, massive tangle of the living fibers broke from the earth, shuddered, and poured itself into a dozen fibrous spears that arced and twisted toward her in a concerted advance. She set her stance and prepared to strike, resolute.

With her battle cry, the Bakuzan Gako flashed out in a lethal obsidian arc… falling short of the fibers as they snapped taut, caught fast just beyond her range. She blinked.

"Th-the core!" a familiar voice yowled.

Lying amid the rubble of the wall, one eye squinted shut, Ryuuko had grasped the Life Fibers that were now learning their mistake in having skewered her; they squirmed to escape, and with the girl's snarl her fingertips broke and stretched into bright crimson claws, drawing the color from her hands and lighting up in them protruding veins that shone an angry red. The sclera of her eye was being dyed a similar hue, as her makeshift claws sank firmly into the knotting fibers, holding them back from their shuddering attempts to stretch and approach Satsuki. Gritted teeth parted.

"The core's exposed! Take it down, sis!"

"Right!" Satsuki said, dashing aside and diving to retrieve the Bakuzan Kouryu. She rolled nimbly into a crouch, arms crossed and blades extended. She drew a steady inhalation, calloused hands tensing on the weapons' familiar, asymmetrical weights in her hands.

Ryuuko was forcing her ki into the restrained Life Fibers; the very energy they had sought to harvest raced along them and jolted into a heaped mass that writhed and shuddered, petrified, on the ground. One pulsing spot shone bright in the midst of the formless glob, and Satsuki's eyes glinted coldly.

There! she thought, lunging to cross-slash decisively through the core of the Life Fiber cluster that had infested the warehouse.

"Begone," she said flatly where she had come to a halt, dual swords extended, and cast a contemptuous glare over her shoulder. The core split and shattered, casting about the light of the lives it had stolen. Parasitic vermin.

The mass at last gave a roar, a dying screech of outrage, and slumped into a flattening pool. Fibers everywhere lost form as they withered to dull black and shriveled, lifeless.

"Ryuuko," Satsuki murmured, sheathing her blades while hurrying to the younger girl's side, her tattered robe fluttering about her shins as she did so. Her companion had fallen flat as well – sprawled strengthless, partially pinned down by pieces of the demolished wall. The girl's cargo pants, cropped shirt, and cloak were becoming stained with fresh blood. "Ryuuko, can you hear me?!"

"Of course," the girl muttered. "I'm not going anywhere…" Color returned to her hands, bulging veins slowly relaxing as the claws receded. She offered a weak smile as the long-haired woman leaned into her line of sight. "We kicked its ass, right? But it was almost starting to put up an actual fight there…"

"Idiot," Satsuki scolded, working quickly to sever the clusters of threads protruding from Ryuuko's back; removed from their energy source, the already weakened strands quivered and died. They had fused partially with her body; clenching a fistful at her front, as close to Ryuuko's body as she could, Satsuki braced the girl, pressed a knee to her elbow, and yanked firmly to dislodge them. Ryuuko went rigid, crying out madly; her foot flailed out, inadvertently hurling across the room a sizeable hunk of debris that had pinned it down. Well, that was one more problem taken care of…

Satsuki tossed the bloody mess of threads aside. With much cursing on Ryuuko's part, the rest of the fibrous strands were removed.

"Th-thanks…!" she whimpered at last, a forearm pressed across her eyes as she scowled and shook in shock.

It was only natural that Satsuki loathed to see her reduced to this state, miserable and wounded but trying to hide her pain. She could hardly scold her right now. "Focus. Are there any more of them concealed in the vicinity, Ryuuko?"

"I'm not detecting anything. It was a single-core system… j-just a tough one – agh! C-careful!" she complained as Satsuki hoisted her up, in one efficient move propping the smaller girl's belly steady against her shoulder and rising surely to her feet. Her teeth ground momentarily. The sooner she could get a better look at her sister's wounds, the better she would feel about this encounter.

"The enemy wasn't terribly strong this time, Ryuuko. There was no reason for this to happen…"

"What's your deal?" she said, sensing Satsuki's agitation. "We couldn't let those folks get hurt, after we barged in here and stirred up the cluster nesting in their hiding place, could we?"

"Tch…" At least her mouth is functioning. Satsuki's head turned toward one corner of the warehouse. Voices were heard, a sound that always seemed to fill the two warriors with a strange mixture of ease and apprehension as of late, when for weeks on end the only two voices they might hear could very well be their own. As if on cue, a solid metal door splayed with sagging, spidery black threads rattled once, twice, and burst open with a scattering of dead fibers; the door slammed around into the adjacent wall as two men came stumbling out from behind it.

This family was lucky, Satsuki mused, watching a few more survivors step cautiously into the open. If we had come any later, the system may have already gained enough power to spawn a second core. That door would never have held it at bay… She looked down, nudging a decayed body with her foot, and gauged the time that had elapsed since its demise. At such a time, they would have joined these poor fools… The corpse was webbed and pierced with now-dead fibers, stitched up thoroughly and long since leeched dry.

"Wh-who are you?"

Satsuki sighed quietly, taking up a stern look as she faced the refugees they'd managed to save. "It matters not. We're humans, and because of us, this place is now safe. My partner needs medical attention. Are you in possession of any apt supplies?"

The older of the two men flinched, wary. "We might, but… what exactly is up with that one?"

Satsuki elevated a formidable eyebrow. Ryuuko did not seem altogether conscious at this point; her limp body over her shoulder shivered intermittently. A puddle of blood was quickly collecting on the ground, dripping steadily from Satsuki's sister.

And reddened veins throbbed and faded distinctly on her quivering hands.

"I-if that girl were a human, she'd be dead, right? What is she?"

"What do you suppose she is–?"

"Something else!"

"She's my sister," Satsuki said evenly, glowering imperiously even as the sister in question croaked out a groan of pain. Hearing this, Satsuki cringed. "And she's severely wounded herself saving your filthy hides!"

The man shook his head, eyes wide. "You should leave. P-please, just go–!" Yelping, he scrambled to stand in front of his fellows as Satsuki's short blade came unsheathed. Her aura intensified with violent brilliance; her eyes were ice.

Ryuuko would have said that there were too few humans left for them to be fighting each other, but she was naive. However ironically, it was the older sister who held no such qualms.

"You assume a human is no threat to you, correct? But I am far stronger than the Life Fibers that trapped you here. It is by my own choice that I offered my request peacefully. But if you refuse to see reason, I am unopposed to choosing to seize what we require, and cutting down more vermin if it should so choose to stand in my path–!"

"…tsuki…"

Satsuki paused at the feeble mutter, though her eyes remained dangerously on the scraps of humanity cowering before her pressure. Would she have cut them down? Hardly. Though she was in quite a mind to walk into their shelter and take what was of use, knocking out any to dare try to stop her – and she doubted any truly had the gall to do that much. But Ryuuko was speaking, hoarse.

"Satsuki… l-let's go back." Her tone was one of complaint; she'd drawn out her sister's name, in a way that somehow struck, however ineffectually, at the fortitude of her great resolve. "I'll be fine."

The young woman contemplated, coolly and rationally.

"Sis?"

Satsuki's lip twitched to the smallest degree.

The dagger clacked sharply into its sheath, and she spun on heel, striding haughtily away from the potential confrontation. "Ryuuko," she said flatly, "we're going back now. I'll try my best not to jostle you. First, I need you to miniaturize the Rending Scissors to hasten our trip." She was calculating an efficient route, what areas to avoid with her reduced speed if Ryuuko was too weak to run. With no interruptions, with Ryuuko's dead weight pressing down across her shoulders, just over four and a half hours to the latest hovel they'd claimed as 'home.' Satsuki stopped before the enormous pair of scissors on the ground, disarmed earlier in the scuffle. "Ryuuko, can you do this for me? Ryuuko? Oi."

…

Again, Satsuki's eyebrow twitched.

Out cold, then.

She scooped the scissors under her arm, recalculating as she did.

On the night we destroyed Kiryuuin Ragyo, something went wrong.

Satsuki silently drew the Bakuzan Gako before she crept into the shack. She scanned the room, mostly satisfied to see nothing disturbed or amiss. Walking in, panting under her breath, she came eye-to-closed-eye with a blue uniform hanging unspectacularly on the wall. Ryuuko had held onto it for sentimental reasons, despite that it had not once awakened, not so much as stirred, since that day.

The Primodial Life Fiber – what happened? It was impervious to our strikes. It took so much…so much sacrificed, just to damage it the way we did. But it refused to be eradicated.

"Wake up," Satsuki muttered, though the vocalization was largely extraneous as it were beside the clap of cold water against Ryuuko's face. She jolted upright, half-alert as she yanked herself out of the oppressive depths of unconsciousness, and hissed a curse in immediate regret.

"S-Satsuki?" she croaked in confusion, letting the hands on her shoulders guide her back down. She pressed a hand groggily to her forehead. "W-water…"

"Check the area," Satsuki said in reminder. Remorse could wait for later.

Ryuuko closed her eyes, as if listening for something only she could hear. "It's clear," she confirmed. "We're safe."

A sigh of relief. Satsuki helped her sit up, and tipped a water jug carefully at Ryuuko's pursed lips. She drank so heartily she almost choked.

So we damaged the beast, and it retaliated. All the world's Revocs clothing went berserk, decimating the human population in franticness to restore its master's might. It is weakened; we've delayed the Starseed Coccoon Sphere's genesis, if not overturned it. But at what cost?

Satsuki ran a wet rag across ruptured skin on Ryuuko's shoulder; she felt the girl tense, more so when she swabbed the gash with disinfectant. She warned her before she began suturing it shut. Satsuki had the focus to keep a steady hand as necessary, even through the sounds Ryuuko fought with mixed success to withhold as she shook beneath her.

Ragyo my be gone, but that thing, wherever it is, has outstripped its need for a caretaker. Now, Covers have been reduced to wild, almost aimless Life Fibers that presumably take less energy to manage. This is the nature of the parasites prowling the earth, spreading and nesting, actively feeding on human vitality and harvesting energy for the sake of restoring the Primordial Life Fiber's might.

A gauze pad, affixed to a hole in Ryuuko's shin and taped into place. The girl was almost fully lucid now. She took a tentative crack at the typical, heavy silence imposed by Satsuki's palpable disapprobation.

"What about your wounds?"

"Mine will wait. I was not stabbed in sixteen places."

A grumble.

If it is restored, will it reboot its plan? Will it choose a different species, after having had to scrap so much of the human race? Or will it lie in wait until humans can grow plentiful again? What happens to this planet if the Seimei Sen'i decide to drop Earth as a project altogether?

We don't know the answers to such questions. What is clear is that, since our failure that night, this world has begun winding down into a slow and painful end. And Ryuuko and I fight, as if we've nothing better to do. Day in and day out in this vast hell, without a clue as to what we're seeking to accomplish. Are we making a difference? Is there any difference left to be made?

I don't know sometimes… whether we're really fighting, or merely idling away our time.

Ryuuko's worst stomach wound was already darkening the tape that dressed her torso. Satsuki swore, turning her attention from the black eye she'd been intent on. Satsuki asked whether she was even prioritizing her healing on it, and Ryuuko groaned at the reminder; of course she was. The sooner her digestive organs were in reasonable shape and working order, the sooner she could eat; rice was almost all they had available, but Ryuuko's body would restore itself rapidly so long as it had some form of energy to utilize.

Each battle, she takes ten times the damage I do; you would think she finds it a personal failure not to maintain our imbalance to at least that degree of disparity.

And each time without fail, like a wild beast, her recovery takes all of a fraction of mine in time to complete.

But even so…

Enough time had passed. Ryuuko eagerly downed a bowl of rice, voracious, as Satsuki began dressing her own wounds so mild by comparison.

Matoi Ryuuko…

…You frighten me the most of all.

Minutes later, her own injuries tended to, Satsuki was readying another gauze pad at a puncture in Ryuuko's forearm. It was as she began taping that she chose to retract a measured portion of the considerable weight of her disapproval – while the Kiryuuin's overwhelming charisma was not so impactful upon Ryuuko's once-strong spirit as it was to the common masses, its concentrated force at this proximity, paired with the predominant silence, was easily effective at such times to send the younger girl into a dull, hazy stupor of contemplation.

"You were too reckless again."

"Stop using that–that on me. I know already."

"Ryuuko."

There it was – that stern, weighty voice, low and steady as Satsuki efficiently wrapped the outstretched arm from where she knelt behind Ryuuko on the knotted mattress. Even while she was diligent in dressing her wounds, in subtle and unsought apology for having been protected, this talk would have to happen.

"Just because you won't die… does not mean I want you throwing yourself into harm's way for me."

"Mou," Ryuuko complained, flustered as she tried to dispel the newly accumulating pressure in the air without backing down. She turned her head away, despite that Satsuki couldn't see her face directly; a dust-streaked mirror, slightly crooked on the wall across from them, was plenty of cause for avoidance. "W-well, what was I supposed to do?"

"Think before you act, perhaps?"

"Okay, Onee-ch– ita!" she yelped as Satsuki tied the tape with a curt snap, before doubling the knot.

Ryuuko heard Satsuki's sigh – another characteristic behavior, that told her she was done tending Ryuuko's wounds. Gingerly the girl swung her legs over the edge of the mattress and hunched over, rubbing her arm.

"I did good, didn't I? We cleared out the nest; what else matters?"

In a flash Satsuki had snaked an arm over her shoulder, dipped her hand between her breasts, and tapped two fingers lightly against the wrap situated over her stomach. Ryuuko sucked in a harsh breath, eyes snapping shut, and in reflex she flinched back, melding against the front of Satsuki's larger body behind her. There was now a separate poke at her forehead; when she opened her eyes on the mirror, her face irate, Ryuuko saw Satsuki's head resting over one of her shoulders; her sister's arm still hung over the other. Her free hand had formed the shape of a gun, its 'barrel' leveled just above Satsuki's no-nonsense glare and with thumb up and two fingers pressing into Ryuuko's temple, pinning a strand of hair in place.

"Do you have a deathwish, Matoi Ryuuko?"

She averted her gaze from Satsuki's emotionless stare in the mirror. For the life of her, for all the times she had held her superior glare in challenge, as an enemy and rival, she couldn't face her down when she heard the inklings of concern hidden behind that impassive mask. "Get real," she tried to scoff, but had been unbalanced in the exchange, and grown uncharacteristically submissive. She lowered her head, a blush on her cheeks as she warmly grasped the wrist of Satsuki's arm draped over her shoulder. "I mean – you just said it yourself. There are some things that aren't possible."

She lifted her own hand, looking at it with a smirk. The weathered skin of her palm grew translucent and brightly veined as she willed it, rousing in the appendage a resented part of herself.

But Satsuki lowered her finger-gun to instead grasp Ryuuko's chin softly, careful not to agitate any bruises. The younger girl was a bit reluctant to feel her sister's warmth receding from her back; more so, there was no subtly avoiding Satsuki's gaze when her head was turned, putting them eye-to-eye as foreheads touched.

"You should know by now… that very few things can frighten me, Ryuuko. But seeing you get covered in wounds, over and over again, is…" She trailed off; however unwavering her authoritative glare, her jaw clenched, and for many seconds there was silence. "…Be more careful."

"Onee-chan…" Ryuuko murmured, cheeks pink. She looked down, hiding her eyes.

Satsuki blinked as the girl pressed a hand to her chest, and slowly pushed her away.

"A human… would protect her sister, right?" she asked. She wore a soft smile as she finally held Satsuki's eyes with muted certainty. "Whatever the pain…"

"Ryuuko…" Satsuki breathed; her expression could only soften. And without warning, the older girl's knuckles were at Ryuuko's forehead with an unceremonious pop!

"Ouch!" Ryuuko said with her flinch; luckily they'd been just about Satsuki's arm length apart, but the impact had still been smart. She glared in question.

"Don't use that pain to feel alive. You don't need something like that… to tell you you're still human. Even I can tell you that much."

"Satsuki-onee-chan…?"

"Besides – would you forbid me from also feeling concern for my sister?" The older girl lowered her fist, peering into Ryuuko's bright, enigmatic eyes. "You are special, Ryuuko. You're my precious family. So, if you are my little sister, trust me."

Ryuuko shut her eyes, quietly abashed, and her face warmed as Satsuki's lips came to her forehead. Though barely a touch, it was several moments before Satsuki pulled away to see the smile trying to work its way through Ryuuko's stubborn pout. Satsuki let slip a sly smirk at the childish expression.

"Trust your big sister to survive," she reiterated, and sobered. "…To survive, and not leave you alone in this hell."

Nothing more was spoken as Ryuuko tentatively wrapped her arms around Satsuki, and nestled her head into the crook of her neck. Satsuki accepted the contact, holding her close, and let a hand idly stroke Ryuuko's short hair.

Nightfall found Satsuki lying on her back, a hand resting on the shoulder of the girl snuggled up against her. Satsuki's other hand, as during every night, resided on the Bakuzan Gako; though the likelihood of any threat sneaking near them unnoticed was meager on a sleepless night.

Truly… What are my fears, beside those of this girl? You didn't used to be one so fond of empty words, Kiryuuin Satsuki.

Yet I know that whatever I say, however confident I act for her, I might die easily, and she will not.

She held up her hand, though force of habit prevented her from relinquishing the short blade. The tremble was miniscule, but unmistakable. It had not always been so, but fighting without rest would wear even on Satsuki's body, as it would that of any human. As it was, even when she accrued a fraction of the damage in each clash, this life they had chosen was harsher to her than it was to Ryuuko. The physical pain was perpetual, even if its extent varied. As the fatigue had crept up on her, so had she learned to drown it out.

I might die any day now… but such existential concerns grow more remote with each departing breath. We cannot live, and even so cannot value mere survival in this forsaken world. Her hand fell.

It would be one thing if Ryuuko were physically capable of dying the death she so desperately seeks in battle; if this girl were to fall protecting me, I would happily follow her to the next life.

But she can't. This beast trapped in the shape of a girl, or this girl cursed to exist as a monster – this is my sister. So I must remain strong… strong enough to survive with this creature, my imouto, and keep her out of pain.

You're all that keeps me going, Ryuuko. Wandering the earth with you and fighting, for some nonexistent scrap of a chance that we might happen upon a path to a new future.

For the sake of alertness the following day, for the sake of survival, or for the sake of not making a mistake that would cost her sister more pain to shield her – for the sake of lasting long enough to find a real future, or for the sake of spending as much of her survival with her last family and comrade as possible – it was for these purposes that Satsuki shut her eyes and resigned herself to rest. She silenced her frenetic rationalization and faded into slumber, momentarily solaced to simply feel Ryuuko's steady heartbeat close by.

纏 流子・ 鬼龍院 皐月

At the End of Days

End