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Red, frayed strings burst from Ryuko’s body, choking and constricting her. They burned and bruised as they wrapped slowly took control of her paralysed form, binding her wrists and strangling her. Moving her neck as much as she could, she desperately searched for something to save her. Senketsu. Nowhere to be seen. Her sword scissor. Gone too. Ultimately, there was nothing but herself left. Her sight was dark, as was whatever space she inhabited, it was pitch black, she could hardly see more than a foot in front of her.
That was, until a sudden light appeared from nowhere. Striking and familiar, she knew exactly what it was even before she noticed the girl inhabiting it. Mako Mankanshoku. All Ryuko could let out was a choked cry, she couldn’t tell her to run, she couldn’t warn her, worst of all, she couldn’t protect her. She was all that was left, no scissor, no Senketsu. Just Ryuko.
Yet more fibres pulled themselves from her body, weaving themselves together, spinning and spiraling until they formed a threatening, deadly point. Once it had taken it’s murderous form, the red mass rushed toward Mako, the more Ryuko desperately struggled, the tighter her restraints grew. Only Mako screamed when it happened, but Ryuko would have if she could.
Before she could fully comprehend the scene before her. She woke up, a scream tearing its way out of her mouth. Gripping the sheets on the bed tightly, she glanced around the room, nothing seemed to be amiss. After a second surveying of the room, she glanced down to her chest, sighing when she found it to be completely intact, without a life fibre in sight.
“Ryuko-Chan, what was that?” Mako grumbled, thankfully bringing an end to the eerie silence that had previously dominated the room. It was odd, that Mako had woken up, she tended to be an extremely heavy sleeper.
“M-mako? You’re awake?” she exclaimed, her grip on the sheets loosening. Her presence was enough to calm her somewhat.
“Of course I am, you screamed. Was it another nightmare?” she asked, her concerned tone a far cry from her usual jovial energy. She sat down at the end of Ryuko’s bed, legs crossed.
“It was.” she sighed, looking away from her and falling silent. She didn’t want to seem weak, especially not in front of Mako.
Two hands collided with either side of her face, pulling it back to it’s original position. “Ryuko-Chan! You can’t just leave it there! What happened?”
Despite how she pried, Ryuko remained decidedly silent. By now, Mako was able to catch on with her pretty quickly, so she knew it was best to just change her approach. “Was it worse than the others?”
“Yes.” she replied, her voice small and uncharacteristically weak. There was no chance she’d get any sleep for the rest of the night, so she rose to her feet, sighing resignedly. “I’ll be downstairs.”
“Wait, Ryuko-Chan” Mako sprung to her feet in an instant. “Let me come with you!” she smiled warmly at her. Despite the mood she was in, her mouth turned into a small curve, Ryuko had always found it hard to not smile back at her.
“Alright, come on.” she responded, loosely gesturing for Mako to follow with her hand. With that, the two promptly began, and just as promptly finished, their journey downstairs.
While the improved Mankanshoku household was bigger (Thanks to Satsuki’s money.) it was certainly no better than it had once been, it was as cramped, dirty and messy as ever. And frankly, despite the difficulty it was causing them as they attempted to traverse it, neither of them would have it any other way. “Hey, Ryuko-Chan. What’re we gonna do?” Mako questioned, falling into the kitchen and landing flat on her face. She acted as if it was nothing, brushing herself off and pushing the box she had tripped over away with her foot.
“Nothing, I guess.” she answered, plucking a lemon from the fruit bowl, Mako always made sure there were a few for her. She bit through the rind effortlessly, unphased by the sudden rush of sour juices into her mouth. “I usually just sit down here and watch tv until you wake up.” she commented, having hardly finished her mouthful.
“I’ll watch TV with you Ryuko-Chan.” Before Ryuko could swallow, Mako had already sprinted into the living room and leapt inhumanly high before landing on the cushions. She sat up eagrely, frantically gesturing to the seat next to her “Ryuko-Chan, Ryuko-Chan, Ryuko-Chan!”
She smirked at the familiar sight and took her place beside Mako with an unceremonious flop. Leaning over Mako, she took the remote from the arm of the sofa, then flipped through channels until she found a channel playing a movie, nothing of quality, just the same crap she always watched when she woke up at 3am.
Unsurprisingly, Ryuko had little interest in the movie. In fact, she hardly watched it, her focus on Mako instead, savouring every reaction she had to it. The movie wasn’t even good, yet she still had a dramatic response to every twist and turn the predictable plot took. Then again, being overdramatic was normal for Mako, so in actuality she was reacting quite regularly.
She averted her eyes instantly as Mako turned to face her. She always found it embarrassing when someone caught her staring, she had nearly decked Satsuki the last time she drew attention to it.
“Ryuko-Chan, how come you haven’t kissed me yet? In that movie they kissed on the first date!”
“What? W-was I meant to?” Ryuko asked, confused and with just a hint of panic in her voice.
“Well, probably! I mean, you kissed Nui! And you didn’t even like her!” she raved, encroaching more and more into Ryuko’s personal space.
“Oh god. Don’t talk about that…” she groaned, sickened by just the thought of it. By now Mako was pretty much on top of her, however she hardly noticed, that level of closeness was the norm for them.
Mako’s wide, innocent brown eyes glistened as she gazed expectantly at Ryuko. She grew so invested in them, she hardly noticed her own eyes growing wetter and wetter. “Ryuko-Chan? What’s wrong?”
Her voice became oddly distant, all of a sudden Ryuko was brought back to that scene, with Mako all alone in the light and her unable to save her. The horror vividly replayed in her head, cutting off just before Mako was struck.
The way Mako had looked, so vulnerable and caring, it brought her back to the nightmare with how similar it was. Never before had Ryuko felt so weak, it was sickening. “Nothing.” she lied, gritting her teeth and looking downwards, trying to hide the tears from her.
“Come on Ryuko-Chan, tell me.” she took Ryuko’s chin in her hand and lifted her face, only to have her weakly pull away with a grunt of objection. “Please?”
With a sigh, she spoke, no matter what she did, she couldn’t hide anything from Mako. “It’s that nightmare again, no big deal.” she dismissed.
“Hm... If you won’t tell me what the nightmare was about, I’ll just have to guess!” she announced, unsuitably cheery. “Was iiiiit…” she paused, pondering what could possibly be haunting Ryuko. “Oh, I’ve got it!” she formed a diamond above her head, signalling the start of one of her signature rambles. “World renowned chefs in Osaka came together and created the world’s biggest takoyaki! But then it came to life and starting wreaking havoc on Japan! Seeking revenge for all it’s brethren! Then it came and ate you!”
Ryuko felt a calm wash over her, Mako being her ridiculous self was alleviating her pain. “Wait! No! I bet it was this! Mole people! They dug their way from underground, seeking to avenge the society that shut them away years ago! Then-” she began her rambling, only to be cut off by Ryuko.
“Mako-” she interjected, amusement evident in her voice.
“No, no, Ryuko-Chan! I’ve got it!” she beamed, placing her hands above her eyes. “Satsuki-Senpai’s eyebrows got even bigger!”
“Mako, s-stop.” Ryuko laughed, barely able to speak amidst her giggling. A wide smile forming on her face.
“What was it then?” Mako asked, taking a seat next to her and leaning her head on her shoulder.
With a renewed sense of calm, Ryuko recalled the nightmare, there was no terror to it now, she saw it for what it was. A dream, just like Mako’s ridiculous fantasies of giant food or mole people. “It was stupid.” she commented, but the eagre, curious look Mako was giving her forced her to continue. “I just thought like, what if I couldn’t protect you.”
“What?” she exclaimed. “That’s dumb Ryuko-Chan! Of course you could! You’re Ryuko!” she grinned “Nothing could stand a chance against you!” she punctuated her point by punching at an invisible opponent in the air before her.
“Heh, yeah.” she smirked, her confidence completely restored by Mako’s faith in her. At times like this, it occurred to her how much she loved Mako, she could bring her back from the worst, she already had. Ryuko figured she deserved a reward for it by now. “Hey, Mako.”
“Yeah? What is it Ryu-” as soon as she turned her head to face her, their lips were together. After a few seconds, Ryuko pulled away, looking more nervous than she ever had before.
Anticipation built as Mako remained silent, blinking as if trying to process what just happened. When she finally opened her mouth, only a yawn came out. “You need some more practice Ryuko-Chan.” she remarked.
“Wh-what? It was my first time, what were you expecting!” she complained, grumbling to herself.
“Aw, it’s okay Ryuko-Chan! We can practice!” she declared, adjusting both herself and Ryuko to be lay down together. “In the morning.” she added with a yawn.
“Alright. Night.” Ryuko chuckled.
“Goodnight Ryuko-Chan.” Mako sang.
For the first time in months, despite Mako’s incessant wiggling, Ryuko slept peacefully. Without a nightmare, nor a dream. But just a simple, uneventful, peace.