Steel Rose

She had found herself more often than not sitting under the unseasonable shower of cherry blossoms since she’d arrived here, but she didn’t quite understand why. It was a relatively calm atmosphere, certainly, but every time she came, she found herself getting lost in her thoughts.

There were too many things she’d left behind. Unfinished business. Those closest to her. 

Her family.

It weighed heavy on her shoulders, though she bore it as silently and stoically as she always had. She didn’t know another way.

It was strange. Though they had only known of their connection for a brief period of time, Satsuki felt a kind of longing in her heart for her sister. Odd for someone who had spent so long playing at being an adversary, but the fact changed nothing. In terms of familial bonds, they had no one but each other. The person they were forced to call “Mother” had seen to that thoroughly. 

Perhaps it was some latent desire for something more that caused her to see phantoms of those she held dear wandering the streets of the city.

In the brief moment she had closed her eyes, Iori’s own had fallen to the sand, steeling himself for anything to come next. In retrospect, this was simple–carry on duties, observe, and act accordingly… why it made him nervous, he wasn’t quite sure.

Eyes met again, and he made a practiced turn out of her way, allowing her to move forward. The toe of his shoe lifted to follow, only to hesitate for a moment.

…He supposed the relieved exhale may have given too much away.

“Thank you, my lady.” I’m glad you approve, went unsaid–at least, verbally. But the lightness in both his tone and step proved otherwise.

For a makeshift laboratory in the guise of a clothing store, the place didn’t seem as cold as its counterpart at Honnouji. The space was smaller, and a few elements of comfort peppered the place. Clearly, this served as both a work and a living space, modest in style, with everything neat and tidy. It seemed the only pricier items in this part of the lab was the tea set, to which Iori prepared accordingly.

One of the computer stations was set in the familiar configuration of one former information chair, who seemed absent at the moment.

Though the same variety and similar technique, the tea Iori prepared seemed a bit brighter and less matured than Soroi usually made. As she sat, he continued, standing as etiquette required in the presence of her rank. …Really, it looked like he was just imitating her butler.

“At present, I’m only aware of myself and Inumuta on this island. We both come from a different point in time than you do–further, I’m willing to guess, if you still don Junketsu. From both of our experiences in the past, time seems to stall where you came from. Of course, the rules of the island may be different than that of the previous city.”

With a few taps on his phone, a screen appeared above a table, showing a vast array of files on the research the to had conducted.

“You’ll notice the use of your Kamui will be limited here for a while, and your weapons may not return to you until you’ve passed whatever arbitrary criteria our captors have chosen as a benchmark to regain your abilities. Outside threats seem to occur every few months or so, from what we’ve observed. More on those later.”

Directing his attention to her again, he handed her the device, information at her disposal.

“Any questions I can immediately address, Lady Satsuki?”

The information he presented was... mildly unsettling, to say the least. Even having been involved in something as unbelievable as dealing with Life Fibers, the thought that people could be so easily taken from their homes, and from different time periods, no less, presented a mountain of possibilities, most of them being too unpleasant to want to entertain. Still, she sat calmly through Shirou’s overview of the situation, her eyes narrowing only slightly as the information processed in her mind.

Given what he said, she would have to be prepared for very nearly anything, including her mother rearing her head again, possibly in a far better position than where she’d been left. Being down so many of her Elites presented another problem, but she found herself concerned with another facet of that hangup. 

Gazing down into the tea she’d been given with such a youthful taste to it, she had to admit to herself she worried for them. Though all of them had sworn to lay down their lives for the cause, they were more than mere soldiers. She realized that now. Looking up from her cup, she noticed Shirou looking at her expectantly.

The sound of her heel on pavement was not one the tailor would ever forget in his lifetime, as recognizable as any song, if not moreso. And as graceful as he remembered, she stood by the sea, shaming the sun lower onto the horizon with her own radiance. Her hair was longer than when they parted back at Honno years ago, blowing in winds that carried it for her.

And at her declaration, it ceased, world stilling as if she willed it so.

“As you wish.”

His tone was even, certainly, but there seemed to be a note of relief behind his mask. And as she turned, he gave a bow, as he so often used to in her presence. Only the tailor she left before the battle for humanity and the tailor on the boardwalk were not one and the same–not entirely. And almost cautiously, he rose.

The Kamui donning her was noted.

“…In lieu of my uncle’s absence, I would advise returning indoors, my lady. Arrival on Spirale is always jarring–I’ll debrief you over tea.”

Hearing his words and seeing his face left her at a rare loss for words. Not just because of the change in his appearance, but him simply being her was enough to leave her frustrations forgotten, if only for a moment.

As quickly as her eyes went wide, they were closed in thought about the circumstance. If he was here, then there could be others. A multitude of possibilities stretched out in her mind. But she would put them aside for the moment. Hearing him out was more important. At least it would impart some sense of normalcy, she thought, despite how false she knew it to be.

Sometimes going through the motions was the best course of action.

“Very well,” she said as she turned on her heel and walked toward him. For a moment, she considered stopping and putting a hand on his shoulder in apology for her words, but she immediately thought the better of it. The moment had passed.

Satsuki Kiryuuin | Kill la Kill

These heels are made for stepping (and world domination, at one point)

Can literally kill you with a teacup

Was good all along, but was more than a little ruthless about it

She... actually still kind of is (it runs in the family)

Calculating and cunning, but still working on the “genuine interaction with others” thing

Going through some Family Drama™ of the matricide variety

It didn’t make any sense, no matter how many times she turned it over in her mind. She shouldn’t be here. There’s no way she could be here. But instead of facing down the image of the monster she had at one point called her own mother, she was in this place, facing a sea washed in sunset.

There, in the face of that calm, crimson sea, she herself was awash in the most frustration she’d felt in months.

How many people were depending on her that she had simply abandoned? It was not a choice of her making, that much was true. But it made the insult and the shame of it that much worse. The people of the world, her Elite, her sister---she’d been ripped away from all of them when they needed her the most. And for what? Why?

The grip on her makeshift sword tightened.

“If you value your life, you won’t take another step closer.”