KILL la KILL IF: The World Where Senketsu Didn't Burn Out
A half year has passed since the final battle in space—since Senketsu burned away, leaving Ryuuko with nothing but a scrap of memory and a father's Scissor Blade. She drifts through an ordinary high school, doodling a black sailor uniform in the margins of her notebook, skipping class to chase rumors, and shutting out the friend who keeps texting to ask if she's alive.
Then a letter arrives in her shoe locker, written in round, bubbly handwriting she'll never forget: Harime Nui is alive, Senket
KILL la KILL IF: The World Where Senketsu Didn't Burn Out - Heir to Senketsu — Days of Loss and Nui's Invitation
The afternoon sun slanting through the classroom window bleached the notebook open on the desk a stark white. Up at the blackboard, the teacher was saying something. Modern lit, probably. Reading from some part of the textbook. The voice was far away, and not a single word of it reached her.
Matoi Ryuuko sat with her mechanical pencil in hand, drawing a tiny sailor uniform in the corner of the page. Again and again, the same shape. A short, front-fastened jacket and a fluttering skirt. A big right eye sat near the collar, and it was always watching her.
(Senketsu... where the hell are you now?)
She muttered it inside her head and traced the half-finished doodle with her fingertip. A black sailor uniform. A single Kamui, edged in red thread. That thing had never been just clothing. It had been her partner.
"Matoi. Read the third paragraph."
The teacher's voice was suddenly close. Ryuuko lifted her head. The man at the podium was staring at her, chalk still in his hand. Every eye in the class swung toward her at once. A few people snickered.
"...Huh? Where?"
"The third paragraph. In your textbook."
Ryuuko looked down at the textbook on her desk. She couldn't even tell which page was open. The kid in the next seat whispered the page number to her. The line number.
"Uh... 'In spring, the dawn—'"
The classroom burst out laughing. The teacher sighed.
"That's an essay. We're reading a novel right now."
"Tch... shut up. I know that."
Ryuuko clicked her tongue and slammed the textbook shut. The laughter kept going. From the seat behind her, she heard a boy mutter, "Figures she's an idiot."
(Shut up. I've got bigger things to deal with right now.)
Honestly, class didn't matter to her at all. Her head was full of Senketsu. Half a year had passed, and she hadn't found a single thing. Not even a fragment.
Rindou High School. A perfectly ordinary public school about forty minutes from Honnouji Town by train. The building was old, the window glass was cracked, and the hallway floor was peeling in places. Around eight hundred students. There was a uniform, but the rules were loose.
Ryuuko kept her name on the register here while missing more than half the week, flying all over the country. Searching for pieces of Senketsu. The abandoned mines of the Nuizan range, the warehouse district of Itominato City, the back alleys of Honnouji Town—she'd gone everywhere she could go. And still, nothing.
The end-of-day chime rang.
Ryuuko closed her notebook and slung the guitar case over her shoulder. Inside was the Scissor Blade. Her father's keepsake. With Senketsu gone, it was the only weapon she had left.
Just as she was about to leave the classroom, the phone in her pocket buzzed. She checked the screen. A pile of messages from Mako.
"Ryuuko-chan! You're not coming again today?"
"I even bought a bento for you, Ryuuko-chan!"
"Are you alive? Answer me!"
"Hey, where are you right now? I'm worried!"
She hadn't even marked them read. Ryuuko stared at the screen, then shoved the phone back into her pocket.
(Sorry, Mako. But right now...)
She couldn't bring herself to type a reply. If she did, she'd only worry her more. But if she didn't, she'd worry her even more than that. She knew. She knew, but her fingers wouldn't move.
She reached the shoe lockers. She opened the lid of her cubby, tossed in her indoor shoes, and reached for her street shoes.
That was when a white envelope caught her eye.
It sat there primly on top of her indoor shoes. A plain envelope. Nothing written on the front. She turned it over.
The instant she saw the sender's name, Ryuuko's hand froze.
Harime Nui.
Just those three characters. That alone set her blood stirring, a rough surge through her whole body. Her heart pounded like a drum. Her fingertips went cold.
(That bitch... she's alive.)
Ryuuko tore the envelope open. A single sheet of letter paper inside. In round, bubbly handwriting, it said:
"Long time no see, Ryuuko-chan. Have you been well? If you want to bring Senketsu back to life, come to Honnouji Academy. But come prepared to wager something precious to you. Well then—I'll be waiting."
Ryuuko crushed the letter in her fist. The paper bit into her palm.
"...You've gotta be kidding me."
Her voice dropped low. She could hear it herself—it was shaking. With anger. Or maybe something else.
That woman was alive. She had a piece of Senketsu. And right now, she was at Honnouji Academy.
Then there was only one thing to do.
She didn't hesitate.
Ryuuko jammed her shoes into the locker and broke into a run for the school gate. She thought she heard someone call after her, but she didn't look back.
She ran the whole way to the station. The evening sky was stained orange. The wind was lukewarm. It smelled like the end of spring.
She bought a ticket and raced up to the platform. The train was just sliding in. The doors opened. Ryuuko dropped into an empty seat and set the guitar case on her knees.
The train pulled out. The familiar streets streamed past the window. A little shopping arcade, a road along the river, clusters of apartment blocks. The buildings grew sparser, and the mountains came into view.
The Nuizan range. The low hills ringing the north side of Honnouji Town. Beyond those mountains lay Honnouji Academy.
Ryuuko pressed her forehead to the window and closed her eyes.
She thought back to half a year ago.
Outer space. A pitch-black sky. The stars twinkled far away.
Senketsu was burning.
The black sailor uniform crumbled away, glowing red, then white, in the heat of reentry. What was it Senketsu had said back then?
"A sailor uniform is something you graduate from."
He'd said that, and laughed. A piece of clothing, and he still had to look cool right to the very end.
"...You idiot."
Ryuuko murmured it under her breath. When she opened her eyes, her own face was reflected in the window glass. A lock of red mesh in her short black bangs. Deep reddish-brown eyes. Her distinctive pupils stared back at her from the glass.
Her mouth, with its peek of fang, was set in a hard line.
(This time, I'm getting you back. No matter what.)
She clenched her fist. Her nails dug into her palm. The pain kept her steady.
The train was drawing near Honnouji Town.
She arrived at the station. Through the ticket gate, out into the open.
Honnouji Town's air filled her lungs for the first time in half a year. A little dusty. Somewhere, construction was going on. The town looked the same as before—and yet, something was different.
Ryuuko scanned her surroundings as she walked. In the shopping arcade by the station, students in Goku Uniforms were walking around. A familiar sight. But looking closely, the uniforms were subtly different.
Flashier than before. Thicker fabric. Red thread embroidery around the shoulders and chest.
(New-model Goku Uniforms...?)
Goku Uniforms. Uniforms woven with a special fiber called Life Fibers—just wearing one sent your physical abilities soaring. Rank was determined by the number of stars: three-star, two-star, one-star, no-star. Once, they had been the symbol of the power that ruled Honnouji Academy.
Ragyo's ambition had been shattered, and every Goku Uniform was supposed to have been disposed of. And yet they were being made again. And these looked stronger than the old ones.
Ryuuko quickened her pace. The gate of Honnouji Academy came into view atop the hill.
Great stone gateposts. Once, the words "Honnouji Academy" had been mounted on them. Now a new sign hung above.
"Academy Reconstruction Committee."
Ryuuko glared at the sign.
(Reconstruction? You've gotta be kidding. So they're remodeling that academy however they please?)
She reached the front of the gate. It was closed. And standing before it was a single girl.
Soft, loose pink twin-tails. Huge blue eyes. Small, wearing a white dress. A face as perfectly made as a doll's. Smiling brightly.
Harime Nui.
"It's been foreeever, Ryuuko-chan. Have you been well?"
Her voice was innocent and cloying. Exactly the same as ever.
Ryuuko gripped the guitar case. Her fingers trembled. The back of her head went hot.
"You... you've got some nerve showing your face."
"Oh my, such a scary face. And I went to all the trouble of inviting you."
Still smiling, Nui held out her right hand.
In it was clutched a scrap of cloth.
Black fabric, harboring a red glow.
Senketsu's right eye.
Ryuuko's heart leaped. No mistake. That was part of Senketsu. The big eye on the cloth glowed faintly—weakly, but unmistakably red.
"That... where did you get it?"
"Space, of course. After that final battle, I picked up every last bit for you. You ought to be grateful."
Nui waved the scrap of cloth back and forth. The right eye was watching Ryuuko.
"Senketsu isn't dead. He's just been scattered to pieces. Seven in all. Right eye, left eye, torso, right leg, left leg, right arm, left arm. If you can gather them all, I'll sew him back together for you."
"...What's your angle?"
"My angle? That's obvious, isn't it? Because it's fun."
Nui tilted her head. Her twin-tails swayed softly.
"Just picturing you desperately hunting for the pieces makes me giggle. And besides—Satsuki-sama will surely come to watch, too. If I'm here, she won't be able to leave it alone."
Satsuki. At that name, something gave a small pang in Ryuuko's chest.
(Big sis...)
Kiryuin Satsuki. Ryuuko's own sister. After that final battle, she had vanished without a trace.
"Leave my sister out of this."
"Oh, already calling her 'big sis,' are we? What close sisters you are."
For just an instant, Nui's smile turned cold.
"But your precious things are yours to protect. You're prepared to make that wager, aren't you?"
Ryuuko glared at Nui in silence.
(No point saying anything to her. So I've just got to do it.)
"...Fine. I'll play. I'll gather every piece and bring Senketsu back."
"That's the spirit. Then let's start by having you play with the one-star kids, shall we?"
Nui snapped her fingers.
The gate swung slowly open.
The instant Ryuuko took a step forward, the air around her changed.
Inside the gate, students stood in a long row. Every one of them wore a new-model Goku Uniform. A good few dozen of them, at a glance.
They all moved to surround Ryuuko.
"Welcome to my testing ground."
Nui's voice came from behind her.
"Do try to keep me entertained, Ryuuko-chan."
The next moment, the students released the power of their Goku Uniforms all at once.
Red light flooded the schoolyard. The uniforms transformed, wrapping around each student's body. Arms thickened, legs lengthened, armor sprouted from shoulders. The Life Fibers pushed the wearers' physical abilities to their absolute limit.
Ryuuko slammed the guitar case against the ground. The case flew open, and the Scissor Blade leaped out. A giant half-scissor. Her father's keepsake.
"Come on, then... I'll take you all on at once!"
Ryuuko shouted and raised the Scissor Blade.
(Even without Senketsu, I can fight. Even alone—no matter what.)
But deep down, she knew.
Without Senketsu, she couldn't draw out even half her true strength.
Dozens of enemies. Every one of them enhanced by a Goku Uniform.
A hopeless situation.
And still, Ryuuko grinned.
Baring her fangs like a wild animal.
"Let's do this... If it's for Senketsu, I'll take on anything!"
The blade of the Scissor Blade caught the setting sun and flashed red.
Around that time, back at Rindou High School.
Mankanshoku Mako sat staring at Ryuuko's empty seat. Her messy brown bob swayed in the breeze from the window. Her big, round black eyes were damp with worry.
"Ryuuko-chan's absent again..."
Mako pulled out her phone and opened her chat with Ryuuko. Her own messages were lined up, one after another. Not a single one was marked read.
"Ryuuko-chan, where are you right now? I'm worried!"
Mako typed a new message. She pressed send. She stared at the screen.
No read receipt.
"Ryuuko-chan, did some
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