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 - The Essence of Relaxation — Mako Crashes In! Co-op Battle with the Two-Star
A corner of Honnouji Academy. The old Sewing Club room, now abandoned, was buried in musty air and piles of discarded buttons and thread scraps. The dim evening light slanted in through a cracked windowpane.
Ryuuko sat on the floor with her Scissor Blade resting across her knees, carefully wiping it down with a cloth. A faint lingering trace of Life Fibers clung to the blade. The feel of slicing through that one-star Goku Uniform in the underground arena was still in her hands.
(Two-star... the next one's gonna be stronger.)
Ryuuko pulled a small cloth pouch from her pocket. The first fragment—the one Nui had given her. A piece of Senketsu's right eye. She closed her fingers gently around it through the fabric. It felt faintly, ever so faintly, warm.
(Senketsu... just you wait. I swear I'll get every last piece of you back.)
She tightened her grip. Through the cloth, she could feel the outline of the fragment. That black sailor uniform. That big right eye. Always watching her.
—Bzzz. Bzzz.
Her phone vibrated. Ryuuko looked up and glanced at it where it lay on the floor. The screen showed an incoming call from Mako.
<<Mankanshoku Mako>>
The screen kept buzzing. Tenth time? Twentieth? She'd stopped counting. Ryuuko pulled back the hand she'd started to reach out.
(If I pick up... I'll just make her worry.)
She bit her lip. Mako's cheerful voice felt so far away now. She'd decided to fight alone—and yet Mako's presence snagged somewhere deep in her chest, and she couldn't do a thing about it.
The call cut off. The screen went dark. Ryuuko turned the phone face-down.
"...Sorry, Mako."
She muttered it to no one in particular.
Rinne High School. Mako sat alone in the classroom after hours. She shook her messy brown bob and stared intently at her phone screen with big, round black eyes.
"Ryuuko-chan didn't pick up again..."
The chat screen was lined with message after message Mako had sent. Not a single one showed as read.
"Ryuuko-chan, are you coming today?"
"I even bought a bento for you, Ryuuko-chan!"
"Hey, are you alive? Answer me!"
Mako switched apps. A map. Ryuuko's icon sat there, a lone dot. The location: Honnouji Town.
"Huh... Honnouji Town? Why?"
Mako tilted her head. She knew Ryuuko sometimes went wandering off searching for Senketsu's fragments. But Honnouji Town was where that academy was. The site of the decisive battle half a year ago.
"Ryuuko-chan... did something happen?"
Mako gripped her phone tight.
"All right! I'm going! I'm gonna go pick up Ryuuko-chan!"
She stood and slung her bag over her shoulder.
"Wait for me, Ryuuko-chan. I'll be your source of relaxation!"
After a few train transfers, Mako stepped off at Honnouji Town Station and looked around, eyes darting everywhere.
"Whoa... the air here feels different somehow..."
The shopping street at dusk. Almost everyone walking by was young, dressed in school uniforms. But those uniforms were a little different from any Mako knew. Red thread embroidery on the shoulders and chest. Thick fabric, oddly stiff and bulky.
"Is everyone wearing those? Are they... cool? Maybe?"
Mako cocked her head and started up the slope toward Honnouji Academy. The school gate came into view. Huge stone pillars. Above them hung a sign: "Academy Reconstruction Committee."
"Huh, what's this? It's different from before!"
Mako stopped in front of the gate. It was closed. Beyond it, she could see the wide schoolyard. She had the feeling some students were staring right at her.
"...Is Ryuuko-chan really here?"
Mako swallowed hard. Then she took a deep breath.
"Ryuuko-chaaan!! I came to get you!!"
Her voice rang out across the dusk-lit schoolyard.
In the abandoned club room, Ryuuko shot to her feet.
(That voice just now... Mako!?)
She ran to the window. In front of the school gate stood a small, familiar figure. Brown short hair. No mistake. It was Mako.
"That idiot... why is she here!?"
Ryuuko grabbed her Scissor Blade and bolted from the room. She sprinted down the hallway and kicked open the door leading to the schoolyard.
In the yard, Mako was surrounded by several students. All of them wore the new-model Goku Uniforms. Their eyes had the look of beasts that had found prey.
"What're you? An outsider?"
"Heh, cute face though. You can't get in here without an invitation."
The students closed in, step by step. Mako looked up at them, blinking blankly.
"Huh? I'm Ryuuko-chan's friend. Ryuuko-chan's here, right?"
"Ryuuko? Oh, the transfer student. She's down in the underground arena getting the crap beaten out of her right now."
All the color drained from Mako's face.
"Huh... Ryuuko-chan is... getting beaten up...?"
"That's right. Want us to play with you too, same as her?"
One of the students reached out to grab Mako's arm.
And then—
"Get your hands off her!!"
Ryuuko cut between Mako and the students. She drove her Scissor Blade into the ground and shielded Mako behind her back.
"Ryuuko-chan!"
"You bastards... what've you been doing to my friend?"
Ryuuko glared at the students, baring her fangs like a wild animal.
The students flinched for an instant—then burst out laughing.
"Heh, so this is the famous Matoi Ryuuko. Just a plain human without Senketsu."
"Coming here alone takes some guts. Two-star Lady Nonon's waiting for you."
Ryuuko pulled Mako by the hand.
"Mako, it's dangerous here. Go home. Right now."
Mako squeezed Ryuuko's hand right back.
"No. You're fighting all alone, aren't you, Ryuuko-chan? I can't just stand by and watch."
"Don't be stupid! This is my problem. It's got nothing to do with you!"
Ryuuko's voice rose.
Mako looked straight into Ryuuko's eyes. Her big round black eyes sparkled in the setting sun.
"It has everything to do with me. Ryuuko-chan, you're my friend. My friend is fighting all alone—how could I just quietly go home?"
Ryuuko's words caught in her throat.
"And you know what? I know. You've been carrying everything by yourself this whole time, haven't you? You won't even call me. But when you're hurting, Ryuuko-chan, I'll be right there. I'm your source of relaxation, aren't I?"
Something deep in Ryuuko's chest grew warm, slowly spreading.
(...This girl's a real idiot.)
Ryuuko couldn't shake Mako's hand off.
"...Do whatever you want."
She muttered it under her breath.
And then—
"My, my. Are you two done playing house?"
A high voice rang out across the schoolyard.
Ryuuko looked up.
A girl leaped down from a second-floor window of the school building. Blonde twin-tails, the ends curled into spirals. Big headphones around her neck. Sharp golden eyes looked down at Ryuuko and Mako in turn.
Her small frame was wrapped in a two-star Goku Uniform. The red thread embroidery glinted eerily in the sunset.
"Stupid Ryuuko. Dragging your little friend into this—how low can you get? Or did you call in a cheerleader because you can't fight alone?"
Nonon toyed with her twin-tails, catlike, as she spoke.
Ryuuko glared at her.
"...So you're the two-star. Fine by me. I'll protect Mako myself."
"Protect her? You? Without Senketsu? Don't make me laugh."
Nonon giggled.
"Fine. I'll be the one to break that confidence of yours. My Goku Uniform is specialized for speed. That clumsy pair of scissors of yours won't even touch me."
Nonon kicked off the ground.
In an instant, the distance between them vanished.
"!?"
Ryuuko reflexively swung her Scissor Blade up.
Clang!
Sparks flew. The tuning-fork-shaped weapon in Nonon's hand knocked the Scissor Blade aside.
"Too slow, stupid Ryuuko."
Nonon had already slipped inside Ryuuko's guard. A sharp kick drove into Ryuuko's side.
"Guh—!"
Ryuuko rolled across the ground.
"Ryuuko-chan!"
Mako screamed.
Ryuuko was on her feet in an instant. The taste of iron in her mouth. But she couldn't afford to stay down.
"You think a hit like that... is gonna keep me down!?"
Ryuuko reset her stance with the Scissor Blade.
Nonon wore a relaxed smile.
"Without Senketsu, you really are just an idiot. You can't even see my movements, can you?"
Nonon kicked off again.
Her movement was like wind. Right, left, up, down. Leaving afterimages, she darted around Ryuuko in every direction.
Ryuuko swung the Scissor Blade wildly. But its tip couldn't catch even a single strand of Nonon's hair.
"Come on, come on, what's wrong? Is that all the strength you're so proud of?"
Nonon's kick landed on Ryuuko's back.
"Gah—!"
Ryuuko pitched forward.
"Ryuuko-chan!"
Mako screamed again.
Ryuuko dropped to one knee but kept glaring at Nonon.
(Damn... she's fast. If I had Senketsu, I could catch a move like that in an instant.)
Frustration blazed up in her chest.
"Here, let me finish this. I'll smash that battered body of yours to pieces with a two-star's power."
Nonon raised her tuning fork high.
And then—
"Ryuuko-chan! When she jumps right, there's a little wind-up!"
Mako's voice rang across the schoolyard.
Ryuuko's eyes widened.
(Wind-up...?)
Ryuuko watched Nonon's movements closely.
It was true. When Nonon jumped right, for just an instant, her weight shifted onto her left foot. A tiny preparatory motion, a fraction of a second.
"And her kicks come from the left foot! The right one's a feint!"
Mako's voice reached straight into Ryuuko's mind.
(Mako... since when could she...)
Ryuuko glanced at Mako.
Mako was staring at Nonon's movements with a dead-serious face, eyes locked on.
"Ryuuko-chan, I can see it! All of Nonon-chan's moves!"
At Mako's words, Ryuuko grinned.
Baring her fangs.
"Perfect! Mako, I'm trusting those eyes of yours!"
Ryuuko stood up.
Nonon moved again.
Jumping right.
A slight wind-up on the left foot.
"There!!"
Ryuuko read exactly where Nonon would land and swung her Scissor Blade through.
Shhk!
The shoulder of Nonon's Goku Uniform split open.
"What—!?"
Nonon landed and stared at Ryuuko in disbelief.
"What's wrong? Now it's your moves that look frozen to me."
Ryuuko reset her stance with the Scissor Blade.
"Stupid Ryuuko... don't get cocky!"
Nonon charged again, driven by rage.
But now her movements were completely exposed to Ryuuko.
"Ryuuko-chan! This time she's coming from above! She's gonna swing the tuning fork down!"
"I know!"
Ryuuko caught Nonon's tuning fork on the flat of her Scissor Blade.
Clang!
Sparks scattered.
"Guh...!"
Nonon's body locked up for an instant.
"This is the end, Nonon!!"
Ryuuko poured her whole body into a horizontal swing of the Scissor Blade.
Zwaaaaan!!
The blade carved deep through Nonon's Goku Uniform, from chest to stomach.
"Aah—!?"
Nonon's Goku Uniform crumbled away, its red threads scattering like mist—Life Fibers dissolving.
Nonon dropped flat onto the ground.
"...Not bad, stupid Ryuuko."
Frustration seeped through, but Nonon twisted her mouth into a smile.
Then she pulled a small scrap of cloth from her pocket.
"This is the second fragment. Take it."
Nonon tossed the fragment toward Ryuuko.
Ryuuko caught it in midair.
A faint warmth through the cloth. A piece of Senketsu's left eye.
"...Why do you have this?"
"I was told to test your strength. By Nui. If you could beat me, I was supposed to hand this over."
Nonon stood and brushed off the hem of her tattered Goku Uniform.
"The next one's going to be stronger. Be ready. I'm not babysitting you anymore."
With that, Nonon vanished into the shadow of the school building.
Only Ryuuko and Mako remained in the schoolyard.
The setting sun stretched their shadows long.
"Ryuuko-chan! You did it! You won!"
Mako threw her arms around Ryuuko.
"Whoa, watch it! Get off me, idiot!"
Ryuuko flushed and peeled Mako off.
"Ehehe, Ryuuko-chan, you're blushing!"
"Shut up! I'm not blushing!"
Ryuuko shouted—but the corners of her mouth had softened, just slightly.
Mako peered into Ryuuko's face.
"Ryuuko-chan, I'm going to fight alongside you after all. Don't carry it all by yourself. I'm your source of
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