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 - War Fiber's Memory — The Revealed Identity and the Lost Arm
Rakuyo's research wing. An old building behind Honnouji Academy that, until half a year ago, no one would go near. Black soot clung to the concrete walls, and every window was boarded shut. The evening air felt strangely cold, and only around this building.
Ryuuko hitched her guitar case higher on her back and stood before the rusted iron door. In her hand was the map Nui had given her. The third fragment was deep underground, right here.
"...So this is it."
Mako, standing beside her, tugged anxiously at Ryuuko's sleeve.
"Ryuuko-chan, this place feels really, really wrong. Do we have to go in?"
"If you don't like it, go home. I'll go alone."
Ryuuko pushed the iron door. It opened slowly with a grating screech. Musty air spilled out from inside.
"I'm coming too! I won't leave you alone, Ryuuko-chan!"
Mako clung tightly to Ryuuko's arm. Ryuuko started to shake her off, then stopped. Mako's hand was trembling, just slightly.
(She's scared too.)
"...Don't let go of me."
Ryuuko said it quietly, and stepped into the dark building.
Inside, the building was dead silent, as if time had stopped. Old documents and shards of glass littered the corridor, and bare wiring dangled from the ceiling. On a whiteboard hung on the wall, something had been scrawled in red marker.
"What is this... a lab?"
Mako peered into the rooms lining the corridor. Every one held the same scene. Toppled test-tube racks. Shattered flasks. Black stains crusted on the floor.
"This is where they researched Life Fibers. Rakuyo's."
Ryuuko kept walking, deeper down the corridor. An old sign mounted on the wall glowed faintly in the gloom. UNDERGROUND RESEARCH SECTOR, it read.
(The place is up ahead.)
Ryuuko's heart began to pound an ugly rhythm. Her pulse quickened. Sweat seeped into her palms.
"Ryuuko-chan, are you okay? You're white as a sheet."
Mako peered up at her, worried. Ryuuko forced a smile.
"Course I'm fine. Come on, let's go."
They descended the stairs to the basement. With every step, the air grew colder. The smell of chemicals thickened, and then a worse smell began to mix in. The smell of iron. The smell of blood.
Ryuuko's feet stopped.
At the bottom of the stairs stood a heavy iron door. It was half open. From beyond it, a faint red light leaked out.
"...Here it is."
With trembling hands, Ryuuko pushed the door open.
The room beyond was a bizarre space.
Glass capsules lined the entire wall. Cylindrical pods about two meters tall. Most were empty, but several were filled with a greenish liquid, and black fibrous things floated inside them.
"What is this... what IS this!?"
Mako cried out. Ryuuko didn't answer.
In the center of the room sat an old operating table. Four leather straps were fixed to its corners. The straps were worn and blackened. Countless cords and tubes lay scattered across the floor around it.
Ryuuko stared at the operating table.
—The feel of a cold table. Straps biting into her body. The sterile lights on the ceiling.
(No.)
—The smell of chemicals. Someone's cold gaze. Countless needles piercing her body.
(Stop.)
—Rakuyo's face. That woman, smiling.
(Stop it.)
Ryuuko pressed her temples. A splitting pain shot through the back of her skull. Her vision warped and swam.
"Ryuuko-chan!? What's wrong!? Hey!"
Mako's voice came from far away. Ryuuko dropped to her knees. Her breathing turned ragged. Her lungs wouldn't work right.
(I don't want to remember. That day. This place.)
"...I was here."
A hoarse whisper slipped from Ryuuko's lips.
"Ryuuko-chan..."
Mako took Ryuuko's hand. A small, warm hand.
"It's okay. It's okay, Ryuuko-chan. I'm here. I'll always be right here with you."
Mako gently rubbed Ryuuko's back. Again and again.
"The past is the past. The Ryuuko-chan of now is right here. Here with me. And that's enough."
Mako's voice gradually reached Ryuuko's ears. Her ragged breathing slowly steadied.
"...Sorry, Mako."
Ryuuko lifted her head. She looked Mako straight in the eyes.
"No! You don't have to apologize! I'm your relaxation source, after all!"
Mako beamed at her. That smile saved Ryuuko, just a little.
"...Let's go. The fragment's further in."
Ryuuko stood and looked past the operating table. At the very back of the room was a small pedestal. On it lay a scrap of red cloth. It glowed faintly, as if pulsing.
A fragment of Senketsu.
Ryuuko approached the pedestal. She reached out. Her fingertips touched the fragment.
—And then.
"Ahaha, you came after all, Ryuuko-chan."
A voice came from behind her.
Ryuuko spun around.
Harime Nui stood in the doorway. Pale pink twin-tails. Huge blue eyes. A white dress. She waved her right hand, clad in a fingerless glove, back and forth.
"You... you've been tailing me the whole time."
Ryuuko shoved the fragment into her pocket and readied her Scissor Blade.
"Tailing you? No. I was waiting. For you to come here. The whole time. The whole, whole time."
Nui strolled slowly into the room. The click, click of her heels echoed coldly.
"Well? Was it nostalgic? This is where you were born. The place where you stopped being human."
Ryuuko's body went rigid.
"...What the hell are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb. You're remembering, aren't you? That face. Those eyes. You remember that day perfectly."
Nui stopped in front of Ryuuko. She smiled brightly. Her eyes didn't smile at all.
"Let me tell you something. You're not human. You're a weapon made of Life Fibers, built to kill people. Just a tool that Kiryuin Ragyo created."
"You're lying!"
Ryuuko shouted.
"Lying? Then go on, gouge out that heart of yours. It won't be red blood that comes out—it'll be pure black Life Fibers. Your body is made of Fibers."
Nui poked Ryuuko's chest with her fingertip.
"...Shut up."
Ryuuko slapped Nui's hand away. Her fingertips trembled faintly.
"Ahaha, scared? Is it that frightening to learn what you really are?"
Nui began to circle Ryuuko, spinning round and round.
"And that's not all. Kiryuin Satsuki. Your big sister. She knew too. That you're not human. That you're a weapon."
Ryuuko's breath stopped.
"...What did you say?"
"Satsuki was using you. Because you're a weapon built to kill Life Fibers. She used your power for her own ends. She never saw you as anything but a tool."
Nui's words cut into Ryuuko's heart like a sharp blade.
(Satsuki... used me as a tool?)
(That can't be.)
(But she did make me fight.)
(She put Senketsu on me and made me fight.)
(Was that my own will?)
(Or was it her order?)
Her thoughts spun in circles. Her mind went blank white.
"Ryuuko-chan! Snap out of it! Don't listen to her!"
Mako clung to Ryuuko's arm. But Mako's voice no longer reached Ryuuko's ears.
"Ahaha, what a face. Such a good face. A face falling apart. That's the face I wanted to see."
Nui raised her right hand. From her fingertips, white threads slithered out.
"Now then, let's begin. Whether you're really human or not. I'll find out for you."
Threads shot from Nui's fingertips.
White threads tore through the air toward her. Ryuuko swung her Scissor Blade on reflex. Clang—a hard sound. The threads were deflected by the blade.
"Ooh, you blocked it. But is that all?"
Nui unleashed countless threads from both hands. They spread like a spider's web, trying to wrap around Ryuuko.
Ryuuko swung her Scissor Blade wildly. Cutting threads, deflecting them, dodging. But her movements were sluggish.
(My body's heavy.)
(I can't put any strength into it.)
(Damn it... I can't get those words out of my head.)
"Ryuuko-chan! Right! It's coming from the right!"
Ryuuko reacted to Mako's shout. She dodged the threads flying from the right by a hair's breadth. A thread grazed her cheek. A sharp sting. Blood welled up.
"My, my, you're hopeless. Just a human without Senketsu. No—just a weapon, I suppose?"
Nui's attacks grew fiercer. Threads sliced through walls, floor, ceiling. Glass capsules shattered, and green liquid sprayed across the floor.
Ryuuko could only defend. Knocking away threads with her Scissor Blade was all she could manage. She had no room to counterattack.
(No good. At this rate—)
(But what am I supposed to do?)
(Am I not human?)
(Am I a weapon?)
(What am I even fighting for?)
"Come on, come on, what's wrong? Where's that infuriating face of yours? Get angrier. Don't you want to kill me more?"
Nui's words dug even deeper into Ryuuko's heart.
(I want to kill her.)
(I want to kill her so badly.)
(But my body won't move.)
(Is my body not my own?)
"Ryuuko-chan!!"
Mako's scream rang out.
Ryuuko looked up. Nui's threads were shooting in a straight line toward Mako.
(Mako!)
Ryuuko lunged without thinking.
She slid her body in front of Mako.
"Like hell I'll let you—!"
She brought her Scissor Blade down on the threads. But the threads bent their trajectory, supple, as if dodging the blade.
And then.
Shhk.
"Eh...?"
Ryuuko's left arm was severed just above the elbow.
Blood sprayed.
Red blood rained down on the walls, the floor, Mako's face.
"NOOOOO!!!"
Mako's shriek echoed through the room.
Ryuuko looked at her left arm. From the elbow down, it was gone. Blood gushed from the stump in spurts.
(Ah.)
(My arm.)
"Ahahahaha! Look! Look at that blood! Bright red blood! Ahaha, your blood is still red! But that body of yours isn't human anymore. Just a monster with red blood!"
Nui's laughter sounded far away.
Ryuuko crumpled to her knees. Her vision blurred white. Pain raced through her whole body. A searing, sharp pain.
"Ryuuko-chan! Ryuuko-chan! Stay with me! Hey!"
Mako lifted Ryuuko's body. Her face was a mess of tears and blood.
"...Mako, run..."
Ryuuko pushed Mako's shoulder with her remaining right hand.
"No! I won't! I'm not leaving you and running away! No way!"
"...Please... just run..."
With the last of her strength, Ryuuko shoved Mako toward the doorway.
And then her consciousness cut out.
"Ryuuko-chan! Ryuuko-chan! Open your eyes! Please!"
Mako clung to the fallen Ryuuko. Blood kept flowing from Ryuuko's body. A red pool spread across the floor.
"Ahaha, did she die? Is it already over? How boring."
Nui looked down at the fallen Ryuuko. She pursed her lips, bored.
"But oh well, it's fine. I'll let you off with this for today. Next time, I'll do something even more fun. Look forward to it, Ryuuko-chan."
Nui turned on her heel.
"Wait! Wait! Put Ryuuko-chan back the way she was!"
Mako shouted at Nui's back. But Nui didn't turn around.
"Impossible. A severed arm doesn't grow back. That girl will live on from now as a one-armed monster. Ahaha, I can't wait."
Nui left the room, laughing.
"Ryuuko-chan... Ryuuko-chan..."
Mako held Ryuuko's body close. Blood soaked into her clothes.
"Please, don't die. I can't live without you, Ryuuko-chan."
Crying, Mako kept calling Ryuuko's name.
How long had she been like that?
Mako carried Ryuuko on her back and left the research wing. The darkness of night swallowed them both.
Ryuuko's body had gone cold. Her breathing, faintly, still continued.
"A hospital... I have to get her to a hospital."
On trembling legs, Mako walked the streets of Honnouji Town. No one was around. The streetlights stretched their two shadows long.
"If only I were stronger. If only I could have protected you, Ryuuko-chan."
The tears wouldn't stop.
Mako reached an abandoned hospital near Rindou Academy. It was the place they'd used before, when Ryuuko got hurt.
Mako laid Ryuuko on a bed. Then she pulled her phone from her pocket.
"Dad... help..."
With trembling fingers, Mako dialed her father's number.
Meanwhile.
At the secret base of the Blood Recovery Committee, on the outskirts of Rindou City.
Jakuzure Nonon opened the door of the base. Her blonde twin-tails swayed in the night wind. Music leaked faintly from the headphones around her neck.
"...Well, nobody's here. That idiot Ryuuko, wandering around somewhere again, I suppose."
Nonon
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