"This doesn't make any sense! The surveillance camera at the vault clearly shows me mounting the Izanami to the Assault Regalia, but at the same time there is footage of when I was making the new Two-stars uniforms." Iori sat in front of a multi screen computer, watching a recording while we waited for Inumuta.
"Listen Shiro, I know this is like a big freaking deal, but I don't think that copy of you is an enemy."
"You know that is not my only concern! I saw the Izanami blow up with my very own eyes two months ago and now it's right there in your right arm"
"Well it's not like I'm going anywhere anytime soon, so you two will have all the time in the world to analyze both the Izanami and Scylla"
"You gonna step in for the Interrogation won't you?"
"Of course, you two get really tactless when is about data and don't act like you weren't gonna ask me to do it anyway"
Shiro let out a sigh and as if he was being summoned, Inumuta appeared from the elevator doors.
"Sorry for the delay, but there's interesting info on our prisoner"
"Let's get moving to the Test area, We first need to see what exactly is up with the Izanami"
We walked for a couple of minutes and reached the test area. This is where the new uniforms are tested before they are sent out. I went in alone while these two data maniacs stayed behind a bulletproof glass typing away.
"So what was it Inumuta?!" I asked him as I lay down in a metal bed and a red light went up and down me scanning by body and uniform.
"No need to scream, Tadasuki"
"If I don't you two ain't gonna say a thing the entire time I'm staying here"
"Touche" said Irori without looking away from the screen. "Just make sure no to move too much."
"Then I'll start, as I said before, Scylla has been dead for a couple of years by now, the cause of death was buried alive by a landslide, very different from Izanagi's"
"So can we say that their cause of death has nothing to do with them being revived?"
"No for certain yet, but we'll see that later when we Interrogate our prisoner"
"Continue then"
"Scylla, the original one, died at age of 15, The same as Izanagi"
"Then we'll be fighting revived brats? Actually, scratch that, that sounds way too mean."
"Too late Tadasuki, anyway, Scylla was completely different from Izanagi, she was a normal School Girl who decided to take the long way on the wrong day, no criminal record of any kind and good grades, so other than their age, we have no real clue what their pattern is for reviving people..."
"Wow wow, you gotta see this Inumuta" Shiro interrupted.
"What is it-whoa, amazing!"
"What y'all found?!"
"You know how Bakuzan is made out of Ultra-Hardened Life Fibers?"
"Yeah, that's was what we were making Izanami from..."
"Well, our scanning reveals that the Izanami is made out of Ultra-Hardened Undead Fibers"
"Sounds cool and ominous, what else?"
"I expected you to be a bit more startled, but whatever"
"Hey, you were the ones who told me not to move"
"Fair enough" he adjusted his glasses. "We have no absolute certainty as to what this really means, but it's at least as sharp as Bakuzan, not to mention that transformation into your claws, this has turned into quite the favorable paranormal event"
"Like you believe in ghosts"
"I obviously don't, but someone worked on the Izanami, if we could figure out who and/or how did it, we could upgrade our arsenal to incredible heights"
"So what you sayin is that we can't duplicate it?"
"Not right now, after all we have no info on how the Undead Fibers are actually created"
"You can get off Tadasuki, the scan revealed no anomalies to your body, mind or uniform, quite intriguing how this all works"
"Well if there's nothing else to scan, then to the interrogation room"
"Agreed"
After adjusting my uniform we all walked to where Scylla was being held, as we got closer, we could hear someone crying, a female voice. We rushed to the inside.
"What happened?!" I asked while Iori and Inumuta watched.
Sanageyama had this tired look on his face, being done with the babysitter role he told us that she was hungry and then left really fast.
"(Real smooth Sanageyama...)"
Scylla realized who I was and immediately forced herself to stop crying, Covering her mouth with her hands.
"We are here only to ask you some questions, you don't need to be scared (Food... Blood... Happy)"
"Y-yes..."
"Here, I figured it could come in handy" Inumuta gave me a tablet with a questionnaire on it.
"Iori, while you are on your way to get the machines, get her something to eat, will you?"
"Fine, get her to cooperate" Iori left and Inumuta got closer to Scylla, she naturally curled herself up.
"Give us a second, Inumuta"
"Very well" he rolled his eyes and stepped back. Scylla now was more relaxed but still scared.
"Scylla, my name is Kai Tadasuki, call me Kai"
"Kai..."
"Yes, I'm going to ask you some questions, please answer the best you can, do not worry if you can't respond, just tell me you don't know and we'll move on, ok?"
"...Ok..." Her stomach grumbled and the mood got better if only a little. Inumuta wrote down the fact that she needs to eat, or feels hungry at the very least. A knock is heard behind me, Iori returns with the food. "(That was fast...)"
"Here it is..."
A meal from the cooking club, did Sanageyama called them over and got it all in place... maybe not but whatever.
"Thanks Iori, give us a minute alone please"
They went out to the side room with the One-way mirror and left me alone with Scylla. I put the tray of food in front of her and she starts eating slowly, but picks up the pace after the first bite. In the middle of munches I ask the first question.
"As I told you, my name is Kai, what's yours?"
"...Scylla Shirogane... Mari?"
"What is it?" She stopped eating.
"Scylla is my name, but I remember another name..."
"Mari? Who's she?"
"Don't know..."
"Is okay, let me ask you another question: How old are you? I myself am 19 years old"
"I'm fifteen..."
"How did you know about Honnouji Academy?"
"?!"
"Remember something?"
"Yes! Mari! She was the one who told me about Honnouji"
"Do you happen to remember what she told you?"
"She told me that if I wanted to go back to my world I have to get the 'She who Invites,' Mari also told me that I'll know what I was looking for when I saw it..."
"I see, please keep eating, is it tasty?"
"Very much, Thank you!" She smiled, her yellow teeth showed no signs of being actually damaged.
"What did Mari look like?"
"I don't know, I've never seen her..."
"How did you create those clones I fought?"
"Oh..."
"I'm not mad, you can just tell me"
"... Mari... She left this dress where i woke up..." She pointed to her dark purple and red Sailor uniform. "When I put it on I somehow knew how to make them... so I stole clothes and made them into those mannequins..."
"Clothes?"
"Yes, right now I can see that what you're wearing has the material to make them"
"Oh, you mean Life Fibers"
"Yes! Those!"
"So are your clones made out of Life Fibers?"
"I guess..."
"You don't actually know?"
"No"
"Is okay, can you make another one?"
"I don't think so, those took me a lot of time and while this ribbon doesn't vibrate I cannot work on them" She pointed again at her clothes, this time specifically to the ribbon around the neck flap.
"How curious... say, you mentioned 'when you woke up' when and where was it exactly?"
"...I... I woke up inside an abandoned building on the land that is connected to this city a couple of months ago, I heard Mari's voice while I was asleep, and then I opened my eyes to that dusty place..."
"Do you remember anything before you went to sleep?"
"Now that you mention it... I was on my way to school, I remember it being a friend's Birthday, so I went out even though it was pouring and I fell asleep somewhere along the way... that is... why I want to get the 'She who Invites' back to Mari... sorry..."
"(So if they want to be 'returned' this Mari gives them a motive to hunt Izanami down, why does she want it though? that is, if Scylla hasn't been lying this entire time...) Do not worry about it, however" She got all tense "Remember the guys that were with me just a couple of minutes ago? Well they're my friends and want to give you a thorough examination, will you let us do it?"
Scylla was watchful "..."
"They won't hurt you, I'll make sure of that I'm also going to stay here the entire time."
"O-okay..."
"About time, Tadasuki" Inumuta rushed in with a couple of machines with him, I have rarely seen them so I don't really know what they do. There is a smaller version of the big scanner they used on me though.
"Don't be meant to her will you? I think she has had enough with me"
"No promises"
Scylla got scared again.
"He's Joking" I tell her to calm her down. "Please do not fight them, they do not want to hurt you either, they want to know who are you"
"Okay..." she extended her hand out and the small scanner ran through her whole arm.
"Thanks, now would you kindly answer some more questions?"
"Sure... I-I don't mind..."
"Good girl, then: Do you know what a Kamui is?"
"Yes, is like a uniform made entirely out of the thingies I use for the Mannequins"
"Did Mari told you this?"
"No, it was Izanagi, he knew what they were and he told me..."
"Are there more like you two?"
"I'm not sure, I met him by chance a couple of days before you two fought... I knew he was like me, trapped in this world and he just wanted to go back... I think..."
"Does it look different to you when you see my uniform as when you see your own?"
"Yes, yours has four long threads, mine has them all over it, but they do not shine like yours"
"(So her uniform is a Kamui made of Undead Fibers, interesting... so Izanagi's wasn't actually a fake Kamui)"
Inumuta and Iori were scanning Scylla's body in complete silence, almost like they weren't there.
"Can you take it off?"
"Wha-wha-wha-what?!"
"I want to examine it, not now of course, later when we are done talking."
I could see the faces of the two maniacs there going 'Good job!' and I let out a mental sigh.
"Yeah... If it helps you I can..."
"Excellent, I will now take my lea- actually, nevermind..." I'll stay until they are done analyzing her and discuss what we found after, it's not like I can go out after all...
We continued analyzing her and I kept her distracted with idle chatter. Finally they were done with her and left like if someone was chasing them, I assume towards a big screen to properly analyze the data.
"I have to follow them, hope you don't mind"
"I don't, but could you please come back? this place is scary..."
"And what makes you think I'm not?" I say jokingly.
"Well you are scary... but not so much when you just talk, also, did you call yourself the Dragon of Honnouji? what does that mean?"
"I-I'll tell you next time, I'll have someone bring you something to keep you distracted, Later!"
"La-ter..." I heard her say in a very low sad voice and I took off to where the two mad geniuses went.
"Hey Databrains, found something good?"
"Indeed, mainly that she has no heartbeat or blood in her body either."
"So she is like a walking corpse..."
"Kinda, there is brain activity, thus she is half alive if that makes some sense"
"And what do you two think about this 'Mari'?"
"No clue, but I'll find out, perhaps there is something on the place she 'woke' up, I'll have someone go check on them when I find them."
"Naturally there's a high chance that she was lying... Then again her story matched the one Inumuta found." Iori remmarked what everyone knew as the basics, but it's good to go back to them every once in a while.
"What do you think Tadasuki?"
"This 'Mari' is the enemy and deceives the ones she revives, allegedly, so they can hunt down the 'She Who Invites' for an unknown purpose. The ones that revive are also very different from normal humans as they can see life fibers in plain sight for starters."
"Agreed, there is also the possibility of this Mari sending someone to tie loose ends, so we should be keeping an eye on Scylla at all times."
"You do it, Tadasuki"
"I have to be the babysitter huh?"
"Don't act like you have anything else to do, we will give you a spare Goku Uniform though, we do not want her charming you into give her the Izanami"
"Very funny Inumuta"
"Now please leave us, there is a lot we have to analyze!"
"Have fun you two..."
"Will do Kai!"
Is not like they are at all wrong. Doubt this Mari will send some weakling to shut Scylla up so normal guards are out of the question, I have also repealed both attacks from them so far, so it makes sense they would appoint me as guard...
"(I'll go get her some normal clothes and a desk for myself... I will still be doing paperwork... and not even near Satsuki for a good while... Fuck!)"
I change to a special One-Star uniform and return to the Interrogation room, the couple of One-Star guards around left, they'll be only nuisances if an enemy does show up.
"Scylla! you there?"
"Oh, Kai! You're back!"
She sounds really excited. Did I scare her into submission? I mean, that'd be the perfect scenario, but I don't think I went that hard on her when we fought, did I?
"Yep, and I brought you some new clothes, would you kindly change into these?" I said as I entered the room. She was drawing something on the table with her fingernail, maybe is another skill these revived ones have?
"Ah..." She was a little stunned and erased her drawing after a couple of seconds.
"What was it you were scribbling?"
"Nothing!" She was nervous, I better check the footage later just to be sure it wasn't some sort of message.
"This will be your new clothes for a while, I'll go outside and wait for you to change" I placed the no star female uniform I brought with me on the table and started to walk out.
"Oh! You're not wearing that uniform"
"Disappointed?" I tell a joke with a smile.
"N-n-not at all..." What.
"Either way, please be a good girl and put this on, after that we'll wait for my friends to take your Kamui for some tests, ok?"
"Ok, you will stay with me while we wait, right?"
"Yeah and from now on I'll be right outside if you need anything, you won't be able to leave this room after all..."
"I see..." She lowered her head.
"You still want to go back, no?"
"Yeah..."
"You already knew what happened to you..."
"...Yes..." She grasped the No-Star uniform. "I died that day long ago... I wanted to go back... to see them again, to think this was all a cruel dream, but a dragon woke me up from that dream and dropped me into another..."
"(Me? So I made her realize that she could not go back, so she surrendered... I've seen similar cases but this one's far to extreme...)"
"So I want to help you find Mari..."
"We'll talk more once you take the Kamui off..."
"Yes" She looked a little sad.
I stepped outside and waited for her to change clothes.
"Uwah" She sounded tired.
"What happened?"
"Nothing, is just that it feels weird taking it off after all this time..."
"Then, you're done?"
"Yeah, you can come in..."
I opened the door and she was still on the chair, like if the Uniforms had just switched places.
"Amusing..." One of my thoughts escaped me.
"T-Thanks..." She blushed, how? I thought she had no blood inside of her.
"Allow me to get to the point, Why is it really that you're helping us?"
"I want to find Mari and ask her why she chose me to revive..."
"... What do you gain from that?"
She fell silent for a second and her voice started to sound otherworldly, like they were two voices speaking at the same time.
"It's cold all the time, I have no need to eat or sleep yet I still feel them and even if she can truly revive me... there is nothing left for me back home. I want to know why I have to go through this cursed existence..."
When she was done she turned her head away from me.
"I see what you mean, you want answers from the one that put you into this mess... I know how you feel"
"Huh?"
//-----------------------------------------
"It's a long story and I still have no answers myself... not that I care anymore... (I going to trust her for now)"
"I see..."
"Scylla Shirogane!"
"Yes! (Did I said something wrong?!)"
"You want answers! So do we! Help us get ours and Honnouji Academy will help with yours! Become our ally!"
"You... are you serious? (He's the first one to offer me help since I was revived...)" She was about to cry.
"You little stunt did no damage to Honnouji, but you still must work and make yourself a name here with us! (I think that's good enough, now let's see what she has to say)"
"I will aid you in whatever you need!!! (If this takes me closer to Mari, I will serve them if necessary!)"
"Good, from now you are part of Honnouji, sadly, you have to stay here for a while but I can assure you, that if you help us you will be rewarded! (Hope Satsuki is fine with that...)"
//------------------------------------
After that little bit of fun, someone knocked on the door and without any delay between them the door opened.
"Quite Inspiring, Tadasuki" Iori enters the room.
"Here for the Kamui?"
"Yes, for that and for the desk you asked for, it's waiting outside..." That was their way to say 'we want to talk in private,' they found something.
"I'll go check it, I'll leave for a bit again Scylla"
"Is okay!"
"(She got her energy back, good)"
Iori went in with a couple of machines that took the Kamui and placed it on a movable table, then the One-Star grunts took it away. He stayed and dropped a couple of documents on the desk after it was done being moved to the inside of the One-way Mirror room.
"Kai, we found something you should be aware of"
"What is it?"
"The Izanami somehow does not want to leave your uniform"
"What do you mean?"
"Just as it sounds, We tried to take the Izanami out of the Onslaught Regalia but it did not came off"
"I assume you already tried to unsewn it... This just gets more interesting by the minute, wouldn't you agree?"
"Once we are done with the Kamui we might know what the Undead Fiber really are and become the strongest we have ever been... I trust you know what that means..."
"Of course... soon all Japan will be ours!"
The next couple of days I received a document about the Matoi's Fighting Club, this Mankanshoku girl as the leader... bold move Matoi. Apparently it was a success, I did A LOT of demotions those days, all of them involved Matoi. I gotta say: Good Job.
I talked with Gamagoori about it, apparently Mankanshoku was really close to becoming Three-star by the book alone. While that would've been fun, that ain't happening... Matoi won't let her... hehe.
During that time I got Scylla a sketchbook, I asked her to draw how she saw the uniforms and we talked about what she likes. Listen, I gotta entertain myself somehow, I was there for god-knows how many days straight and I bet she feels the same.
We played some games and talked about who were the ones she copied, she apparently didn't know a thing about them. She also explained what her plan to get the Izanami was.
Relatively simple, she made clones of everyone, mine was supposed to be there as well, but she ran out of material. She wanted them to infiltrate the Academy and find out where we kept the Izanami and I would've worked for a while but the Mannequins activated on their own, she only knows that it has to do with me since they moved by themselves to attack me.
//------------------------
"Who is the long haired girl?"
"Lady Satsuki?"
"Well yeah I know her name and that she is like the Queen of Honnouji. But barely anything else."
"She is the strongest woman I've ever met and the one who made me who I am now"
"Woah"
"She doesn't fear anything and there's nothing she won't do when it comes to fulfilling her ambitions..."
"You like her don't you?"
"You get rather aggressive with the questions fast, but yes, I do"
"I see..." She looked discouraged.
"But she has no time for these things, neither do I, so all I can do is follow her orders, though she does think of me quite highly if I do say so myself."
"So she recognizes your strength and loyalty..."
"She is also stronger than me so don't mess with her" Perhaps I should talk less, all that happens in here is being recorded after all.
We heard a big boom coming from way up. Something happened. I got up from the chair and I walked out. I got in contact with Iori.
"What was that?!"
"Don't worry Tadasuki, it was just the Fighting Club being dissolved"
"What?"
"All you need to know now is that the Club Matoi was part of is no more, I'll get you the details later, I think you are gonna have fun with this one"
"Ok...?"
I read the report of what happened with Matoi and Mankanshoku, indeed it was fun, but what was more important, the "Restart" was about to begin. Interesting.