>"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NO WAY!"
>"But, Ryuko-chan! We're all gonna do it! You must also do it if you hope to be accepted in our new school!"
>"I said i'm not doing it, damn it!"
>After defeating that ridiculously strong demon she had as a mother, she's afraid of such a simple thing? Well, everyone was afraid at some point, but at her age she should be way over it
>"Besides, your sis is already waiting there! It is not okay to make them wait!" Mako adds as she hands a letter to Ryuko
>"By the time you're reading this, Iori, the Elite Four and me are waiting at the center. Please hurry so we may all do it together."
>Ryuko's sporting an expression of sheer terror and unbelieving
>"She also gave me letters for you and for myself, Anon!"
>"Huh? She did?" you ask her
>"Yes, so please read it right away!"
>You unwrap the letter folder and read its contents.
>"It has come to my ears that my imouto is afraid of these. Please team along with Mako and bring her by force if it's needed."
>"Signed, Kiryuuin Satsuki."
>You scratch your temple and nod at Mako. She understands
>"Oi, what's in those letters? Why won't you show me?"
>For some reason an angelic voice declares "Hallelujah" and Mako starts doing a series of quick gesturing and incoherent speech.
>When Ryuko is the most distracted, you take action and putting an arm around her waist, you lift her up and carrying her over your shoulder, you tell Mako:
>"Okay that's enough, let's go"
>"Eh? Okay!" She makes a victory gesture, and begins walking next to you.
>"Hey! Let me down! I'm not going there! I don't need to do that to enroll! What kind of school is that!?"
>Her protests give in halfway there. You let her down, Mako and you keeping watch on her so she doesn't run away. The moment she's down, she lightly kicks you in the foot, but doesn't try to escape.
>Finally you arrive at your destination, where everyone is waiting. You turn around to see the palest Ryuko you've ever seen. You still don't understand what's wrong with her
>Well, sick people go to hospitals but she started looking that sick right before entering
>Everyone talks for a while until you're all called in. A line is formed, Satsuki and her council standing first and then the last three being Mako, then Ryuko, then finally, yourself.
>Time passes, and Ryuko looks like she's gonna faint. All this time Mako keeps telling her how the color will flow back into her when they're done and go back to Sukuyo's mystery croquettes. This seems to get her up a bit, but not much.
>Mako's name is called, so she enters the room. You're left outside with Ryuko. The wait seems to last forever, and finally Mako comes out holding her arm
>"Incredible, Ryuko-chan! You should have seen how big the one the other nurse had! I think they used it for Gam-"
>"Mako!" you call out, but it's too late. It takes all your power to stop Ryuko from running over you and escaping.
>While you're struggling, Ogure Maiko, the nurse came out of the room and grabbed Ryuko's arm. She begins to drag her in, when Ryuko pathetically lets out
>"I don't wanna! Please! At least accompany me through this ordeal!!"
>You sigh, and before Maiko closes the door you walk in the room. Like the rest of the hospital it smells like disinfectant.
>Maiko forces Ryuko to sit down and extend her arm. Then she goes back behind the counter and while smiling ominously, grabs a big syringe, one of those they would use in horses. Just what is that doing here?
>Without noticing Ryuko's panicked face, you open your mouth to protest but it's not needed, as another nurse moves Maiko out of the way and sits in front of Ryuko.>
>Wow, that nurse is hot. You notice her long, twintails and pointy, shark-like teeth
>Ryuko notices your eyes widen a bit, and her elbow sinks into your chest. You take a few seconds to retake your breath
>"You're not afraid of life fiber monsters but you're afraid of needles? How pathetic."
>Ryuko keeps retracting her arm, so Hakodate can't draw her blood out. It seems that you walking here was indeed needed, as you walk behind the counter and whisper your idea to Hakodate. She lets out a slight blush and nods
>You take Ryuko's arm and extend it towards Hakodate, who grabs it. You sigh, and after kneeling down, you hug Ryuko tightly.
>"Eh? What're you doing? What-" and she lets out a rather cute squeal [spoiler]squeal from episode 2 when Sensei draws her blood.mp3[/spoiler]
>Hakodate succeeds in stabbing Ryuko with the needle and drawing the needed blood before she can react.
>Still holding onto Ryuko tightly, you don't let go until you see she's not gonna pass out or something. While you were holding her you couldn't help but smell her hair, which emitted a nice fragrance
>She gets up, and you ask "Well, that wasn't that bad, right?"
>She looks away, and just says "Ah, let's go already!"
>Without waiting for you she exits while holding her arm, with the disinfecting bandage held down where Hakodate pierced her.
>You take a deep breath and sit down. While Hakodate looks for the adequate spot to prick you, you feast your eyes on the nurse. It should be a crime for hot girls wearing these outfits.
>Having given a blood sample, you leave the room. You all talk for a while before going separate ways. Except Ryuko, who's dead silent
>"Satsuki said she's handle the paperwork, so let's go do something fun while Mom prepares dinner!" Mako declares, but is quickly cut off by a catchy tune coming from her skirt pocket. After comically reaching incredibly deep into the pocket, she draws out her phone and answers
>You deduce she's talking to Gamagoori, by the unique voice faintly coming from the phone. Man's always shouting, you think. And when she hangs up, confirms.
>"Um, something came up! Go for a walk or something, i'll be back by dinner time!"
>She runs off like that, leaving you two alone in the park you were currently walking past.
>You break the silence
>"It looks like it's just us. Do you want to go somewhere, or we head home?"
>She doesn't reply, her eyes fixated on the floor. You wave a hand in front of her, but she looks away.
>"Well when the cat returns your tongue please tell me" And you pick up some stones, and decide to "shoot some hoops" at the trash bin, because that's how you roll
>It's quite far, so your attempts mostly fail, until you score a perfect one. "Fucking dunked", you think internally
>About to make the next shoot, when something pinches you from behind. Turning your head you see that Ryuko grabbed on to your shirt sleeve from behind. That's so damn cute.
>"Hey, can you do that again?" She asks, face still looking down.
>"What, hoop this in? Well, i can try, but it's not precisely easy."
>You turn and aim for the trash bin, when your balance is thrown off. She dragged your left arm backwards, so you drop the stone and look at her
>"Not that, idiot!"
>"What do you mean, then?" you ask, confused
>She looks up "Well, you know... when we were at the clinic and i was getting pricked..."
>You try to recall. Oh, it's gotta be when you hugged her, no other possible explanation
>Shit, the time has come
>"Well, sure..."
>You reach your hands around her waist, not going too far, but she also does the same, reaching her arms around you. But she actually pulls you towards her
>"You see... nobody has done this to me. Well, not like this... when i fell from space it was different"
>Millions of thoughts pass through your head. You're at a loss on what to do, but it's time you already put some balls behind your actions
>You reply by also pulling her towards you and hugging her tighter. "Then i'm glad, Ryuko!"
>"Because, you know..."
>She looks up, into your eyes
>You try to come up with the words to follow, without success. What the fuck do you say now?
>You've always had a thing for her, but she felt so damn far away. But now she's so close
>Can you be the one she needs?
>"After all these days we spent in Honnouji..."
>Can you really do this?
>"I just realized it, Ryuko"
>"I really, really like you!"
>It's hard to tell who's face is more red. Still on the hug, she buries her face in your chest. You can still see the red in her face.
>You lower your head and take the opportunity to smell her hair again. It's just that good
>While playing with her fluffy hair, you feel the warmth of her figure against you. You both stay like that for a while, in silence
>Finally, you ask her
>"So... how is it?"
>"It's warm..."
>After time that passes like an eternity, both of you separate
>"You still haven't told me how you feel about me, Ryuko"
>"Punishment for being mean to me in the clinic!"
>"That's unfair..."
>"You should have thought better back then!"
>"You're not making sense now! I wouldn't have hugged you then, you know!"
>While clinging to each other, you two bicker on the way home, under the golden evening sunlight.
>"About your question... you should know the answer already."