Before My Body Is Dry
is a fanfic written by Girth Johnson, following his OC Akio Takahiro as he goes through the events of Kill la Kill, aiding Ryuko Matoi in her quest for revenge, while also overcoming his own personal demons.
A sequel, First Comes Love was also written by the same author, which follows the events after Kill La Kill, as everyone adapts to living a normal life.
BEWARE OF UNMARKED SPOILERS
This Fanfic Contains Examples Of...
- Adaptational Nice Guy: While still hotheaded and impulsive, Ryuko becomes noticeably more pleasant, sweet and girly when Akio's around. Especially when they become a couple.
- Adaptational Sexuality: While Ryuko (for the most part) was Ambiguously Gay in the canon, here, it's made clear that she's straight (or bisexual at most), given her relationship with Akio.
- Adaptational Villainy: Somehow, the already monstrous Ragyo Kiryuin got a villain upgrade from the original, chaining Akio up with Satsuki, attempting to use Ryuko to bribe him, and letting Nui whip him and injecting an unknown chemical into him. And then she kills Akio's birth parents in the finale before Senketsu can save them.
- After Action Patch Up: How Akio and Ryuko bond most of the time: patching each other's physical injuries or overcoming emotional trauma.
- Alas, Poor Villain: For all the horrible things she's done to ruin Akio's life, you can't help but feel disturbed when he begins to choke Nui out in grotesque detail. Or it can be a Subverted Trope in which case it becomes a
Catharsis Factor. - Big Brother Instinct: Aikuro is very protective and supportive towards his adopted brother, Akio.
- Big Brother Mentor: Aikuro acts as this to Akio. He always keeps a close eye on Akio's actions and is usually the first person he reports to after any special events.
- Bodyguard Crush: Played both ways with Akio and Ryuko. While Ryuko by no means need any kind of protection (see the trope below), and the job tends to get Akio more beaten up then Ryuko, the two of them start to build a strong friendship that blossoms into something more.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: One of Akio's biggest concerns is Ryuko's safety, even though she is more than capable of defending herself. And whenever Ryuko is seriously hurt or injured, the first person Akio blames is himself for letting it happen.
- Break the Cutie: Plenty of those moments for everyone, but Akio and his younger sister Akiko probably get it the worst when their parents are murdered by Ragyo in the finale.
- Cool Big Bro: Aikuro to Akio.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Downplayed and subverted with Mako. With their gratuitous amount of overt Ship Tease in the anime, you'd think Mako would get possessive or upset over Ryuko's budding relationship with Akio. While Mako is a bit hurt that Ryuko is more open to Akio than she is with her, she understands it's because of Ryuko's unspoken feelings for him. And when Ryuko and Akio finally come together, she goes complete Shipper on Deck for them.
- Darker and Edgier: Up for debate but one can feel the mood go down a slippery slope on Akio's side. Especially when his parents are killed in the last chapter, having known them for about a month or so.
- Defrosting Ice King / Defrosting Ice Queen: Ryuko and Akio's relationship to a T. Both of them start off as Headbutting Heroes, but soon start to become friends and become much more friendly towards one-another.
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Akio's accidental Love Confession to Ryuko.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: It takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears, combined with the loss of his biological parents for Akio to finally defeat his enemies and settle down for a normal life with Akiko, Ryuko and the rest of his friends.
- Everyone Can See It: Aikuro and the Mankanshoku family become very aware of Ryuko and Akio's Unresolved Sexual Tension and are pretty pleased when they finally come together.
- Expy: If you thought Aikuro couldn't be this more to Kamina, he becomes an even bigger one given his relationship with Akio.
- Friendly Enemy:
- Mainly Akio and Gamagoori, which is lampshaded by Ryuko. While the two of them are on opposing sides, they don't seem to harbor any ill will towards each other outside school grounds and actually have casual conversations.
- A little more downplayed and vitriolic with Sanageyama. The two of them have no problems beating the snot out of one another and their fight in Chapter 12 is brutal. Despite this, they share mutual respect for eachother's abilities and convictions.
- Knight in Shining Armor: Averted. While Akio has plenty of White Knight moments of pulling Ryuko's fat out of the fire,
Word of God has stated that Akio is simply not a White Knight. He's simply looking out for a friend who would do the same for him. Plus, Mako still gets plenty of moments to bolster Ryuko's confidence herself, so the role of being Ryuko's Living Emotional Crutch is shared between the two. - Love Confession: In a more indirect way and by COMPLETE accident by Akio. In Chapter 23, after Ryuko learns that Akio joined Satsuki's attack on Osaka to help his family get out of the city, the two have a much needed talk to sort everything out. When Ryuko asks why Akio has to be so selfless when it came to helping her, he replies, "If I can make the person I love happy, then that makes me happy." Ryuko manages to connect the dots, realizing Akio's hidden feelings for her. Even Akio is shocked by his own confession.
- Mauve Shirt: Akio and Akiko's parents, Hiroshi and Kasumi Takahiro. The two are given enough characterization to make their deaths impactful enough.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: In Chapter 5 of "First Comes Love", Akio and Ryuko, taking shelter from a typhoon, get this when Akio subjects her to Tickle Torture. They are last seen falling to the floor in a fit of laughter before the scene cuts to the next morning, and they are laying in bed naked and under the covers.
- Ship Tease: Like in the canon, Mako and Gamagoori get a fair deal of this. In the scene where Gamagoori drives Ryuko, Akio and Mako back to their place, Mako sits up front with him to tell him all about pajamas (since their first interaction was a spat about Gamagoori not wearing pajamas when he sleeps).
- Shipper on Deck: Aikuro and the Mankanshoku family are very supportive of Akio and Ryuko's relationship. When Mako learns about their Relationship Upgrade, she starts fan-girling over them.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: While it retains the original's Idealistic undertones, the author does throw in some Realism by the end.
- Their First Time: Chapter 5 of First Comes Love is this for Akio and Ryuko, who make love during a typhoon at Akio's residence. It is shown off-screen however, and is only implied by the two waking up naked in the same bed, and Akio remembering what happened last night.
- Two Girls and a Guy: Ryuko, Mako and Akio. Even though the three of them make for an odd trio, they're the closest of friends and constantly care for and support one another.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Taking Ryuko's character into account, it's pretty obvious she becomes this for Akio.
