Fanfic / The Outside

The Cover (uploaded by the author)

The Outside is an Alternate Universe fic of Kill la Kill.

Ever since she was little, Ryuuko has only known life with her older sister, Satsuki. However, she's only lived inside and wants to experience much more but, for some reason, one of sister's rules is that she isn't allowed outside. Ryuuko doesn't care about this and decides, whether her sister likes it or not, she's going to venture out.

---

Tropes for The Outside:

• Abusive Parents: Downplayed. As we learn in chapter 21, Satsuki could be pretty strict with her enforcement, as in parenthesis, Ryuuko implies that Satsuki's response to her not eating all of her food was to glue her to the chair (literally). From what we got in chapter 27, her response to Ryuuko wetting the bed was to make her take a cold bath and, in chapter 35, we find out that the worst she's done so far was pull a then 3-year old Ryuuko's hair and give her pinches, along with Chapter 40 mentioning her leaving a sewing needle in Ryuuko for five minutes on the bases that "she needed know what she did". Besides those instances, we can assume her punishments for Ryuuko were mainly benign.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Satsuki, in canon, is more sensible and pragmatic. Here, she's reclusive and mentally unwell. Likewise, in canon, Aikuro is flirty and weird but nevertheless means well, while, here, he more serious and his good intentions are more obvious, instead of being flirty and goofy.
• Adaptational Heroism: Nui isn't portrayed as villainous here, actually, she's quite nice. The same would apply to Ragyo
• Adaptational Dye-Job: Nui's hair in this story is brown and this is unclear in Ryuuko or Shiro's case, as the latter still has streaks but we don't know what color they are and Shiro's hair color wasn't mentioned (however, one chapter implies he's fair haired).
  • One chapter implies that Ragyo's hair is colored similarly to Ryuuko's.
• A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 42,we do finally start to see things from Satsuki's end, which doubles as a Perspective Flip.
• Adoptive Peer Parent: Besides Promotion to Parent, Satsuki, according to the storyline, is about ten years older than Ryuuko and is roughly on the same emotional level that Ryuuko is, if not only slightly older. Despite that,starting from when she's about 13, she tries to force herself into parental role but fails, as she hasn't too many skills to care for herself, let alone Ryuuko, properly.
• Affectionate Nickname: Ryuuko calls Aikuro "Sugi" and Satsuki "Sis", however, for the latter this is justified, as she doesn't know Satsuki's name.
• Afraid of Needles: True to canon, Ryuuko is, however, apparently, this extends to sewing needles
• all lowercase letters: Chapters 41, 45, 46 47, 48, and 51 has the titles in lowercase (the 3rd one also being in backwards text).
• Aloof Big Sister: Satsuki is something of a Played With version of this. She's loving and does care for Ryuuko but doesn't seem to pay her too much attention besides keeping her inside.
• Anxiety Dreams: Ryuuko has something like this in chapter 20, where, in her dream, Satsuki disappears as when her candles are blown out. This seems to be downplayed by chapter 33.
• Big Brother Instinct: This fic plays with this.
  • In Satsuki and Ryuuko's case, this is justified but deconstructed. For most of the story, they only had each other, especially in light of their parents' separation and Soichiro's passing away. While her being protective is fine, her being overprotective is source of the problem, as, because she's agoraphobic, she keeps Ryuuko indoors and isolated. Adding to this, because of the aforementioned, they're each other's crutch, as the former is alone otherwise and Satsuki was the only family Ryuuko had.
  • Later, we get a straighter example in Shiro in a promoted to parent way.
• Bittersweet Ending: In Chapter 58, Ryuuko learns that she can come to terms with Satsuki's failing health and dying, after the latter suffers an asthma attack and nearly dies, learning to let go. Though, Satsuki survives tuberculosis and the aforementioned, we find out that her life expectancy is shorter than Ryuuko's.
• Bookworm: According to chapter 2, Satsuki apparently spends most of her time reading.
• Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: Implied in Chapter 47, where Ryuuko has a dream that Satsuki (who's critically ill) turned into a butterfly.
• The Chain of Harm: A subtle one. When she was young, Ragyo's mollycoddled a chronically ill Satsuki and Soichiro encouraged her to go outside, leading to the asthma attack, then their parents' fight, before the two split, Soichiro dying after that, which in turn led to Satsuki being agoraphobic, overprotective, somewhat neglectful, and borderline psychologically abusive to her little sister Ryuuko,keeping her confined indoors, which in turn made Ryuuko dependent on her, more naive (than a preteen would be), and more vulnerable to dangers, along with more prone to sneak around her rules, which got her hurt and later on removed from Satsuki's care.
• Character Name Alias: Chapter 14 implies that "Rae Lynne" isn't her real name and, in the next chapter, she gives Ryuuko the alias of "Rylie Seraphine", Nui the alias "Nancie", and Shiro the alias "Shiloh"
  • As we find out in four chapters later, Rae Lynne is actually "Rei Hou'oumaru-Hubbard"
• Children Are Innocent: While we don't know how old Ryuuko is, she is very naive and doesn't quite understand how the world works. Likewise, she doesn't know what some things are, i.e, she refers to an RV as a "house car" and doesn't know what snow is, along with that she can't make sense of how Rei could be a wanted fugitive (her reasoning is that Rei is "nice" and that "nice people don't go to jail").
  • As Amoridere put it in an author's note in chapter 23, Ryuuko's innocence is meant to be "endearing and grating".
• Christmas Episode: Downplayed, in chapter 39, as it's not quite Christmas just leading up to it.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Deconstructed. Ryuuko views anything that isn't her house to be its own separated world and figured her sister has always existed and that "everything materialized around her" but she does know that her view on the on the world makes little sense (she calls her ideas "absurd as hell"). Though, she has a clue that she might not think like this if she wasn't sheltered and isolated by her older sister, implying she's this as a coping mechanism.
• Corporal Punishment: Earlier, Ryuuko believed she would get this if she broke any of Satsuki's rules. Aikuro tells that, if Satsuki didn't say she will get a spanking, then she most likely won't, along with telling her that not everyone gives their kids this sort of punishment.
• The Confidant: Aikuro plays this to Ryuuko. Later on, Mako, Iori, and Nui start to play this role when Aikuro becomes absent.
• Curiosity Killed the Cast: In chapter 23, while afraid of the "nasty dude", Ryuuko is curious enough to ask him as to what that would mean to come with him.
• Daddy's Girl: From what's implied, Satsuki was closer to Soichiro than Ragyo.
• Department of Child Disservices: For the most part this is averted but Ryuuko is immediately taken away the same day, when usually this would happen if the situation was dire or if they had a warrant. However, because she had an untreated injury and her situation was already questionable, it could be said that removing her was necessary.
• Don't Split Us Up: Earlier, in chapter 7, we have a variation of this where Satsuki clings to Ryuuko to keep social services form taking her and, twenty-two chapters later, we have this occur when Ryuuko refuses to leave the foster home without Shiro and Nui, leaving Ragyo to sign paperwork to take custody of them.
• Drunk Driver: Part of how Souichiro died, as he got into a car accident where his car was also T-boned by one driving an SUV
• Dying Candle: In Chapter 10, an ill Satsuki is found with candles lit and, when Ryuuko, Mako, Nui, and Shiro revisit the house, those candles are long extinguished. This trope also makes an appearance in Ryuuko's dream from chapter 20.
  • Subverted by chapter 33, where Ryuuko's dream has Satsuki with lit candles.
• Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Some of Nui's speech, though it's a slight AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle (i.e, every other or two words she says with "L" or "R" syllable would be be converted to "Ws").
• Family of Choice: How Ryuuko comes to view Shiro (called "Iori") and Nui, as her mother is absent, her dad's passed on, and she's in foster care. They love her in kind.
• First Snow: Downplayed. Ryuuko has spent much of her life inside, so, except for in a book, she hasn't seen snow and asks what it is.
• Foster Kid: Ryuuko eventually ends up as a foster kid when she's subsequently removed from her sister's care and placed in a group home while social services look for her mother. The place isn't really bad and the kids there are taken care of but Ryuuko obviously doesn't like it there and would much prefer to be with her sister.
• Freudian Excuse: Shiro theorizes the reason Satsuki is agoraphobic and was so overprotective of Ryuuko was because she's been sick a lot her whole life and knew nothing else. This would seem to be confirmed in chapter 30, where Ragyo laments that she may have "coddled Satsuki a bit too much" and, to add to this, the one time Satsuki did go outside, she suffered a near fatal asthma attack.
• Gone Horribly Right: Ryuuko plays sick to use as an excuse to go outside and see Mako and Satsuki believes her. When she gets home, Satsuki immediately puts her in bed and keeps her bedridden for about a few days.
• The Ghost: The "Butler Dude" who comes once a month that Ryuuko mentions.
• Go Mad from the Isolation: The story downplays this with Ryuuko. She doesn't go mad, instead, she became a cloudcuckoolander, as a coping mechanism (from what's implied) to deal with Satsuki keeping her confined indoors (she gets left alone with her own thoughts), leaving her with limited contact besides her sister, "Butler Dude", and her tutor, Aikurou.
• Gray Rain of Depression: Happens when Ryuuko is taken away by social services, apparently, to highlight the severity of the situation.
• Half-Truth: Yes, Ryuuko got hurt from a fall but the fall was from Mako's bike, not while she was doing something inside the house.
• Home Sweet Home: When Ryuuko is put in a group foster home, she wants little more than to go home and be with her sister.
• Homeschooled Kids: Ryuuko is implied to be homeschooled, as she only learns from a tutor, Aikuro, and Satsuki doesn't allow her outside. Like, some portrayals of this trope, the former hasn't had too much socialization, however, that's because her sister doesn't allow her outside. As we find out in Chapter 42, Satsuki was this, however, her case is justified, as she was sick much of the time, thus she would have a tutor.
• Hikikomori: Satsuki and Ryuuko, however, the latter isn't this of her own choice (she doesn't care for the idea, making her more of The Shut-In). Satsuki, for reasons then yet to be said, and the only time she does leave her house is when she's taken out of it, when she's sick.
• Improperly Paranoid: Satsuki. While she the outside world could be dangerous, it's not as dangerous as she's perceived it to be. Her fear of the outside world goes into Safety Worst when she keeps Ryuuko confined indoors, as means of protection.
• Innocent Inaccurate: Ryuuko, justified and Played for Drama, as she really doesn't quite comprehend what's going on, especially with Satsuki's illness. However, it's hard to say if part of this is being done out of denial.
• It's All My Fault: When she gets wind of Satsuki being sick, Ryuuko blames herself in a sense (Satsuki's health takes a left turn, some time after Ryuuko was taken away). Later, she blames herself again, to which Shiro tells her that it isn't her fault and that what's happened probably would have happened anyway.
• Lady Swearsalot: Ryuuko, as she narrates and talks.
• Living Emotional Crutch: From what can be said, Ryuuko plays this role to Satsuki and, to some degree, the latter is this vice versa. However, this has a layer of tragedy, Satsuki is the only family Ryuuko's known, while Satsuki, in light of being sick for much of her life and being minus their parents, isn't too sure how to cope with her situation otherwise, thus robbing Ryuuko of a rather normal life.
• Logical Fallacies: Exist in three ways, in terms of why Ryuuko didn't bother to go outside.
  • She feared breaking Satsuki's rule on the subject, so much so that she talks about Satsuki almost as if she's some omnipotent being and dreaded whatever punishment she might get if she tried, even if it's unlikely that said punishment would be delivered. (Appeal to Fear) However, she wouldn't know otherwise, so she doesn't go outside, in case she runs the risk of bringing on said punishment. In a sense, Satsuki has a similar thought process, as to her, the outside world is dangerous, considering she avoids the outside world due to having a near fatal asthma attack and the fact that, if she does, she runs the risk of getting sick or having another one. (Appeal to Consequences).
  • Appeal to Force: Satsuki can be strict with how she enforces her rules, either by being intimidating enough or actually having doled out some punishments before.
• Loophole Abuse: In Chapter 2, Aikuro points out that Satsuki said Ryuuko isn't allowed to go outside but didn't say she couldn't look outside. This is actually how she meets Mako.
• Missing Mom: Trying to figure out who and where Ryuuko and Satsuki's mother is a plot point, as Satsuki is deemed an unfit guardian and their dad has died. We finally meet her in chapter 27.
• Morton's Fork: Satsuki, as she muses, in Chapter 46
  "The conclusion that can be easily reached is that, in life, my miserable existence will be filled with loss and, in death, I couldn’t amend what happened to Ryuuko."
• Motivated by Fear: Some of the reasons why Satsuki did what she did, even hiding a baby picture of Ryuuko with Soichiro, as Shiro put it best
  "Yes, but she did what she did and we can't go back and change it. I can't say for certain as to why she'd keep it to herself but I could say that she did it for what, to her, felt like protection. She wanted to protect you and, so, in her grief, she kept the picture from you, especially since she already had it ingrained that the outside world was dangerous."
• My Beloved Smother: While she isn't her mother, Satsuki plays this role with Ryuuko, with her subtle domineering presence and her rules, the one especially strict with Ryuuko going outdoors. However, this trope seems to be played with, as she might have somewhat of a reason to act the way she does, as with her questionable health, her parents splitting, and her father dying, along with being unequipped to deal with the world, she's alone otherwise, so she overprotects and coddles Ryuuko and tries to raise her in accordance to what she perceives to be best.
  • As we find out, Ragyo is implied to be a downplayed, and slightly more justified example, along with being something of a Doting Parent, as because, Satsuki often sick and because Satsuki was the first pregnancy she carried to term (according to an author's note), she would overprotect and didn't think to probably encourage her daughter out of her comfort zone. However, it's mentioned that she didn't mean to and she laments that she didn't teach her "what to do".
• My God, What Have I Done?: We have this occur twice:
  • Ragyo stating that she regretted leaving after her argument with Soichiro, finding out what happened to her girls in absence.
  "If I had known any of this were to happen, then I wouldn't have left."
  • The biggest example of this occurs with Satsuki in Chapter 48, when we see her POV
  "I thought about what got us here and it was then that I realized I had been quite selfish in all of these years.[...]I was sorry for many things but, more importantly, I was sorry for the harm caused by my selfishness."
• Mysterious Parent: For much of the story, Ragyo was this, as her absence conflicted the plot, with Soichiro being dead, Satsuki being deemed an unfit guardian, and no one really knowing what too much about or what happened to her, much less her reasons for leaving.
• Neat Freak: Chapter 12 implies Satsuki is this.
  Ryuuko: For a moment, I thought about tidying it up nice, just the way Sis would have liked it...
• The Nicknamer: Ryuuko is a downplayed but justified case, as she assigns nicknames if she doesn't know what their names are.
• No Infantile Amnesia: Played with in chapter 43, where Ryuuko has a dream that's implied to be a memory from before she was three years old (sometime when, if not before Soichiro died) of her and Soichiro playing in the snow. When she wakes up, she goes ballistic trying to find any clues as to whether or not the event was really a dream or if it really happened. She has similar memory flashes in a couple of chapters afterwards.
• Noodle Incident: As we find out in chapter 18, Rei is a wanted woman and that she skipped bail thirteen years prior to the story. Exactly as to what she did to lead to those circumstances isn't said. Likewise, we don't know how she met Shiro, either.
  • Initially, the fight Satsuki and Ryuuko's parents had. It was known, for the longest, that Soichiro and Ragyo had a fight and Ragyo left but it wasn't known why until chapter 30
  • From the a recent chapter, Ryuuko recalls getting her hair pulled and getting pinched for something she can't exactly remember why, besides that it made her never want to do it again. However, this seems to be played with, as, from what's implied, Satsuki gave her that response was because she went outside.
• Not Quite the Right Thing: Satsuki does care for Ryuuko and tries her best but it's clear she can't really take care of her sister properly.
• No Social Skills: Due to having been raised so sheltered, Ryuuko doesn't have any experience or knowledge of strangers, much less how to avoid dangerous ones. Likewise, in chapter 25, due to having been raised so sheltered (along with being slightly malnourished and having not have had vaccines), she's more prone to illness and becomes seriously ill.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: As Ryuuko notes, at least twice, Satsuki never leaves the doors to the house unlocked but she does a couple of times. The first time is when Ryuuko and Aikuro fakes the former being sick and the second time is when she's very sick and is taken from her house. Likewise, she's agoraphobic and would dislike doing anything that doesn't involve staying in her house but, when she's taken away from her house because she's sick, she doesn't fight it.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Satsuki is called "Sis" by Ryuuko and is only known as such, especially since the latter didn't know what Satsuki's name is.
• Orphanage of Love: Downplayed, as it's not exactly an orphanage but instead a group foster home, the place isn't all bad and does care for the kids.
• Outliving One's Offspring: The ending implies this, as Ragyo and Ryuuko find out that Satsuki's life expectancy isn't long.
• The Outside World: Part of what gives the fic its title, as Ryuuko, when she narrates and talks, refers to anything not related to her house or indoors as the Outside.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Chapter 14, from a narrative standpoint, as Shiro and Nui's disguises by "Rae" make more sense as their hair is dyed and Shiro is given fake freckles, while Ryuuko just gets a haircut and a barrette.
  • Subverted in chapter 18, where Tsumugu (who offers to give them a lift into town) notices something about Ryuuko and says, "You look too much like the girl that went missing." As we already know, at least, he didn't fall for Ryuuko's disguise. Disguising a child that's reported missing doesn't really work if someone is very observant and there's too much of a coincidence, in which case, Tsumugu doesn't fall for Ryuuko's disguise, as, clearly, the latter looks too much like the missing girl.
• Parental Abandonment: This is implied to be the reason as to why Satsuki is Ryuuko's guardian and it's made more clear later, as their father was implied to have passed away (Ryuuko mentions him to be "long gone")and their mother might be somewhere, as, apparently, their parents divorced (or, rather separated).
  • As we find out, Shiro lost both of his parents before he was eight and Nui's parents were gone from her life before she was four.
• Parental Neglect: While not a parent, Satsuki seems to be a little inattentive and gullible, along with being mostly wrapped up in what she might be doing. This trope is a reason as to why Ryuuko is taken away, as Satsuki didn't question as to how Ryuuko got injured from a simple household fall.
• Parents as People: Ragyo and, to a lesser extent, Satsuki (who's an older sister). Ragyo genuinely cares about her daughters but, due to Satsuki's poor health, she coddled her a bit too much to the point of being doting and overprotective, leaving after a fight with her husband, which, after her husband's death, left her daughters to fend for themselves while she was unaware (until much later), while Satsuki genuinely cares for Ryuuko, it's made clear that she has a slew of issues that hasn't left her able to care for herself properly.
• Parting-Words Regret: Ragyo expresses regret about the fight she and Soichiro had and even more that she blamed him for Satsuki's near fatal asthma attack.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Ryuuko says this to critically ill Satsuki in chapter 31
• Promotion to Parent: Satsuki is Ryuuko's guardian, however, she isn't really too capable of a guardian, though. While Ryuuko's care under the guardianship of her sister was already iffy and with that Satsuki is implied to be mentally unwell, her idea of taking care of her sister can't be called healthy but Ryuuko's well-being wasn't too out of order, regardless, it would have warranted some intervention if someone else besides Aikuro knew. However, when Aikuro notices Ryuuko's leg in a splint (she snuck outside to play with Mako and got hurt), social services are called and she's subsequently taken away, especially when it's made clear that she didn't get medical treatment.
  • Shiro starts playing this role later on in the story and really plays it to a hilt when he gives Ryuuko a lecture on what almost happened to her.
• The Quiet One: Satsuki isn't much of a talker and when she does talk, she's a Terse Talker (So far the only things we hear her say are "No" and Ryuuko's name).
  • She breaks this in chapter 31, when she says, "Oh, Ryuuko, I'm so sorry."
• Race Lift: Rei's hyphenated last name ("Hou'oumaru-Hubbard") implies this of a But Not Too Foreign variety
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Aikuro slides between this and the closest thing that Ryuuko has to a Parental Substitute. He cares for Ryuuko's well-being and is worried about how much of an effect Satsuki's care has on her but does put his foot down when he feels need be, however, he did let plenty slide before that (i.e not reporting Satsuki to social services sooner).
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Yes, the outside world can be dangerous, as Satsuki believes it to be, however, she perceives the outside world because of her own reasonings, as she almost died from an asthma attack and the fact that their father died, instead of realizing that those events happened because of other reasons and not just because of going outside.
  • Worrying for the Wrong Reason: As noted before, the outside world can be dangerous but Satsuki wasn't thinking about things that make the outside world dangerous (i.e car accidents, disease, or people to list a few).
• Rules of Orphan Economics: While not exactly orphans, the scenario is portrayed in something of a Type II, as Satsuki and Ryuuko do seem to be living off of resources their dad left for them, especially since the former is agoraphobic and isn't mentioned to be stepping out of the house willingly.
• The Runaway: In Chapter 13, Ryuuko, Nui, and Shiro becomes something of a Type III, as the latter two don't have families and Ryuuko resolves to run away to find her mother, thus the latter two tag along because Shiro knows someone who can help them and Nui because she wanted to.
• Safety Worst: Much of the driving conflict is caused by an agoraphobic Satsuki trying to keep Ryuuko safe from the perceived dangers of the outside world by keeping her confined to the indoors. As we can see, this didn't work out well, as Ryuuko sneaking out to play outside got her hurt and ended up with her being removed, on top of making her more vulnerable. Later on, Satsuki realizes that her attempts at protection did more harm than good.
• Shout-Out: In Ryuuko's part of chapter 36 with her vision of Satsuki berating her is reference to Of Mice and Men with Lennie's vision of his Aunt Clara.
• Shown Their Work: Ryuuko's stint in foster care is meant to be temporary, as would usually be the case, however, in some situations, foster care can be permanent.
  • Generally, to adopt a child, one would have to become their foster parent first, which is what Ragyo does, and it does require paperwork.
  • Tuberculosis can be dormant in the body for a long time before symptoms manifest. Likewise, TB tend to be more serious (if not deadly) in those with weak or compromised immune systems.
• Small, Secluded World: Ryuuko, due to her older sister, has lived in isolation in her house for much of her life and doesn't really know anything else outside of what she's experienced. Similarly, the same would probably occur for an agoraphobic Satsuki, who wouldn't know what to associate with the outside besides that, to her logic, it's dangerous.
• Snow Means Death: Implied, as, after Rae crashes her mobile home in a tree during a blizzard (which is why she crashed in the first place), she leaves to head to a town in the distance but she doesn't come back the next day or afterwards.
• Soap Opera Disease: Satsuki's illness isn't really said, however, it's serious, especially so that it leaves her more medically fragile that what she'd already be (hence why she no longer lives at home) and, with it her already weak immune system, could kill her. Subverted when she's mentioned to have become sick with tuberculosis, as her immune system was too weak to keep the disease within its incubation period.
• Stranger Danger: Played with, strangers aren't shown to be inherently bad but Ryuuko does come across a "nasty dude", who's implied to be child predator.
• Strong Family Resemblance: As noted in Ch. 27, besides the streaks in her hair, from Ryuuko's observation, Ragyou looks much like Satsuki (which would be true to canon, otherwise).
• Super Gullible: Downplayed Satsuki is agoraphobic and has no real world experience, so she wouldn't really believe otherwise, especially if she didn't see it (i.e, her being asleep when Ryuuko got hurt), however, she does have moments of skepticism (i.e, she had a back and forth with Aikuro in chapter 4).
• Switching P.O.V.: In chapter 36, which bounces between Ryuuko, Shiro, and Ragyo's point of views.
• The Talk: A variant of this is played for slight drama with Shiro trying to explain to Ryuuko that Ragyo had miscarriages, to which she gets some understanding of.
• Tragic Keepsake: The most telling example comes from Chapter 43, where they find a bloodstained photo of Ryuuko and Soichiro playing outside in the snow, tangible evidence that what she dreamed was real.
• Unperson: It's implied Satsuki seems to have made Ragyo this to a fair degree, as, she hid anything that to with the latter, like photos of her and the letters she sent, erasing whatever trace of Ragyo she could, out of upset for her leaving
• Unpleasant Parent Reveal: Rei explains to Ryuuko that Soichiro passed away in a car accident when his car was T-boned by a semi-truck and an SUV being driven by a drunk driver.
• Vague Age: We don't know exactly how old Ryuuko, Satsuki, and by that extension the other characters are but it can be said that Nui is most likely the youngest (Chapter 14 has Ryuuko describing as her as being "like six or something") of the cast and that Ryuuko is considered a minor and under CPS authority. Likewise, Satsuki must be old enough to have some recognized legal authority if she was Ryuuko's guardian or, at least, old enough to be allowed to live independently.
  • Chapters 28 and 30, implies that Ryuuko, at the least, is most likely 12 and Satsuki is 22, as, at the time, the former was about two and the latter was twelve at the time Ragyo left (which was mentioned to "about a decade ago").
• Virtual Soundtrack:
  • Chapter 10: Tsugumi
  • Chapter 12: AdラLib
  • Chapter 18: Akihito no Kyouchuu
  • Chapter 20: Kalyan
  • Chapter 24: Yume no Sukima
  • Chapter 27: Sister
  • Chapter 28: A Victim's Past Wish (from the Evolution soundtrack)
  • Chapter 30: Yuuka's Music Box
  • Chapter 31: Heartbreaking
  • Chapter 33: Utsukushii Omoide
  • Chapter 37 : Despair
  • Chapter 38: Snow
  • Chapter 43: I Forgive You
  • Chapter 44: Tsukimori Song (Piano)
  • Chapter 45: Kaen
  • Chapter 46: Memoria
  • Chapter 47: Snowfield
  • Chapter 48: Ocean On His Shoulders
  • Chapter 49: Honrou no Naka no Seimei
  • Chapter 50: Higanbana
  • Chapter 51: Yasashii Kimochi
  • Chapter 52: Wanderers
  • Chapter 53:At rest
  • Chapter 55: Promise
  • Chapter 57: Where Heaven Ends
  • Chapter 58: Akatsuki no Yona (Morning Dew version)
• Wham Line: From chapter 31, "Oh, Ryuuko, I'm so sorry."
• Wistful Amnesia: Ryuuko's memories seem to serve as this (and some form of Repressed Memories), as, while few, she does have memories of going outside, however, probably because she was so young then, she can't recall the events consciously, outside of dreams or when she sees something to spark the memory (i.e, in chapter 52).

---