Silver Fibers (OC Stand User x Kill la Kill)

Turn to Stone (Chapter 28)

Be Informed - This chapter contains blood...

...shed.

It's also quite large.

(I have proofread this chapter to hell and back and after changing plot points so many times I lack the energy to completely weed out any remaining legacy parts - if you see anything of dubious quality, do let me know)

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It was a bright and early Honnouji morning. Classes were just beginning, and various clubs across the main campus were in the middle of their morning routines.

One such club was the Tennis club - and it was to this club that Toshiro was headed to.

In a routine which was fast becoming normal among their trio, their weeks would be split into days where Toshiro would come along for classes with Ryuko and Mako, and days in which he would attend to his Committee's... *ahem*... "Business".

As for what his true intentions were with the tennis club...

'This report better be right..' Toshiro entered into a large side building, made to overlook the various sports courts in this part of the academy so that higher-ups, analysts and more important audience members could get better top-down views of matches. He had just gotten a report from Inumuta himself stating that two students not associated with any of the clubs playing here were recently found to be loitering in the area, and that they drew great suspicion with way they acted - not least because there was no reason for them to be there. And so he found himself wandering the halls, in search of this couple of vagrants and their meeting spot.

It was while doing this that he bumped into a strangely-dressed boy who seemed his own age. Now, he hadn't been focusing much on him, since A) he was but one student, not two, and B) he wasn't like Gamagori, choking out any old student caught outside of class. He did, however, pick up a few glaring details - His uniform was a deeper green in lieu of Honnouji's standard pale blue, and was heavily modified with deep blue spiky protrusions on the forearms and shins, which poked through holes in the respective parts of his upper attire. He wore a large sash patterned with pink-red and sunglow, tied around a black waistband and forming two tails at the rear. Over his shoulders he wore a small capelet with a sawtooth edge and similar colours to the sash, upon which there was a detailed floral pattern - one which, unfortunately, Toshiro could not fully appreciate due to his lack of interest in anthology. Lastly, his accessories included a simple wreath and a gorget-like necklace chain, upon which there was a badge displaying a single letter - H - laid over a Honnouji logo. This chain wrapped around his neck, over his uniform but under the capelet.

Their interaction was very brief. After bumping into Toshiro, the strangely dressed stranger simply continued on his way, not even acknowledging the other's presence. A normal reaction in a crowded space, for sure, but in an empty hallway such as this?

Toshiro was perplexed, and then somewhat annoyed. He almost considered scolding the man for his rude behaviour, determining that the collision must have been deliberate, given the strange man had the entire hallway to manoeuvre around Toshiro. However, as he turned around to make his feelings known, he found that the mysterious stranger was already gone - As if he had vanished into thin air.

'Clink'.

"Hmm?" Looking to the source of the sound, Toshiro saw a singular metallic sphere on the ground, rolling in his general direction. He crouched down to inspect the ball. It was about 25mm in diameter, with a smooth silvery shine.