A night, not like others rocked the Oothori Academy's rusty gates. Winds whipped with energetic vigor, producing moans loud enough to wake the dead. The rain fell harder than it had ever. Mother nature had truly unleashed her wrath upon the school's academic foundation. Trees bent lower than peasants to kings. Twigs snapped as if they were given no strength. It was a hurricane that shook Oothori's strong and sturdy demeanor. The school grounds, which lay empty, met a blanket of wet and matted leaves. Inside, students cowered under their bed sheets, hoping for the horrible weather to go away.
In a particularly empty dorm which seemed particularly peaceful for the activities outside, two girls prepared themselves for the worse. Of the two, a darker hued young lady struggled to keep her glasses up on the bridge of her nose as she held a thick plank of wood up against the window. To her left, delicate fingers, lighter than hers, nailed the board into place. The fingers slid down the board, setting another nail into place. There was a slight glimmer of light against silver as she pulled her hand away from the board and wiped her brow. The girl's darker hands fell to their sides as she gazed back at her betrothed. Utena and Anthy both stood back to inspect their hard work.
"It's a bit crooked, ne Himemiya?" Utena tilted her head.
"I'm sure it will serve it's purpose just fine, Utena-sama" Himemiya smiled softly and smoothed the folds and creases of her nightdress.
"With all this noise outside, how are we going to get to bed?" The tired duelist stretched her arms.
"Well" Anthy began "I'll fix us some tea and perhaps that will ease our minds enough to put us to sleep." Himemiya pushed her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose and excused herself to the kitchen.
Utena paced in circles a bit. She'd never seen anything like this. It wasn't hurricane season at all. With the bizarre weather patterns from the west, the East was bound to have a little trouble of it's own. The days had become progressively windier and windier until classes were canceled due to repairs from fallen branches. Utena and the other duelists refrained from their common activities to stay sheltered in their dorms. Sleeping became rare and valuable to the students of Oothori Academy. It was hard to sleep with all the noise outside. Utena spent most her time reading old manga by candlelight, hoping for an hour of peace where she could rest her head and take a nap before the next booming set of thunder came passing through.
It wasn't until a loud thud nearly threw the door off it's hinges that Utena broke her thoughts to rush to the front door. False alarms like that had happened many times when random benches or trees would hit a door simulating a perfect knock. The young duelist cracked the door just a bit to peek out. She caught the outline of a trembling body. With haste, Utena threw the door open to greet Nanami's icy stare.
"FIVE MINUTES!" Nanami shrieked.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize that someone was at the door." Utena rested her hand behind her head and gave Nanami a sympathetic smile.
It would be in Nanami's nature to come back with a witty remark about Utena's lack of hearing or her inability to determine a knock from a tree, but Nanami slipped totally out of character for her next action, for she fell into Utena's arms, sobbing.
Nanami didn't have time to compose herself before she ran back out into the rain. Utena was about to question her sanity when Nanami pointed behind her and stared into Utena's eyes.
"Touga!"
"Nanami, calm down! What about him?" Utena tried, once more, to pull the girl back into the dorm.
"Touga saw a girl running across the school yard. He ran out to help her but it was only a mess of papers and leaves blowing in the wind that looked like a figure in this darkness! I think he was struck by something! I came out to find him and he was laying on the ground with a large wound in his side! Utena! Help me bring him here!" Nanami managed to shout out before the rest of her words became a jumble of panicked sounds.
Utena gazed behind her shoulder at Himemiya who set the teacups down. Without any protection, she ran off into the darkness with Nanami to bring Touga back. It became harder to navigate the school yards while leaves were whipping back and forth in front of the girls' faces. Nanami was finally able to remember where she found Touga. Utena turned to the troubled sky as lightning forked and sparked as it hit a most unfortunate target. Unable to care at the moment, Utena hoisted Touga up onto one shoulder while Nanami maintained the other half of his weight. He had been bleeding badly. Utena was almost sure he lost more blood than was safe. In order to keep Nanami calm, she said nothing but struggled to get Touga back to the dorm - or what was left of it.
Blue eyes became engulfed by reflections of darting, orange flames as she watched her dorm go up in flames. A memory. A recollection of the lightning. She barely remembered seeing just a small spark off in the distance. Utena lost feeling in her arms as Nanami stumbled forward from Touga's weight, but never taking her eyes off the burning building.
"Hime... HIMEMIYAAAAA!!!" Utena took off in a mad dash towards the dormitory.
The flames rose to the heavens as Nanami struggled to hold Utena's hysterical form back. She fell to her knees, her eyes filled with fear as she clutched Nanami's arm. She couldn't cry, as she couldn't register the pain. There was a tingling sensation in her body she couldn't overcome.
"No... no no no no no! NO NO NO NO NO!!!!" Utena punched the ground and held her head with her free hand. "NO!!!!" She pounded the ground until her fists bled.
Behind her, Nanami wept silently as she frantically searched for Touga's pulse. It was faint before, but it was gone now. Why ? Why was this happening?!
End of Chapter 1
~~~~~
Author's Notes: Who am I to shy away from my angst? I love it so! I'm trying something new here. I'm not much of a multi-chapter person, but I decided to give it a try. A few things I wanted to note.
Expect a bit of loss in character, as our characters develop in this fic.
I used the title "The Devil's Premonition" because of the irony of the situations that will/have occurred. As time progresses what was once said to be divine will only become devastation. Perhaps this world is all they'll ever need. As predicted by the Devil, himself.
Himemiya and Touga are dead. But don't fear! That is all. o.o mwah! Until Chapter 2!
In a particularly empty dorm which seemed particularly peaceful for the activities outside, two girls prepared themselves for the worse. Of the two, a darker hued young lady struggled to keep her glasses up on the bridge of her nose as she held a thick plank of wood up against the window. To her left, delicate fingers, lighter than hers, nailed the board into place. The fingers slid down the board, setting another nail into place. There was a slight glimmer of light against silver as she pulled her hand away from the board and wiped her brow. The girl's darker hands fell to their sides as she gazed back at her betrothed. Utena and Anthy both stood back to inspect their hard work.
"It's a bit crooked, ne Himemiya?" Utena tilted her head.
"I'm sure it will serve it's purpose just fine, Utena-sama" Himemiya smiled softly and smoothed the folds and creases of her nightdress.
"With all this noise outside, how are we going to get to bed?" The tired duelist stretched her arms.
"Well" Anthy began "I'll fix us some tea and perhaps that will ease our minds enough to put us to sleep." Himemiya pushed her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose and excused herself to the kitchen.
Utena paced in circles a bit. She'd never seen anything like this. It wasn't hurricane season at all. With the bizarre weather patterns from the west, the East was bound to have a little trouble of it's own. The days had become progressively windier and windier until classes were canceled due to repairs from fallen branches. Utena and the other duelists refrained from their common activities to stay sheltered in their dorms. Sleeping became rare and valuable to the students of Oothori Academy. It was hard to sleep with all the noise outside. Utena spent most her time reading old manga by candlelight, hoping for an hour of peace where she could rest her head and take a nap before the next booming set of thunder came passing through.
It wasn't until a loud thud nearly threw the door off it's hinges that Utena broke her thoughts to rush to the front door. False alarms like that had happened many times when random benches or trees would hit a door simulating a perfect knock. The young duelist cracked the door just a bit to peek out. She caught the outline of a trembling body. With haste, Utena threw the door open to greet Nanami's icy stare.
"FIVE MINUTES!" Nanami shrieked.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize that someone was at the door." Utena rested her hand behind her head and gave Nanami a sympathetic smile.
It would be in Nanami's nature to come back with a witty remark about Utena's lack of hearing or her inability to determine a knock from a tree, but Nanami slipped totally out of character for her next action, for she fell into Utena's arms, sobbing.
Nanami didn't have time to compose herself before she ran back out into the rain. Utena was about to question her sanity when Nanami pointed behind her and stared into Utena's eyes.
"Touga!"
"Nanami, calm down! What about him?" Utena tried, once more, to pull the girl back into the dorm.
"Touga saw a girl running across the school yard. He ran out to help her but it was only a mess of papers and leaves blowing in the wind that looked like a figure in this darkness! I think he was struck by something! I came out to find him and he was laying on the ground with a large wound in his side! Utena! Help me bring him here!" Nanami managed to shout out before the rest of her words became a jumble of panicked sounds.
Utena gazed behind her shoulder at Himemiya who set the teacups down. Without any protection, she ran off into the darkness with Nanami to bring Touga back. It became harder to navigate the school yards while leaves were whipping back and forth in front of the girls' faces. Nanami was finally able to remember where she found Touga. Utena turned to the troubled sky as lightning forked and sparked as it hit a most unfortunate target. Unable to care at the moment, Utena hoisted Touga up onto one shoulder while Nanami maintained the other half of his weight. He had been bleeding badly. Utena was almost sure he lost more blood than was safe. In order to keep Nanami calm, she said nothing but struggled to get Touga back to the dorm - or what was left of it.
Blue eyes became engulfed by reflections of darting, orange flames as she watched her dorm go up in flames. A memory. A recollection of the lightning. She barely remembered seeing just a small spark off in the distance. Utena lost feeling in her arms as Nanami stumbled forward from Touga's weight, but never taking her eyes off the burning building.
"Hime... HIMEMIYAAAAA!!!" Utena took off in a mad dash towards the dormitory.
The flames rose to the heavens as Nanami struggled to hold Utena's hysterical form back. She fell to her knees, her eyes filled with fear as she clutched Nanami's arm. She couldn't cry, as she couldn't register the pain. There was a tingling sensation in her body she couldn't overcome.
"No... no no no no no! NO NO NO NO NO!!!!" Utena punched the ground and held her head with her free hand. "NO!!!!" She pounded the ground until her fists bled.
Behind her, Nanami wept silently as she frantically searched for Touga's pulse. It was faint before, but it was gone now. Why ? Why was this happening?!
End of Chapter 1
~~~~~
Author's Notes: Who am I to shy away from my angst? I love it so! I'm trying something new here. I'm not much of a multi-chapter person, but I decided to give it a try. A few things I wanted to note.
Expect a bit of loss in character, as our characters develop in this fic.
I used the title "The Devil's Premonition" because of the irony of the situations that will/have occurred. As time progresses what was once said to be divine will only become devastation. Perhaps this world is all they'll ever need. As predicted by the Devil, himself.
Himemiya and Touga are dead. But don't fear! That is all. o.o mwah! Until Chapter 2!