My favorite character in Utena is Shiori and I was kinda sad to see her portrayal in the movie. I didn't really like how she didn't get some redemption in the movie. I thought about making a sequel involving her and other characters (mostly the ones who weren't used in the movie). Even if I do have sympathy for Movie!Shiori even if she did nasty stuff (after all that sadness when the boy you love died), I hope I wouldn't look like that kind of fan who excuses his favorite character's actions. Even if I do have sympathy for Movie!Shiori, that's no excuse for her terrible actions. I hope I wrote her a bit sympthetic without that she look like an angel who did nothing wrong.

Special thanks to MikoGalatea, the beta reader of my story and who really help me and my basics English.

Chapter 1

Life seemed so unfair for Shiori. First of all, her prince had died. Then he'd returned, but he disappeared again because of Utena, the girl he truly loved. And now Utena was running with her new love to go to the real world. That was all unfair; Shiori thought she was the one who deserved to be happy. Only she should be happy with her prince!

But she had failed. She crashed and her car blew up. Anthy and Utena were going to be happy in the real world while Shiori was alone with nothing. She was now crying in her car. She started to feel the heat of the fire. She could have tried to get away from the car, but she prefered doing nothing. Maybe she would be better off dead? Perhaps she could be with Touga forever that way.

But then she heard some noise. Someone was removing part of the car, but Shiori fell unconscious before she could see who was doing it.

xx

When she opened her eyes, Shiori noticed she was in a bedroom she'd never seen before, and that she had somehow reverted to human form again. She turned her head and noticed something about the suite: everything seemed like it had been burnt.

''Where am I?'' the girl asked herself.

Shiori noticed she had a jacket on her. Curiously wanting to know how she managed to be here, she rose up in the bed she was in, but she immediately felt pain. She yelled out, and then soon afterwards, a woman came in the room.

''Are you alright?'' asked the woman. ''Don't move too quickly, you are injured. Nothing seriously but I have seen deep second-degree burns aroudn your body.''

Shiori looked at the unknown woman and for some reason, even if she was still in pain, the presence of this woman made Shiori feel more relaxed. The woman helped Shiori to lie down in the bed again. When she felt a little better, Shiori decided to talk to the woman.

''Did... Did you save me?''

''Yes. I could hear your suffering and I thought saving you was the best thing to do. My name is Chida Tokiko, by the way.''

''Nice to meet you... I am Takatsuki Shiori...''

''Well, Shiori, if you want to heal, you need to stay in bed.''

Tokiko then took a bell out of her pocket and gave it to the teenage girl.

''If you need something, don't be afraid to use it. I have experience with my brother. He is ill... but that's not important...'' Tokiko's expression seemed to sadden with those last words.

After that, she left Shiori alone.

Shiori didn't know what to think. She thought about Touga and Utena, but all that did was cause her more pain. But then she remembered something.

''Juri is probably wondering where am I right now...'' Shiori smiled to herself. ''She must think I'm dead... that she'll never see the girl she loves again... She's probably crying all alone, looking at her locket.''

With that, she felt a little better, and she soon settled to sleep.

xx

When Shiori woke up again, she saw someone with pink hair. For a second, she thought it was Utena, but then she noticed this person was more masculine in build than her rival.

''Hi,'' said the man, his tone emotioneless. ''I am Professor Nemuro... Tokiko is busy giving an injection to her brother, so she told me to check up on you... what a waste of time...''

''I'm not a waste of time,'' Shiori frowned.

''I meant Tokiko giving her brother those injections... sorry if I offended you,'' said Nemuro, who didn't seem very sorry at all.

''Why? I thought he was ill...''

''I see... you don't know. He is dead. She is dead. I am dead. Since twenty years ago.''

''Oh, so you're ghosts!'' exclaimed Shiori.

Nemuro wondered why the girl wasn't afraid and even seemed to find it normal.

''Tell me about your story,'' Shiori said.

''I don't have much to say. I was a professor here, and... Tokiko was also a teacher and she was doing research to cure her ill brother. One day, the building burned down and the three of us died.''

Shiori found the behavior of the man unfriendly, but being with him was exactly as being with Tokiko; she was happy, even if she didn't have reason to be.

''Interesting story,'' she said with a smile.

Nemuro wanted to made a comment, but he decided not to say anything. He found Shiori decidedly strange.

xx

Three months passed. Shiori was getting better, but she was still mainly staying in her bed. Each day, she saw Tokiko and Nemuro, who took care of her. She occasionally saw Tokiko's ill younger brother as well, but she barely knew him aside from his name, Mamiya. Over the weeks, she had talked about her past with Tokiko. She told when horrible Juri and Utena were and others liar. But that not liar when you really believe this is the true, isn't it?

''I think you can walk now without getting any pain,'' Tokiko said while petting Shiori's head.

''Good,'' smiled the girl.

Unbeknownst to Shiori, at the same time, Juri walked in the garage. She'd taken her locket in hand, and she threw it away. She then rejoined Miki and Saionji, who were already on the same jeep that Wakaba had transformed into for them previously. Today was the day they would try to definitively move on from Ohtori; to that end, Wakaba drove as fast as she could.

In her bed, Shiori got a strange feeling.

''Ah!'' She suddenly shouted out.

''What's wrong?'' asked Tokiko, concerned. ''Are you hurt?''

Shiori didn't answer; she simply rose from the bed and ran. She didn't even know where the building she'd been in the past three months was located in the academy, so naturally Shiori would have been a bit lost once outside, but she knew exactly where to go. She was drawn to the garage, and she didn't stop running until she got there. She then lowered her head and saw the discarded locket. She picked it up. She said nothing and went to the start of the road, where she had crashed. She started to cry.

''You were able to run away, too, isn't that right?! That's not fair! If someone should be able to do it, it's me! She doesn't deserve happiness at all!''

Shiori spent the next moment or so in tears. She didn't notice a car watching her.

She then decided to return to the building she'd come from. While she walked, she didn't notice a teenage boy with glasses who was trying to ask her something.

''Excuse me... I just arrived here and I wanted to know if you can told... Huh...Hi... Did you hear me?''

Since Shiori continued to walk away, the boy walked in the opposite direction.

''I hope the entrance isn't far away.''

He then noticed the car - which, strangely, rolled even though nobody seemed to be driving it! The car moved slowly at first, but suddenly started to speed up. The teenage boy just had enough time to realize the car was going to hit him and to move enough to avoid the collusion. Sadly, he hit a rock and fell to the ground, injuring one of his legs. The car turned, and this time, he couldn't move to save his life. The boy panicked and screamed. But when the car was about to hit him, it stopped just a few millimeters short. The car suddenly laughed and drove away, leaving the boy alone.

''W... What was that?!''

xx

Shiori had arrived back at the building, feeling even more lonely than she ever had before. During her walkingin the burn building, she'd passed in front of many closed doors that led to apartments.

In one of those apartments, a teenage girl rose from a bed and yawned.

''I feel like I slept for years...'' Nanami commented.

''It's the same for me,'' said another voice.

Nanami looked in front of her to see a blond haired teenage boy.

''Tsuwabuki... You...''

''I'm an adult like you now.''

Nanami was confused. The last time she saw Tsuwabuki, twenty years ago, he was a ten year old child, but now he appeared as old as her. What was more, Nanami found him kind of attractive.

''Nanami, you're blushing!''

''That's nothing! Huh... Tsuwabuki, I need water...could you go get some for me?''

Tsuwabuki left the room. When he closed the door behind him, he saw his childhood friend Mari. He now looked like a child.

''Mari!'' exclaimed Tsuwabuki. ''I didn't know you died in that fire too!''

''Thanks for only noticing now!''

''Hey, that's not my fault! I was like... sleeping during all those years... I don't know! I was like, here but unconscious... I think...''

''I know... I feel the same way. But now we're ghosts... somehow... We can move away! Away from this academy! Away from that bitch!''

''Nanami isn't a bitch!''

''If she didn't take you to this place, you wouldn't be dead! And neither would I!''

''That's not her fault! She didn't know that place was going to burn down! And why were you here, anyway? Were you spying on me and Nanami?!''

Mari was furious at how Tsuwabuki didn't seem that sad about her dying, and she slapped him before running away.

''You are an idiot!'' Mari yelled at the boy.

xx

Shiori had returned to her bedroom. Tokiko was still there when she arrived; the woman was happy to see Shiori again, but the younger girl told her she wanted to be alone for a moment.

She sat on her bed and thought.

''If I cannot leave Ohtori, what can I do here? What purpose does my life have?''

Shiori pondered her ideas, but so far, she didn't have any answers.