Sera clutched Anthy's hand tight as she took the elevator straight up to the center of the duelist arena. There, the girl who had disappeared half-way there, stood naked before her. With a soft expression, Sera crossed her hands in front of Himemiya and dressed the girl in a most distinctive ensemble. The cyan-haired girl, herself, wore an outfit that would baffle the minds of others, but Himemiya stared at her with a nostalgic gleam in her eyes.
"I hate this place..." Sera wrapped her arms around her slim figure and gazed back at Anthy who had been busy pulling her hair out of her uniform.
"Tomorrow will be quite a busy day..." was all Himemiya said.
"Indeed it will be." Sera sighed slowly. "Let's go to bed. Goodnight, Himemiya..."
Himemiya followed behind Sera. "Sleep well, Seraphim."
In the morning, Nanami gazed around her bedroom, but what she seemed to be looking for wasn't there. A crumpled uniform was thrown over a chair. Nanami pushed her blankets off her legs and dashed through the halls of her dormitory. She reached the kitchen, a breathless mess and gazed maniacally at Sera who had just slid her chopsticks out of her mouth and set them down. She was engaged in a deep conversation with Touga, who laughed softly at something the girl said.
"Sera..." Nanami stepped into the kitchen and stood by her dearest friend.
"Nana-chan. Get dressed! You'll be late for school!" Sera seemed to ignore the girl's frustration.
"Sera, what are you wearing?" The blonde girl's face flushed.
Sera gazed down at her simple suit. A black blazer and a pair of black slacks. The gold buttons reflected the sunlight pouring in from a window. The rose clipped to her chest bore the color of her cyan hair. The golden chain draped from her neck to her shoulder and was secured to a hook underneath a metal rod on her shoulder. Affixed to her waist, the most elegant sword with a dragon as the hilt dangled. "I wanted to tell you something, Nana-chan. There will be a meeting afterschool. You must be there along with all of the other duelists." Sera said nothing more, but drew the rose from it's clip and walked out of the dormitory.
"Onee-sama?" Nanami's eyes watered a bit.
Touga's expression went from stoic to miserable as he watched Nanami squirm in discomfort, thinking of what Sera could have to say. Without really thinking about it, he rested his hands on her shoulders and drew her closer. "I'll always be here for you, Nanami."
"Onee-sama?" the girl gazed up at him in confusion. They met eyes and she turned away to blush slightly.
Touga sighed slowly. "Do you... remember that night when I was practicing my sword fighting and you stopped me. That night you asked me to kiss you and I wouldn't. Do you remember?"
Nanami blushed. "I do."
"If I would've kissed you that night, Nanami, I would've been more than just your brother. I would've been your sinful desire." the boy locked eyes with her.
"What are you talking about?" Nanami felt her face turning red.
"I'm saying I want to kiss you - but not like a brother should..." Touga moved in closer.
"Then kiss me like you love me, Touga..." the girl wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him closer. So close that they could feel each other's breaths on their lips.
Wrapping his arms around her waist, Touga drew Nanami into a passionate kiss. His lips parted, inviting himself into Nanami's waiting mouth. Their tongues entwined as their souls seemed to bond and become one. A kiss they both wished would last forever came to it's regretted end. Nanami slowly opened her eyes and pressed her fingers to her lips. Touga's face showed of his emotions as he blushed furiously. Without making the situation more intense for either of them, he stepped back. "You should get ready for the meeting..."
Utena had stood frozen in one position for almost ten minutes just staring. Staring in horror, staring in shock, staring in fear of Himemiya. The girl had sat, cross-legged, on a chair with a tea cup between two fingers. Her royal purple rose seemed to blend in perfectly with the hair cascading down her back and shoulders. She never paid attention to Utena's reaction, but closed the last two buttons of her duelist's blazer and stood up to leave for her own meeting. She clutched the sword of Dios in her hands before it vanished. She finally acknowledged Utena, and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder to show that she was really real. She then bent over to pick up the cyan rose and inspect it. "It blooms only once every fifteen years. It blooms to deliver another part of the prophecy - as well as reveal all truths." Anthy rested the rose on the table and gently shook Utena. "Come, you've been challenged."
In the elevator to the duelist arena, Himemiya leaned against the wall and glanced at Utena who had remained dumbfoundedly silent this whole time. She smiled softly.
"wh... who... whe... why... WHAT?! What is going on?!" She finally managed to get a word out of her throat.
"You'll learn something, today. Something about the original bride of the games. The true prize. The only one that can open the door to the illusion. You'll learn it all today." Anthy rested her hands at her sides as the door to the arena opened.
The arena looked like the arena, except for the fact that it was completely covered by cyan roses. It looked more like an endless field of roses instead of an arena. At one end, Nanami stood more in shock than Utena, who stood on the other side of the arena. The members of the game all stood back on the platform, overlooking Himemiya, Nanami, Utena and Sera.
"My duel... my final duel..." Sera stepped towards Utena.
Utena stepped backwards. "Draw your sword..."
"Oh this thing?" Sera drew the sword that rested on her side from it's holder. She tossed the sword off the platform and never looked back. "That's not my sword..." she kept walking towards Utena.
The pink haired duelist turned to Anthy. "You do have the sword, don't you?"
Himemiya held out the sword of Dios with her own hand and thrust it into the ground. She nodded at Utena and stepped back.
"I don't understand any of this, but if you forfeit by not having a sword, I'll remove your rose so maybe all of this insanity can stop." Utena pulled the sword from the ground and walked to meet up with Sera.
"And what if that's what I want you to do?" Sera smiled softly and stopped walking.
Utena positioned the sword to cut the other girl's rose off. "Then you challenged me for no reason."
"Oh, I have my reasons..." Sera raised her right hand high into the air. The sword of Dios vanished from Utena's hand.
Utena looked around perplexed. "Where did it go?! Himemiya!"
Anthy pointed at Sera who stood in the dress of the rose bride. "It belongs with the bride of the duels..."
Tenjou turned around and stared in shock as Sera brought her hands together. Slowly pulling apart, the sword rose from her chest. The girl removed it herself and positioned herself into a dueling stance. Behind Utena, the dragon sword landed where the Sword of Dios was once planted. The girl drew the sword from the ground, but had to dodge quickly as Sera's blade sliced straight down her front. The two girls began the duel, but Utena was no match for Sera's stealth and strategy. After much time ducking and dodging, Utena's back slammed into a wall, and she fell to her knees. Sera didn't charge to attack, but stood and took in the scent of a pink rose she held in her hand. Utena patted her chest quickly, but didn't find her rose on her chest.
"How did you...?" The blue eyed girl continued to be shocked more and more as time progressed.
Sera threw the rose at Utena's feet. "I cut it from you when I drew the Sword of Dios from myself. It's the magic of the first bride..."
"The first Rose Bride..." Himemiya followed up.
Sera's eyes closed as the arena turned pitch black. The sky was replaced with the static of that of a television screen. A picture faded in.
"Witch! Witch!!!"
Little Himemiya Anthy pressed herself against a door as her prince lay dying before her eyes. Losing all hope, she jumped from a window in the back of the barn and ran as fast as her feet could take her. Behind her, people chased her with torches and swords, determined to kill her. Blinded by tears, Himemiya didn't see the young girl she crashed into. The girl gazed down at Himemiya's pathetic form with cold, unfeeling silver eyes.
"Help me!" Himemiya clung to the girl's bridal gown and wept into the full skirt.
The girl rested the rose that she was tending to into a vase and crouched down. "What is the matter?"
"People call me witch and chase me! They're trying to kill me!" Anthy clung to the girl with fear.
Without caring much, Sera stood up again. "And you don't want to die?"
"NO!"
"Do you want to be free from these people and their emotions?"
"YES!"
"Do you want to be free of your own emotions?" Sera's eyes seemed to be lost in their own world.
Himemiya's eyes pleaded for release as the sounds of the angry village people closer. "I WANT TO BE FREE OF EVERYTHING! PLEASE SAVE ME!!!"
Sera said nothing, but drew a sword from her chest. Anthy stared in fear, but said nothing. "The price of your freedom is to hold this sword..."
"I will! OK!" Himemiya started to lose her patience.
"You will be a bride, someday..." Sera's soft smile only struck fear on Himemiya.
Pulling her arm as far back as she could, Sera drove the sword into the Anthy's heart. Her tiny frame crumpled and fell to the floor. "But why?"
Sera gazed down at her. "It's only the first one. A million more will follow, so brace yourself for you are free of this world and the next and the next. You'll live forever as a marionette, but your emotions have died with this sword's entrance into your body. As I said, you will be a bride someday." The girl looked over her shoulder as the villagers' heads started to peek over the top of the hill. Sera decided to leave now. "Remember, little one, your prince will save you." Sera's form vanished, but her dress remained.
Himemiya threw her hands to her chest to stop the bleeding, but realized there was no bleeding there. She searched for the sword, but it seemed to have vanished as well. Finding it too late to run, she sat there and awaited the villagers so that she may die. There was the clashing of metal against each other, the hiss of fire as it danced wildly on a torch, then there was absolute silence all around her. Anthy quickly lifted her head to look around. In the distance, her eyes caught a hearse driving by and a limosine behind it. She thought she caught the glimpse of a pink-haired girl, but that kind of sight was not natural and so she turned back to face the villagers.
"Little girl, have you seen a witch around here?" One of the villagers stepped forward.
A bell rang in the distance.
"No." The girl's lifeless green eyes fell back to the grass.
"Were we looking for a witch?" A confused villager asked.
"I'm... not sure..." Another one answered.
There was the loud chatter of confusion in the crowd of villagers before they all turned to go back to their village, not remembering what drove them out in the first place. Anthy ran alongside them, towards the shed where she had left Dios. Throwing back the door, she realized that he was gone.
**the sound of metal colliding**
"There will be a million more swords..."
The girl didn't even bother to run as her fate was already decided. She only hoped that her prince would save her one day.
When the static cleared, the three duelists and Sera all stood in tensed silence. Finally, Sera turned towards Utena. "Keep this sword until you change the world. Do not let it go a second before." She pressed the sword into Utena's hand and closed her fingers around it.
"But... wait!" Utena stepped forward.
Sera looked over her shoulder and smiled softly at Utena. "There's nothing more I can say. That's all you need to know." The girl turned and walked towards Nanami who had turned her back completely. "Nana-chan?"
"How could you not tell me?" The girl bit down hard on her bottom lip.
Sera looked considerate, "I'm sorry, Nana-chan. I couldn't tell anyone. I still shouldn't have, but I did because it was why I really came back. I booked that model shoot for myself. I knew it would get me close enough to Oothori and then I could stay here." Sera took Nanami's hand and turned her around to face her. "It'll save you in the end. I promise."
"I don't understand." The smaller duelist whispered.
"I know. You don't have to. I did it to save her as well." Sera and Nanami both glanced at Utena.
"Why?"
"Because the Council of the Red Rose sees no reason to pursue her. I can't say more." The silver eyed girl held up the cyan rose. "It delivers another part of the prophecy, as well as all truths."
Himemiya reached out and gently tugged on Utena's hand. "Let's go back to the dorms."
"If I lost the duel, Himemiya, doesn't she take you?" Utena never turned to go with Himemiya.
"She's no longer a duelist, nor is she a bride, but she will forever be bound to the Council of the Red Rose, and can duel if she pleases."
"You never told me of this Council."
"I don't even know much about it. I just know it's the real reason why Sera left." Himemiya clasped both her hands around Utena's and tried to lead the girl out of the arena.
Sera lay back in the roses and smiled contentedly. "Aah this is nice."
"I... I kissed Touga this morning. When you left the kitchen. I'm sorry..." Nanami blushed brightly.
"Hah!" Sera sat up quickly. "Hey, what are you sorry about?" She stopped laughing.
Nanami's face flushed. "Don't... don't you and him... aren't you two in love?"
Sera's face dropped. "Me???" she pointed to herself. "With Touga??" She pointed to Touga who started blinking in confusion. "That Touga?" Sera fell back laughing.
The smaller duelist grew angry. "Sera! It's not funny!"
The girl turned on her side and curled up into a ball, in pain from laughing too hard. "Nana-chan. For as long as I've known you, I've kept two secrets from you. One of them was that I was the first Rose Bride. The second is that I don't like men." She snickered again and straightened her body out.
"Oh..." Nanami blushed "Oh dear..."
"Nana-chan, don't worry. I'm not in love with you." Sera sat up and smiled softly, running her fingers through the girl's hair and comforting her.
Nanami sighed in relief. "Oh good!" A mischievous smile spread across her face. "Who do you have a crush on?"
Sera gazed at the one purple rose amidst the thousands of cyan ones in the arena's new setup. "I cannot say." She smiled and stood up. "Let's go back to the dorms, ne? Tomorrow is my last day here."
"You're always free to leave and enter these gates as you please. You're so lucky you're not a prisoner of these duels." Nanami followed behind Sera.
The girl stopped to pick a single pink rose from the grounds of the arena. "You're always a prisoner... unless your nobility can set your free."
End of Ch 4.
"I hate this place..." Sera wrapped her arms around her slim figure and gazed back at Anthy who had been busy pulling her hair out of her uniform.
"Tomorrow will be quite a busy day..." was all Himemiya said.
"Indeed it will be." Sera sighed slowly. "Let's go to bed. Goodnight, Himemiya..."
Himemiya followed behind Sera. "Sleep well, Seraphim."
In the morning, Nanami gazed around her bedroom, but what she seemed to be looking for wasn't there. A crumpled uniform was thrown over a chair. Nanami pushed her blankets off her legs and dashed through the halls of her dormitory. She reached the kitchen, a breathless mess and gazed maniacally at Sera who had just slid her chopsticks out of her mouth and set them down. She was engaged in a deep conversation with Touga, who laughed softly at something the girl said.
"Sera..." Nanami stepped into the kitchen and stood by her dearest friend.
"Nana-chan. Get dressed! You'll be late for school!" Sera seemed to ignore the girl's frustration.
"Sera, what are you wearing?" The blonde girl's face flushed.
Sera gazed down at her simple suit. A black blazer and a pair of black slacks. The gold buttons reflected the sunlight pouring in from a window. The rose clipped to her chest bore the color of her cyan hair. The golden chain draped from her neck to her shoulder and was secured to a hook underneath a metal rod on her shoulder. Affixed to her waist, the most elegant sword with a dragon as the hilt dangled. "I wanted to tell you something, Nana-chan. There will be a meeting afterschool. You must be there along with all of the other duelists." Sera said nothing more, but drew the rose from it's clip and walked out of the dormitory.
"Onee-sama?" Nanami's eyes watered a bit.
Touga's expression went from stoic to miserable as he watched Nanami squirm in discomfort, thinking of what Sera could have to say. Without really thinking about it, he rested his hands on her shoulders and drew her closer. "I'll always be here for you, Nanami."
"Onee-sama?" the girl gazed up at him in confusion. They met eyes and she turned away to blush slightly.
Touga sighed slowly. "Do you... remember that night when I was practicing my sword fighting and you stopped me. That night you asked me to kiss you and I wouldn't. Do you remember?"
Nanami blushed. "I do."
"If I would've kissed you that night, Nanami, I would've been more than just your brother. I would've been your sinful desire." the boy locked eyes with her.
"What are you talking about?" Nanami felt her face turning red.
"I'm saying I want to kiss you - but not like a brother should..." Touga moved in closer.
"Then kiss me like you love me, Touga..." the girl wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him closer. So close that they could feel each other's breaths on their lips.
Wrapping his arms around her waist, Touga drew Nanami into a passionate kiss. His lips parted, inviting himself into Nanami's waiting mouth. Their tongues entwined as their souls seemed to bond and become one. A kiss they both wished would last forever came to it's regretted end. Nanami slowly opened her eyes and pressed her fingers to her lips. Touga's face showed of his emotions as he blushed furiously. Without making the situation more intense for either of them, he stepped back. "You should get ready for the meeting..."
Utena had stood frozen in one position for almost ten minutes just staring. Staring in horror, staring in shock, staring in fear of Himemiya. The girl had sat, cross-legged, on a chair with a tea cup between two fingers. Her royal purple rose seemed to blend in perfectly with the hair cascading down her back and shoulders. She never paid attention to Utena's reaction, but closed the last two buttons of her duelist's blazer and stood up to leave for her own meeting. She clutched the sword of Dios in her hands before it vanished. She finally acknowledged Utena, and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder to show that she was really real. She then bent over to pick up the cyan rose and inspect it. "It blooms only once every fifteen years. It blooms to deliver another part of the prophecy - as well as reveal all truths." Anthy rested the rose on the table and gently shook Utena. "Come, you've been challenged."
In the elevator to the duelist arena, Himemiya leaned against the wall and glanced at Utena who had remained dumbfoundedly silent this whole time. She smiled softly.
"wh... who... whe... why... WHAT?! What is going on?!" She finally managed to get a word out of her throat.
"You'll learn something, today. Something about the original bride of the games. The true prize. The only one that can open the door to the illusion. You'll learn it all today." Anthy rested her hands at her sides as the door to the arena opened.
The arena looked like the arena, except for the fact that it was completely covered by cyan roses. It looked more like an endless field of roses instead of an arena. At one end, Nanami stood more in shock than Utena, who stood on the other side of the arena. The members of the game all stood back on the platform, overlooking Himemiya, Nanami, Utena and Sera.
"My duel... my final duel..." Sera stepped towards Utena.
Utena stepped backwards. "Draw your sword..."
"Oh this thing?" Sera drew the sword that rested on her side from it's holder. She tossed the sword off the platform and never looked back. "That's not my sword..." she kept walking towards Utena.
The pink haired duelist turned to Anthy. "You do have the sword, don't you?"
Himemiya held out the sword of Dios with her own hand and thrust it into the ground. She nodded at Utena and stepped back.
"I don't understand any of this, but if you forfeit by not having a sword, I'll remove your rose so maybe all of this insanity can stop." Utena pulled the sword from the ground and walked to meet up with Sera.
"And what if that's what I want you to do?" Sera smiled softly and stopped walking.
Utena positioned the sword to cut the other girl's rose off. "Then you challenged me for no reason."
"Oh, I have my reasons..." Sera raised her right hand high into the air. The sword of Dios vanished from Utena's hand.
Utena looked around perplexed. "Where did it go?! Himemiya!"
Anthy pointed at Sera who stood in the dress of the rose bride. "It belongs with the bride of the duels..."
Tenjou turned around and stared in shock as Sera brought her hands together. Slowly pulling apart, the sword rose from her chest. The girl removed it herself and positioned herself into a dueling stance. Behind Utena, the dragon sword landed where the Sword of Dios was once planted. The girl drew the sword from the ground, but had to dodge quickly as Sera's blade sliced straight down her front. The two girls began the duel, but Utena was no match for Sera's stealth and strategy. After much time ducking and dodging, Utena's back slammed into a wall, and she fell to her knees. Sera didn't charge to attack, but stood and took in the scent of a pink rose she held in her hand. Utena patted her chest quickly, but didn't find her rose on her chest.
"How did you...?" The blue eyed girl continued to be shocked more and more as time progressed.
Sera threw the rose at Utena's feet. "I cut it from you when I drew the Sword of Dios from myself. It's the magic of the first bride..."
"The first Rose Bride..." Himemiya followed up.
Sera's eyes closed as the arena turned pitch black. The sky was replaced with the static of that of a television screen. A picture faded in.
"Witch! Witch!!!"
Little Himemiya Anthy pressed herself against a door as her prince lay dying before her eyes. Losing all hope, she jumped from a window in the back of the barn and ran as fast as her feet could take her. Behind her, people chased her with torches and swords, determined to kill her. Blinded by tears, Himemiya didn't see the young girl she crashed into. The girl gazed down at Himemiya's pathetic form with cold, unfeeling silver eyes.
"Help me!" Himemiya clung to the girl's bridal gown and wept into the full skirt.
The girl rested the rose that she was tending to into a vase and crouched down. "What is the matter?"
"People call me witch and chase me! They're trying to kill me!" Anthy clung to the girl with fear.
Without caring much, Sera stood up again. "And you don't want to die?"
"NO!"
"Do you want to be free from these people and their emotions?"
"YES!"
"Do you want to be free of your own emotions?" Sera's eyes seemed to be lost in their own world.
Himemiya's eyes pleaded for release as the sounds of the angry village people closer. "I WANT TO BE FREE OF EVERYTHING! PLEASE SAVE ME!!!"
Sera said nothing, but drew a sword from her chest. Anthy stared in fear, but said nothing. "The price of your freedom is to hold this sword..."
"I will! OK!" Himemiya started to lose her patience.
"You will be a bride, someday..." Sera's soft smile only struck fear on Himemiya.
Pulling her arm as far back as she could, Sera drove the sword into the Anthy's heart. Her tiny frame crumpled and fell to the floor. "But why?"
Sera gazed down at her. "It's only the first one. A million more will follow, so brace yourself for you are free of this world and the next and the next. You'll live forever as a marionette, but your emotions have died with this sword's entrance into your body. As I said, you will be a bride someday." The girl looked over her shoulder as the villagers' heads started to peek over the top of the hill. Sera decided to leave now. "Remember, little one, your prince will save you." Sera's form vanished, but her dress remained.
Himemiya threw her hands to her chest to stop the bleeding, but realized there was no bleeding there. She searched for the sword, but it seemed to have vanished as well. Finding it too late to run, she sat there and awaited the villagers so that she may die. There was the clashing of metal against each other, the hiss of fire as it danced wildly on a torch, then there was absolute silence all around her. Anthy quickly lifted her head to look around. In the distance, her eyes caught a hearse driving by and a limosine behind it. She thought she caught the glimpse of a pink-haired girl, but that kind of sight was not natural and so she turned back to face the villagers.
"Little girl, have you seen a witch around here?" One of the villagers stepped forward.
A bell rang in the distance.
"No." The girl's lifeless green eyes fell back to the grass.
"Were we looking for a witch?" A confused villager asked.
"I'm... not sure..." Another one answered.
There was the loud chatter of confusion in the crowd of villagers before they all turned to go back to their village, not remembering what drove them out in the first place. Anthy ran alongside them, towards the shed where she had left Dios. Throwing back the door, she realized that he was gone.
**the sound of metal colliding**
"There will be a million more swords..."
The girl didn't even bother to run as her fate was already decided. She only hoped that her prince would save her one day.
When the static cleared, the three duelists and Sera all stood in tensed silence. Finally, Sera turned towards Utena. "Keep this sword until you change the world. Do not let it go a second before." She pressed the sword into Utena's hand and closed her fingers around it.
"But... wait!" Utena stepped forward.
Sera looked over her shoulder and smiled softly at Utena. "There's nothing more I can say. That's all you need to know." The girl turned and walked towards Nanami who had turned her back completely. "Nana-chan?"
"How could you not tell me?" The girl bit down hard on her bottom lip.
Sera looked considerate, "I'm sorry, Nana-chan. I couldn't tell anyone. I still shouldn't have, but I did because it was why I really came back. I booked that model shoot for myself. I knew it would get me close enough to Oothori and then I could stay here." Sera took Nanami's hand and turned her around to face her. "It'll save you in the end. I promise."
"I don't understand." The smaller duelist whispered.
"I know. You don't have to. I did it to save her as well." Sera and Nanami both glanced at Utena.
"Why?"
"Because the Council of the Red Rose sees no reason to pursue her. I can't say more." The silver eyed girl held up the cyan rose. "It delivers another part of the prophecy, as well as all truths."
Himemiya reached out and gently tugged on Utena's hand. "Let's go back to the dorms."
"If I lost the duel, Himemiya, doesn't she take you?" Utena never turned to go with Himemiya.
"She's no longer a duelist, nor is she a bride, but she will forever be bound to the Council of the Red Rose, and can duel if she pleases."
"You never told me of this Council."
"I don't even know much about it. I just know it's the real reason why Sera left." Himemiya clasped both her hands around Utena's and tried to lead the girl out of the arena.
Sera lay back in the roses and smiled contentedly. "Aah this is nice."
"I... I kissed Touga this morning. When you left the kitchen. I'm sorry..." Nanami blushed brightly.
"Hah!" Sera sat up quickly. "Hey, what are you sorry about?" She stopped laughing.
Nanami's face flushed. "Don't... don't you and him... aren't you two in love?"
Sera's face dropped. "Me???" she pointed to herself. "With Touga??" She pointed to Touga who started blinking in confusion. "That Touga?" Sera fell back laughing.
The smaller duelist grew angry. "Sera! It's not funny!"
The girl turned on her side and curled up into a ball, in pain from laughing too hard. "Nana-chan. For as long as I've known you, I've kept two secrets from you. One of them was that I was the first Rose Bride. The second is that I don't like men." She snickered again and straightened her body out.
"Oh..." Nanami blushed "Oh dear..."
"Nana-chan, don't worry. I'm not in love with you." Sera sat up and smiled softly, running her fingers through the girl's hair and comforting her.
Nanami sighed in relief. "Oh good!" A mischievous smile spread across her face. "Who do you have a crush on?"
Sera gazed at the one purple rose amidst the thousands of cyan ones in the arena's new setup. "I cannot say." She smiled and stood up. "Let's go back to the dorms, ne? Tomorrow is my last day here."
"You're always free to leave and enter these gates as you please. You're so lucky you're not a prisoner of these duels." Nanami followed behind Sera.
The girl stopped to pick a single pink rose from the grounds of the arena. "You're always a prisoner... unless your nobility can set your free."
End of Ch 4.