It occurs to me this story revolves more around Juri and Ruka than Juri and Shiori. That must change. I apologize for the very lengthiness of this chapter. Making up for lost time.
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Love is a Chain Gang
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The day after the Grande Ball, after she had sent Shiori back to her dorm, Juri avoided Ruka before fencing class. Normally she would have met up with him earlier to practice, but decided against it. She wasn't afraid, just unsure how to act around him. Best stay away from him until she figured something out. Juri did not know how to approach Ruka. She was careful of his instability and his mysterious illness that seemed to crop up in random situations. Upsetting him might be harmful to his health.
Ruka's gigantic smile greeted her when she entered the fencing gym. "Ah, Juri! I was wondering when you'd get here. And by the nasty bags under your eyes, I assume you didn't get much sleep. Is anything wrong?"
She stared at him for a moment, perturbed by his hello and debating on questioning his sanity, but decided against it. "Good morning Ruka."
They practiced as they usually did, Ruka winning, and then scolding Juri for her going easy on him. His pale face winked at her through the fencing mask, taunting and teasing until she almost threw off her sword to resort to her fists. When he saw her exasperation he changed tactics, immediately calming her down by pointing out and commenting on her sword technique.
"You manage to be cold and calculating most of time, but ever so often, you loose your temper and strike out unthinkingly." She glared at him and he smiled back.
He constantly insulted the talents of those around them, claiming they were not in the same class as Juri and him. They were together in their level. Juri shrugged it off, mentally wondering if that was true. She had always assumed there would be someone to learn from to improve herself, but what if it came to the point where there was no teacher, and she had to play the role of teacher and student?
Ruka and Juri parted after class with Ruka extracting a promise from her to practice with him outside of the gym. Hideki came to her afterwards, in order to walk her to the next class. Juri thought nothing of it.
"He manages you well." Hideki said, his personal foil flung over his shoulder.
"Who?"
"Ruka."
For the first time in front of Hideki, for the first time in front of someone else besides Shiori, Juri laughed. A startled Hideki laughed nervously with her. Perhaps it was true, she thought. Or maybe they both kept each other in check.
The days continued as they would, between fencing, class, Shiori, Hideki, and Ruka.
Hideki had become her other fencing partner, and the two would come to the gym after their last class on Tuesdays and Fridays to practice. Shiori would come along and bring food and fresh towels, watching them fight with her emerald eyes. Lunges, jumps, twists, and blocks. Hikeki's level was increasing rapidly, trying to keep up with Juri's. But she always won, her skill too far above his. She was much faster and more maneuverable; trying out knew techniques she had dreamt of at night. She always managed to keep her temper under control around Hideki, who was always willing to be her practice puppet for her new moves before she tried them out on Ruka.
One time after practice, while the sweat dried on Hideki and Juri's skin and Shiori served them her homemade lunch, Hideki asked how the two girls had met.
Shiori smiled, dishing up the rice, and said, "Oh, we met in elementary school. A long time ago. I was really small, and the other kids kinda picked on me. And Juri decided to play the knight in shining armor, and promptly beat them all up."
"Sounds like something you'd do," said Hideki, his mouth full of rice.
After they parted with Hideki, Juri and Shiori wandered thru the vast lawns of Ohtori, the feeling of grass crushing beneath their feet. Shiori suggested they take off their shoes, and Juri complied.
The grass was an intense emerald color, perfectly trimmed. Sometimes it amazed Juri how perfect the world of Ohtori seemed. The campus was always clean and the skies never cloudy. In fact, it hadn't rained once since she'd been there. Everything was provided for at the school. The cafeteria somehow managed to have every food she could ever desire, any class she wanted to take was available, and there always seemed enough room to do anything she pleased. There was never any practical reason to leave.
"There you go again, drifting off into thought." Juri looked up from the green lawn to see a smiling Shiori, her hands behind her back. "What do you think about when you do that?"
"Nothing."
"Liar. I know that was an automated response. You don't have to do that with me."
"I was just thinking this school seems very nice."
"Yes, it is, isn't it? I couldn't imagine going to school anywhere else."
"I suppose."
Shiori smiled and poked Juri in the side with her shoe. "You always try to be so cold to everyone. You never give anything away. Don't you get tired of doing that?"
Juri looked at Shiori, and responded by gently pushing her. Shiori's face burst into feigned shock. "And what gives you the audacity? How dare you?" And with that, Shiori launched herself into Juri, causing the two to fall over and roll on the grass, the smaller girl prodding the bigger one trying vainly to defend herself. Several students walking by stopped to stare. Eventually, after the tumbling ended, the girls lay in a pile of legs and arms, breathing heavily. Juri lay with her back on the grass, propped up on her elbows and Shiori rested her head in Juri's lap, both staring up at the sky.
After a few moments, breathing returned to normal. "Hey," Shiori said. "What do you think of Hideki-san?"
"He's an average fencer."
"Yeah, I know. But what do you really think of him?"
Juri gave herself a moment to think. "He's nice."
"He is, isn't he?"
A flock of white birds swung low in the sky, causing small dark shadows to dance across the lawn.
"Why do you ask?"
"I think he likes you."
Juri's eyes fell from the sky to Shiori, and then back up again. "Maybe."
"I mean, he fences with you all the time and always tries to walk you to class."
"What's wrong with that? You also spend a lot of time with him and I fence with Ruka, too."
"Well, I've never met the mysterious Ruka. Do you plan on ever introducing me to him?"
Juri let loose her elbows and fell back completely on the grass, her hair a golden halo against the green. "No."
"Why not?"
"No. Just no."
Shiori shifted her position and laid down next the bigger girl, turning her head to gaze at her face. "Okay. But I still say the Hideki-san likes you."
Juri said nothing.
After the night of the Grande Ball, Ruka and Juri had taken up sparring at the bench over looking the city. It was a wide, open space and the air always managed to be fresh and clean despite the smog rising up from between the skyscrapers. Sometimes, the light from the sun appeared to set fire to city below, so the view seemed to look out over a field of diamonds glittering in the sunshine. Other times, the city disappeared underneath the haze of smog and Ruka and Juri found themselves fencing on a shore of a huge gray ocean.
Today, the pollution of the city had a blue tinge to it, and as the sun set and the lights of the buildings were turned on, the view was transformed to that of a clean sapphire ocean with rays of light glittering on the waves.
Ruka, with his foil aiming for her heart, launched himself at Juri.
Juri, with a passing block from her sword knocking him off balance, spun out of his way. While Ruka was trying to recover Juri chased after him. After a quick glance backwards to note the orange haired girl was coming after him, Ruka made the knightly decision to run away. Juri chased him all the way down the porch under the arches of marble until he ran directly towards one of foundations of stone. Thinking she would be able to corner him, Juri prepared herself for one final thrust while Ruka neared the column of marble. Instead of stopping dead against the pillar and turning it around to use it for support, Ruka ran up the pillar, and, with his back arching and muscles straining, back flipped over her. Juri found herself crashing into the solid stone with the extra prick of Ruka's foil against her back.
She slumped to the ground gasping for breath and pressing her hand to her forehead. It occurred to her that practicing with Ruka without her helmet was a bad idea. "How the hell did you do that?" she said between huffs.
Ruka smiled down at her, careful to keep his breathing under control so she wouldn't notice how much stress it put him under. "I don't know. I've never done that before."
Juri had regained her composure and managed not to swear. "Liar."
"Are you accusing me of lying? My, my. I swear to you I've never preformed that maneuver before today."
"So I take it you were practicing it this morning."
Ruka smiled while he sat down next to her. "It was pretty cool, wasn't it?"
She didn't answer him. After a moment, she asked, "What time is it?"
"I don't have a watch. Why?"
"I'm supposed to have dinner with Shiori and Hideki at seven."
"Ah." The light from the dying sun and the vision of the city slowly disappeared underneath the smog. "When I first met you, I would not have placed you with friends. My analysis is usually accurate. Perhaps you have changed?"
"Perhaps."
"I think you have. You are much easier to be with, now. Not that I like you better this way."
"You don't? Didn't you try once to get me to come with you to parties?"
"Yes, but then you would have been with me. I don't like to share. I'd much rather have you all to myself."
Juri said nothing as the pollution slowly dissipated among the buildings leaving the lights of the city revealed thru its absence. "And if you can't have me all to yourself?" she questioned.
Ruka sighed and looked up at the marble terraces above him. "Well, then I suppose I'd just have to settle for you be happy and free of anyone else. Let's go. I'm sure it's almost seven." He stood up and stretched, his lean frame reaching up to the sky. He offered Juri his hand when he was done to help her up. She took it and stood up next to him.
As the two were walking towards the gym to change they counted the bruises they had acquired over the past week.
"Are you happy?" Ruka asked abruptly.
"I don't know."
"I think you just might be," he smiled down at her. "For the first time in your life."
After changing from her fencing uniform to her school uniform, she received one final wink from Ruka, all dressed to go out to one of his parties, and went to meet Shiori and Hideki.
They ate at one of the nicer cafeterias that dotted the campus and talked as the lights of Ohtori turned on and drowned out the stars.
Conversations with Shiori and Hideki were always pleasant and calming, without the tension Ruka brought in. Juri was comfortable around Shiori and slowly that comfortableness had grown to include Hideki. He was nice, and not at all like Ruka.
When the conversation at the dinner table had dissolved into fencing, which it inevitably did, leaving Shiori out, she had playfully flicked a pea in Juri's direction with her spoon. Unsure of how to respond at first, Juri did nothing and merely stared at Shiori, who assumed a guilty look. Hideki, finding Juri's expression funny, bust out laughing. Juri and Shiori immediately assumed their spoons and launched more peas at him. After hiding under the table, dodging the fleet of flying mini-vegetables, Hideki grabbed each of the girls by the waist and lifted them up out of their chairs, Shiori squirming and squawking and Juri calmly complying, wondering what he was going to do.
Hideki dragged the two girls to the edge of a large fountain and dumped them into the cool blue water.
Shiori thrashed in the water, trying to regain her balance and failing to do so, fell back into the water several times. Juri sat still in the water, staring up at Hideki's grinning face.
"Are you just gonna sit there?" Shiori burbled, water she had accidentally swallowed gushing out of her mouth. "Get up and get him Juri!"
Juri eagerly complied.
Hideki found himself lifted up over the big girls shoulder and thrown butt first into the fountain, drenching both girls with the splash. Shiori was giggling so hard she could not stand and simply pointed at him. Hideki was laughing and trying not to swallow any water that was sloshing around in the fountain.
The fountain was large and circular, surrounded by a low ring of white marble keeping the water in. A stone satyr danced in the center, water jumping from his flute. The figure was primal and devilish with a wicked grin on his face. The sculptor had gone so far as to include the wrinkles created by the large, fang filled smile. Not unlike Ruka's smile.
A wet Shiori grabbed Juri by the arm while she was studying the mythical form, and pulled her back into the water. The three splashed each other, droplets of water reaching high up to the sky, the satyr becoming encased a cocoon of wetness. Juri tried hard to hide her smile, but gave up and tried not to gulp down any fountain water. Hideki's hair was plastered to his head, the single strand of long brown hair sticking to his face like wet paper. Shiori's school uniform was completely soaked and clung to her supple form describing details other wise left to the imagination. Juri averted her eyes when she thought of it.
Eventually, a teacher walking by, heading for the cafeteria with an evening meal in mind, spotted the three and hauled them out, getting sufficiently damp herself. The old spinster, with her hair pulled back into a rigid bun and her nails digging into Juri skin, dragged them into the Chairman's office lobby and sat them down while lecturing them on respecting school property. She had all their names on a sheet of paper and handed it to the Chairman beyond his office door.
Shiori, Ruka, and Juri sat on the uncomfortable chairs for over an hour, waiting to be called into the office. They said nothing, for his secretary was eyeing them over her in-box. Juri choose not to think. Don't think of getting expelled. Don't think of getting Shiori or Hideki in trouble. Don't think of loosing fencing privileges. Don't think. Don't think at all.
Shiori smiled at her over Hideki's shoulder. She winked and whispered, "Well, it was fun."
At least Juri would get expelled with Shiori.
The phone at the secretary's desk rang, breaking Juri's reverie. The secretary picked up in annoyance. "Yes. Yes. Really? Oh. I see. Yes sir." She put down the phone and said to them. "You may go."
There was a pause while the three digested this. "We can go?"
"Yes. It's almost past curfew, isn't it? Get going."
"We don't get punished?" Hideki asked.
She sighed in annoyance, ruffling the papers on her desk. "Apparently the fencing Captain-in-Training believes you-" here she stared pointedly at Juri "-should be given certain considerations because of your talent. And anybody with you should be given the same. Now get going."
"Fencing Captain-in-Training?" Shiori questioned Juri quietly as they left the room.
"Yes," replied the secretary from her desk. "Tsuchiya Ruka."
Juri froze in the doorway. "Ruka?"
"Yes," said the woman in exasperation.
Juri shut the door behind her while Hideki danced happily in the hallway. "You know, for a moment there I was actually worried. Thank God for you and Ruka. I didn't know he was next in line for the captaincy, did you?"
"No. No I didn't know."
The three split up quickly after leaving the building, rushing off to their different dorms attempting to make curfew. Juri jogged back to her room, once again trying not to think. She had never told anyone of her aspirations of being captain. Juri ran up the stairs of her dorm. She had kept it quiet, not wanting to make anyone to be angry with her audacity. She had said nothing. She was too sure of herself as it was: she was good enough to be the captain, so naturally she would gain the title. She would be a good leader. Why the fuck would Ruka get it instead of her? She slammed the door of her room. Did that mean he was better than she was?
Why the hell hadn't he told her?
Juri did not arrive early for fencing class the next day. Instead, for the first time that year, she arrived late. The locker room was devoid of life except for the sewer rat that lived in the showers. The other fencers watched curiously as she joined the ranks watching Kira-sempai illustrate a new move. Ruka smiled at her over the shoulder of Kato. She didn't respond.
Later on, when the class paired up, Ruka began his march over to her, but instead she moved over to Hideki. Hideki tried hard not to show his surprise and tried much harder not to smirk at Ruka. Ruka ignored the pleadings of Sara to spare with him as he watched the two spar.
After class, Juri still kept away from Ruka. All though he had made several attempts during the sparing to talk to her, she had balked all his advances, and he had given up by the end of the class. Juri avoided letting Hideki walk her to her next period.
That night Juri visited Shiori in her stuffed animal jungle of a room. She had earl gray tea prepared in a rouge teapot issuing steam from its spout. Juri sipped the tea and it felt nice in her stomach.
"What's wrong?" Shiori asked.
"Nothing's wrong."
"You are a very bad liar, Juri-san." She sat down next to the bigger girl, wrapping her hands around her mug. "Ever since we were little you liked to pretend that nothing bothered you. And, believe me, you can go on pretending that with any one you want, but you will not do it with me. Now, tell me what's wrong."
It took awhile for Juri to formulate her anger into a sentence. "A friend-" She stumbled over that word, realizing who she had just applied it to "-kept something from me. I don't like it."
"Hmm..." Shiori breathed into her tea. "A friend, huh? Do you keep stuff from this friend?"
"Yes. No. Some things."
"Well, that's not exactly fair. 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone' and such. Did you have a fight?"
"Not really."
"You're refusing to talk with that person, aren't you? How very predictable of you, Juri-san."
She said nothing.
"That won't get you anywhere, you know. Has that person tried to talk to you?"
Still no response.
"You are very bad at confrontations. I leave it up to you as to how to handle it. I'm awful at confrontations, too." Shiori smiled weakly. "I'm always afraid to admit my real feelings. It scares me. But, I always tell myself to believe."
"Believe in what?"
Shiori looked up the ceiling, devoid of posters unlike the walls. Sparse like the wall of Juri's room. "Believe in miracles, and they will know your true feelings." She turned to Juri. "Do you believe in miracles?"
Pondering for a moment, she said "If a person wants it enough, or deserves it, maybe they'll get one."
"I hope I deserve one. I hope I get my miracle."
Juri didn't ask what the miracle was for.
They talked of school and the nasty report they had to do on women's roles in movies before 1940. The teakettle was slowly drained until the only thing left was a few leaves left over by the tea bag.
"This year's ending soon," Shiori said wistfully.
"Yes. It's been fun."
"I'm going away over the summer. To Osaka. Want to come?"
"I can't." Juri thought back to her parents, of her mother and father on an everlasting trip in Spain, far away from her. "I'm staying here for the summer."
"I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too."
"We'll always be friends, right?"
Juri set her mug on the desk. "Of course."
That night Juri was in her room working on her lit paper on the symbolism of roses in French Literature. Her concentration had left her by midnight and she found herself typing and retyping the same sentence over and over, the clacking from the keyboard driving her mad.
Noises from the room next to hers drifted through the walls. At first talking, maybe flirting, gentle and seductive, which was ignorable; she heard that all over campus. The sounds gradually changed from low hushed voices to heavy breathing. Then worse.
The bed in the next room made a horrible thwacking noise as it was pumped into the wall again and again. Moans and sighs of pleasure eventually joined in to the quickening beat. Juri sat against her own bed, refusing to cover her hands with her ears. Instead she wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in her knees. Finally the cries of ecstasy climaxed and echoes vibrated throughout the walls. Silence dawned in the room. Unfolding from her up right fetal position, she walked to her desk to stare at her unfinished paper.
The rose is most often used as a metaphor for beauty and pain or the union of male and female: the vaginal flower and the phallic thorns protruding from the stem.
She wanted to rip the paper up and throw the pieces about the room. To drag her nails across the person's back and draw blood. Who's back? Who do you want Juri? Can't you even admit it to yourself?
Someone knocked on her door. Not remembering that she was wearing her orange nightgown, she opened the door, remembering to hide the emotion from her face.
Ruka stood in the doorway.
His uniform was ruffled and his jacket was open, buttons staring at her like eyes, displaying his creamy chest that bore no undershirt. Juri could almost trace a line of downy hair from the center of his chest, down his abdomen, to disappear into his pants. His cheeks were inflamed with heat and his hair glistened with sweat. Saphirre eyes were half-closed, tired from exertion. Leaning against the doorway, limbs slack, his wide mouth open, still trying for more oxygen and expelling alcoholic breath.
"I've heard you've been a bad girl and got sent to the principal's office." His voice seemed deeper, huskier, and very relaxed.
Juri found that she remembered the name of the girl living in the next room over. "How was Naoko?"
"Whew," he breathed, wiping his brow with a well-manicured hand. His voice was amazingly un-slurred for being drunk. "That girl is a cat in the sack. I really wish she would trim her fingernails. Look what she does to me." With that, he turned his back to Juri and took off his jacket, revealing more pale skin. His back was laced with think red marks tearing through him. "See? What a tigress! But I have to admit, I do love a women like that."
She stared at his back. And slowly, Juri reached out and touched the thin crimson lines, hot against her fingers. Ruka stiffened at the un-beckoned touch, nervous at this strange physical contact. She placed her palms against his shoulder blades and pressed against them, feeling the bone under the flesh sheath. Forgetting for the moment that she was angry with him, reveling in her proximity, he relaxed against her, his spinal chord visibly retracting through his skin. He was like a see through-ghost, like he was made with cellophane. Was it from the sickness?
She brought her hands down his back, never loosing contact with him, feeling the sweat roll under her fingers, the movement of his muscles, the flush of sex still clinging to him. When she reached his waist she put her hands upon his sides, riding his hipbones. He breathed in and she could feel his rib cage expanding to accommodate the big gulp of air.
She swiftly dug her nails into his sides and tore.
He gasped and writhed against her, grabbing the top of the doorway with his hands and straining to keep from yelling. Juri grabbed the door and smashed it into him, knocking Ruka out of the doorway. Juri shut the door and leaned against it, listening to the sounds of Ruka recovering in the hallway.
"God damn it Juri!" She felt him punch the door with his fist and then curse himself for doing so. There was a pause where he calmed himself down. It didn't take too long. "You really are quite the tease. For a second there, you all most had me believing you wanted to fuck me. Silly me, being taken in so easily." The ruffling of fabric betrayed the fact he had replaced his jacket. "You should be pleased with me being the Captain-in-Training. I'll give you the attention you need. I could make you the Captain-in-Training and we'll win every tournament we enter. I'll only take on the brilliant fencers, like you, and maybe a few innocent and teachable girls, and..." He waited for her response.
She said nothing, like she always did.
He sighed loudly enough she could hear it through the door. "I'm tired of this, aren't you? I'm tired of fighting with you. Why are you so testy all the time? Do I just instill you with rage that easily? Do you hate me?"
He waited again for her to say something. She did not.
"I'm sorry! Okay? Is that what you want? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I should have told you. I didn't. Juri." She felt the pressure of him against the door. "Juri," he breathed.
The both slid down on opposite sides of the wooden door to rest on the floor against it. Juri fought the instinct to fold into herself again while Ruka held his burning sides.
"How many girls do you sleep with?"
There was a pause while Ruka considered the question. "I don't know. How ever many I want to. My, that does sound egotistical, doesn't it?" he laughed. "Sex can be exhilarating and great exercise. You should try it. I've slept with a few men, too," he added.
Juri stiffened against the door.
"But I like women. They're different. I like it when they fawn over me and tell me they love me. You have no idea how gratifying it is to have a girl throw herself at you. And you know just how much you want to catch them before they fall."
It felt like the alcohol buzz was slowly fading away, receding into the night, like Juri's anger and Ruka's pain.
Ruka reached up for the doorknob and twisted it. He slowly opened it, making sure he didn't push Juri in any way, and slipped inside the room. He found her laying against the wall now, looking up at him with dead, emotionless eyes. Sitting down next to her, he was careful not to touch her. They said nothing for a while.
Juri turned to look at him, his hair still mussed from sex and sides still bloody from her. He stared back at her, for once without that ridiculous smile on his face.
I don't understand you at all.
The smile magically glided onto his face, eyes crinkling up into dark eyelashes: "I only fence with you."
"Are we on tomorrow, then?"
"Of course we are. And I expect you to be very good. You've gotten a lot of anger out tonight and I don't want you loosing your head in a fight. Did I mention I like your night gown?"
"Get out."
"I never stay beyond my welcome."
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Yes! Yes! Finally got to write that scene!
One thing I've tried to do in this story is to keep the descriptions to a bare minimum as to let the characters absorb all the reader's attention. That really doesn't work, the whole story seems rather bland. Expect more flowery words next update.
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Love is a Chain Gang
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The day after the Grande Ball, after she had sent Shiori back to her dorm, Juri avoided Ruka before fencing class. Normally she would have met up with him earlier to practice, but decided against it. She wasn't afraid, just unsure how to act around him. Best stay away from him until she figured something out. Juri did not know how to approach Ruka. She was careful of his instability and his mysterious illness that seemed to crop up in random situations. Upsetting him might be harmful to his health.
Ruka's gigantic smile greeted her when she entered the fencing gym. "Ah, Juri! I was wondering when you'd get here. And by the nasty bags under your eyes, I assume you didn't get much sleep. Is anything wrong?"
She stared at him for a moment, perturbed by his hello and debating on questioning his sanity, but decided against it. "Good morning Ruka."
They practiced as they usually did, Ruka winning, and then scolding Juri for her going easy on him. His pale face winked at her through the fencing mask, taunting and teasing until she almost threw off her sword to resort to her fists. When he saw her exasperation he changed tactics, immediately calming her down by pointing out and commenting on her sword technique.
"You manage to be cold and calculating most of time, but ever so often, you loose your temper and strike out unthinkingly." She glared at him and he smiled back.
He constantly insulted the talents of those around them, claiming they were not in the same class as Juri and him. They were together in their level. Juri shrugged it off, mentally wondering if that was true. She had always assumed there would be someone to learn from to improve herself, but what if it came to the point where there was no teacher, and she had to play the role of teacher and student?
Ruka and Juri parted after class with Ruka extracting a promise from her to practice with him outside of the gym. Hideki came to her afterwards, in order to walk her to the next class. Juri thought nothing of it.
"He manages you well." Hideki said, his personal foil flung over his shoulder.
"Who?"
"Ruka."
For the first time in front of Hideki, for the first time in front of someone else besides Shiori, Juri laughed. A startled Hideki laughed nervously with her. Perhaps it was true, she thought. Or maybe they both kept each other in check.
The days continued as they would, between fencing, class, Shiori, Hideki, and Ruka.
Hideki had become her other fencing partner, and the two would come to the gym after their last class on Tuesdays and Fridays to practice. Shiori would come along and bring food and fresh towels, watching them fight with her emerald eyes. Lunges, jumps, twists, and blocks. Hikeki's level was increasing rapidly, trying to keep up with Juri's. But she always won, her skill too far above his. She was much faster and more maneuverable; trying out knew techniques she had dreamt of at night. She always managed to keep her temper under control around Hideki, who was always willing to be her practice puppet for her new moves before she tried them out on Ruka.
One time after practice, while the sweat dried on Hideki and Juri's skin and Shiori served them her homemade lunch, Hideki asked how the two girls had met.
Shiori smiled, dishing up the rice, and said, "Oh, we met in elementary school. A long time ago. I was really small, and the other kids kinda picked on me. And Juri decided to play the knight in shining armor, and promptly beat them all up."
"Sounds like something you'd do," said Hideki, his mouth full of rice.
After they parted with Hideki, Juri and Shiori wandered thru the vast lawns of Ohtori, the feeling of grass crushing beneath their feet. Shiori suggested they take off their shoes, and Juri complied.
The grass was an intense emerald color, perfectly trimmed. Sometimes it amazed Juri how perfect the world of Ohtori seemed. The campus was always clean and the skies never cloudy. In fact, it hadn't rained once since she'd been there. Everything was provided for at the school. The cafeteria somehow managed to have every food she could ever desire, any class she wanted to take was available, and there always seemed enough room to do anything she pleased. There was never any practical reason to leave.
"There you go again, drifting off into thought." Juri looked up from the green lawn to see a smiling Shiori, her hands behind her back. "What do you think about when you do that?"
"Nothing."
"Liar. I know that was an automated response. You don't have to do that with me."
"I was just thinking this school seems very nice."
"Yes, it is, isn't it? I couldn't imagine going to school anywhere else."
"I suppose."
Shiori smiled and poked Juri in the side with her shoe. "You always try to be so cold to everyone. You never give anything away. Don't you get tired of doing that?"
Juri looked at Shiori, and responded by gently pushing her. Shiori's face burst into feigned shock. "And what gives you the audacity? How dare you?" And with that, Shiori launched herself into Juri, causing the two to fall over and roll on the grass, the smaller girl prodding the bigger one trying vainly to defend herself. Several students walking by stopped to stare. Eventually, after the tumbling ended, the girls lay in a pile of legs and arms, breathing heavily. Juri lay with her back on the grass, propped up on her elbows and Shiori rested her head in Juri's lap, both staring up at the sky.
After a few moments, breathing returned to normal. "Hey," Shiori said. "What do you think of Hideki-san?"
"He's an average fencer."
"Yeah, I know. But what do you really think of him?"
Juri gave herself a moment to think. "He's nice."
"He is, isn't he?"
A flock of white birds swung low in the sky, causing small dark shadows to dance across the lawn.
"Why do you ask?"
"I think he likes you."
Juri's eyes fell from the sky to Shiori, and then back up again. "Maybe."
"I mean, he fences with you all the time and always tries to walk you to class."
"What's wrong with that? You also spend a lot of time with him and I fence with Ruka, too."
"Well, I've never met the mysterious Ruka. Do you plan on ever introducing me to him?"
Juri let loose her elbows and fell back completely on the grass, her hair a golden halo against the green. "No."
"Why not?"
"No. Just no."
Shiori shifted her position and laid down next the bigger girl, turning her head to gaze at her face. "Okay. But I still say the Hideki-san likes you."
Juri said nothing.
After the night of the Grande Ball, Ruka and Juri had taken up sparring at the bench over looking the city. It was a wide, open space and the air always managed to be fresh and clean despite the smog rising up from between the skyscrapers. Sometimes, the light from the sun appeared to set fire to city below, so the view seemed to look out over a field of diamonds glittering in the sunshine. Other times, the city disappeared underneath the haze of smog and Ruka and Juri found themselves fencing on a shore of a huge gray ocean.
Today, the pollution of the city had a blue tinge to it, and as the sun set and the lights of the buildings were turned on, the view was transformed to that of a clean sapphire ocean with rays of light glittering on the waves.
Ruka, with his foil aiming for her heart, launched himself at Juri.
Juri, with a passing block from her sword knocking him off balance, spun out of his way. While Ruka was trying to recover Juri chased after him. After a quick glance backwards to note the orange haired girl was coming after him, Ruka made the knightly decision to run away. Juri chased him all the way down the porch under the arches of marble until he ran directly towards one of foundations of stone. Thinking she would be able to corner him, Juri prepared herself for one final thrust while Ruka neared the column of marble. Instead of stopping dead against the pillar and turning it around to use it for support, Ruka ran up the pillar, and, with his back arching and muscles straining, back flipped over her. Juri found herself crashing into the solid stone with the extra prick of Ruka's foil against her back.
She slumped to the ground gasping for breath and pressing her hand to her forehead. It occurred to her that practicing with Ruka without her helmet was a bad idea. "How the hell did you do that?" she said between huffs.
Ruka smiled down at her, careful to keep his breathing under control so she wouldn't notice how much stress it put him under. "I don't know. I've never done that before."
Juri had regained her composure and managed not to swear. "Liar."
"Are you accusing me of lying? My, my. I swear to you I've never preformed that maneuver before today."
"So I take it you were practicing it this morning."
Ruka smiled while he sat down next to her. "It was pretty cool, wasn't it?"
She didn't answer him. After a moment, she asked, "What time is it?"
"I don't have a watch. Why?"
"I'm supposed to have dinner with Shiori and Hideki at seven."
"Ah." The light from the dying sun and the vision of the city slowly disappeared underneath the smog. "When I first met you, I would not have placed you with friends. My analysis is usually accurate. Perhaps you have changed?"
"Perhaps."
"I think you have. You are much easier to be with, now. Not that I like you better this way."
"You don't? Didn't you try once to get me to come with you to parties?"
"Yes, but then you would have been with me. I don't like to share. I'd much rather have you all to myself."
Juri said nothing as the pollution slowly dissipated among the buildings leaving the lights of the city revealed thru its absence. "And if you can't have me all to yourself?" she questioned.
Ruka sighed and looked up at the marble terraces above him. "Well, then I suppose I'd just have to settle for you be happy and free of anyone else. Let's go. I'm sure it's almost seven." He stood up and stretched, his lean frame reaching up to the sky. He offered Juri his hand when he was done to help her up. She took it and stood up next to him.
As the two were walking towards the gym to change they counted the bruises they had acquired over the past week.
"Are you happy?" Ruka asked abruptly.
"I don't know."
"I think you just might be," he smiled down at her. "For the first time in your life."
After changing from her fencing uniform to her school uniform, she received one final wink from Ruka, all dressed to go out to one of his parties, and went to meet Shiori and Hideki.
They ate at one of the nicer cafeterias that dotted the campus and talked as the lights of Ohtori turned on and drowned out the stars.
Conversations with Shiori and Hideki were always pleasant and calming, without the tension Ruka brought in. Juri was comfortable around Shiori and slowly that comfortableness had grown to include Hideki. He was nice, and not at all like Ruka.
When the conversation at the dinner table had dissolved into fencing, which it inevitably did, leaving Shiori out, she had playfully flicked a pea in Juri's direction with her spoon. Unsure of how to respond at first, Juri did nothing and merely stared at Shiori, who assumed a guilty look. Hideki, finding Juri's expression funny, bust out laughing. Juri and Shiori immediately assumed their spoons and launched more peas at him. After hiding under the table, dodging the fleet of flying mini-vegetables, Hideki grabbed each of the girls by the waist and lifted them up out of their chairs, Shiori squirming and squawking and Juri calmly complying, wondering what he was going to do.
Hideki dragged the two girls to the edge of a large fountain and dumped them into the cool blue water.
Shiori thrashed in the water, trying to regain her balance and failing to do so, fell back into the water several times. Juri sat still in the water, staring up at Hideki's grinning face.
"Are you just gonna sit there?" Shiori burbled, water she had accidentally swallowed gushing out of her mouth. "Get up and get him Juri!"
Juri eagerly complied.
Hideki found himself lifted up over the big girls shoulder and thrown butt first into the fountain, drenching both girls with the splash. Shiori was giggling so hard she could not stand and simply pointed at him. Hideki was laughing and trying not to swallow any water that was sloshing around in the fountain.
The fountain was large and circular, surrounded by a low ring of white marble keeping the water in. A stone satyr danced in the center, water jumping from his flute. The figure was primal and devilish with a wicked grin on his face. The sculptor had gone so far as to include the wrinkles created by the large, fang filled smile. Not unlike Ruka's smile.
A wet Shiori grabbed Juri by the arm while she was studying the mythical form, and pulled her back into the water. The three splashed each other, droplets of water reaching high up to the sky, the satyr becoming encased a cocoon of wetness. Juri tried hard to hide her smile, but gave up and tried not to gulp down any fountain water. Hideki's hair was plastered to his head, the single strand of long brown hair sticking to his face like wet paper. Shiori's school uniform was completely soaked and clung to her supple form describing details other wise left to the imagination. Juri averted her eyes when she thought of it.
Eventually, a teacher walking by, heading for the cafeteria with an evening meal in mind, spotted the three and hauled them out, getting sufficiently damp herself. The old spinster, with her hair pulled back into a rigid bun and her nails digging into Juri skin, dragged them into the Chairman's office lobby and sat them down while lecturing them on respecting school property. She had all their names on a sheet of paper and handed it to the Chairman beyond his office door.
Shiori, Ruka, and Juri sat on the uncomfortable chairs for over an hour, waiting to be called into the office. They said nothing, for his secretary was eyeing them over her in-box. Juri choose not to think. Don't think of getting expelled. Don't think of getting Shiori or Hideki in trouble. Don't think of loosing fencing privileges. Don't think. Don't think at all.
Shiori smiled at her over Hideki's shoulder. She winked and whispered, "Well, it was fun."
At least Juri would get expelled with Shiori.
The phone at the secretary's desk rang, breaking Juri's reverie. The secretary picked up in annoyance. "Yes. Yes. Really? Oh. I see. Yes sir." She put down the phone and said to them. "You may go."
There was a pause while the three digested this. "We can go?"
"Yes. It's almost past curfew, isn't it? Get going."
"We don't get punished?" Hideki asked.
She sighed in annoyance, ruffling the papers on her desk. "Apparently the fencing Captain-in-Training believes you-" here she stared pointedly at Juri "-should be given certain considerations because of your talent. And anybody with you should be given the same. Now get going."
"Fencing Captain-in-Training?" Shiori questioned Juri quietly as they left the room.
"Yes," replied the secretary from her desk. "Tsuchiya Ruka."
Juri froze in the doorway. "Ruka?"
"Yes," said the woman in exasperation.
Juri shut the door behind her while Hideki danced happily in the hallway. "You know, for a moment there I was actually worried. Thank God for you and Ruka. I didn't know he was next in line for the captaincy, did you?"
"No. No I didn't know."
The three split up quickly after leaving the building, rushing off to their different dorms attempting to make curfew. Juri jogged back to her room, once again trying not to think. She had never told anyone of her aspirations of being captain. Juri ran up the stairs of her dorm. She had kept it quiet, not wanting to make anyone to be angry with her audacity. She had said nothing. She was too sure of herself as it was: she was good enough to be the captain, so naturally she would gain the title. She would be a good leader. Why the fuck would Ruka get it instead of her? She slammed the door of her room. Did that mean he was better than she was?
Why the hell hadn't he told her?
Juri did not arrive early for fencing class the next day. Instead, for the first time that year, she arrived late. The locker room was devoid of life except for the sewer rat that lived in the showers. The other fencers watched curiously as she joined the ranks watching Kira-sempai illustrate a new move. Ruka smiled at her over the shoulder of Kato. She didn't respond.
Later on, when the class paired up, Ruka began his march over to her, but instead she moved over to Hideki. Hideki tried hard not to show his surprise and tried much harder not to smirk at Ruka. Ruka ignored the pleadings of Sara to spare with him as he watched the two spar.
After class, Juri still kept away from Ruka. All though he had made several attempts during the sparing to talk to her, she had balked all his advances, and he had given up by the end of the class. Juri avoided letting Hideki walk her to her next period.
That night Juri visited Shiori in her stuffed animal jungle of a room. She had earl gray tea prepared in a rouge teapot issuing steam from its spout. Juri sipped the tea and it felt nice in her stomach.
"What's wrong?" Shiori asked.
"Nothing's wrong."
"You are a very bad liar, Juri-san." She sat down next to the bigger girl, wrapping her hands around her mug. "Ever since we were little you liked to pretend that nothing bothered you. And, believe me, you can go on pretending that with any one you want, but you will not do it with me. Now, tell me what's wrong."
It took awhile for Juri to formulate her anger into a sentence. "A friend-" She stumbled over that word, realizing who she had just applied it to "-kept something from me. I don't like it."
"Hmm..." Shiori breathed into her tea. "A friend, huh? Do you keep stuff from this friend?"
"Yes. No. Some things."
"Well, that's not exactly fair. 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone' and such. Did you have a fight?"
"Not really."
"You're refusing to talk with that person, aren't you? How very predictable of you, Juri-san."
She said nothing.
"That won't get you anywhere, you know. Has that person tried to talk to you?"
Still no response.
"You are very bad at confrontations. I leave it up to you as to how to handle it. I'm awful at confrontations, too." Shiori smiled weakly. "I'm always afraid to admit my real feelings. It scares me. But, I always tell myself to believe."
"Believe in what?"
Shiori looked up the ceiling, devoid of posters unlike the walls. Sparse like the wall of Juri's room. "Believe in miracles, and they will know your true feelings." She turned to Juri. "Do you believe in miracles?"
Pondering for a moment, she said "If a person wants it enough, or deserves it, maybe they'll get one."
"I hope I deserve one. I hope I get my miracle."
Juri didn't ask what the miracle was for.
They talked of school and the nasty report they had to do on women's roles in movies before 1940. The teakettle was slowly drained until the only thing left was a few leaves left over by the tea bag.
"This year's ending soon," Shiori said wistfully.
"Yes. It's been fun."
"I'm going away over the summer. To Osaka. Want to come?"
"I can't." Juri thought back to her parents, of her mother and father on an everlasting trip in Spain, far away from her. "I'm staying here for the summer."
"I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too."
"We'll always be friends, right?"
Juri set her mug on the desk. "Of course."
That night Juri was in her room working on her lit paper on the symbolism of roses in French Literature. Her concentration had left her by midnight and she found herself typing and retyping the same sentence over and over, the clacking from the keyboard driving her mad.
Noises from the room next to hers drifted through the walls. At first talking, maybe flirting, gentle and seductive, which was ignorable; she heard that all over campus. The sounds gradually changed from low hushed voices to heavy breathing. Then worse.
The bed in the next room made a horrible thwacking noise as it was pumped into the wall again and again. Moans and sighs of pleasure eventually joined in to the quickening beat. Juri sat against her own bed, refusing to cover her hands with her ears. Instead she wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in her knees. Finally the cries of ecstasy climaxed and echoes vibrated throughout the walls. Silence dawned in the room. Unfolding from her up right fetal position, she walked to her desk to stare at her unfinished paper.
The rose is most often used as a metaphor for beauty and pain or the union of male and female: the vaginal flower and the phallic thorns protruding from the stem.
She wanted to rip the paper up and throw the pieces about the room. To drag her nails across the person's back and draw blood. Who's back? Who do you want Juri? Can't you even admit it to yourself?
Someone knocked on her door. Not remembering that she was wearing her orange nightgown, she opened the door, remembering to hide the emotion from her face.
Ruka stood in the doorway.
His uniform was ruffled and his jacket was open, buttons staring at her like eyes, displaying his creamy chest that bore no undershirt. Juri could almost trace a line of downy hair from the center of his chest, down his abdomen, to disappear into his pants. His cheeks were inflamed with heat and his hair glistened with sweat. Saphirre eyes were half-closed, tired from exertion. Leaning against the doorway, limbs slack, his wide mouth open, still trying for more oxygen and expelling alcoholic breath.
"I've heard you've been a bad girl and got sent to the principal's office." His voice seemed deeper, huskier, and very relaxed.
Juri found that she remembered the name of the girl living in the next room over. "How was Naoko?"
"Whew," he breathed, wiping his brow with a well-manicured hand. His voice was amazingly un-slurred for being drunk. "That girl is a cat in the sack. I really wish she would trim her fingernails. Look what she does to me." With that, he turned his back to Juri and took off his jacket, revealing more pale skin. His back was laced with think red marks tearing through him. "See? What a tigress! But I have to admit, I do love a women like that."
She stared at his back. And slowly, Juri reached out and touched the thin crimson lines, hot against her fingers. Ruka stiffened at the un-beckoned touch, nervous at this strange physical contact. She placed her palms against his shoulder blades and pressed against them, feeling the bone under the flesh sheath. Forgetting for the moment that she was angry with him, reveling in her proximity, he relaxed against her, his spinal chord visibly retracting through his skin. He was like a see through-ghost, like he was made with cellophane. Was it from the sickness?
She brought her hands down his back, never loosing contact with him, feeling the sweat roll under her fingers, the movement of his muscles, the flush of sex still clinging to him. When she reached his waist she put her hands upon his sides, riding his hipbones. He breathed in and she could feel his rib cage expanding to accommodate the big gulp of air.
She swiftly dug her nails into his sides and tore.
He gasped and writhed against her, grabbing the top of the doorway with his hands and straining to keep from yelling. Juri grabbed the door and smashed it into him, knocking Ruka out of the doorway. Juri shut the door and leaned against it, listening to the sounds of Ruka recovering in the hallway.
"God damn it Juri!" She felt him punch the door with his fist and then curse himself for doing so. There was a pause where he calmed himself down. It didn't take too long. "You really are quite the tease. For a second there, you all most had me believing you wanted to fuck me. Silly me, being taken in so easily." The ruffling of fabric betrayed the fact he had replaced his jacket. "You should be pleased with me being the Captain-in-Training. I'll give you the attention you need. I could make you the Captain-in-Training and we'll win every tournament we enter. I'll only take on the brilliant fencers, like you, and maybe a few innocent and teachable girls, and..." He waited for her response.
She said nothing, like she always did.
He sighed loudly enough she could hear it through the door. "I'm tired of this, aren't you? I'm tired of fighting with you. Why are you so testy all the time? Do I just instill you with rage that easily? Do you hate me?"
He waited again for her to say something. She did not.
"I'm sorry! Okay? Is that what you want? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I should have told you. I didn't. Juri." She felt the pressure of him against the door. "Juri," he breathed.
The both slid down on opposite sides of the wooden door to rest on the floor against it. Juri fought the instinct to fold into herself again while Ruka held his burning sides.
"How many girls do you sleep with?"
There was a pause while Ruka considered the question. "I don't know. How ever many I want to. My, that does sound egotistical, doesn't it?" he laughed. "Sex can be exhilarating and great exercise. You should try it. I've slept with a few men, too," he added.
Juri stiffened against the door.
"But I like women. They're different. I like it when they fawn over me and tell me they love me. You have no idea how gratifying it is to have a girl throw herself at you. And you know just how much you want to catch them before they fall."
It felt like the alcohol buzz was slowly fading away, receding into the night, like Juri's anger and Ruka's pain.
Ruka reached up for the doorknob and twisted it. He slowly opened it, making sure he didn't push Juri in any way, and slipped inside the room. He found her laying against the wall now, looking up at him with dead, emotionless eyes. Sitting down next to her, he was careful not to touch her. They said nothing for a while.
Juri turned to look at him, his hair still mussed from sex and sides still bloody from her. He stared back at her, for once without that ridiculous smile on his face.
I don't understand you at all.
The smile magically glided onto his face, eyes crinkling up into dark eyelashes: "I only fence with you."
"Are we on tomorrow, then?"
"Of course we are. And I expect you to be very good. You've gotten a lot of anger out tonight and I don't want you loosing your head in a fight. Did I mention I like your night gown?"
"Get out."
"I never stay beyond my welcome."
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Yes! Yes! Finally got to write that scene!
One thing I've tried to do in this story is to keep the descriptions to a bare minimum as to let the characters absorb all the reader's attention. That really doesn't work, the whole story seems rather bland. Expect more flowery words next update.