Disclaimer: Yo, Be-Papas! I think this Shoujo Kakumei Utena show is yours! Don't just leave it lying around this way…

Author's Note: Shiori's POV. * . . . * indicates italics.

Title: Shiori of the Miracles (Part Two, Sub Rosa)
Rating: G

Category: Drama/Angst
Pairings: Nothing that isn't implied by the show.
Summary: Shiori wavers--but can she change her course?
Warnings: None I can think of.
Spoilers: Through Episode 7 (Unfulfilled Jury).

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Sub Rosa

Part Two: Shiori of the Miracles

1/18/2004 draft

I pause on the threshold of the almost-empty fencing hall--Juri is early for our appointed meeting, or perhaps I'm late. Instead of leaning against the wall chatting with another fencer, she's in her school uniform, sitting straight-backed on one of the spindly chairs in the vestibule with her back to the entrance.

I have rehearsed my script so many times: "Juri, I have some news you may not like. He's applied for a transfer away from Ohtori. And--so have I. I'm going with him." I've imagined her possible responses. Though Juri has a talent for repartee, it's possible words might desert even her--she might slap me or shake me.

Yet I feel no fear, just a fever of excitement. I'm tired of skulking, working against her in silence. Today, I'll force her to meet my eyes.

My bare feet slip swiftly across the floor. Juri seems not to hear me. I see a sudden sparkle in her hand, and my steps slow slightly--she's looking at her locket. In a single motion, she closes her hand on it to shut it and drops it against her breast.

She sighs.

For a moment I stand frozen. *Juri, this isn't how I've blocked our scene. I'm supposed to be approaching you head-on, hurtling towards you like a sparring partner.*

And what am I doing now? Approaching her from behind like an assassin.

Purposely, I launch myself towards her in a patter of loud steps. My arms lift and reach around her head, my fingertips press lightly over her eyes.

"Guess who?" I whisper. I used to do this all the time in elementary school, until she stopped me. *I hate when you do that, Shiori--and besides, there's no mystery in it. Who else would dare except you!*

Now, she simply answers, her voice flat. "Shiori."

Her eyelids burn my fingers. I lower my hands to her shoulders, resting them there lightly.

Was there dampness on her lashes?

"Come now, Juri," I tell her bowed head. I hardly know what I'm saying. "There's no barrier so high that *you* couldn't leap over it."

Her shoulders tense under my hands. "You're wrong. Some barriers aren't meant to be crossed."

Is this, then, why she's made no effort to win him back? An odd reticence--maybe not wanting to violate their friendship? How strange that Juri, brave Juri, has been afraid to approach him.

A wave of gloating passes through me, then retreats. It leaves an unnamed feeling.

Like a young tendril in spring, something pushes upwards through my layers of plans, my prepared speeches. Something born of my grade-school memories of Juri, Juri sitting beside me on the hillside near home, shaking her hair back, laughing at the sun. Juri holding my hand while I cried about not making the school play or sobbed over a careless put-down by my father. Juri's blue-green eyes shining down at me. *Believe in miracles,* she told me then.

My fingers lace through her hair. I realize that I have a debt to pay, and a risk to take.

I glide in front of her, take her hands in mine. *Look at me, Juri.* After a moment, she raises her eyes to mine--blank, miserable.

I swallow, then speak. "Believe in miracles, and they will know your feelings." I let my eyes drop meaningfully to her locket, then lift to her face. Has she gotten the message?

*Tonight, tomorrow, I won't stand in your way. Speak to him.*

Her face is suddenly pale, but her eyes don't leave mine. "Believe in miracles..." she whispers.

I drop her hands and turn away. "You used to tell me that all the time; now I'm giving it back to you. It's up to you what you do with it."

For a moment, I listen to the two of us breathing.

"Shiori--" she whispers.

"You know what? That's really all I had to say."  *Why am I trembling? What if she notices?* "I'll see you later." I run to and through the door.

I don't return to my room until late; I spend the waning afternoon and evening wandering the garden maze, then pick up a package of rice crackers from a vendor off-campus.

I picture her approaching his cafeteria table, him looking up, disbelieving, in wonder.

I imagine them sitting by the fountain with their fingers interlaced, talking earnestly as stars pierce the sky.

My phone rings several times that night and the following morning; I don't answer. But in my locker that afternoon, I find a note from him. *Where have you been? I've been worried. Good news--the transfers are completely processed. Meet me at the teashop.*

It turns out that by taking a couple of tests now, we can leave Ohtori before the week is out.

I sit silent over my cup for a moment, then burst out, "Have you said anything to Juri?"

His lips twist a little, but he gazes at me steadily. "Yes, I did. In fact, I let the cat out of the bag. I thought you were going to tell her yesterday. She seemed shocked. Hurt, even, that you hadn't told her."

So Juri hadn't dared to reach for him after all. Perhaps it was too late to offer her the chance. Or maybe my words, my offer, meant absolutely nothing to her. Like my friendship.

I feel like kicking the table.

Instead, I shake myself a little and smile at him. "I'm sorry. Saying goodbye isn't easy for me--I wasn't quite ready for it. Thanks--thanks for letting her know."

He squeezes the hand I hold out to him, seems about to speak but stops.

We leave Ohtori without my seeing Juri again.