Noir

By spheeris1

Pairing: for now just Utena/Anthy

Warnings/notes: See 'Teaser' [also adding a disjointed sense of time]

~~~

…shisoo kurai…

[dark thoughts]

~~~

Most cases were the same.

Someone disappears, someone murders, someone steals.

And when Utena thought about it, she has to admit--those 'ways' of getting through life had occurred to her once every so often.

It would be so easy to forge some papers or numbers.

It would be so easy to slip a hand over a strangers mouth.

It would be so easy to pull the trigger on the gun she keeps strapped to her hip.

Life is full of easy choices.

Easy money. Easy women. Easy morals.

But Utena has it all figured out. At least…in the karmic sense.

If everyone took the 'easy' way, then someone had to take the 'hard' way.

Now the world would not tip to one side too much, the balance will be perfect…or so Utena likes to believe.

Even jaded people need something to believe in.

Like love. Like children. Like something or someone better than yourself.

Like if you go too far down one path, the opposing path will haunt you from behind.

Utena believed that over every bright morning lived a dark night.

For every Prince there is a Pauper.

~

'Don't get in a strangers' car…' This lady started. They all started with a story, as if they needed to build it all up in their minds and play it out for you. So you will truly understand their plight…and couldn't possibly refuse to solve it for them.

'My mother told me that and I didn't listen. Now I've lost everything to him. He has taken it all…' This lady finishes. And you know it is the end of all she will tell you.

The rest is up to you. The details, the lies behind the lies, the secrets and the sordidness of the whole ordeal. You must dig through the dirt and find the diamond.

But something tells you not to take the case…something is crawling up your spine, something is gnawing at your gut…but you never listen.

You never ever listen, do you?

'Before we go any further, this is what I charge.' You slide over a payment statement. You watch this lady, watch her pulse in her neck and watch the barely contained tears in her bluer than blue eyes--you watch to see if she is…

Easy money.

~

'Quote the Raven…Nevermore.'

But Utena didn't finish that story. It was too long and she had too little time. The phone was ringing and she was waiting for that call. She had been waiting for that call all day and all night.

But she neared it and the knock echoed from her door.

And she let her in, ignoring the ringing.

She let her in

And that, as they say, was that.

Once the police got there, it was locked up tight again. No one there. Silence.

Dust on the table and desk. Mold on the food, rotten apples in the bowl.

Moth wings on the closeted clothing, their tiny bodies on the floor--death by enclosure.

~

'I want to believe in you…' You say, the words struggling up your throat and laying heavy on your tongue.

'And I want to believe in you as well.' She answers as she steps back and away from you.

'But I don't.' And her last words hurt more than a million swords.

~~~

TBC