Noir

By spheeris1

Pairing: Utena/Anthy [others implied]

Warnings/notes: See 'Teaser' & 'Ichi'

~~~

Boys will be boys

That is what they say

Boys will be boys

And they love to play

Boys will be boys

And they love war

Boys will be boys

And they always want more

Boys do not cry, they fight

Boys do not need mind, they use might

Yes, boys will be boys

That is what they say

And they'll be trapped that way

Until their dying day

And you know…boys make pretty corpses…

~

'Your time has come…' Akio whispered into Saionji's ear one cold night.

And for the first time, in all the time at Ohtori, snow fell to the ground.

A blanket of white covered the ground and it crunched under Saionji's feet as he walked, as he began to run…

The black of his sheath, lacquered and serpent like, curled around his numb hands.

…the living dead love to breathe again…don't they…?

Strands of his Earth-bound hair, tied back for traditions sake, came loose and broke free with the frozen wind.

…the grave is as empty as your heart…isn't it…?

This is my time, Saionji repeated over and over and over.

Until the words flowed as fast as his body moved.

Until they matched the beating of his blood.

Until they could be read in the wake of his footprints.

Touga sat on the steps.

And he looked like a statue, covered in a small layer of snow and frost.

His eyes of the sharpest azure were open wide, all seeing and all knowing…and they saw Saionji approach, saw the steps slow down and stumble with sudden trepidation…

Touga fingers held a rose of white, only the green stem stood out against all this blankness.

Saionji stared at his once friend, his once opponent, his once everything.

'So beautiful, so removed…how fitting to be like this…' Saionji whispered, drawing closer. He had to fight the impulse to reach out and touch the slick skin.

It looked like marble.

'And it would feel like ice.' A voice said and Saionji turned around, too tired to be surprised.

'How many are there of you?' Saionji asked the Touga standing behind him, very much mobile and very much alive it seemed.

'Just one.' Touga answered.

Saionji chuckled. Nothing could be believe here, at the edge of the stairwell, within the dueling forest.

'Just the one you know and love, your friend. Only he exists now.' Touga stated, stepping closer to his chilled replica.

And Touga caressed the hardened hair, the jaw line, the fingers that held the rose.

'Let me help you.' Touga said softly.

'This is my battle, Touga. Mine…alone…' Saionji spat out, pushing past the two and starting his ascension.

'It's been a long time since we've done this…' Touga said with a smile.

'And I was driving last time…' Akio smiled back.

And so they rode on for hours, that could have been days. You never know on this highway.

'What will happen?' Touga asked, not sure if the End of the World really had the answers at all.

Akio let his hair fly back and closed his eyes.

'I only know of my outcome…' Akio whispered.

And Touga wondered what it might be. His days of living ended, same for Saionji--the others have escaped thus far…but what of Utena? Of Anthy? Of this world and revolution? Of Dios? Of everything?

Akio reached over and let his fingers play with Touga's hair.

'You are too gorgeous to be dead you know.' Akio grinned.

Touga smiled slightly.

'I wish I could say the same of you…'

~

Saionji awoke slowly and, once up, made his way silently around the tower.

All was quiet.

He thought that it might actually be empty.

But then he could hear a small chatter, voices in the distance. His feet carried him down one hallway and into another--each voice becoming louder and more distinctive.

He pushed the doors open slightly and then all the way.

'What is going on?' Saionji asked breathlessly.

Touga and Akio looked up from playing a game of chess.

'I am beating Touga at his own game.' Akio smirked, to which Touga glared.

Saionji's eyes darted over to the far left, something catching his eye…by the window…a flash of pink…

'Tenjou-san…?' He murmured.

But it was not the girl-prince, it was a man…a man with pink hair and a blue uniform…

'Don't mind him…he is dead, like you…' Akio laughed.

And Saionji felt himself gripped by bony hands, tugged along--though he fought, Saionji could not break free from this man's hold.

And this man was talking, not to him, but to the shadows surrounding them the further they went away from Akio and Touga.

Muttering words, repeating phrases…he smelled of sulfur and Saionji's eyes began to water uncontrollably.

'This is the way to go. The only way to go. Down and down and down…to the center of this world, to the black heart that beats there…that is where failed experiments go…' The man said close to Saionji's ear, before flinging him downward--down into a never-ending darkness.

To death with no rebirth.

To the End of Everything.

Akio sat back and watched silently the man opposite him.

And the man watched him just as quietly.

For minutes, they did this.

'Where is Mamiya?' The man asked.

'Dead.' Akio answered.

'Where am I?'

Akio smiled at this. 'You are anywhere I want you to be.'

The man smiled now.

'And where are you?' He asked.

Akio's brow furrowed in puzzlement…this was not in the conversations before…

And the other man began to laugh, a low rumble--so very foreign to Akio's ears--that spread into full laughter, a coarse and haunting laugh.

And Akio was, for the first time since as a child, afraid.

'Be quiet.' Akio snapped.

But the man kept laughing, on and on…until Akio walked away, not running…not running…walking away, just to walk away…

Back to his tower, to his stars, to his castle in the sky.

Where it is safe…where he was safe…

Touga never told anyone. Not because he believed it to be wrong, but others might…and what others thought of him was becoming steadily important.

And it came about so suddenly--was this real? Or did he just need it?

Adoration came to him naturally.

People loved him as a child. They flocked to be around him.

Yet Touga did not notice it…not until he wanted to be around him…

They were too young really. Too young and too silly and too stupidly trying to be older. But it was there all the same.

Touga and Saionji. Friends.

And so it began, one of Touga's lifelong relationships--the one seemingly so simple yet more complex than all the others.

Not like with Nanami. That complex was all her own.

Not like the girls Touga slept with. They were just bees to his flower.

Not like Akio. They used each other all the time…it was a big game.

Saionji held this bitterness like a weapon, this envy burned at his heart…but what lay on the other side of those feelings?

Much the same things that Touga decided, so many years ago, to keep hidden.

Caring and devotion--even more than that…even more…

They could hurt each other so because they actually needed each other so.

It was the one that was truly a two-way street.

Pain in one lane, love in the other.

Touga stands back sometimes, beside his own tombstone, and wonders if he could have changed things in the past--to be honest the next time around, to say how he felt and remove those chains that killed their friendship…

But maybe not, maybe nothing would change.

Maybe it is just another useless dream.

~

Akio bit Saionji's ear and the man woke up, startled.

'Rise and shine. Your day of atonement has arrived…' Akio whispers.

And Saionji puts his clothes on slowly, his dreams of late--they have given him no rest.

And Touga watches from another room, closing the door…once again, holding his tongue--holding back the words that need to be said.

And the laughter of a ghost skirts over the campus, a dead man who has gone mad and yet understands this place far better than anyone could imagine.

~~~

TBC