A Note For Saionji
Kyoichi Saionji stepped out of the sandwich shop and stretched his arms. It was another lazy Saturday. Touga and Nanami were expecting him later that evening for dinner, but he had plenty of free time until then.
He was wary of returning onto campus. The strange killings and the terrorism. Many parents transferred their children to other schools. Rumors about Ohtori training students for terrorist warfare ran rampant.
As he walked past a nearby cutlery shop, a young girl in school uniform walked up to him and smiled. She handed him a note card and stared at him, not blinking.
"Sorry, I don't accept love letters form strangers anymore."
"This is not a love letter, it is a summons." She said melodically, her eyes remaining dull and her face remaining in its repose.
"Summons? I do not answer to him anymore."
"This is from a her, not a him. Take it. I am to stay with you until you do."
"No thank you." Saionji said as he walked around the girl and continued on his way.
She followed him, no matter how hard he tried to loose her, she would somehow get ahead of him and hold out the note card with her sneer like smile.
"Alright, I'll take it, if you just leave."
As he took the note from the girl, he noticed that her fingernails were longer than most students were allowed to wear them. They were painted a rusty shade of red that resembled old blood.
The plain note card simply said, "follow the girl. If you do not, she will find you."
Saionji followed the girl through the winding streets and to the school. She led him to a small building and a rarely used, tiny classroom.
Standing behind the desk was a tall woman with hair that reached the floor. She wore a dark green set of robes that covered her from neck to foot. On her left side, a schoolgirl who looked like the one who led him there.
The schoolgirl with the note walked up to the tall woman's right side and embraced her.
"Good girl, Don'Yoku. Now go take Kanashimi and go play while I talk to this one."
Don'Yoku took Kanashimi out of the room, leaving Saionji alone with the strange woman.
"Hello, Saionji. It is good to finally see you again."
"I have never met you."
"Oh but you have. You carried me with you for many years. I am Netami. The one who protected you."
"I repeat I have never seen you before, Natami."
"No, you said you had never met me before. That was a lie. As for never seeing me before, that is the truth. I was carried in your heart for years, as you tried to posses the Rose Bride. Now I am free, thanks largely to you. The minions of the Sword Gate no longer control me."
"Sword gate? What is that?"
"You should know the legend of the four gates. Mothers tell their children the story to make them go to sleep."
"I have no idea what you are talking about, I'm leaving."
Saionji tuned to leave the room but found that the door had mysteriously disappeared.
"What is this place!"
"It is like that castle that once was in the sky, it is everywhere and nowhere. I am protecting you, because I will let no one have you. Not the Rose Bride, not 'the butcher,' not Akio and especially not Hoshiba."
"Who are the butcher and Hoshiba?"
"Hoshiba controls Akio now, just like she did eons ago. She was the Sword Bride, the one who was the keeper of the gate of swords. The Rose Bride locked the Rose Gate to protect it and took Hoshiba's place, not understanding what that entailed."
"Rose Gate, Sword Gate, what does it all mean, Netami."
"There are four gates which all souls may pass through. You should know this."
"I see, the gate of Cranes and the gate of Staffs. Something like eastern Tarot."
"Something like that. You know all souls must pass through all the gates in order to receive passage to nirvana. The Crane Gate, prosperity, and the Staff Gate, generosity, have remained open for a long time. None of the four gates are truly good or evil in nature. You can be sent to oblivion or to reincarnation through any of them, depending on how you see yourself. Now, because of Akio cheating Utena, the third gate is wide open. The Sword Gate, growth."
"Utena? Is she alive?"
"Quite, but I won't let her have you either. You are mine forever. Just as you once held me." Netami said as she shook herself and tried to keep her wits.
"What must I do?"
"You must convince your friend, Touga to find Utena. With the escape of the Rose Bride, the Rose Gate, truth, still remains closed. Utena is the only on who can remedy that. Unfortunately, because Akio cheated, he relived all the gate keepers from their duty posts. These keepers have the control to keep entities from passing through the gates. I am the keeper of the Staff Gate. I represent all that is positive and negative about it. Utena was to choose the keeper of the Rose Gate, once she beat Lucifer, and freed the Rose Bride from the post not meant for her. Lucifer himself was once the keeper of the Rose Gate, but he became caught up in the negative aspect of it. It consumed him. The keeper of the Sword Gate is Hoshiba. She will not let Akio finish the duel he started. She is steeped in the negative aspect of that gate, destruction. She controls the butcher, Samael, the half of Akio that he put away long ago to try and become a prince."
"So this butcher is responsible for all the mysterious deaths around campus?"
"He, and all of the negative beings allowed to pass through the three gates. You must warn Touga. His life above all others, is in danger. I would talk to him myself, but unfortunately, you are the only one here who can see or hear me."
"Why him?"
"Because he still loves Utena with all of his heart, and part of her loves him."
"Alright, I will talk to him tonight."
"Remember Saionji, you belong to me. I won't let anyone else have you."
The door to the classroom suddenly appeared , and Netami was nowhere in sight.
As he left the room, he thought of the last words that Netami had said to him. He trembled when he realized it was the same words he used for Anthy.
"If I had defied her, she would have slapped me much harder than I ever hit Anthy. She would have killed me."
He took a deep breath as he started walking toward Touga and Nanami's house. After a few moments, he broke into a run, not allowing himself to slow down until he reached their door.
##########
Notes:
Netami - Jealousy
Don'Yoku - Avarice
Kanashimi - Sorrow
Please Review
Kyoichi Saionji stepped out of the sandwich shop and stretched his arms. It was another lazy Saturday. Touga and Nanami were expecting him later that evening for dinner, but he had plenty of free time until then.
He was wary of returning onto campus. The strange killings and the terrorism. Many parents transferred their children to other schools. Rumors about Ohtori training students for terrorist warfare ran rampant.
As he walked past a nearby cutlery shop, a young girl in school uniform walked up to him and smiled. She handed him a note card and stared at him, not blinking.
"Sorry, I don't accept love letters form strangers anymore."
"This is not a love letter, it is a summons." She said melodically, her eyes remaining dull and her face remaining in its repose.
"Summons? I do not answer to him anymore."
"This is from a her, not a him. Take it. I am to stay with you until you do."
"No thank you." Saionji said as he walked around the girl and continued on his way.
She followed him, no matter how hard he tried to loose her, she would somehow get ahead of him and hold out the note card with her sneer like smile.
"Alright, I'll take it, if you just leave."
As he took the note from the girl, he noticed that her fingernails were longer than most students were allowed to wear them. They were painted a rusty shade of red that resembled old blood.
The plain note card simply said, "follow the girl. If you do not, she will find you."
Saionji followed the girl through the winding streets and to the school. She led him to a small building and a rarely used, tiny classroom.
Standing behind the desk was a tall woman with hair that reached the floor. She wore a dark green set of robes that covered her from neck to foot. On her left side, a schoolgirl who looked like the one who led him there.
The schoolgirl with the note walked up to the tall woman's right side and embraced her.
"Good girl, Don'Yoku. Now go take Kanashimi and go play while I talk to this one."
Don'Yoku took Kanashimi out of the room, leaving Saionji alone with the strange woman.
"Hello, Saionji. It is good to finally see you again."
"I have never met you."
"Oh but you have. You carried me with you for many years. I am Netami. The one who protected you."
"I repeat I have never seen you before, Natami."
"No, you said you had never met me before. That was a lie. As for never seeing me before, that is the truth. I was carried in your heart for years, as you tried to posses the Rose Bride. Now I am free, thanks largely to you. The minions of the Sword Gate no longer control me."
"Sword gate? What is that?"
"You should know the legend of the four gates. Mothers tell their children the story to make them go to sleep."
"I have no idea what you are talking about, I'm leaving."
Saionji tuned to leave the room but found that the door had mysteriously disappeared.
"What is this place!"
"It is like that castle that once was in the sky, it is everywhere and nowhere. I am protecting you, because I will let no one have you. Not the Rose Bride, not 'the butcher,' not Akio and especially not Hoshiba."
"Who are the butcher and Hoshiba?"
"Hoshiba controls Akio now, just like she did eons ago. She was the Sword Bride, the one who was the keeper of the gate of swords. The Rose Bride locked the Rose Gate to protect it and took Hoshiba's place, not understanding what that entailed."
"Rose Gate, Sword Gate, what does it all mean, Netami."
"There are four gates which all souls may pass through. You should know this."
"I see, the gate of Cranes and the gate of Staffs. Something like eastern Tarot."
"Something like that. You know all souls must pass through all the gates in order to receive passage to nirvana. The Crane Gate, prosperity, and the Staff Gate, generosity, have remained open for a long time. None of the four gates are truly good or evil in nature. You can be sent to oblivion or to reincarnation through any of them, depending on how you see yourself. Now, because of Akio cheating Utena, the third gate is wide open. The Sword Gate, growth."
"Utena? Is she alive?"
"Quite, but I won't let her have you either. You are mine forever. Just as you once held me." Netami said as she shook herself and tried to keep her wits.
"What must I do?"
"You must convince your friend, Touga to find Utena. With the escape of the Rose Bride, the Rose Gate, truth, still remains closed. Utena is the only on who can remedy that. Unfortunately, because Akio cheated, he relived all the gate keepers from their duty posts. These keepers have the control to keep entities from passing through the gates. I am the keeper of the Staff Gate. I represent all that is positive and negative about it. Utena was to choose the keeper of the Rose Gate, once she beat Lucifer, and freed the Rose Bride from the post not meant for her. Lucifer himself was once the keeper of the Rose Gate, but he became caught up in the negative aspect of it. It consumed him. The keeper of the Sword Gate is Hoshiba. She will not let Akio finish the duel he started. She is steeped in the negative aspect of that gate, destruction. She controls the butcher, Samael, the half of Akio that he put away long ago to try and become a prince."
"So this butcher is responsible for all the mysterious deaths around campus?"
"He, and all of the negative beings allowed to pass through the three gates. You must warn Touga. His life above all others, is in danger. I would talk to him myself, but unfortunately, you are the only one here who can see or hear me."
"Why him?"
"Because he still loves Utena with all of his heart, and part of her loves him."
"Alright, I will talk to him tonight."
"Remember Saionji, you belong to me. I won't let anyone else have you."
The door to the classroom suddenly appeared , and Netami was nowhere in sight.
As he left the room, he thought of the last words that Netami had said to him. He trembled when he realized it was the same words he used for Anthy.
"If I had defied her, she would have slapped me much harder than I ever hit Anthy. She would have killed me."
He took a deep breath as he started walking toward Touga and Nanami's house. After a few moments, he broke into a run, not allowing himself to slow down until he reached their door.
##########
Notes:
Netami - Jealousy
Don'Yoku - Avarice
Kanashimi - Sorrow
Please Review