Bara no Scarlet
Chapter Four
Decision
Miki had long given up the stopwatch, but he felt the pressing need to mark time again. Moments were coming once more, and he felt a strange stirring within him. He surmised that it had something to do with Anshii Himemiya's return, and as he loitered outside the Kendo Hall, he mused on the feelings.
A figure appeared at his shoulder, a light touch on his arm, and he turned to touch Juri gently on her arm in return. It was the only display of affection that she would allow in public. Of course, the students knew, it was hard not to see it in his eyes. However…
She smiled faintly to him, and then they moved to walk down the hall towards the exit. "I have to wonder what her return will mean. She will find out…"
"She probably has. But is she capable…?" Miki returned thoughtfully. "I feel that something will happen… but what it might be, I don't know."
"We can only wait and see. If she makes that choice… it could well mean Revolution. She learned much from Utena… and she has her own powers as well. Should the Sword of Dios fall into her hands… would Dios accept her?"
"The legend says that she cannot become a princess," Miki countered. "She is the sister of the Prince. Dios' sister, at my guess."
They stepped out into the sunlight, and Juri paused to look up to the sky. "I'd say you're probably right. But what happens if she gets to the Castle?"
"Dios awakens. That part, we know. But what will happen to the Rose Bride…?" Miki wondered as they walked across the campus to the hall that housed faculty members.
Juri shook her head. "It's best not to think those things. She lives for now. In that, she was lucky."
"So it is her, then." The voice was chilled, but not unkind. Anshii walked up to the two, nodding slowly. "I thought it was. Akio almost confirmed it when he told me that she was the Rose Bride and to find the answer, I knew what I'd have to do."
Juri and Miki exchanged a glance. Juri turned to Anshii and folded her arms. "Can you even hold a sword?"
Anshii paused, remembering. She'd held a sword, yes, and she'd stabbed Utena in the back with it. She'd told Utena that she could never be her prince because Utena was a girl. She'd made such a mistake. Taking a deep breath, she nodded to Juri. "I've used a sword before… but my abilities are limited. Would… would you be willing to instruct me?"
Juri sighed and shook her head. "I see little choice in the matter, but will you truly become a Duelist, Anshii? You, of all people, cannot really wish to re-enter that. What happens if you win? Will the Sword of Dios be wielded by one who used to call it forth?"
Anshii shook her head. "I don't know… but there was a mistake that I made. I had the chance to make a choice, and I chose badly. Now, I have to make it up to her. She swore to save me, and she did. But I failed her. I failed her."
She reached up and caught the ring on the chain around her neck, feeling the cool metal. To become what the ring signified… to enter the game that Akio played… would she be the one standing under the castle at the end? Would she be the one standing under the creation of her own spell from years ago? She had no way of knowing other than to try. "I can only try, Juri. I can only try."
Trying began the very next day, and proved to Anshii that while she had the ability to hold the sword, she had very little skill. It was, to say the least, extremely distressing for the former Rose Bride. She had a reason and a will to fight, unlike Utena… and yet, she had not remotely half the ability. None of her powers could have possibly assisted her in a test of physical skill… and she was beginning to doubt herself.
"Juri… I'm not sure I can do this…" Anshii admitted quietly, head bowed over the sword that Juri had loaned her.
"You haven't decided to do this," Juri countered, voice harsh. "Nothing could stop Utena from trying to save you… and yet, you're here, head down, saying that you can't."
Anshii looked at the floor. She wasn't trying, was she? She was standing there, playacting at this. "You're right," she whispered.
"Is she worth it to you?" Juri asked, voice oddly gentle.
For a moment, Utena's face flashed before Anshii's eyes in that smile she offered just hours before Anshii had tried to throw herself off of the top of the Rose Tower. With a silent nod, Anshii reached up and caught the ring in her hand, giving it a sharp tug, feeling the chain give way and break. As the chain fell unheeded to the ground, she took the Duelist ring and regarded it for a moment. Utena's ring. The ring that had brought Utena to this campus, and now had brought Anshii back. Without a second thought, she slid the ring onto her finger.