Note: In the language of flowers, the orange rose is said to symbolize desire. On my color palette, salmon is said to be a shade of orange.


PART 2

The morning had found Juri still clutching the Rose Bride, more like a rag doll than
a human being.
Their morning routine had been accompanied by a ghostly silence. They had moved
around without acknowledging each other, only a few glances to the side had betrayed
knowledge of the other's presence.

Juri's face looked much healthier this morning; her composure was fully intact and her
stance was one of her usual confidence. They had left the dorms together, but soon

their ways would part. Juri stopped and turned to Anthy, who was walking a few

feet behind her.

"Yo-she," she drawled mockingly, "the seitokai will meet after school. There's no
need for you to be there. Go to your classes, tend to the roses, and come to the
fencing hall. No delay."

The violet haired girl nodded and left for her morning classes, while Juri turned
towards the senior high building. Her face still held a stoic expression, though her
step seemed to be more powerful than it had been in the last few days.

x-

"So, Arisugawa-chan, you got your pet back, ne?" Touga leant back in his chair,
creating an aura of superiority around him with a smug grin. "I wonder what you've
been doing with her; she seemed awfully quiet when she was with me."

Juri glared at him. "That's none of your business, Kiryu-san." She glared at the other
two student council members. "Nor is it any of your business."

Miki looked at her thoughtfully. "But Juri-sempai, maybe it is our concern?"

"Exactly," Saionji jumped up. "You never cared about the Rose Bride or the power of
revolution. Why are you suddenly so eager to own her, if you believe she is useless?"

Juri touched her chest where her uniform formed a small bulge. "Ahw, poor love
struck Saionji," she mocked, "I never cared and still don't care about the Rose Bride, or
the revolution you all are striving for." She grinned slyly. "But I wouldn't dub her useless."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HER!" Saionji roared.

Juri kept calm, cruel amusement mirrored in her eyes. "I'm doing nothing, she is merely
doing everything I wish," Juri answered. "That's my right as the victor, after all."

Saionji was speechless. Touga, though, seemed to understand. "Whatever you do,
Juri, keep in mind that the Rose Bride has been given to us by Ends of the World.
We should see that she remains unharmed. I'm not too eager to find out what could
happenwhen we fall into disgrace for mistreating the Rose Bride."

Miki quickly made notes from his stopwatch before he looked up, "Me neither."

Juri's hand fell from her chest. "Neither am I, don't worry. I'm doing her no harm."

Saying that, she got up to leave. "Miki-kun, meet me in the fencing hall. We have real
business to attend to."

"Maybe we will have more serious concerns soon, anyway." Juri had been almost
past the door when she heard Touga's comment. "End of the World informed me
that there will be another duelist joining the game soon."

Juri turned around. "Who?"

"We don't know yet, but maybe she'll be more to your liking, Arisugawa-chan?"

x-

In the fencing hall, the club members waited for Juri and Miki to start the training.
As always, many students had joined the lessons as visitors, fascinated by the fast
and accurate, yet still artistic sport.

Juri looked around, searching for a familiar face. But instead of a face, her eyes
suddenly stopped on a salmon colored rose, held by dark skinned hands. And as
she looked further up, a small smile greeted her from behind crystal clear glasses.

The fencing team captain took her position in front of her students to repeat the
lessons from the last training session. Calmly she explained every sequence and
possible mistakes, while emerald eyes were following her every move.

After taking on several of the students to see if the lessons had been received
and processed, Juri was exhausted. She took off her face mask and called for
her best fencer.

"Miki, when you're done with the babies come over and continue here. Seems like
they still haven't grasped it completely."

She started to open her fencing suite and took a deep breath. As she walked over
to the side to sit down and watch for a while, her eyes traveled up to the visitors.

Anthy was taking in the scent of the creamy colored blossom in her hands and when
she looked up, dragon-green eyes were looking back at Juri and an evil glint lit up in
her own eyes. She held her foil up as if she was greeting someone, then changed
her direction and rushed to the locker room.

x-

"Juri-sempai." Slowly, she turned around.

"Nani?"

"Miracles need you to believe in them."

After her shower she had changed into a fresh uniform and left the fencing hall. Outside,
the Rose Bride had been waiting for her.

She lifted her foil, pressing its tip under Anthy's chin.

The Rose Bride looked up, bringing the almost perfect blossom up with both her hands.

"But miracles are not needed," she whispered.

Juri removed her foil and backhanded the smaller girl forcefully. Anthy fell to the ground,
hitting it hard while she held on to the precious flower instead of using her hands to
catch herself.

"Don't you dare," the duelist hissed, "don't you dare, Rose Bitch."

The fencing team captain turned her back to the fallen girl.

"Get cleaned up and come to my room."

x-

When Anthy arrived at Juri's room, she hesitated for a moment before she knocked
to announce her arrival.

Juri quickly answered the door but froze upon seeing Anthy, in her dust-stained school
uniform, one cheek lightly abraded, the beautiful rose still clasped in her hands.

Juri turned away. "Come in - and close the door."

She turned back when she heard the door being locked.

Anthy stood there, her back pressed against the wood, her face expressionless
and relaxed.

Juri moved closer. So close, that the rose crumpled between their bodies. Carefully,
she took the girl's glasses, folded them and put them aside. Her hands feathered over
Anthy's head, one by one she removed the hair pins, until the hair fell down in a loose
wave of curls. She closed her eyes and combed her fingers through the violet tresses.
Then, as her hand returned to the back of the neck, her fingers curled into a tight fist.
Slowly pulling the hair down, she forced the Rose Bride to look up at her and inhaled
the scent of the rose garden.

"Drop. The. Flower," she snarled.

The girl's arms fell loosely to her sides. As Juri's face moved closer, her lips started to
quiver.

"You want this," she breathed, "don't you. You think no one knows. But it's you,
always just you. Here's to your victor, Rose Witch - ," and she kissed the younger girl
hard and imperiously, laying claim on her entire being with the forced connection.

The victorious duelist stopped when the girl started to respond to her kiss.

"No," she said firmly and let go of the girl. "If you want that, you have to convince me."

The Rose Bride's gaze was fixed on the fencer's hands, which slowly started to open
the upper buttons of her uniform, revealing a golden chain around the pale neck.

"I know what a conniving little bitch you are, I know that the duels are not decided by
swordmanship. It's you, you decide, you choose who wins in the end, don't you?"

She moved over to the bed, sitting down on the edge, the jacket of her uniform partly
opened, giving sight to a golden locket.

"You're standing there, playing with us. You watch us aiming at our hearts with deadly
blades. Making fools of ourselves while you go home with whomever you have chosen. - "

She grabbed the locket and kissed it. "But you don't fool me. You are mine now. And
I will not be fooled into using the Dios no Ken by some fairy tale about world revolution.
You chose me, and now it's my choice."

She leaned back on her hands, the fabric of her uniform stretching over her breasts.

"Come here, birdie, this is your prince," she taunted, "show me your desire to be
with me, convince me that I am who you admire, who you chose."

And slowly, Anthy followed the daring words over to the bed. Stepping in front of her,
she unbuttoned the fencer's jacket completely and then straddled her lap. She shoved her
hands under the jacket and let it slide over Juri's shoulders. She avoided to meet the
feral look in the duelist's eyes and started kissing her jawline and neck, while her hands
were roaming over the soft skin the fallen jacket had revealed.

Her actions were accompanied by a foggy silence, and even when she pushed her
shoulders back, forcing the fencer to lie on her back, no sound escaped.

x-

It was much later, that the silence had been broken by a mixture of gasps and sobs.

"I'm yours, little one! I'm yours... sweet Shiori, I'm yours... yours alone! ..."

And there were eyes looking down at her, a jaded green, poisoned with emptiness, and
with only one more tear to cry.


finis