The next day, Akio and the
Student Council piled into the red car with OHTORI on the license plate.
Touga got into the passenger's seat beside Akio while Jury, Miki, Saonji,
and Nanami crammed themselves into the back.
"Nanami," Saonji grunted,
trying to get comfortable, "I don't see why you have to come, you're not
even on the council."
"Of course I'm not.
I wouldn't join your silly council if you paid me… I'm just going because
big brother's going. And if I stayed behind, I'd be all alone in our big
dorm. And you wouldn't want that, would you, big brother?"
"Of course I wouldn't,
Nanami," Touga replied, just to annoy Saonji.
Saonji scowled and moved again.
"Ow," Miki complained
softly, as he was pushed over onto Jury.
"Can't you hurry up
and get settled, Saonji?" Jury snapped.
Akio and Touga rolled their eyes in perfect unison
as Akio started the car. The back seat grew silent as the car drove past
all the buildings of Ohtori and came up to the gate. Their breath was held
as the gate opened and the car rolled through it and into the Outside World.
As soon as the tires touched that strange ground, memories came flooding
back in a rush.
Saonji smiled as he
held Anthy's exchange diary in his hand. Flipping the pages, he came to
a halt. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he saw what she had written.
It was…so vulgar, so forceful and bold, so un-Anthy. He couldn't believe
it; he couldn't believe she would write this! He closed the diary with
a frown and went to the East Hall. Through the window, he could see Anthy,
Utena, and that annoying ChuChu thing. There were some others there, but
they were of no importance at the moment. He went up to the window and
knocked on it, making everyone turn to him.
"Anthy!" he called
through the glass. "What is the meaning of this? I want you to explain
yourself immediately!"
They let him in and Anthy placed a bowl of
curry in front of him. They insisted he eat some. Frowning still, he did
so… BOOM!
The wind blew through
Touga's red hair and Utena's pink hair as they rode. Utena's arms were
clasped tightly around Touga's waist, a little nervous for she had never
been on a horse before. She frowned as she noticed the smirk on his face
at their contact.
"You didn't need
my advice on anything, did you?" she demanded.
"Calm down, Miss
Tenjou. I really do want to talk with you so just try and relax. Hyah!"
The horse quickened its pace a little. Utena
held him tighter.
"Hey, slow down,
huh?"
"Hahaha," he laughed
lightly. "Miss Tenjou, you really don't expect me to believe that you,
the great athlete, has never ridden a horse before, do you?"
Utena scowled.
"Of course I haven't.
Most people have never ridden a horse these days!"
"Really, you don't
say? But aren't horses and horse riding part of the prince mystique you
admire so much?"
"What is that supposed
to mean?!"
"Oh nothing. Hyah!
Hyah!"
At his commands, the horse sped up considerably.
"Stop it, you idiot!"
Utena cried, as her grip loosened.
He felt her hands fly off of his waist and
turned his head, gasping. Utena let out one short cry as she fell…into
Akio's strong arms.
Touga blinked as he remembered that. He had never hated the councilman so much as he did those days… He turned his head to look at Akio. He had a small smile on his face, his eyes glued to the road. Touga looked behind him and saw the others had the same dazed look on their faces, the same daze he felt.
Miki and Jury stood
beside each other, leaning against the wall and staring out the window.
Jury's arms were crossed over her chest as she saw Utena Tenjou walking
alone outside.
"Why is it…" she
started. "Why is it that she looks like a typical girl to me now?"
Miki looked at her with questioning eyes.
"Well, of course!
Miss Tenjou is a girl!"
"Of course," Jury
said, her eyes closing slightly, then opening all the way again. "And yet…"
Miki looked out the window as well.
"Now that you mention
it, I've noticed it, too. But isn't that a good thing?"
"You really believe
that?"
They were silent for a moment. Jury hugged
her chest.
"Something's changing.
No, not something, everything. The entire school is changing."
"What do you mean
the entire school? Like a revolution was…"
"…was near?"
He turned from the window and they locked
eyes.
"Yes."
"Yes. I sense the
day of revolution is fast approaching. But what is this…vague, ominous
feeling I have?"
The stars shone brightly
into the room where Nanami was lying in the bed Utena normally shared with
Anthy. Nanami sat up in the bed, her long hair draping over her shoulders
a little bit. Utena opened her eyes and looked up at her.
"Can't sleep?"
"You two really sleep
like this, facing each other every night? That really freaks me out."
"Oh…"
"That's so weird,"
she continued, flipping her hair back casually. "It's like you're crazily
a part of each other, together even in sleep."
"What's with you?"
Utena asked, slightly angry. "You grab someone else's bed, then complain
about it!"
Nanami stood and walked over to the large
windows, crossing her arms.
"She's probably glad
I did. It gives those two a chance to sleep together," she said, disgusted.
"Yeah. Those two
really are close," Utena agreed, naively.
Nanami uncrossed her arms and whirled around
to face her. She stared at her in silence, and then frowned and crossed
her arms again.
"God, you are so
blind. No wonder you're able to live with that perverted brother and his
messed up sister."
"I wish I had a sibling,"
Utena said, dreamily while gazing up at the ceiling, as if she hadn't even
heard Nanami's last sentence. "They always seem to know what the other
one's feeling."
She turned to look at Nanami.
"You know, you and
Touga can still share that as well, if you don't give up on it, Nanami."
"Don't compare us
to those two!" Nanami snapped, insulted. "What do you know, anyway?!"
"Sorry," Utena muttered
as Nanami turned her back to her.
Nanami's eyes snapped
open and she gasped quietly. Her eyes focused on the chairman's head in
front of her and her brown eyes widened.
'That's right,' she
thought. 'Akio, the chairman, and Anthy…I had forgotten about her…I had
forgotten about what they did together while Utena slept…I had forgotten
about Utena.'
But now she remembered. Everyone remembered now.
After a while in a stunned
silence, the council realized they had entered a town. Akio pulled up to
the nearest hotel—The Rose Inn. After getting two rooms—Jury and Nanami
would share one, and Miki, Saonji, Touga, and Akio would have the other
one—Akio told them to stay at the inn while he went out for a little "sightseeing".
The council didn't question him, even though the need to know why they
were there was eating at them inside.
Touga lay down on one of the beds while
Miki took a shower and Saonji flipped distractedly through the channels
on the TV. As he closed his eyes, his mind drifted to another memory.
Touga and Utena leaned
slightly against the wall inside the Dueler's Field. Utena looked up at
the floating castle, her eyes sparkling along with the lights. For a while,
Touga looked at the same sight, but soon his gaze was directed to a different
view.
"Lovely," he stated.
"Huh?" she asked,
turning her head to look at him.
"I'm very grateful
to have met someone as lovely as you."
"Oh there you go
again!" Utena said, turning her head away again. "Will you stop talking
about that and get to the point?"
He asked her if she was in love with the chairman
and got no real reply, as he expected. After a moment of silence, he spoke
again.
"There's something
I want to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Do you think it
would be possible for me to be your prince, Utena? You're the only princess
for me."
"Will you cut it
out?"
"I'm serious."
He moved from the wall and stood before her.
"I truly love you,
passionately. Your nobility and beauty have won many admirers. And even
though I may not be worthy of you, at least let me be here with you for
this moment."
Utena blushed, despite herself. He took her
hand in his.
"One moment would
be enough," he said before leaning down and kissing her hand firmly. "If
I can't have you forever, I will forever cherish this moment of being with
you in my heart. A single moment is all I want. Will you at least let me
have that?"
He returned to his place on the wall. After
a few seconds, Utena moved closer to him.
"All right," she
said softly.
"Thank you," he breathed
happily, putting his arm around her.
Touga slowly opened his
eyes, which had grown very misty and moist. He looked up and saw Saonji
was looking down at him.
"What is your problem?"
he grunted with no trace of concern in his voice.
Touga wiped away a tear and gave him a small
smile.
"I'm a pathetic man."
"And you're only just
realizing this?"
Touga sighed, still smiling and closed his eyes
once more.
"I have allowed myself
to fall in love with a young girl who wishes to be a prince…"
Saonji raised an eyebrow.
"So you really do love
that Utena? That truly is pathetic."
Touga opened his eyes again.
"Well what about you?"
"Me?"
"Yes, you and Himemaya."
Saonji frowned.
"It's not the same thing.
Anthy does love me."
"Oh?"
"She just doesn't know
it yet."
Touga laughed lightly and sat up, draping an
arm across his council mate's shoulder.
"Face it, Saonji. We're
both pathetic."
"No. Anthy and I were
made for each other!"
"If you ask me," came
a voice with a small chuckle, "it seems like the two of you are made for
each other."
The two looked over to the bathroom door where
Miki was standing, smiling. The smile faded as he saw them frowning at
him.
"Um…"
"Nobody asked you!"
they cried.
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry!"
Miki held up hands defensively and retreated to the bathroom, though his
smile had returned.
In the other room, Nanami had complained of hunger. Jury, sick of it, left the hotel to find some place to get something for Nanami to snack on. She spotted a gas station nearby and went there. But she stopped before she even got in the store. There, in the flesh, with a rag draped over his shoulder, was Ruka.
Jury lunged at Ruka
as they dueled, trying desperately to win.
"Hidden feeling,
huh, Jury?" he asked smugly.
He pushed at her, sending her to the ground
effortlessly.
"How painful these
feelings must be for you."
She picked herself up and leapt at him again.
Shiori, she reminded herself. She was dueling for Shiori.
"Jury, Shiori's a
fool. She doesn't realize that you get miracles by standing on the sacrifices
of others because miracles are given to people like her! Don't you find
that unfair, Jury?"
The rain began to
fall. Falling…like Jury's broken locket. She clutched at her chest where
it had been only seconds ago before Utena's blade had knocked it off. She
slowly took off her rose and let if fall as well.
"Jury, why are you…?"
Utena started to ask.
Jury stood pitifully in the rain, getting
soaked as she stared at the sky. Ruka walked over to her.
"It will be all right,
Jury. I promise. I swear I'll make it right, Jury."
Jury walked down
the hall of the hospital. Two nurses passed by her, talking.
"That patient died
yesterday," one said.
"It's so sad. He
kept saying how much he wanted to fence again."
"He was really cute
too."
"He knew he was sickly,
but he insisted on going to school!"
"There must have
been a girl on the fencing team that he loved!"
"He said he wanted
the power to grant miracles to one he loved to free her from something."
Ruka looked up from the
car he was waxing, certain he had seen someone walk up into the station.
But there was no one there, for Jury had turned and started running back
to the hotel.
She burst into the boy's
room, startling them.
"Jury?"
She pointed at Touga.
"Touga! What has the
chairman told you about this 'plan' of his? Why is he so secretive about
it?"
"The chairman has told
me nothing," Touga said.
"Why are you so upset,
Jury?" Miki asked.
"I saw…I saw Ruka."
To be continued…
Author's Thanks
All--Thanks so much for reviewing! I thought this was going to be like so many of my other writing projects: I would just stop writing it. Fortunately, I've gotten loads of inspiration for this fic and I've gotten so hyped up by all the reviews! Thanks a bunch! BTW, I have a question for anyone who can answer: Does anyone know the names of the three girls that follow Nanami around??
Utena Tenjou--Wow, the best one? You really think so? I'm so flattered, thank you!! lots of hugs
purplepoipal--I'm glad you are enjoying the fic. I hope the student council does enough "stuff" in this chap for you, . They'll be doing lots more stuff, too. I apologize for my grammar mistakes in previous and any further chapters; I'm excellent at correcting my friends' grammar, but not so good about my own, heh! And thanks for the info on Saonji's name!
viximon--Well, you seem very involved in the story, heh! You really think it gets cooler? Thanks, I try.
keiko-chan--I'm glad I've got you intrigued. I do my best. Peace!
Sheila--Thanks for reviewing! Nope, no mistakes 'bout me on your site; everything looked good.
Nick--Well, I'm just glad to keep getting your nice reviews! I'll try to update as soon as possible; I hope you keep reading.
kino amiko--Your welcome. Thanks for reviewing!
peach--Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad I've got you wanting to know more.
blasphemy1--laughs I'm glad you decided to read
the fic even though all I had was a short little prologue for, like, ages!
;; I hope you keep reading, as I will definitely keep updating.
