Dueling Hearts
Yu-Gi-Oh!/Revolutionary Girl: Utena crossover
I do not own any rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! or Revolutionary Girl: Utena. I wish I did, but I don't.
Chapter 2: She Has Danced
Tenjou Utena was relieved to have met someone as friendly as Yugi on her first day. She counted herself very fortunate. She could hardly believe he was two years older, based on his appearance. If anything, he looked even younger than she was.
Utena smiled sadly as she remembered another boy who looked young for his years. Of course, Miki did not appear quite so young as Yugi did, but it seemed everything reminded her in some painful way of her time at Ohtori… even her new friend. She supposed that was to be expected, since she hadn't been gone for that long. Hopefully it would fade over time. Utena really had no desire to pine after her old school. Good memories were far too entangled with things she didn't want to remember at all.
The key, she told herself, was in making new memories to supplant the old.
The tiny screen glowed up at her, full of life, just like the owner of the displayed name should have been. But it was no surprise when the light blinked out.
Arisugawa Juri closed her phone. She wondered why everyone had waited so long after Ruka died to tell her. Maybe they had just assumed that she already knew. Now that she did know, she wasn't sure how she felt about what he had done. It wasn't his place to try and change how she lived her life. And yet… she was much happier without her obsession. She still felt powerfully protective of Shiori, and the attraction had not left, but she could see the bad as well. Shiori's manipulations and her hunger for power—to have it or to be near it—would always ruin everything. Juri wasn't sure she could stand to be near Shiori. Her internal conflict when the other girl was around could absolutely cripple her judgment. Then again, her judgment had been failing her for awhile. Ever since a new duelist was brought to the attention of Ohtori's student council last semester.
Juri had hated Utena for a long time. The girl-prince was so like and unlike Shiori at the same time. She was everything that was good and innocent in Shiori, but where Shiori shored up her character with the rotting detritus of pain and covetousness, Utena's character was built upon the shining and unbending spine of honest pride and courage.
Her hand wandered to the neck of her uniform jacket and hovered above the locket that was concealed there. Inside, the tiny picture of a smiling girl had pink hair instead of violet.
Yugi was thrilled to find that Utena's schedule matched his own. Nonetheless, fifth period Anatomy was simply awful. Yugi was too short to properly view and reach the dissection tray on the table. He consoled himself with the thought that he really had no desire to dissect some poor, formerly living thing. Across from him, Utena seemed to have everything well in hand, anyway.
"Do you need any help, Tenjou-san?" he asked, hoping she would say no.
"I'm doing fine, Yugi," she answered, smiling. "No offense, but I'm not sure how much help you'd be when you can't really see what you'd be doing. And I told you to call me Utena."
"Right. Sorry, Utena-san."
She continued with the project, finally wiping her forehead with a grimy hand just minutes before the bell rang.
When the teacher came around to see their work, the two students were embarrassed to hear her announce, "Excellent! Class, notice the extra care that Tenjou and Mutou have taken not to slice, scrape, or rupture any of the internal structures. You should all pay so much attention to your work."
Luckily for the mortified pair, the bell rang just then. Yugi and Utena grabbed their books and left the room as quickly as they could. They walked toward their next class in a silence that spoke of their shared discomfort, and when they arrived at the classroom, Utena smiled awkwardly at the short boy.
"Sorry to draw so much attention. I didn't realize she would do such a thing, or I wouldn't have put you on the spot like that. If you like, you don't have to be my partner."
"N-no!" Yugi exclaimed in shock. "I don't want that at all. Utena-san, I enjoy working with you. You're very kind. Usually my partners sabotage my grades." The last sentence was said in a mumble that the pink-haired girl almost didn't catch.
Utena reached out to rest a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "It's quite alright," she said. "I'll be your partner."
Startled at the informality of the gesture, Yugi looked up at Utena and blushed.
"Um, thanks!" he managed not to stutter. "I guess we should get inside, though, before the bell rings for Literature."
"…and when she put her hand on my shoulder, I couldn't have acted more like a fool! I barely kept myself from being so tongue-tied I couldn't remember my name."
Yugi paced back and forth in front of the mirror in his room. In the mirror floated another form startling similar to the short duelist.
"Aibou, I am certain that she does not think you a fool. I understand why you would react in such a manner," the pharaoh said.
"Really?" Yugi stopped his pacing to face his other self in the mirror. "Why, Yami? Why did I make such a fool of myself with the first new friend I've made in such a long time?"
"Well, she is quite striking. She carries herself like a duelist, with a noble bearing. In her eyes it is possible to see the depth of her courage and the quality of her character. Such a truly good person is rare. I know of only one other." Though the pharaoh's face was grave, his eyes smiled out at his hikari, making his meaning plain.
Yugi thought about what his other self had said. It was true. When he looked at Tenjou Utena, there was only nobility. Even the unconscious duplicity most people had and which came from separating public and private self was missing. She wore no masks.
"What do you mean when you say she carries herself like a duelist, though?" Yugi asked of the dark spirit.
"I can not explain it properly, but I know that she has seen battle, and danced the steps of danger. I do not believe her battles have been the same as ours, however."
Yugi turned his head to look out his bedroom window, frowning thoughtfully. "A duelist…"