Hi there! Sorry for this chapter come a little much later than the others because of my school, but finally it's here! My friend Kin read my story and beta the grammar, so I'm sure this is very much better than my previous chapters.
Thanks again for everyone who was reading this and Michele, sorry, the didn't show your e-mail to me. I wanted so badly to talk to you hehe when I said old, I didn't want to insult you,I was just thinkin, wow! She have so many experiences and storys to tell! So many things that I could learn from her! Please, take my e-mail in my profile ;) And about the pictures I would love to show and give to everyone who want's it. Just e-mail me and I will pass them ;)
Chapter 7: High society
In one of many hallways of the first class, already in the afternoon, Akio followed Saionji, Touga, and Nanami as they talked and drank some tea.
"But the intention of the university is to find an appropriate husband." Akio comments while everyone looked at him. "My sister, Anthy, has already done this."
"Anyway," Nanami and Touga had risen. "My sister and I thank your company. Please excuse us; we want to walk a little on the deck while it is still the afternoon."
"Touga, Nanami, if you find Anthy during the walk, please tell her to come back and prepare for dinner."
The two had agreed and then they said farewell to all before the couple of brothers left the hall.
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Utena and Anthy leaned against a barrier on the west side of the ship, having been able to see the twilight while they continued the talk that they had initiated in the morning.
"After that I worked in a squid fishing boat in Monterey , then I was in Los Angeles , in the pier of Mônica Saint, and started to draw pictures for 10 cents each." Utena counted her history while Anthy more was more entertained in the adventures that the pink-haired girl was telling.
"Why can't I be like you, Utena?" Anthy asked, extending her right arm in the direction of the twilight with a smile on her face. "And only follow the horizon when I want to."
Utena looked out at the sea, and the girl with dark skin turned over to the other girl and smiled, saying hopefully:
"Say that we will go there, to that pier, even if it's just for a talk." Utena laughs and turns her face in Anthy's direction.
"Of course we will! We will drink cheap beer and walk in the Russian mountains until we've thrown everything!" Utena said and Anthy laughs, loudly and cheerfully. "Later we will ride horses on the beach, taking a walk in the waves. But you will have to ride as a man, nothing of ride of side."
"You…" Anthy frightened. "You mean with a leg on each side?"
"Yeah!" Utena said smirking.
"Can you teach me?" The girl with green eyes asked, looking down.
"Of course, if you want."
"You are going to teach me to ride a horse as a man." Anthy announced in an amused tone to the horizon. Utena grinned, adding:
"And to chew tobacco as a man." Anthy laughs, thinking for a few seconds and finally said, playing along:
"And to spit like a man."
"What?!" Utena asked shocked. "They don't teach this at the women-good-manners school for rich ladies?"
"No!" Anthy laughs high and Utena smiles, thinking for a moment before looking again at the other girl.
"Come, I will show you. Let's do this!" Utena said with a wide grin, dragging Anthy to another place on the ship, ignoring the protests of the other girl. They stopped in front of the sea, leaning on the security barrier.
"Look closely." Utena said, gaining all of Anthy's attention. After some seconds, Utena spit far into the sea, causing the other girl to make a face. Utena laughed at Anthy. "Your turn!"
The girl with green eyes looked at Utena and then back to the sea, before trying a failure spit.
"Hey! This was pathetic! Come on! You have to take impulse. Like this!" Utena then shows her one more time. "Did you see that? Look how far it goes!"
"Ok." Anthy said, trying again.
"That was much better. You need to train more." Utena smiled and Anthy looked at how far her spit has gone.
"Really?" Anthy asked and Utena nodded, then a hard laugh caught the two girls attention. Anthy froze in place, seeing Touga and Nanami standing some feet away looking at them. "Mr. and Mrs. Kiryuu!"
"Yes! I agree with the miss on your side; you really need to improve your masculine acts, Mrs. Ohtori." Touga said, smiling, while Nanami was laughing. After some minutes, she smiled, pointed at Utena and the girl, discretely, and cleaned her mouth.
"Why the honor of this surprise?" Anthy asked nervously.
"Nanami and I decided to take a walk before dinner, and Akio asked me to tell you to go back to your cabin and prepare yourself." Touga answered, then stared at Utena. "You must be Miss Tenjou, I presume."
Touga and Nanami, as well as many other noblemen of the first class, were curious and thanked the 'man' who saved my life. But, I still remember the way that Saionji looked at her the previous night, as if she was an insect—a dangerous insect that would have to be jammed quickly.
"Only Utena is fine, sir." The girl with blue eyes said, and Touga and Nanami presented themselves in a cordial way.
"You seem to be a good friend to have close in hard situations, Utena." Nanami said smiling. Soon, the group hears the bugle of the first class that announced that soon the dinner would be served. "Why do they have to annunciate dinner as if we were being attacked?"
All had laughed at the commentary and then Anthy said good-bye, saying that it would be better to come back as fast as possible towards her cabin before her brother or fiancé came looking for her.
"We will meet again in the dinner, Utena." After the girl with green eyes disappears, Touga and Nanami looked at Utena.
"Utena, do you have idea of what you are doing?" Touga asked and Utena smiled, ashamed.
"Not much, to tell the truth…" Touga laughed.
"You will be entering a snake's home." Touga then looked at the clothes that the girl was wearing. "And what do you plan to use?"
Utena mentioned her own clothes were being used at the moment, and Nanami places a hand on Utena's waist, dragging the girl along with her as Touga followed.
"It is what I was thinking. Come on." Nanami said.
In the particular cabin of the Kiryuu family, Utena, Nanami, and two more employees of the ship brought a stack of clothes so that the girl with blue eyes could prove herself, and choose one to use during the dinner.
"What do you think of this dress?" One of the employees asked while she showed it to Nanami. It was a luxurious black dress, however, Nanami immediately discards all of the dresses that had been brought to the place.
"A dress would not be good with the almost masculine Utena's appearance; practically ridiculous with the short hair!" Nanami screamed and looked at how Utena observed the stack of feminine clothes, a painful look in her eyes. "Come on! Bring me some MAN clothes!"
The two women looked at Utena and their eyes shined with anger and annoyance, making the girl with blue eyes gulp audibly, before they exited the room. Utena looked doubtfully at the door, making Nanami laugh when she notices the expression on the other girl's face.
"Hey, don't worry; it's not like they will kill you or something. It's their job to help choose the clothes for parties and dinners." Utena smiles and so does Nanami. The two young women once again entered the cabin with two stacks of masculine clothes, frightening Utena one more time when she saw the large amount.
Nanami immediately started to look through the clothes as if she was crazy, making the previous security that she gives to Utena go away. Nanami then pick ups some white clothes and tossed them into Utena arms.
"There, put it on!"
Utena hesitantly entered in another room, and after some minutes she left wearing a pair of white shoes and pants, with a long sleeve shirt of the same color. Nanami sighed and started to help Utena with some parts of the cloth.
"Come on Utena! Have you never dressed in a Tuxedo before?" Nanami asked after fixing the last part of the cloth, making Utena adjust it, and helping her close the buttons.
"Of course not! I'm poor, remember?"
"True; sorry." Nanami said, and then the Kiryuu woman and her two employees looked at the finished job with adoration and shining eyes.
"You're perfect!" One of the girls declared, and the other nodded in agreement.
"But something is missing…" Nanami said, and after giving it a little thought, put a red rose in the little pocket over Utena's left breast and a silver ring with a little rose design on it. "Now you're perfect."
In that night, a little bit before the dinner, Utena walked in the company of Nanami and Touga to one of the luxurious halls of the first class. In the entrance, the double glass door was opened for two men, allowing the three people to enter in the enormous place.
"Good evening Gentlemen, Miss." One of them complimented while the group continued to walk in the superior part of the hall, something that made the girl with blue eyes look back at man, but choosing to remain silent. Touga was smiling while Nanami discretely laughed quietly.
"This is a good signal. You will certainly enchant a certain lady this night, young prince." Utena looked at Nanami, not understanding very well the commentary that came from the other girl. Touga only laughed lowly while the group continued to walk in the place.
Utena, Nanami and Touga had gone down the two stairs that were in a wide central staircase, giving access to the low part of the hall. The Kiryuu brothers disappeared, leaving Utena alone. She descended the stairs and stared at the new place she was in.
After she was down the stairs, the girl thanked God that nobody seemed to notice the fact that she was new there and dressed in masculine clothes. Then, she started to walk with gracious steps, worthy of a member of the high society, until she found a column to lean her body on.
Then, observing some people in the place, memorizing habits and gestures of men and women, the way they walked and complimented, a couple approached Utena and compliment her, who was able to repeat the gesture without causing any suspicions….
After some minutes, Utena then heard a familiar voice coming from the stairs. She quickly glanced in that direction, and saw Saionji and Akio talking, until they both notice her and her frightened expression.
"Miss Tenjou…?" Akio asked with his jaw down to the floor.
"Good evening, gentlemen." The girl answered.
"It's… very rare… to meet a woman dressed in masculine clothes." Saionji said, his eyes cynical and his voice poisonous.
"A dress certainly would not fall very well with me, Mr. Kyouichi." The girl smiled, fighting to not let that smile turn into a grin. The green-haired man cursed silently.
"I don't think so. A white dress with golden and pink details certainly wouldn't dress you very well, Miss Tenjou, especially if you let your hair grow to fall like a cascade down your back." Anthy's brother said in a strange tone that, for a moment, the girl in masculine clothes thought that he was trying to seduce her.
"I thank you for your opinion, Mr. Ohtori. Perhaps one day, why not?" The girl answered, forcing a smile to appear on her face, while her mind was screaming NO WAY IN HELL!!!
"Well, it is almost time for the dinner. Better go now, Akio." Saionji said to the man at his side, then looked at the girl, only waiting for the right moment to show the girl her place. "We will wait you in the dinner, Miss Tenjou."
Utena watched the men as they both entered another hall. Her blue eyes were on Saionji; his tone of voice did not please her when he talked about the dinner. Then she remembered that she doesn't know about the high society manners in dinners, but she didn't have time to think about it now, because a voice behind herself, extremely known, called her and claimed her attention.
"Utena?" The girl turned around to meet Anthy. Her hair, as always, was up on her head. She was clad in a red dress with golden and beautiful details. Her face held a confused expression, her deep, green eyes observed the girl in the white tuxedo in a mixture of shock and admiration.
"Good evening, Himemiya." Utena smiled at the gorgeous woman.