[KnM][RGU][MH] Revolutions

Revolutions – Chapter 19 (Hotsprings)

A Kannazuki no Miko, Revolutionary Girl Utena and Mai Hime X-Over Fanfic

March 10, 2013 – September 30, 2014, MORE THAN A WHOLE YEAR GOOD GRIEF. (Massively re-written so many times I've lost count) -_-;;

Word Count: 10,000

More Author's notes follow at the end. Comments and Criticisms are greatly appreciated!

Mikoto stared up in morbid fascination at the giant swirling dark maw overtop of the eight ancient stone torii gates, one of which she was currently standing on. She was alone in this strange place that was neither here nor there, save for one other.

Himeno Fumi stood atop another gate, her expression unreadable, as she studied Mikoto's form. When Fumi finally spoke, there was a hint of exasperation and accusation in her tone. "I saved you once." Fumi said, "from this fate. I stopped her from turning you. Why did you throw that away? Why did you choose to join Himemiya Chikane - with Orochi?"

The black haired wild child looked over at Fumi, and the former Director could see the expression of acute anguish on the young girl's features. "I don't understand," Mikoto said softly, though the horror in her voice suggested that perhaps, on some level, she did. "Why... why can I still remember Mai? I thought... I thought Hime was going to make it so that I never met her! But I still do! I still met Mai, but... but I also... I also didn't..."

Tears of anguish streamed down Mikoto's face as she cried, grabbing her head and sobbing wildly.

A flicker of sympathy passed through Fumi's features, and the maid leapt over to the wild child's torii gate to pull the girl into a hug, letting Mikoto cry it out.

When Mikoto finally did, Fumi said, softly, "tell me what you remember, Mikoto-chan. Tell me what you remember, then tell me how it should have been."

Mikoto hiccupped. "After... after Jii died, I came to Fuuka, to find my Aniue. I was so lonely. I didn't have any friends. I lived in the forest, and I... I fought orphans, and... and I killed my enemies, and I... I did what Aniue told me to do. I was happy to find Aniue, but... but he wasn't how I remembered him to be. I was so lonely... I was... I was happy when Mai won. I was happy when Mai killed me..."

Fumi was silent, as though nothing Mikoto was saying seemed out of the ordinary at all, as though that was how she remembered it too.

"... but it shouldn't have been that way at all!" Mikoto cried. "Mai didn't kill me! Mai saved me! Mai is my most important person! She makes me ramen and she gives me bathes! And she... she didn't kill me at the end of the Festival! She saved me! She wished that I didn't have to die..! She... she loved me...!" And here, Mikoto started to cry again. "Mai! Maaai!"

Fumi simply held onto Mikoto, and let her cry again.

"Why is this happening?" Mikoto cried. "Why is Hime doing this? She...! She promised!"

"Did she actually promise you something?" Fumi asked, surprised.

Mikoto sobbed and realization dawned on her. "N... no. She... she didn't..."

"She didn't promise me anything either." Fumi said quietly. "She just... apologized. And said she needed me." And Fumi smiled thinly. "And, I suppose, she did. She does. She can't hold off the Obsidian Lord on her own. But it's alright, Mikoto-chan. Do you see that spiral up in the sky? That is her power, and it is growing stronger. Soon, she will be strong enough on her own, and she won't need us anymore. It will end soon. It's all going to end soon."

Once Nao made her escape, she made a run for it, wordlessly calling out for Julia who appeared right under her running feet, and then launched the both of them up into the air as the Child took a massive leap. They disappeared into the trees that surrounded Oogami Shrine. Julia quietly carried Nao through the trees down the hill that the shrine was situated on, and soon, Nao could see the main road in front coming into view.

Julia slowed down to a stop just in front of the road, still hidden amongst the trees. There weren't any more trees beyond the road, and Nao would have to walk if she wanted to get any further away from the shrine.

Sensing Nao's desire to keep moving, the Child started to leave the cover of the trees, but Nao stopped her with a soft murmur under her breath. "Sorry, Julia, but giant spiders aren't exactly conspicuous, and it'll be a pain if we scare the locals." She sighed.

It had been a strange feeling, when she had been reunited with Julia. On the one hand, she had been very happy to see her loyal Child again. After all, Julia had been the only one to stand on her side of the ring for a very long time, but the circumstances that had brought Julia back into her life weren't exactly ideal either.

She could still remember the dismay she had felt when, out of nowhere, in the middle of an otherwise normal and boring day, a trail of ooze started to leak out from what had looked like a crack in the universe, floating in the middle of the air. Nao had been so shocked to see this, she hadn't even been able to comprehend what was going on, until the slime had finished oozing out of the crack, and then congealed itself to form into a far more menacing looking orphan.

If Julia hadn't appeared shortly after that...

Nao shuddered, and quickly brought out her cell phone to send her most important person a text. 'Hey Mom, what are you up to today?'

After a while, her mother sent a message back. 'Nothing much – just have some blood work to get through at the hospital. How are you enjoying your field trip?'

'So boring I don't know what to do with myself. X( Can't wait for this trip to end. Luv you, Mom.'

'I love you too, Nao-chan. Be safe!'

Nao couldn't help but smile a little to herself. It had been a strange few months, since her mom's miraculous recovery from her assault-wrought coma at the end of the Hime Star Festival. Nao had been so used to being on her own, it had actually taken her a little while to get used to going back home, rather than the dorms, and having someone with authority she actually respected letting her know how disappointed she was in her staying out so late. But, of course, in the end, she wouldn't trade having her mother back for anything.

Not even Julia.

Though it was still good to see her Child again. If only Julia's existence didn't put her mother in such peril.

Putting that thought aside, Nao sighed again. "You know, Julia, it would be pretty sweet if you had a chariot mode like Gakutenoh. Something that wouldn't freak the normals out so much."

And then, even as Nao said this, Julia gave an excited chitter, and rumbled a bit.

Nao raised an eyebrow, and jumped off of her Child, looking back up at the mechanical spider curiously. "Julia?"

As Nao watched, her Child's form began to twist and contort. Eyes wide, Nao couldn't help but feel a brazen grin come onto her face when she realized that, like Gakutenoh, and Duran, Julia also had a vehicular-esque mode too. The spider-like Child had become an ATV tricycle, with two massive, thick wheels in the front, and an even larger, wider one in the back. Four of her eight long legs were attached to each to the front wheels, and stretched up and back into the air at a 45 degree angle, like pistons on a steam train, while the remaining four jutted out on either side of the massive back wheel, like oversized exhaust pipes.

Whistling in appreciation, Nao couldn't help but feel a massive grin come onto her face. Julia didn't look like a spider at all anymore. While the vehicle was quite unique, and definitely looked like its design was inspired by an arachnid, and would undoubtedly attract attention, it was still very clearly an ATV, rather than a giant spider – a very highly customized and decorated one, possibly belonging to a bosozoku member.

Nao jumped on top of her Child, and Julia leapt out of the trees and onto the road. Tires squealing, off the Child went, the legs attached to the front wheels indeed moving up and down like pistons.

"Julia!" Nao cried into the wind, feeling a wild sort of exhilaration in her hair, and in her heart. "This is the best!" She could suddenly understand why Kuga drove a motorcycle.

So Nao spent the afternoon cruising around town, attracting more than a few gawks and stares (some of them envious, others stupefied, but none out-and-out horrified, which had been her fear in the first place), and having the time of her life.

Eventually, Julia slowed to a stop, and Nao was a little surprised – but not really – when she realized that her Child had chosen to stop in front of a church. Nao stared at the building for a while, before sighing, and shaking her head. "Sometimes, Julia," she said very quietly as she dismounted from her Child, "you are too smart for your own good."

Her Child could feel the compliment in Nao's heart, if not in her words, and gave a chitter of happiness, even as she inconspicuously sunk back into the earth, to await when her mistress would need her next.

Alone once again, Nao looked up at the church a bit pensively, before putting her hands in her pockets. It took her a while before she made up her mind and entered the building.

It was a small, simple church, but the inside was bright and clean, with several pews, all in well kept condition.

There was a darker skinned woman with long, straight, purple hair at the altar, cleaning it, wearing a dark grey business suit. She looked over when Nao came in, and inclined her head in greeting, a motion Nao echoed. There wasn't anyone else in the church besides the two of them.

Nao took a seat on one of the back pews, and simply stared up at the altar, and the cross, feeling her heart twist a little with melancholy.

Eventually, the woman at the altar finished her work, and then came over to Nao.

"Good afternoon." Said the woman, with a kind smile. "My name is Miyako. I'm the administrator for this church. What can I help you with?"

Nao looked curiously at the woman. "Does it look like I need help with something?" She asked curtly.

Miyako chuckled, and sat down on the pew in front of Nao, turning back to look at her. "Well, let's see," she said, an amused lilt to her voice. "You look like a girl who should probably be in school right now, seeing as how it's a Wednesday afternoon. If you were simply playing hooky, you could do that anywhere, and yet, here you are, in my church. So, that tells me that there is probably something that you are looking for help with."

Nao smirked. "Wow. Aren't you a regular Detective Conan." She paused. "So... you're an administrator here?" She frowned. "What does that mean? Are you a nun?"

The purple haired woman shook her head. "No, I am not. I was, but, I am not anymore. I was a sister of the cloth for a while, but then I found that there was another calling for me. Still, this church means a lot to me, so I assist with its operations when and where I can, and will continue to do so, so long as I am welcome."

Nao stared at the dark skin woman for a long time with an incredulous expression on her face, and then she started to chuckle. "You are kidding me." She muttered, shaking her head in exasperation. "You have got to be absolutely kidding me."

Miyako tilted her head to the side, smiling somewhat sardonically. "Care to enlighten me as to what I've said that you find so humorous?"

Nao considered this for a moment, and then laughed. What the hell. She wasn't likely going to see this woman ever again anyways. "Oh, God, where do I begin..." she muttered. She sighed. "I always went to church with my family growing up. Even after my parents separated, every Sunday, I always went, with my mom."

Miyako settled back, folding her hands in her lap and smiling patiently.

"A couple years ago, we were robbed." Nao continued quietly. "I was at school, and mom was home alone, and there was a home invasion. Mom was... roughed up really badly. They told me there wasn't anything that anyone could really do for her. She was going to be in a coma for the rest of her life, however long that lasted. I prayed to God every day that she could get better. For a miracle. I told Him I'd do anything if He could just make her better. I would devote the rest of my life to Him if only He could make her better. But she didn't get better, and that's when I stopped going to church."

Miyako's eyes softened as she gazed at Nao with sympathy and concern. It was an expression that would have normally made the redhead feel irritated and caused her to lash out in fury, or at least, would have, before the Festival. Instead, seeing this, Nao cracked a sardonic smile.

"Then, about six months ago, a miracle actually did happen." Nao laughed, a bit hollowly. "Against all possible odds and everything, mom got better. She came out of her coma, and she's been getting stronger and stronger every day, and even though the circumstances surrounding how she got better were really, really, really messed up. Still, somehow, in the end, the fact of the matter is this: He gave me my miracle."

Now Miyako's eyebrows lifted, and a hint of a smile played at the corner of her lips. But, sensing that Nao wasn't finished, she remained quiet.

And indeed, the redhead really wasn't finished. "So, I decided to become a nun." Nao said. "Me. Yuuki Fucking Delinquent Nao, decided to become a nun, because, well, that's what I promised God. I told Him I would devote myself to Him if He could make my mom better, and hey, she got better, so, I better hold my end of the bargain, right? I mean, what if, you know, He calls me out on it?"

The purple haired woman chuckled. "Yes, well, that would be problematic, now, wouldn't it? Though, I'm fairly certain that that is not quite how He works. But, still, go on..."

Nao laughed. "I was pretty fucking brutal. I mean, I tried, but, I was definitely NOT cut out for a life of obedience and poverty, if you know what I mean. I gave it my best shot, and it definitely wasn't enough, and maybe three months into my postulancy, they told me that I really, really, really didn't have the vocation." She shook her head ruefully. "I could have told them that in the first three minutes."

Miyako chuckled.

Nao ran her hand through her red locks again. "So, at first, I was fine with it," she said softly. "I thought, well, I gave it a try, and they didn't want me, so it's no skin off my nose, but," and here, Nao's eyebrows crinkled. "But recently... bad things are happening again. You know the really messed up circumstances that gave me the miracle that made my mom better? Well... those messed up circumstances are happening again and I..." Nao took a deep breath. She couldn't believe she was admitting this, even to a perfect stranger she would likely never see again. "... I am fucking scared out of my mind. Because if a miracle can bring my mom back to me, then what's to stop a second one from taking her away? Especially if it's because... because I broke my promise to God? Because I couldn't devote myself like I said I would?" Nao grimaced, and ran her hand through her hair again, a nervous gesture. "What if something bad happens to my mom again and it was because... it was because of me? Because I wasn't good enough to join the church, or strong enough to win the Festival, or just not even fucking there to protect her from low life scum?"

Nao fell silent after that, after finally being able to speak of her greatest fear out loud.

Miyako was silent, and didn't respond right away.

And then, she put a warm hand on one of Nao's shoulders, and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "I don't think I have to tell you that life is full of uncertainties, Yuuki-san. You certainly know that well enough yourself. This world isn't fair, and sometimes, horrible things happen to good people; that's just the way He made the universe."

Nao stared at Miyako incredulously. She cracked a rueful smile. "Heh. Did they kick you out of the order too? Because I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to say that about God."

Miyako laughed. "No, I didn't get kicked out, I left of my own accord."

"Is that code for you leaving before they could kick you out?"

And Miyako laughed again. "No, it was on good terms. My brother and I are from Cambodia, and war claimed our parents and everyone we knew. The church raised us and I became a nun before I really knew any other life. Then Girochi and I had a chance to leave Cambodia and have a better life here in Japan, and we took that chance. We went to school here and I fell in love with a good man. The church gave me their blessing to find happiness, which I did. I am now a psychiatrist and a therapist, and I like to think that I still carry out God's good work by helping others with their concerns. I still serve Him, even if I am no longer a sister of the cloth. Just like I suspect you will continue to serve Him as well, in your own way. And I think you know that He knows that." Miyako smiled. "So, I wouldn't worry so much about Him calling you out on not making it through your postulancy."

Here, Miyako gave Nao's shoulder another squeeze, and Nao couldn't help but laugh as she rotated that shoulder afterwards. "Hey," Nao teased, grinning sardonically. "My shoulder feels lighter. So besides being a former nun and a psychiatrist and a therapist, are you also a masseuse?"

Miyako winked. "I am a woman of many talents."

Nao smirked. Even as she did so, her phone buzzed, and she brought out her phone to see she'd gotten a text from Midori:

Don't know where you are, but everyone's going to Spa World Resort. We're probably gonna have dinner there and spend the night.

Upon reading the text, the redhead raised an eyebrow. She looked over at the purple haired woman, who was still regarding her with faint amusement. "Hey – do you happen to know where Spa World is?"

Miyako did know, and gave Nao some quick directions.

Just before she left the church, Nao turned back and regarded the purple haired woman whose words had soothed her thoughts. "Hey..."

Miyako looked over at the teenager.

Nao rubbed the back of her head a little self consciously. "... thanks." She mumbled. "That... helped."

Miyako simply smiled.

The drive down to the morgue was a surreal one for Utena. The entire time, she felt like she wasn't really inside her body, but was someone sitting beside herself, and watching herself interact with Juri. It was a very strange sensation, not quite an 'out-of-body' experience, but more of a distracted, disconnected sort of feeling, like she watching the world, rather than living in it.

It was a feeling she had become all too familiar with over the last few weeks, and Utena could not help but fear the ramifications of that.

"What's going to happen?" Juri was asking her. "Utena, why do you want to see this body? Are you saying you know who actually died? When we all thought it was you?"

It was a complicated question, one Utena wasn't sure she could answer.

Or maybe, it's not complicated at all, and you just don't want to answer it?

'Shut up,' Utena tried to tell her heart or her brain or her soul (she wasn't sure which). 'Shut up, I don't know what's going on any more than Juri-sempai does.'

Sure you don't.

'I don't!'

When they made it down to the morgue, they discovered that they couldn't just walk right in. Given the sensitive nature of the case, the police wanted to speak with anyone who wanted to see the body, so Juri and Utena found themselves waiting for Detective Arima Souichirou to arrive and escort them in.

Do you really need to see it though?

'I do.'

Why? You already know who it is.

'I don't. I need to see. I... I need to make sure.'

Sure you do.

'Shut up.'

"Tenjou?" Came Juri's voice.

Snapping out of her own thoughts, Utena looked over at the woman sitting next to her.

The flame haired woman's eyes were crinkled with the distinct look of worry.

"You don't look well," she said quietly. "Are you sure you need to do this?"

Utena couldn't tell Juri to shut up. So she simply looked back down at her hands, pressed tightly together in her lap.

"Arisugawa-san," a man's voice called, and both Juri and Utena looked up to see the tired looking police detective walking down the hall at them, holding onto a briefcase. He stopped a few steps away from the two women, and his eyes widened as he stared at Utena and then at Juri, and then back at Juri.

"This is...?"

Juri stood up. "Detective Arima," she greeted. "Thank you for coming. This is..." Juri's eyes crinkled again, as though she wasn't quite sure how to introduce Utena. Finally, after a pause, she must have decided on the truth (as far as she knew it), "this is my old classmate from Ohtori Academy. Tenjou Utena. She participated in the duels as well. She... she would like to see the body."

"Yeah, I'll bet," the detective said, incredulity clearly evident in his voice. "She's the splitting image of what the sketch artist could give us on the victim."

Juri pursed her lips, and looked over at Utena, who could only feel that tired feeling of dread grow deeper in her belly.

Must we really go through with this?

'Yes. We must.'

"Please, Sir." Utena said softly. "I really need to see the body. I... I can't really explain why."

Arima's eyes narrowed. "Why not?"

"Because I don't know why. I just know that I do."

The detective wasn't buying it. He continued to stare at Utena, his deep brown eyes trying to bore inside her own for some kernel of guile, and Utena could easily feel the distrust and anxiety emanating from him. It made her feel, somehow, on the one hand, more tired and more resigned, and yet, on another, more resolute as well.

'I... I need this. I just... I need this.'

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he exhaled noisily, rubbing the back of his head. "Alright, fine." He said. "But you need to come down to the station with me right afterwards, and I need to get an official statement."

Utena didn't answer, right away, so Juri spoke up. "Of course, Detective. We will fully cooperate with you."

Nodding, Arima continued into the morgue, with Juri and Utena walking behind him.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as they walked down the hall. Every step she took seemed to boom with an echoing finality. Utena slowly blinked as she could feel every beat of her heart in her ears, thumping with a slow dragging sensation, as though gravity was suddenly ten times normal and dragging her down, slowing her down.

Then, Utena's booming heart slowed to a complete stop when she saw it.

The remains had already been taken out of its freezer and were lying on a table with a white sheet covering it.

And suddenly, that disturbing feeling of slipping away started up in her stomach, and threatened to take her out of her body, like so many other times the last few weeks.

But this time, Utena grit her teeth, and rebelled.

'No! Not yet! Not until I see!'

Time continued to crawl. Utena trembled, uncontrollably, as she fought to stay inside her head, fought against the vertigo that was pulling her like spaghetti, fought to remain herself. She could hear Juri beside her say, her voice low and distorted as though she weren't quite on the same plain of existence as Utena was anymore.

"Teeeeenjooooou? Whaaaat's wrooooong?"

A voice she could no longer recognized as her own because it sound so far away, but could only have been her own, came from her lips.

"Wheeeeen waaas theee boooodyyy fooooound...?"

'No, dammit! Not! Yet! Not yet! I'm not...! I'm not... ! Ready...! To go yet!'

She could barely make out the detective's response, even as both he and Juri rushed forward to try to grab onto Utena, who was already collapsing, the strength leaving her legs, as she fell forward, towards the body, towards the skeleton.

Her skeleton.

And though the detective never did answer Utena's question, somehow, she already knew the answer, as she collapsed into her own remains and disappeared.

Everything went black.

The morgue disappeared.

The earth disappeared.

The university disappeared.

There was nothing, but herself, naked, floating in an ocean of inkly blackness.

Death.

Three weeks ago was when her body had been unearthed. Three weeks since she had been disturbed and reminded of her true station in life - or more exactly to the point - in death.

Three weeks since she had run out of borrowed time, and felt destiny pulling at her.

But of course, some part of her brain or heart or soul replied, what did you think would happen when your body was unearthed and jostled around like this?

'Shut up!'

Come on, Tenjou. It's time to go. You've delayed this for far too long already. It's time to accept it. You died. You died and you've been refusing the consequences of opening the gate to the Prince. The world has needlessly suffered while you selfishly clung to the comforts of a normal life. Move on, Tenjou. Accept your destiny. You have a duty to fulfill.

'But Chikane! My baby! I can't-! I can't just-!'

A single tear spilled from Utena's eyes - or would have, if she still had eyes.

Did she still have eyes?

... yes. Yes, she did. Because she could feel a bright, warm glowing sensation just beyond her eyelids, and she could feel a warm hand, just upon her cheek.

And as Utena opened eyes that no longer should have existed, and saw the gently glowing, heavenly woman smiling fondly at her, she could feel her mouth, which also no longer existed, open in awe.

Himemiya Anthy smiled at Utena, her emerald eyes shining brilliantly with infinite fondness and love.

And Utena really could feel tears coming to her eyes as the lump developed in her throat. "H-Himemiya?" She whispered, her voice tiny. "Himemiya, is that you?"

Tentatively she reached out for her old friend, her old love, her old everything.

And as Utena reached out, so too did Anthy, until their hands met.

And Utena could hear Anthy's voice all around her, even as the angel came down and enveloped her into a a hug.

And Utena realized, it really was time to go.

"I'm here with you, Utena-sama. I'm here with you."

And Tenjou Utena accepted her destiny, long delayed.

In a place that was neither here, nor there, Ohtori Akio, the End of the World, smiled.

'Finally.'

In the middle of Ohtori City's central morgue, held in the basement of the General Hospital, Arisugawa Juri and Detective Arima Souichirou (and incidentally, as it turned out, two security cameras) witness a phenomenon that no one would ever be able to explain. This event changed the course of the rest of the Detective's life, as the only way he was ever able to reconcile what had happened with what he knew to be possible in this world was to change his definition of what he knew to be possible in the world. He became a better, wiser man for it.

For Juri however, this only cemented what she already learned from the first time she had met Tenjou Utena all those years ago.

That certain people in this world were sent to be miracles for others.

Himeko, Natsuki decided, was beautiful.

Not classically beautiful in the way Shizuru was, but there was just something innately warm and approachable about the older woman. Looking at the woman made Natsuki feel all comfortable and calm inside, as though she had a blanket draped across her shoulders while the morning sun shone down on her.

They were in the baths at Spa World Resort, at the individual washing stations where women would wash first before soaking in the hot springs.

After Himeko had insisted that she had been approached by a strange man in the cavern of Ame no Murakumo's Revival, they had all headed back there to investigate and found nothing but an old, dilapidated mikoshi in the middle of a dusty cave. Kazuki had been embarrassed that he had let such an important part of his family's shrine go to ruins but Midori had had an absolute ball digging around and investigating.

Frustratingly, however, they had not found any sign of the man Himeko had spoken of. At first she had been distraught, and insisted that the cave had not been as she had seen it earlier, but realizing just how crazy that made her sound, the tawny haired woman had clammed up, growing quieter and quieter until she was almost sullen.

Natsuki had felt badly for her, but hadn't quite known what to do. She was very glad that by that time, Makoto and Souma had come home from work. Himeko had then advised that she probably wasn't going to stay in Mahoroba for too much longer, so the old friends had decided to go out to dinner and use up the Hot Spring Resort vouchers to celebrate Himeko's birthday while she was still in town.

Not wanting to let Himeko leave, Natsuki had managed to worm her way into the dinner invite... then Midori had... then Kazuki, and before they knew it, everyone had been invited to dinner, and was staying at the Hot Spring Resort overnight.

Dinner had been fun but long and it was late in the evening when Midori had poked her head into the room Natsuki was sharing with Nao and asked them if they wanted to go for a late night soak.

That was how Natsuki found herself naked beside Himeko, admiring the other woman's beautiful skin rather than attending to her own hair like she was supposed to be doing.

Himeko had a thoughtful expression on her face as she lathered up a sponge with soap, and rubbed it against an arm. The suds floated atop of her smooth, pale, hairless skin, combining with the soft light from the wash station, and the moisture all around, to create the illusion that Himeko was luminescent; almost glowing with a soft, inviting warmth.

'She almost doesn't look real', Natsuki decided absently, 'it's like she's a dream or something. A dream made of goodness and sunlight personified...'

"Natsuki-chan, what are you doing?" Came Midori's teasing voice from absolutely out of nowhere.

The teenager, sitting on the bath stool with a bucket full of water halfway lifted up to her head almost jumped out of her own bare skin when she heard her teacher's unexpected voice.

"Gah!" In her surprise, Natsuki dropped the wooden bucket with a very loud clatter and splashing, attracting everyone's attention, including the woman she had been (not so) discretely looking at.

Much to Natsuki's mortification, Himeko turned over to look at her with a sweet but 'huh?' expression on her face, even as she continued to wring out her hair; the woman hadn't noticed Natsuki's attention until Midori had appeared from out of nowhere to bust her on it.

"N-Nothing!" Natsuki cried, quickly turning her attention away from Himeko, and turning in the direction of Midori's voice. The teacher was standing right beside her, less than three hand's breadth away, having just apparently finished undressing in the locker room and entered the bathes herself, totally nude save for a towel she held in one hand and an amused grin on her face. Natsuki's face turned a little bit redder as she found herself a little closer to Midori's private bits than she ever thought she would be. "Nothing at all!"

Nao gave a harsh bark of a laugh from her wash station, two down the other way from Natsuki. "Nothing my ass. You were totally checking her out-"

"I was just admiring her skin!" Natsuki insisted before her teacher or frienemy could finish, exasperation clear in her tone. "It's pretty!"

Himeko turned slightly red at the compliment and looked away from Natsuki to finish her own washing. "Oh. Um. Thank you." She said, embarrassed but also clearly pleased. "Natsuki-chan's skin is also very nice. You must take very good care of it. Do you use anything special on it?"

"Aaah, no, not really," Natsuki replied, now turning her attention the other way to regard the tawny haired woman. "I don't really need to worry about wrinkles or stuff like that yet."

Sweatdrops rolled down the back of both Himeko and Midori's heads at the implication in the teenager's words but Himeko was too polite to call her out on it. "Aah, is that so? That must be nice." She laughed weakly. "If I don't use lotion every day, I feel like I'm turning into a lizard."

Natsuki wrinkled her nose. "That sounds like a major pain."

Himeko smiled, a little shyly. "It's not so bad. Especially when there's someone you want to stay young for..."

Natsuki couldn't help but smile, knowing exactly who the woman was referring to.

Actually, Natsuki thought absently, as she went back to her own cleansing, Himeko keeps such good care of herself, and comes off feeling so naturally good and pure. Chikane tends to come off way older and more mature than her real age. It would probably be difficult to tell that there's a very large age difference between the two at all...

A little while later, Himeko turned off the taps at her station, and picked up her bath towel and wash bucket. "Um, I'm finished now, so I'm just going to go use the bath first..."

"Un, okay." Natsuki replied. "We'll join you when we're done."

After Himeko walked away, Midori spoke up as she started to wash her own hair. "Her skin really is pretty darn radiant, eh? Gawd, I hope I look as good as she does when I'm her age."

Nao quirked an eyebrow. "Aren't you about the same age as she is?"

The teacher gave her student a hooded glare. "I'm closer to your age than hers." She deadpanned.

The red head smirked. "Could have fooled me. Maybe you should ask her what brand she uses."

Midori dumped a bucket of cold water over Nao's head.

"AAAAEEEI!" Nao screamed, falling off of her stool as she frantically tried to get away from the sudden coldness. She fumbled for one of the taps for a moment before she could splash some warmer water over herself. "What are you doing?!"

"Showing you some manners." Putting the bucket down, Midori turned her attention back to Natsuki. "So, what have we learned?"

Natsuki looked over at the shivering Nao, before looking back up at Midori. "That you are a cruel and malicious woman?"

"No, stupid. I mean, about Himeko-san. Have you learned any more about her?"

Natsuki's brow crinkled. "Oh. Um, no. I tried to talk to her, but she's way more reserved today than she was last night. I think she's still weirded out about what ever happened to her this morning at the back of the shrine."

"Yeah, that was weird..." Midori frowned. "Natsuki, are you sure she's the Solar Priestess? I mean, you might have been checking her out because, you know, she's hawt, but I've been checking her out for purely academic reasons, and there doesn't seem to be anything unusual about her. Kazuki said the Solar Priestess has a mark on her body identifying her as such, right? Like the mark you saw on Chikane's back? But there's nothing on Himeko."

Feeling irritated at the first part of her teacher's words, but choosing not to rise to the bait, Natsuki frowned. "But it's gotta be her! I mean, it all fits! How else could she love Chikane without ever having met her? And Chikane is clearly torn up over her - I think... I think this whole thing might just be Chikane being really upset over not being with Himeko!"

Nao smirked. "You're saying that Himemiya Chikane's the kind of person who would hurt others and try to destroy the world because she's heartbroken?" There was no mistakening the acidity in Nao's voice.

Natsuki shot Nao a glare, which the red head easily returned. The two struggled to make the other look away first. In the end, Nao won.

Unable to let it end there, Natsuki muttered, softly, "... Shizuru regrets what she did."

Midori blinked. Her expression grew gentle when she saw how the discussion had upset the teenager. She reached out and touched Natsuki's shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

Natsuki nodded. "Yeah. I... yeah." But she couldn't help but feel her heart squeeze with guilt. "I just wish I had handled that... better. Maybe she wouldn't have done what she did had I just..."

"Kuga." Nao interrupted, quite seriously. The acid that was in her voice earlier was absent. But when Natsuki turned to look at her, Nao's resolve seemed a little unsure. She looked away from Natsuki, and her voice was soft, but the blue-black haired girl could still hear her. "She might be your lover, but Fujino is her own woman and responsible for her own actions. You... you have nothing to feel bad about at all."

Nao paused, and then sighed, putout. "I mean, it's not like we were all blameless either!"

Natsuki stared at Nao in disbelief.

Did she... just forgive Shizuru?!

Nao looked out of the corner of her eye at Natsuki, and seeing Natsuki still staring at her, blushed and looked away.

And Natsuki couldn't help but smile at that.

Thank... thank you, Nao.

Turning back to her own wash station, Natsuki scrubbed some more at her skin idly. "I... I know. I just wish I could have spared her all that. Just like how I hope Himeko can spare Chikane all that..."

The teacher sighed. "Hmm. Well, alright. But I think you'd better hurry, Natsuki-chan. I don't know how much longer we can stay in Mahoroba."

Natsuki frowned. "Why? What happened?"

Nao looked over at Midori too.

Midori sighed. "I got a call from Yukino just before I came here. Things have gotten pretty bad. There was a bit of a fight today and Chikane's got Sister Yukariko too now. They've shut down the school and sent all the students home and back to the dorms."

Natsuki's eyes widened. "What?! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Shizuru! Mai! Are they alright?"

"Shhh!" Midori hissed. "Yeah, they're fine. I mean, I think they're fine. I don't think I've got the story right, but it seems like Yukino tried to set a trap that didn't quite spring right. On the flip side though, it sounds like Shizuru's been able to get some good information. I guess that's where she's been the last 36 hours."

Natsuki frowned. She really needed to get the full story from Shizuru as soon as she got back to Fuuka. "Dammit! First groundskeeper Fumi, then that cat girl Mikoto, and now Sister." Natsuki pursed her lips. "I'll try to convince Himeko to come back with us to Fuuka, but I don't know if she'd be willing to leave tonight."

"Try your best. We can leave in the morning," Midori promised. "Kazuki's still trying to collect data from Yukihito, and I think that's worth waiting for." And then Midori gave Natsuki a wink. "Come on, Natsuki-chan. Let's not waste this trip. Use it to get to know Himeko-san a bit better, and see if she doesn't let something slip. I mean, that's kinda the reason why we're here at this resort in the first place."

Now it was Nao's turn to give Midori a hooded look. "And here I thought you were trying to get closer to Oogami Kazuki at a place with hotel rooms."

Midori winked. "Can't say I'm not trying to kill two birds with one stone. Rooming with the two of you at Oogami shrine last night totally put a crimp in my style."

Natsuki rolled her eyes while Nao smirked.

Finishing up with their washing, Natsuki, Nao and Midori exited the washing area and went into the outdoor hotspring area proper.

There wasn't anyone else using the pools - not surprising for close to midnight on a weekday - except for Himeko, whom was seated at the close end of the pool facing away from the entrance, staring up at the full moon in the sky.

"Ya-ho!" Midori greeted, causing Himeko to turn around and smile at them.

The three Hime entered into the hotspring, with Midori and Nao moving a little further away, while Natsuki dipped her foot into the heavenly water, and took a seat beside Himeko. Himeko smiled up at Natsuki, and moved over to give the teenager some room.

"So..." Natsuki said, not quite sure how to start this conversation.

Himeko looked at her kindly. "Yes?"

"You said at dinner that you weren't planning on staying in Mahoroba for much longer," Natsuki started. "Where were you planning on going?"

The directness of that question seemed to catch Himeko by surprise, and for a moment, the tawny haired woman seemed lost. "I haven't really decided yet," she finally admitted. "But... I was thinking... Natsuki-chan, do you think I should go to Fuuka?"

Natsuki blinked. "Yes." She blurted. "Yes I do. Go to Fuuka. Go to Chikane. The sooner the better." And here she had been worried that the tawny haired woman was going to choose to run away some more! "We're heading back in the morning - do you want to come with us?"

Her forcefulness seemed to throw Himeko further off guard, for a moment. But then the blonde's surprised expression morphed into amusement, and she smiled fondly at the teenager. "Natsuki-chan, you're very honest with your feelings, aren't you? I wish I could be as brave as you."

Now Natsuki boggled. "Wha?" She snorted. "Um, no. I am totally not. I totally suck at feelings. Like, a lot." And then Natsuki sighed. "And I really hurt my most important person, for a very long time, with that suck-age. Had I just... had I just not been so butt-headed, she could have been spared a lot of heartache..."

Himeko considered this for a moment, before she asked, "are you talking about Shizuru-san? Your girlfriend? I remember meeting her at the gala..."

Thinking back to the gala - and the events that had happened just before it - caused Natsuki to blush. Unbidden, memories of Shizuru's lips, feathering against her throat, her fingers drawing lazy circles on her abdomen, drifted into Natsuki's mind's eye, and caused a shiver to go down her back. She nodded. "Yeah."

Himeko pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her head on her knees as she looked at Natsuki. "Tell me about her? She seems like an amazing girl."

"She is." Natsuki confessed. "Shizuru was my first friend, after... after my mom died, and dad went away. I was pretty lonely, and pretty set on staying that way too, but she just kept showing up in front of me. I pretended I was annoyed with her, but I was actually really happy. Then, last year, a bunch of stuff happened, and I figured out that Shizuru didn't just like me as a friend. Somewhere along the way, she had... she had fallen in love with me. A lot of things happened after that, but in the end, it managed to work out, and we started going out this year." Natsuki smiled a little sadly, thinking back into earlier in the year. "Chikane actually helped me out with that. She helped me to realize my feelings."

Man, things had been good in first semester. How could things have gotten so bad so fast?

Those few months had been some of the best Natsuki had ever had. Certainly, it had been the first normal school semester she'd had since she had discovered she was a Hime.

Natsuki trailed off as she wondered what Shizuru was up to right now. It was frustrating that Midori hadn't had more fulsome news about what had happened at Fuuka today. As soon as she got out of this hotspring, she would send Shizuru another message, but she wasn't sure if the other girl would respond; she hadn't, to the last couple of messages Natsuki had sent today.

Seeing the expression on Natsuki's face caused a frown to come onto Himeko's own. "Is something wrong? You seem... worried, Natsuki-chan."

Natsuki considered her words carefully. "Actually... yeah. Things are pretty messed up right now, and... well, it's because of Chikane."

Himeko frowned. She sat up a little more attentively. "Chikane-chan?"

"Yeah. She's really messed up right now, and she's hurt a bunch of people."

"What?" Himeko's brow crinkled. "That... that can't be true! Chikane-chan wouldn't do something like that!"

Natsuki was silent. And then she decided to just tell the tawny haired woman everything.

Hell, why not! Midori's already told Kazuki!

Turning to face the other woman, Natsuki took a deep breath, and said, earnestly, "keep an open mind about what I'm about to say, okay?"

Himeko nodded.

"Do you remember what we were talking about earlier today, in Kazuki's office? About the legend of Ame No Murakumo, and how the Solar and Lunar Priestesses have to kill each other to reset the world?"

Himeko looked confused. "... yes...?"

Natsuki struggled to try to explain what she was thinking without sounding absolutely crazy, but couldn't.

"I think that Chikane-chan is the Lunar Priestess reborn, and that you were the Solar Priestess 16 years ago. I think Chikane is really angry at the world and wants to destroy it and I think you are the only person who can stop her."

Himeko stared at Natsuki blankly.

"..."

In the background, the clocks in the bathes started to bong twelve times solemnly, signalling the changing of the day from late September 30th, to early October 1st.

Natsuki groaned inside her head. 'Great. She thinks I'm crazy.'

But instead of saying so, Himeko slowly blinked, and then, much to Natsuki's immense surprise, Himeko's eyes seemed to widen in an epiphany, even as her mouth opened.

As though she were remembering something.

"Oh my god..." Himeko whispered, tears suddenly forming in the corner of her eyes. "Chi... Chikane-chan...!"

Now Natsuki's eyes widened too, as hope dared to flare in her heart that things might be going her way for once. "Himeko...?"

Himeko suddenly screamed, throwing her head back to stare up into the sky, as though she were seized by something, causing Natsuki to jump in fright, and Midori and Nao to whirl around to look at them.

"Hey! What's going on?"

The tawny haired woman started to hyperventilate, a hand clutching at her chest, breathing short, shallow breaths as though she were in pain. She muffled that cry of pain, and doubled over.

Nao and Midori both hurried over to where Himeko and Natsuki were, even as Natsuki stood up and grabbed the tawny haired woman's shoulders. "Oi! What's happening? Are you alright?"

To Natsuki's left, Nao's voice could be heard saying, incredulously, "holy crap, is she having a heart attack? She's old, but she's not THAT old."

Before anyone could give Nao a dirty look however, Himeko caught everyone's attention again, as she wasn't able to stifle her next cry. Her body arched backwards as a blast of light shot out of the middle of her chest and up into the heavens.

The blast lasted several seconds, light so intense it hurt the eyes, and Natsuki had to shield her vision. Then, just as abruptly as it had appeared, it disappeared again, leaving spots in Natsuki's vision.

Himeko crumpled weakly into the water, clutching weakly to the side of the spring.

"Himeko! Himeko! Hey, are you alright? Nao – help me get her out of the water!" Between the two teenagers, they managed to pull the older woman out of the pool, and onto the side of the spring.

"What the hell…?" Nao trailed off, as all three Hime caught sight of the brilliantly shining insignia glowing in the middle of the older woman's chest, in the shape of a stylized and blazing sun.

Midori was stunned. And then she looked over at Natsuki and said, in disbelieving, but clearly excited tones, "well whaddaya know. Looks like your gut was right, Natsuki."

'Do you want to remember?'

Yes. Yes she did. More so than anything. So much so it hurt. Why did Chikane-chan always have to bear the burden of remembering everything when she always got the easy path? She got to forget, and come back, with a clean slate. But Chikane-chan. Poor Chikane-chan's always seemed to remember, somewhere in the bottom of her soul, all the pain, all the suffering.

It wasn't fair. She didn't want the mercy of forgetting anymore. She wanted to remember her Chikane-chan.

'Then remember.'

And Himeko did.

She remembered the joy of meeting Himemiya Chikane for the first time (no, not the first time - far from the first time - but the first time that lifetime) in the rose garden at Mahoroba Academy. She remembered the way her heart had skipped a beat upon laying eyes on that achingly beautiful, familiar face again, for the first time.

She remembered the pain, the searing grief, as they had to part, again, in that field of yellow flowers, only this time, for the first time, it was Chikane-chan who had died, rather than herself. Their time was up - Chikane had bled out from the stomach wound she had given her in a fit of anguish. The injustice of her death would move the gods to exercise their combined might to reverse the flow of time, so that the universe could be reset.

She remembered her promise. 'I'll find you, Chikane-chan! I promise! I'll look all over the world for you.'

She remembered Chikane-chan.

Her Chikane-chan.

And Himeko wanted to weep from the joy of it all.

'Go deeper.'

W-what? Deeper? But...

'Go deeper.'

But there is no deeper! If I go deeper, there's only...!

'GO DEEPER.'

And Himeko went deeper...

... where there was only darkness. An eternity of black solitude, strangling her. No light. No sound. No sensation. Just... nothing. Just sitting, alone, waiting, always waiting. With nothing, absolutely nothing.

She was drowning in it. It was filling her throat and her eyes. The loneliness. The longing. The waiting.

In the overwhelming ocean of empty blackness that represented the centuries, the millennia, that Himeko's soul had spent in solitary confinement in the shrine on the moon, outside of the great wheels of reincarnation and the great river styx, she clung to those preciously short few years she spent on the mortal coil, like small islands. But they would never last. She would only ever find respite on the earthly plane for a short sixteen years, until the great tides of destiny would wash her back into that terrible blackness, the terrible nothing.

Himeko screamed as she remembered everything that had ever happened to her, in all of her lives, and the great vast swathes of emptiness that separated those lives.

It was not something any human mind was ever meant to be able to endure.

Oogami Kazuki had always prided himself on being a cool, calm and composed individual, which was why he had such a hard time living it down when he opened his hotel room door thinking it was Midori who had knocked and finding Yukihito instead.

His former student burst out laughing upon seeing what the green haired man was wearing (or more to the point, wasn't wearing), when he opened the door. "Sensei!" Yukihito howled in laughter, even as Kazuki shut the door in his face, and ran for a bathrobe.

When he came back to the door, Yukihito had already let himself in, and was still chuckling madly. "Oh man, Sensei! Looks like Midori-chan really managed to get under your skin, eh? Oh, how I had once hoped that you would answer the door for me like that!"

"Yukihito, please," Kazuki moaned. "Please tell me you are here for something other than entertainment at my expense!"

His former student grinning winningly and lifted up the scroll he was carrying. "Let's just say I feel fully compensated for my troubles."

Kazuki's eyes perked up with excitement as he took the scroll his former student was offering, and rolled it out on one of the tables in the room. "Ah, so you did manage to find it, after all. I was afraid you may have misplaced it, since you were gone so long."

"Give me a little more credit!" Yukihito scoffed, even as he sat down at the table and opened up his knapsack. "I might be a little late, but I have a good reason for it."

"And?" Kazuki smiled thinly.

"Well, I was thinking about how you were able to come to the conclusion that Midori-chan's book seemed to be the volume II to our volume I? Well, the more I thought about the legend of Orochi, the more I got to thinking, well, what if our volume I wasn't actually volume I, but volume II? And that Midorhi-chan's book is actually volume III? Because, you gotta admit, Sensei, none of our research ever really unearthed what started the cycle of Orochi in the first place. So I asked around the folklore department at the University..."

Kazuki frowned as he examined the papers that Yukihito had brought him. He could tell right away that the materials in front of him were copies - the paper was too new. Still, Yukihito did have a good instinct for investigation, so Kazuki started to read.

"In the beginning, there were people - just regular people, doing regular things, and sometimes, not-so-regular things. The people would help each other, would hurt each other, and would exhibit the entire spectrum of human behavior. It was from the people that the essence of The Prince was fashioned..."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Oh man. This. Chapter. This. And I still don't like it, but I don't think I ever well because the pacing is entirely atrocious and inelegant and I totally reserve the right to come back and rip this chapter apart with zero warning in the future. Ugh. -_-;

It's a little embarrassing to admit to this, but a huge part of the reason for the massive delay between Chapter 16 and Chapter 17 was because I was so stubborn about trying to fit a fillery Hotspring episode into story, and I really wanted it to happen between Chapter 16 and 17 for really no good reason at all. That stubborness prompted a bunch of massive re-writes and frustration and before I knew it, Muse-chan said, "I can't do this anymore", threw up her hands and walked out.

It... took a while to coax her back, and we compromised, and the hotpsring episode took place at a spa instead, and wasn't nearly as fillery as intended because, by this stage in the game, I really needed to kick plot into high gear. Still hopefully some of the bonding moments made you smile, even though they don't necessarily advance plot. I mean, why bother with a cross-over at all if the characters don't get a chance to interactive with each other, eh? (That and I just couldn't not tackle why the hell Nao shows up in so much official art in a nun's habit - I really don't think she's just cosplaying).

That does it for this round of updates. We're moving into the final story arc, and at this point, I'm planning for 5 more chapters (3 chapters of Climax, plus a denoument and an epilogue), and then that should be it. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the plan doesn't change any more than it already has, but let's face it - I can't really promise that. Had this fic gone according to plan in the first place, it would have only been 12-14 chapters long, as I tried to mimic the scope and progression of the original KnM series (which was only 12 episodes long). Instead, I guess I ended up mimicking the Mai-Hime series (at 26 episodes). I guess I should just be glad it didn't end up mimicking Utena (at 39 episodes - oh gawd).

As a bit of warning, I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out, though with luck, it will be sometime in October. It starts off covering a pretty mature subject matter.

Cheers,

jen-chan

jen-chan-shaw. livejournal. com

OMAKE I: Next Time, a Mai-Hime Style Preview

[CHIKANE's voice can be heard doing the voice over for a series of fast paced clips edited together very confusingly and with deliberate misrepresentation so brazen the producers should be ashamed of themselves.]

CHIKANE: [Voice quivering with emotion] Next time, on Revolutions, Revolutions, a Kannazuki no Miko, Revolutionary Girl Utena and Mai Hime X-over, after 19 chapters of teasing, we finally, FINALLY get moving onto the conclusion!

[The CAMERA pans out from CHIKANE and we see she is holding HIMEKO's hand tightly and the entire REVOLUTIONs cast is behind them wearing party hats, throwing confetti, blowing into noisemakers, and generally having a grand old time.]

EVERYONE: Yaaay! Wooo!

CHIKANE: [Hugging HIMEKO and weeping tears of relief] Oh Himeko!

HIMEKO: [Equally teary eyed] Oh Chikane!

CHIKANE: Finally! After 19 chapters of this crap! I think we're finally getting to the end! We're finally going to be together!

NATSUKI: [Standing beside CHIKANE and reading the script worriedly] Uh, I don't know if you guys want to celebrate just yet. I mean, this climax is supposed to have enough stuff in it to last 3 chapters, so I'm not sure you're gonna be able to get your Chimeko on just quite yet...

SHIZURU: [Nodding sagely]. Besides, I paid that damn author quite handsomely to make sure I get some SHIZNAT in first.

NATSUKI: Yeah, Honey, I think that might have gotten pushed back too.

SHIZURU & CHIKANE IN UNISION: What?! Then what happens next?!

NATSUKi: [Shares the script with SHIZURU and CHIKANE who read then both look grim.]

SHIZURU: Oh, right. It's that scene.

CHIKANE: The author wrote that so long ago without doing anything with it, I thought it might have gotten left on the cutting room floor.

SHIZURU: I don't think so. That scene is the only reason why Revolutions became a three way cross-over rather than a two-way. Like she'd ever let that piece go.

CHIKANE: [Sounding resigned. HIMEKO squeezes her hand comfortingly.] Anyway, please stay tuned for the next chapter of Revolutions, Chapter 20 - Climax I - Regret.