Author's Note: This chapter has been complete for, uh...a little over a month? For some reason I didn't upload it...it may have been that my internet was out, and I forgot to do it afterwards. Sorry! I'll get on the next one right away!
Dang, already twenty-five chapters. Nuts, huh? I've never in my life written this much of a story before. Maybe after this I'll actually be able to work on my original fictions. That would be nice.
On another note, have you ever tried to sit down and write and your head is just completely blank? Not a single dang idea to be found? Yeah, that was me on this chapter. I had to hash it out with Kerri first.
Kagayaku Means to Shine
Anime: Shoujo Kakumei Utena
Rating: PG-13
Written: 10 June 2007
Chapter Twenty-Five
Keiji was drawing again, had been drawing for hours. Again. Barely acknowledging the world outside of his art, being coaxed to eat and sleep only with the greatest of efforts.
Several feet away, thoroughly ignored, stood another young man, and his crimson eyes burned as hot as any fire ever conceived of by man.
"Why do you obsess over that stupid girl?" he demanded, angrily. A snarl twisted his mouth as the black-haired young man responded without ever looking away from his paper.
"Because she is perfect. She is the model I have been awaiting for years, the perfect model to spark my creativity, to bring my paintings to life, to give me purpose in my art." His words were calmly spoken, but the spark of obsession was very poorly hidden, and Takeda's anger burned hotter and hotter with each word spoken.
"Perfection? That skinny, stupid little girl? A foolish child with a lucky streak that makes her think she's something special, that she's somehow worthy to-"
"Enough!"
Takeda froze nearly in mid-word as Keiji's blue eyes snapped at him from across the room. And as glad as he was to see those eyes directed at something other than the crowded drawing table, he couldn't help being taken somewhat aback by the naked anger that shone through. He'd never seen Keiji lose control like this, not even when...
"This issue is no longer up for discussion, Takeda. I will not tolerate this questioning. Now leave me, I dislike being interrupted at my work."
And, with a snarl more of hurt than of anger, Takeda whirled and left, only footsteps and the sound of a slamming door lingering after he was gone.
"No, no, no...please work? Please? Oh no, I'll be late to class! Please open!"
Small, feminine hands fumbled with the locker's spinner, entering the combination over and over and despairing as it failed, over and over, to accept it and open. Kasajima Maki was about ready to quit and go to class without his books, after all.
The slim boy jumped and squealed as a fist suddenly thumped against the locker's surface, causing it to obligingly pop right open.
"Oh thank goodness," Maki sighed, turning and meeting the bluest, most amazing eyes he'd ever seen in his life. His heart stopped.
"Oh my," he murmured.
Nishiki was no less stunned. Having seen what he thought was Kasajima Mika fumbling with her locker, he had planned to offer his assistance to the President of the chess club, of which he was a member.
Instead, he found himself face-to-face with the most beautiful boy he'd ever seen, and to his complete surprise he felt his heart pounding, almost – but not quite – as if he was nervous. He forced himself to look away, at least briefly, trying to shake the sharp and sudden feeling of...almost need to drown in those green eyes.
"Y-you're not..." His cheeks flushed hotly as he stuttered, and cleared his throat before trying again, "Oh, I apologize. I thought...well, I suppose I mistook you for Kasajima Mika-buchou (1). That was my mistake."
"N-no, that's alright. It happens a lot, I guess, because we're twins. And she wears the boys' uniform, so..." Maki blushed as well, though it was more luridly visible on his pale skin, "You're Tenjou...Tenjou Nishiki, right? Your twin is Tenjou Nishiko, right?"
"Yes," Nishiki responded, filing the oddity of Maki's speech style (2) away for future examination, "But I think we're easier to tell apart, since she wears the girls' uniform. How do you know my sister?"
"We're in the literature club together. It's really amazing that she finds the time to be in the literature club and the swim club. I would never be able to do it. Of course, I'm the President of the literature club, so it takes a lot of my time."
"Really?" As long as he didn't meet Maki's eyes too often, Nishiki found that it wasn't too terribly difficult to hold a lucid conversation with the other boy. "Your sister is the President of several clubs, isn't she?"
And for the first time, Maki's genial expression collapsed.
"Well," he said with unexpected sharpness, "We can't all be perfect, shining princes, can we? Excuse me, I'm going to be late to class."
And with that, he snatched up his books, slammed his locker closed, and stalked off down the hall, leaving Nishiki wondering if it had been something he said.
In another part of the school, headed for the swimming pool, Nishiko was feeling in a bit of an odd mood herself, and suspected that at least a little of it was feedback from her brother. In any case, she couldn't seem to decide if she wanted to be annoying, flirty, or both, and glanced about restlessly for a target to expend both emotions on. Someone shy, maybe, that she could tease without having to worry about unwanted advances in return.
That wasn't what she found. What she found, instead, was Kasajima Mika.
This could be dangerous, she thought. Not that it stopped her. If anything, it excited her even more than the duels did, and those were otherwise the most exciting things in her life.
"Kasajima-senpai," she said with a slightly more toothy smile than was really called for, catching up with the older girl and then slowing to walk alongside her.
"Tenjou-kun," Mika said with a more tame smile than the one that caused mass-faintings.
"You're looking exceptionally handsome today," Nishiko said, grinning. Her grin widened as Mika trotted a few steps in front of her, turning around and sketching a courtly bow before resuming walking. It was nice to have someone get into the game so quickly.
"Why thank you, my lady! You're looking remarkably beautiful as well."
Nishiko couldn't help but smile, knowing full well that she was still damp from her recent swim club practice and subsequent shower, and looking far from her best.
"Have you thought about having your eyes examined, o fair Prince?"
"Oh indeed! But my eyes are perfect, I assure you. Only the best to admire my admirers with, after all."
"And do you?" At Mika's blank look, Nishiko expanded the question, "Do you admire your admirers, I mean."
"Of course!" Mika laughed, "Boys, girls, it hardly matters to me. I find something to admire in everyone."
"Oh, really?" This time, it was Nishiko's turn to trot ahead and turn around, her hands clasped behind her back as she bent forward slightly, positioning herself to look cutely up at the upperclassman, "And what do you admire about me, Kasajima-senpai?"
"Please, call me Mika. And I admire your eyes, naturally! They're beautiful, you know."
Nishiko fluttered purple lashes above the aforementioned eyes, putting her most girly expression on.
"Just my eyes? That's all?" She was fishing for compliments, and they both knew it. Mika obliged anyway. All part of the game.
"Ah, your eyes are only the beginning! There is so much to admire, after all, I had to choose a place to begin."
"Well, that's alright then...as long as you tell me all those other things that you admire!"
"Ah, but that would be telling, would it not? A Prince must have some secrets, after all!"
"Oh, you tease me! How cruel!"
They both laughed at Nishiko's overacting, then continued to walk side-by-side, not speaking for several moments until Mika broke the silence.
"On your way home from swim practice, I presume?"
"Can you tell?" Nishiko asked dryly, looking pointedly at her duffle bag, prominently labeled 'Ohtori Academy Swim Club'.
"Not at all," Mika responded equally dryly, before they both started laughing again. "Well, my dorm is next door to yours, I believe. Shall I walk you home?"
"I think I like that idea," Nishiko answered with a smile, switching her duffle bag to her other hand and boldly hooking her now free arm through Mika's, "Lead on, fair Prince."
As they walked, a single blood red rose tumbled from the back of Nishiko's bag to rest, pristine, in the middle of the path. Tied to the rose was a note, in bold, masculine characters.
"I challenge you."
Two shadows on a rose-marked wall, one painting and the other apparently filing her nails.
"Did you know, did you know, have you heard the news?"
"I'm painting a picture of the perfect girl! The painting girl pointed at her canvas with her brush.
"That looks more like a dog to me," observed the other girl without looking up.
"Oh, no!"
The canvas becomes visible, and on it is a small, sketchy creature with a long snout, a round belly, and a long string coming from its navel. (3)
"Oh dear, someone should tell all the artists in the world!"
"Tell them what?"
"That there's no such thing as a perfect girl!"
"But I'm perfect!"
"Not even close."
"Oh!" The girl who had been painting mimed being shot, clutching her hands over her heart.
"But it's true. There really are no perfect girls."
"Did you know, did you know, have you heard the news?"
END CH.25
REFERENCES:
(1) Buchou: A title given to club presidents, typically attached to their last or (rarely) first names.
(2) Maki's speech: This is sort of an odd reference. The way I see Maki speaking is...not precisely girly, but not masculine. More gender-neutral (i.e. Using 'watashi' instead of 'boku' or equivalents), which would sound kind of formal in some instances. It would just be odd to hear a boy using gender-neutral speech in casual situations, that's all. And he uses 'ne' a lot, which is a girly speech aspect.
(3) The little red creature from the Utena movie, the one that Shiori drew on Touga's back and which subsequently appeared in the first 'scandalous videotape', with Chuchu. Nobody seems to remember it, so look here (the address is segmented to work on add the dots and slashes in yourself) www dot ohtori dot nu slash gallery slash movie slash Screen29 dot jpg.