Author's Note: I am a horrible person. I apologize for the lack of updates, I didn't even realize it had been so long. If I ever go this long again without an update, please feel free to email me and berate me for it. I swear I won't feel pressured, it's just that sometimes, I need a swift kick in the, uh, tail.

Also? For those of you who read chapter 26 before 12 January 2008, that last scene never happened. If you don't know what I'm talking about, good. If you do, go back to chapter 26 and look over the revisions I made.

Kagayaku Means to Shine
Anime: Shoujo Kakumei Utena
Rating: PG-13
Written: 12 January 2008-2 February 2008
Chapter Twenty-Seven

The grinding of teeth, the crunching of paper gripped far too tightly, heaving breaths through the nose...all little sounds that went unheard by the embracing pair sitting on a blanket just a few meters away. Had they been aware of the person spying on them, doubtless the pair would have tempered their behaviour at least a bit, but in the absence of this awareness their embrace became steadily more amorous, until finally the watcher could take no more and turned sharply on one heel, marching away and allowing the crumpled paper to float to the ground. It had served its purpose.

"I'm home," called Nishiko as she stepped into her dorm building, kicking her outside shoes off and stuffing her feet into a pair of slippers. Silence greeted her. She frowned and began to wander through the building, poking her head into various rooms and finding nothing.

"Nikki? Satoru?"

She finally came to the bedrooms and nudged open the door to the room she shared with Satoru, only to find the place completely ransacked. The table was overturned, the desks emptied and their contents flung to the floor. She froze, extending every sense she possessed in an attempt to decide whether the danger lingered or not. The room felt fine, though, so she cautiously made her way further inside, straightening whatever was easily put right as she moved by it.

Finally, in the very center of the top bunk, her bed and the only untouched area of the room, was a neatly folded note with an elaborate brown wax seal holding it closed. Cracking it open after noting the image on the seal, a pegasus chained, she read the single line scribed within, in neat, precise handwriting, before snarling and crumpling it up.

"I don't think so," she snarled as she dropped the note in an unwitting mirror of that afternoon's spy and stalked out, "The Bride is mine!"

Satoru lay quietly on the stone of the dueling arena, staring blankly into space. She'd struggled, earlier, and her face and arms bore the marks of her captor's displeasure. The very same 'captor' on whose legs her head was now resting, the very same 'captor' who was stroking her hair with bloodied hands, as if she was a pet or a doll, who was murmuring to her in a low, hoarse voice. Brennan.

"Why did you struggle, darling? I didn't want to have to hurt you, but what else can I do when you fight me like that? All I want to do is make you happy! What is she doing? She neglects you, ignores you, runs around with that freak in the boys' uniform...I would never do that! I would cherish you, bury you in affection and gifts, protect you..."

The insensible muttering continued, but Satoru wasn't listening. Her eyes moved suddenly to the entrance of the arena, where Nishiko was just reaching the top of the stairs. Even from that distance, Satoru could see her eyes flashing in pure fury. Evidently, so could Brennan.

Pushing Satoru out of her lap like a discarded toy, Brennan stood, one hand wrapped around Satoru's upper arm forcing the smaller girl to do so as well. Her voice when she spoke was shrill, furious, and utterly insane.

"So, now you want her, eh? Is that how it is? You only want her when she's not yours! You don't deserve her, and I'm going to take her away from you! She loves me, you'll see! She's mine! I'll kill you!"

Nishiko cursed under her breath as Brennan drew a heavy sabre from the sheath at her side, and wished fervently that she'd thought to bring her own sword. Now, unarmed and apparently engaged in a battle for her life, she was cursing her own foolishness as she scrambled backwards to avoid the taller girl's haphazard swings.

Satoru, meanwhile, was casting about for a way to distract Brennan for at least a quick moment. Finally, she settled for the tried-and-true.

"Kill her, Nishiko-sama! I know you can beat her!"

Brennan paused, turning a horror-struck expression on Satoru just as the latter yanked Nishiko away.

"Nishiko-sama, please be still for a moment," she said quickly as she laid one small hand on Nishiko's chest, right over her breastbone, "This won't hurt."

And with that, she drew a slim, beautiful sabre from Nishiko's chest, the hilt golden and the knuckle guard bearing a bluish-purple jewel that shone with an almost blinding light as it settled into Nishiko's hand. Startled bright blue eyes met dim green bearing an unusual expression of hopefulness for a bare instant before Brennan reached out to rip Satoru away and fling her to the ground again.

Nishiko barely managed to bring her sword up to guard as Brennan's came at her; sloppy but powerful, a poor combination when battling with live weapons and liable to put someone's life at risk. A series of hurried and distinctly ungraceful blocks allowed Nishiko to pull back a few steps at least, giving herself a little more space to work in as she continued to deflect Brennan's attacks, hoping to tire her out.

Brennan, crazed though she was, caught on to Nishiko's tactic of constant blocking fairly quickly, and began to scream again, battering at the darker girl's gleaming blade without cease until Nishiko felt ready to collapse from the effort of defending herself. Finally, she slipped to one knee before Brennan, her breath coming in harsh gasps and her eyes sparking with anger. Brennan just laughed, spinning her sword in one hand as she raised it above her head, intending to bring it down for one final strike that would inevitably smash through Nishiko's weakened guard and quite possibly kill her. With a yell, she began to bring the sword down...

Only to gasp in sudden agony as a sensation bloomed in her stomach like none she'd ever felt. Her first wild thought was that Nishiko had just stabbed her, but the other girl's sword was lying on the ground, clean. It had been, rather than her sword, Nishiko's fist that had exploded into Brennan's stomach, leaving her feeling as if her midsection had just been ripped out.

And before she had time to properly process what had just happened, Nishiko was knocking her feet out from under her and putting one foot to the wrist of her sword hand.

"Let it go," the purple-haired girl snarled, and Brennan had no choice but to obey.

"What is mine is mine, whether I abuse it or not. Now leave Satoru – and me – alone, or I won't hesitate to do more than wind you and knock you over!"

And with that, she pressed down with her foot hard enough to draw an agonized wail from Brennan before turning and walking away, her discarded sword shimmering out of existence as she left the arena, Satoru scrambling to her feet to follow with only one quick glance back at Brennan, who was slowly getting to her feet, cradling her injured wrist with a look of impotent, thwarted rage.

Satoru sat quietly on her bunk, a little stunned, as Nishiko tended to the bruises and cuts the pale girl had taken at Brennan's hands, her touch as surprisingly gentle as her voice.

"I have been neglecting you, haven't I? I'm sorry. I don't mean to treat you so poorly...and don't you dare say it's alright because we're 'engaged'," she added, just in time to stop Satoru from saying exactly that.

"But it is-"

"No it isn't. You're a human being, and I barely even seem to think of you that way, and that isn't acceptable no matter who I'm doing it to, so shush and let me take care of you. Then, I'm going to clean up this mess while you rest, and then we'll go to bed. Alright?"

"...Alright."

Later than night, with the mess cleaned up and Satoru sleeping peacefully, Nishiko finally changed into her pajamas and scaled the ladder to her own bed.

Lying there on her pillow was a white rose and a note.

Nishiko was really starting to hate notes.

END CH.27

Another note: I called Nishiko's heart-sword a sabre. It's supposed to look like the Sword of Dios, which I'm relatively certain is a light sabre. I'm not completely sure, but how am I supposed to know when it looks like the bastard child of a rapier and a sabre? I mean seriously.