Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction / X/1999 Fan Fiction ❯ Added To, Taken From ❯ After Hours ( Chapter 1 )

Added To, Taken From

After Hours

The apartment was dark, lit only by a street lamp outside the window peeking through the slats of Venetian blinds. The sounds of the city filtered through the closed glass and through the walls themselves, though it was a sound the occupant was now accustomed to. Neighbors going about their own routines also added to the background noise, but that was no matter. The hum and then almost silent hiss of the air conditioner started, and all outside noise became even more inconsequential.

A soft knock at the door brought the occupant out of her silent reverie. She padded across the plush carpet with a nearly silent tread. She opened the lock with a soft click, then pulled the door open with a soft, almost unnoticed creak. "Who--"

"I found you."

The two women stared at each other in shock. The door fell the rest of the way open as the apartment's pink haired occupant fell to her knees and the doorknob slipped from her fingers. Her other hand flew to her open mouth and her bluer than blue eyes began to blink quickly as tears began to well up.

"What are you doing here?" she asked softly.

The other didn't seem to hear. "I found you, I found you just in time."

The building was rocked in a sudden earthquake, screams were heard around them and crashing sounds as objects flew off shelves. Car alarms were heard from the distant street. Everything swayed, even the air around them wavered. Soon they were both on their hands and knees, huddling in the doorway together. The earthquake finally came to an end with the building still standing and the electricity still on, so they rose with shaky sighs and shared the smiles that only survivors share.

"I've lived here since...since then…and I'm still not used to the earthquakes. There were never any earthquakes at the Academy. At least, not the physical sort."

Her pale hands were shaking like leaves as she reached for the doorframe to brace herself. A darker hand reached out to take the extended hand, and the pink-haired girl gasped. Her eyes slid slowly closed and her head bowed. "Why are you here, Anthy?"

"I've been looking for you for a very long time, Utena...sama...." The last was said with a wistful smile and a searching look, almost as if she were seeking permission to use the honorific again.

"Anthy." Utena said the name so softly, it was a whisper of sound that carried with it the weight of the world. "You killed me. You let me die. I trusted you."

"No, I didn't kill you. I made you live."

Utena nodded, agreeing and accepting that as truth. Still, tears began to slide from her eyes and she reached out to her friend. "It didn't matter. None of that matters. I missed you and I wanted to see you again. You're my friend. I thought I'd never see you again, I've been here so long. I thought you'd abandoned me for--"

"Shhhh..." Anthy placed a finger over Utena's lips, barely touching. "I'm here now."

The world began to intrude on their moment as sirens wailed down the street and people began milling down the hall. A large man walked over with concern etched clearly on his face and asked if they were okay. The young women nodded, then one by one accepted his help in standing. They each thanked him for his kindness, and then Utena invited her old friend into the apartment. She flipped the light switch on and a harsh glow lit the stark space. Everything was black and white here. The room was cold and impersonal, lacking the personal touches Utena had added to their dorm room. That had all been left behind in that other world of course, but enough time had passed that new mementos should have filled the space.

"I don't know if I like this real world," Utena admitted softly. "I thought that all I wanted was to bring you into it, but I found myself here alone. Now I'm not so sure."

"Would you go back if you could, Utena-sama?" It was the same sweet tone that Anthy had always used, but now Utena could hear an undertone to it. She had stripped away the truth of her friend. She had found reality. There was a hint of danger and a touch of warning in those words.

"Now that you're here, I want to stay where you are."

Something shifted about the smaller girl, some subtle change overtook her. Her smile now seemed more real. Her eyes contained fewer secrets. "Thank you, Utena." Her silky voice sounded genuinely grateful.

"We'll be best friends forever now?"

"Of course."

~@~

The first thing that Sumeragi Hokuto was aware of was the overpowering scent of roses. Before her eyes even opened she was aware of the sweet and haunting fragrance, stronger than she had ever smelled before. She shifted and felt a million soft fingers caress her skin, and she knew without looking that rose petals surrounded her. Slightly more motion let her know that she was curled up in a tightly enclosed space. She opened her eyes in panic, but when she did the entire world changed. She was on a balcony. There was a wrought iron table painted white and three matching chairs, all decorated with roses. Tea had been set out for three, and upon the cups and saucers the same rose pattern appeared.

Hokuto closed her eyes experimentally, only to find that she was still aware of being in an enclosed space. As her eyes flew open she was still overwhelmed by the scent of roses. "This is unexpected," she murmured to herself softly. "I never would have thought roses...."

"What?" A girl's voice interrupted her thoughts. When Hokuto had opened her eyes the first time she had been sure she was alone, but now a girl her own age was standing slightly behind her, just out of her line of sight.

The two turned to face each other, smiling in greeting. "Oh, it's nothing! You'd think I'm silly, but I thought if I'd be seeing flowers they'd be sakura, not roses."

The girl blinked, nonplussed, but shrugged off her confusion. "Well, anyway, I'm pleased to meet you! I'm Monou Kotori." She bowed formally, and then straightened with a wide smile.

Hokuto returned the bow with a smile of her own. "I'm Sumeragi Hokuto, pleased to meet you as well."

Kotori looked startled, gaping a little. "You're the one Kakyou mentioned," she said softly. "You've been here a long time then, right?"

"You know Kakyou? I don't know him very well, but I was looking forward to getting to know him if he ever left his dreams. It's too bad that things worked out like this, but it couldn't be helped." She sighed as she remembered what had happened and why she had done it, but she knew that she had saved her brother at least with her sacrifice. That was all that mattered. "This isn't what I expected from the afterlife though at all. Oh, what did you mean by a long time? I just got here?"

A deep voice came from the shadows within the building, startling both girls. "Time is irrelevant here. You could say that you both just got here, or you could say that one of you got here years ago. Maybe both of you arrived so long ago that it doesn't matter."

It was Hokuto who found her voice first, of course. "Lurking in shadows does not lend well to a positive first impression. You startled us."

The man who stepped out of the shadows had long white hair and rich brown skin. His smile was self-assured and his stance was both confident and sensual. "I am Ohtori Akio. Please, join me for tea."

The three of them sat and Akio poured the tea. They were silent for a moment, drinking the tea, each waiting for another to break the silence. Again it was Hokuto who spoke up first, never one to keep silent when it was not necessary. "What is this place?"

"This is Ohtori Academy, and I am the acting chairman here. You two are my honored guests...I brought you both here because I need your help."

~@~

Kiryuu Touga stood in the shadows, waiting. The game was being brought to a new and probably dangerous level, but Akio had been acting with a strange intensity since his sister had disappeared. Hadn't something else happened at the same time? Some reason for her absence? Touga couldn't remember, but he somehow knew there was something important about those events. There was just something missing about that time, like a lock that everyone forgot had a key.

He overheard words from the balcony as he waited. "Akio-san, you remind me of someone, but I can't remember who."

It was the girl with the short, dark hair.

As Touga watched, Akio bent forward with a kind smile. "Do I really, Hokuto-chan?"

Hokuto nodded, a look of concentration on her face. "He was someone I knew...someone I knew very well...who was it? I should remember it, we were so close."

"Ah, that would be the Lethe."

The other girl, the blond, looked confused. "Lethe?"

Hokuto answered with wide eyes. "The water of forgetfulness!"

Akio leaned back in his chair, sensually casual. "Indeed."

"Why?"

"Because I need your help." He said it so simply, grinning the grin of a cat toying with its prey.

Both girls leaped out of their chairs suddenly, only to slump down as the other potion in the tea took effect. This was Touga's cue, and he stepped out of the shadows finally.

"Can't have the two of you remembering silly little details, like the fact you're both dead," Akio was saying gently as he sauntered over to the blonde.

"These two are the ones you want?"

"Almost perfect," came the murmured reply. "Though, Hokuto has the power I need, and Kotori has the temperament. It can't be helped though."

"I'm almost scared to know what roll you expect me to play in all of this," Touga said as he bent over Hokuto's prone form, readying to pick her up. He took in the pixy cuteness of her features, smiling slightly. The way her dark hair curled up on her cheek almost reminded him of...reminded him of....

Soft pink hair...wide blue eyes...innocent smile...determined, so determined...strong...and yet, ultimately feminine....

He couldn't remember. The girl in his arms was a stranger to him, and he knew it. Even before the Lethe, she would not have known him. Still, something about her made him think of someone. "I don't remember," he whispered.

Akio had lifted Kotori into his arms with ease and was now waiting with a small smile. "Is it so important that you remember everything?" His eyes glowed, and his expression promised...promised....

Promised pleasure that Touga could never refuse, if he only went along with it all. He suppressed a sigh of frustration, betrayed by his own impulses yet again. Well, things were about to begin again. He knew something had happened last year, something big and something important, but it was all gone. His only hope of ever remembering lay with helping Akio now, and he needed to know. He had a strange feeling that his very soul depended on those faint stirrings of memory that teased him like a faint scent on a spring breeze.

Of course, going along with Akio had other, more immediate, and more physical awards as well.