Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Kagayaku Means to Shine ❯ Sodatsu: To Raise ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter Six

Written: 26 August 2005

Re-written: 14 June 2007

 

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Three years later . . . there was a loud, high-pitched shriek from the living room of a beautiful, if somewhat run-down Japanese mansion located in Minato-ku, Tokyo. The house was done in traditional Japanese style, and sat on expansive, if somewhat scraggly, lawns, behind lovely, though slightly rusted, wrought-iron fences. Its occupants were all female, two seventeen-year-old girls and two three-year-olds. One of the latter was responsible for the shriek.

 

“No no no! Don't wanna!” Anshii calmly held the squirming child to her chest and helped her on with her vest, gently tugging her arms through the holes and buttoning up before taking up a brush to do her hair with. She'd been forced to finish getting the child dressed out in the living room, after Nishiki had run, half-dressed, from the bedroom she shared with her sister.

 

“I'm sorry, Ki-chan, but today is the first day of kindergarten(1), and you need get dressed. You know how upset Ko-chan will be if you don't look alike.” Setting the now-huffy girl back on her feet, she smiled, “There. You look very cute.”

 

And, aside from a belligerent scowl, she did. Her thick purple hair, uncut since birth, was tied back in a neat braid that hung down between her shoulder blades, a few curls escaping around her ears. She wore a short-sleeved white shirt with a red vest over it, and a miniature pair of black slacks. Her feet were currently covered with white socks, in blue house slippers, but she had a pair of black buckle shoes waiting by the door.

 

Anshii adjusted the vest a little, then looked up just in time to see Utena, in her school uniform, carrying a giggling Nishiko down the stairs. The other little girl wore a copy of her sister's clothing, but with a skirt that fell just to the tops of her knee-socks, and pink house slippers. Anshii smiled and shook her head a little, then stood up.

 

“Utena, I've told you to let her walk. She is capable of managing the stairs, you know.” Utena laughed.

 

“I know. It's just painful to watch and besides, I like carrying her.”

 

The pink-haired young woman set her daughter down at the foot of the stairs, where she immediately dashed towards her sister and all but pounced on her, undoing all of Anshii's work at neatening her clothes.

 

“Yay! School!” the girl squealed, hanging off of her twin and smiling brightly. Nishiki was able to maintain her belligerent look for another few seconds, but it eventually caved in under the force of her twin's excitement, and hugged her back. They stayed that way until Anshii clapped her hands.

 

“Alright! It's time to leave! Shi-chan(2),” she addressed the twins, “Otousan and I will drop you off at kindergarten, alright? And we will be back to pick you up at the end of the day, so wait for us inside.” The twins nodded, one solemn, the other cheerful, and Anshii doubted that they would actually listen.

 

“Grab your backpacks, and let's go! Otousan and Okaasan(3) have a longer ride to school than Shi-chan, so let's hurry!” said Utena, picking up her briefcase and Anshii's, while the dark-skinned girl helped the twins on with their little black and red backpacks, then sat them down on the entry step to put their shoes on. Slipping her feet into her own shoes, she took Nishiki's hand, while Utena took Nishiko's, and they headed out.

 

Utena's inheritance was holding up fairly well, all things considered, and Anshii wasn't too much worse off. The house had been left to the former along with her trust fund, but she'd had no taste for living in such a big house all alone. With Anshii and the twins it wasn't so bad, but most of the house was still shut up, the space unneeded.

 

There were few things that the two young women pampered themselves on. The first was the twins' wardrobes, which consisted mainly of stylish clothing made in miniature, but even those expenses were offset by the fact that they tended to sell the clothing after the children outgrew it. The second was their car and driver. Neither had a license; neither was old enough. And they refused, flat out, to force their tiny daughters to ride the bus.

 

And so, when they walked out of the house, there sat a medium-sized white car with a matching middle-aged man in the driver's seat. Utena and Anshii each helped one of the girls into the car, then climbed in themselves, waiting for a moment before the engine started and they pulled away.

 

The drive to school was unremarkable, except for the new addition of the twins and a new stop of the way. Pulling up to the famous Yoyogi International School(4), they all piled out of the car, and joined hands, with the twins in the middle and their parents on the ends. Nishiki had retreated into pouting again, but walked along willingly enough between her sister and `father'.

 

Utena looked around, frowning a little. She'd known it, intellectually, but seeing it confirmed wasn't very pleasant. She and Anshii were definitely the youngest parents and the only same sex couple, and she couldn't help notice that the other children were dressed differently than the twins. Well, it wasn't their concern what she did with her life, so she steeled her resolve, lifting her head and walking along with confidence, taking reassurance in the slightly chubby little hand in hers.

 

They delivered the twins to their teachers, and watched as they ran off to join the other children. Stopping a moment to chat with the teacher, they ignored the parents giving them dirty looks, whether for their youth or their joined hands, it didn't matter.

 

“I'm afraid that the children might pick on the twins,” Anshii said, smiling slightly, “Because they look a little different. If you find something like that going on, we would appreciate it very much if you would please try to stop it. We want them to enjoy kindergarten.” The teacher, a pretty young woman who looked American, smiled back and addressed them in very good Japanese.

 

“Of course. Kindergarten is all about learning to play with other children and to make friends, isn't it? We want to teach the children that it isn't nice to tease people for being different.” They chatted for a bit longer, then Utena checked her watch and spoke up at last.

 

“Anshii...” she said, and the other girl broke off in mid-sentence to look up at her.

 

“Yes, Utena?”

 

“We need to go. We're going to be late, and the car is waiting.” Anshii frowned a little. Utena's tone was even and calm, but her eyes betrayed her discomfort, so Anshii just nodded slightly and made her apologies to the teacher, giving Utena's hand a comforting squeeze.

 

“I'm sorry, we must be going. Please take good care of the children.” They bowed and the teacher responded in kind.

 

“Of course. You're such a responsible big sister, aren't you,” she asked, innocently, and Utena choked. Anshii gave a delicate giggle behind her hand and shook her head.

 

“Oh, I'm afraid you've misunderstood. They aren't my little sisters, the twins are our children. Utena is my husband.” And they turned and left, leaving three shocked teachers behind, as well as at least twice that many startled parents who had heard their answer.

 

Back in the car, Utena burst out laughing, her earlier discomfort forgotten. “I can't believe you actually said that! Bold as can be, `Utena is my husband.' Ha! That'll give them something to talk about, won't it?” Anshii giggled and shrugged a little, and then the car pulled out, headed towards their school in Chiyoda-ku.

 

It didn't take long for Utena's cheerful mood to evaporate. “Is it really a good idea to send them to that school? Wouldn't a regular Japanese kindergarten be better?”

 

Anshii turned a little in her seat to face her lover. “We talked about this, Utena. That school will be good for them. They speak English just as well as Japanese, and this school will allow them to work on their skills in reading and writing it, as well as other important things. Don't worry,” she added, reaching out to lay one hand over Utena's, “They'll be fine. I'm sure we'll pick them up and they'll be full of stories about their very first day.”

 

Utena looked down at Anshii's hand on hers, and couldn't help but feel a fresh surge of affection for the other girl. Bringing the hand to her lips, she kissed it gently, and smiled. “Alright, if you really think so. I'll leave it alone and worry about my own work instead.”

 

They sat in contented silence for the rest of the trip, holding hands and watching each other. It was with a jar that they returned to reality, when the car stopped and the door opened to let them out. They sighed, and Utena leaned over to give Anshii a kiss.

 

“That'll have to hold me for the rest of the day.”

 

Anshii just laughed as she climbed out after her prince and they set off for the building. “You say that every day, but we always meet during lunch.”

 

Utena shrugged, “I have to be sure. If I tell myself that I won't get to kiss you again until the end of the day, then the kisses at lunch are that much better, and if I don't see you during lunch, I'm not disappointed.” By then, they had entered the building. They slipped on their indoor shoes in companionable silence, then Utena handed Anshii her briefcase before turning and heading off towards her classroom. “Bye!”

 

Anshii watched her go until a bend in the corridor hid her from view, then turned and went the opposite direction, towards her class, idly wondering if the twins would come here someday, and if Nishiki would wear shorts under her skirt like her father did. She would discuss it with Utena later. It was never too early to think about the future, especially at such a prestigious school as Bunka Gakuin(5). Their English program was one of the best in Japan, and their other departments were no different.

 

Also, she mused about attending college, but she had long since given that up as a pipe dream. She doubted that they would be able to juggle college and raising the twins properly, and she was more than willing to sacrifice the schooling for the children. As she slid the door open to her classroom, she couldn't help but chuckle. In three years, her world had been turned upside down, and these days she truly thought of herself as the twins' mother. It was a bit startling, sometimes.

 

“Himemiya-san, Himemiya-san!” A mousy-looking girl with short, pale brown hair came flying up to her, “Guess what?”

 

Anshii tilted her head to one side, regarding the most unlikely-looking school gossip, Yamakawa Chie. “Yes, Yamakawa-san?”

 

“You wouldn't believe who Higetsu-san saw kissing in the parking lot this morning!”

 

Oh, god. Anshii's breath caught in her throat. They caught us. We're going to get kicked out of school.

 

END CH. 6

Footnotes:

 

(1): kindergarten: In Japan, what we call preschool is called kindergarten, and it's optional, but most parents send their kids from ages 3-5. They don't really do much school work, but instead spend most of their time learning to work as a group, help each other, and become socially aware. It's a lot of trips and picnics and things like that.

 

(2): Shi-chan: This is a pun. What it is is this: The word `ni', though in this case it's written with different kanji, also means the number two. Two and two is four. `Shi' is four. So they're making a pun to address both of them at once. Another one they use, that I haven't written about, is 'Kiko'.

 

(3) Otousan, okaasan: father, mother.

 

(4)Yoyogi International School: The twins are going to kindergarten at the Yoyogi International School. This is a real preschool, and it's really in Shibuya. It's right next to Yoyogi Koen, a big park, and a lot of their activities go on there. It's geared towards foreign kids in Japan, but takes Japanese kids too, and it's a good school. Their website is www dot yoyogiinternationalschool dot com.

 

(5) Bunka Gakuin: U/A's school is real too, and it has a really good, contemporary English department.