Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Kagayaku Means to Shine ❯ Asobu: To Play ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter Ten

Written: 17 April 2006

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The car pulled up to the children's kindergarten just as a swarm of students spilled from the building to the tune of a bell, accompanied by amused-seeming teachers. Utena and Anshii slipped easily from the car to go retrieve their two, and Juri followed them, doing everything in her power to remain calm.

 

Strangely enough, the stares of other parents and of a few teachers was what helped to ground her. She doubted that they recognized her, modeling being what it was and it having been several years since she herself had graced the pages or covers of fashion magazines, but she held no illusions about her appearance. They were looking because she was beautiful, and the familiarity of the situation helped to keep her balanced.

 

Right up until a pair of tiny, blue-eyed Anshii clones dressed in blue and black came running over to where she stood, almost hiding behind Utena, and were summarily scooped up by their parents. As the group walked back to the car, Juri was able to take stock of the miniature humans as they were being fussed over.

 

The twins wore matching outfits of a sort. They both wore white long-sleeved shirts, and one sported a gauzy blue short-sleeved shirt over it along with a pair of little black slacks. The other girl's shirt had a heart-shaped collar to it, and she wore a small black skirt with a smaller blue gauze skirt over it. They both wore shiny black buckle shoes. The girl with the skirt had two pigtails in her hair, tied with little blue bows, and the other had one ponytail with another, larger bow. To Juri's eye, they looked oddly elegant for such young children, and it eased her mind.

 

Once back in the car, Utena and Anshii sat in the back seat with the twins on their laps, while Juri rode in the relatively calmer front seat, next to the quiet driver. Whom, the panther noted, drove much more carefully with the twins on board. Listening with half an ear, she heard the young women questioning the children about their days, and wondered idly if all three-year-olds were so articulate.

 

Far too soon for comfort, at least in Juri's mind, they were pulling back up to the house and there was an immediate mass exodus.

 

“Is the car sinking?” she murmured, drawing a laugh from the driver as she climbed out and slipped into the house just in time to see Anshii catch a laughing girl as she made to run into the house in her socks, and held the squirming child as she slipped blue house slippers on kicking feet. The child promptly took off into the house after her pink-slippered twin.

 

Slipping her own feet into the pale grey guest slippers, Juri raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Utena as Anshii followed their children. Laughing, Utena gestured for her to follow the young Prince into the kitchen.

 

“So what do you think of our little family?” Utena asked, as she poured two cups of tea, smiling somewhat teasingly. Juri sat at the table and gave a small grin back.

 

“It's very . . . interesting, to say the least. The twins seem very mature for their age, though. How old are they? And what was that little rush all about, by the way?”

 

Setting the cups down and taking a seat herself, Utena shrugged. “They do seem a little old and solemn for their age, I guess. They're only three, would you believe that? It seems like they've been around for forever. I just can't remember any time when my life wasn't about them and making them happy.”

 

Juri smiled, noting the somewhat dreamy look on Utena's face, then frowned as a question came to mind. “They look very much like Anshii, but they have your eyes. How did that happen?”

 

She immediately regretted asking, when the smile froze on Utena's face and then was gone. Before Utena could open her mouth to answer, however, Anshii's voice called her name from down the hallway. The young woman turned and ran off without so much as an `excuse me,' leaving a rather bemused Juri standing in the kitchen, attempting to assimilate the day's occurrences.

 

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Juri settled down into her futon that night with that bemused smile still lingering on her lips.

 

Utena had returned within moments of her disappearance, a bit damp but smiling once again, and Juri had deigned not to continue with her previous question. Instead, she had found herself agreeing to help with meal preparations. Both women had been pleasantly surprised, both of them having learned to cook fairly well since the days of high school.

 

They had chatted as they worked, about inconsequential things. Juri had been a bit stunned to discover that Utena spoke English quite competently, and they had switched languages for a few moments to continue speaking.

 

All in all, it had been an interesting time, both of them greatly surprised to find themselves getting along so smoothly, even more so than when they were in school together. Being comrades of a sort is one thing, but friendship is a creature of a completely different hue. And yet, the developing friendship between them was quite comfortable. Juri had even felt close enough to the pink-haired girl to divulge a few offhand details of her own life, beyond her work and public personae.

 

A strange but satisfying day, the ginger-hair woman mused as she drifted off to sleep.

 

And woke the next morning to the shouting of children, followed by a small hand knocking on the wooden frame of the door to her room.

 

It was one of the twins knocking at the door, dressed in blue pajamas, but it was Utena who stood and chortled at the sight of the sleep-tousled businesswoman looking down at the empty spot where Nishiki had been, before the little slippered scamp ran off, giggling.

 

Looking up, Juri spotted Utena standing there, also in her pajamas, and promptly shut the door. Utena just laughed harder and called through the door.

 

“Wow! The amazing Arisugawa Juri, tousled! I would never have guessed! What will your adoring public say?”

 

The door slid open again and Juri gave her a withering look before stepping out into the hallway, hair and tailored pajamas neat once more.

 

“And wearing men's pajamas . . . will wonders never cease? Come on, breakfast is about ready.”

 

“It's Saturday,” Juri finally said, her tone ever so slightly petulant as she followed Utena to the kitchen, “Why am I awake this early?”

 

“Wow, being in business really has made you lazy. Fortunately for us, three-year-olds are like large, noisy alarm clocks. We never sleep late, so neither can you.”

 

They arrived in the kitchen to the sound of happy toddler laughter as Anshii tried to get the overexcited children to eat their breakfast with some semblance of decorum, at least for the sake of their guest. But certain things were sacred, and Saturday was one of them.

 

As they ate, Utena explained everything to Juri, who was wondering to herself if this bemused expression was going to stick to her face. As often as I make it, it very well might do that.

 

“ . . . and then in the afternoon, we come home and we all relax. It's a nice way to spend some family time together, I think. And we get to relax some, which is good. I'm really glad that Bunka doesn't have classes on Saturday, otherwise we would have to hire a babysitter, because the twins' school isn't open then. You know . . . it's hard to believe that they'll be in elementary school in two more years. They'll be in high school and college before I know it.”

 

“Speaking of which,” Juri finally slipped a word in there, “You and Anshii are graduating soon, aren't you? Have you looked at colleges yet?”

 

“Well,” Utena said with a laugh, scratching the back of her neck, “It's like this. Taking care of the twins and going to high school is hard enough, when our schedules more or less match up. College would be next to impossible. So, we're probably not going to go.”

 

Juri nearly choked on her food.

 

“What? That's ridiculous! You should get a babysitter or something! College is very important for your future, you can't just float through life . . . at least one of you should go part-time or something!”

 

Utena was somewhat taken aback at how fierce the panther had suddenly become about this, and Juri caught the startled look. Settling down some, she grumbled.

 

“You can't get anywhere if you don't go to college,” she justified, “It's a really important education.”

 

“Are you in college, Senpai?”

 

“Yes, part-time. I wanted to go full-time, and I even got accepted to Toudai(1), but . . . then I had to take over the business. I'm going to Kyoto University instead.”

 

“Toudai? Wow! I've seen the campus, because there's an elementary school near there that I would like to send the twins to. It's really as cool as everyone says it is, you know!”'

 

“Yes, I know.”

 

By then, the twins and Anshii had finished eating, and the dark-skinned girl got up to clean up the remains of breakfast. Utena rose as well, and shooed the twins back upstairs, intent on getting them dressed and ready to go. Juri retreated to get dressed herself, spending several minutes trying to put together her most casual outfit. Even so, she felt a bit overdressed in slacks and a casual blouse when Utena reappeared wearing jean shorts and a t-shirt, trailed by twins dressed similarly. Anshii was dressed with a bit more class, though, and that made Juri feel a bit more comfortable.

 

Everyone piled into the car, and they headed out to have another happy Saturday.

 

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Saturday was . . . well, probably the most fun Juri had had in quite a long time. Their first stop had been a local playground, where the three adults currently sat in the shade, watching the twins laugh and play with other children.

 

“We discovered this little play group by accident, actually,” Anshii was saying. “They wanted to come to the playground one Saturday a month or so ago, and since we thought it would be deserted we were a bit surprised to see all the children here. We spoke to a few parents and it turned out that this is a regular thing, so we decided to join in. It keeps them calm for most of the day, if nothing else.”

 

Juri couldn't help but raise one eyebrow. That was probably the longest speech she'd ever heard from the usually quiet young woman. Parenthood - and being with Utena - seemed to suit her.

 

“So where do we go from here?” the ginger-haired woman inquired absently.

 

“Usually the twins take a nap at the daycare center attached to the gym while Anshii and I work out a little. If you wanna join us, I have some extra clothes in my locker.”

 

Juri nodded, “That sounds good. I have a gym membership, but it's been a long time since I've found the time to work out properly, now that I don't fence every afternoon.” She peered down at her flat, toned stomach. “I think I've put on a few pounds since then.”

 

“Ha! I think I've lost a few! Even aside from working out, it's a lot of work chasing after a couple of little monsters every day!”

 

Just then, Nishiko took a tumble from her swing and Juri's cellphone began to play the Sunlit Garden. Utena and Anshii took off to check on their offspring, sure that the most injury was to her pride but unwilling to let it go without at least a brief examination and perhaps a healing parental kiss or two . . . and Juri answered her phone.

 

By the time Nishiko's minor scrape had received enough attention and kisses to make her feel better, Juri had snapped her phone closed, her expression drawn. Utena and Anshii sat back down and remained quiet for a moment before Utena just had to speak up.

 

“That was Miki's song, wasn't it? From your phone.”

 

“Yes,” Juri answered simply, her expression faraway.

 

“Well?” Utena demanded.

 

“Well what?”

 

“Was that Miki on the phone?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Utena started to get frustrated and angry, before she realized that Juri wasn't deliberately being frustrating. The other woman was simply deep in thought.

 

“So what did he say?”

 

“He said that he and . . . he and Kozue are leaving the school. He said they'd been thinking about it for about three years now and finally got their father to agree. They're transferring to a private academy here in Tokyo within the week, and he wanted to know if it was possible for me to meet them sometime.”

 

“Oh. Do they know about . . .?”

 

Juri shook her head.

 

“I don't think so. I suppose it's possible, but I honestly don't think so. It might be a little hard on him to find out, though. He was quite in love with the Rose Bride for a while, even if he never did get to know the girl behind her. None of us did, did we?” She directed this question at Anshii, who gave a sad smile of acknowledgment.

 

“None of you except Utena ever did.”

 

Just then the nearby clock tower struck noon and parental calls rang out across the lively playground, Utena and Anshii joining their voices to the others. In just a few moments the playground was bare of children as everyone collected their little ones and returned to cars and nearby homes, and it was easy to see that the majority of them were at least mostly worn out. The twins had a bit more energy, but by the time the car was nearing the gym the soft rumbling of the engine had put them to sleep, aided by Anshii's soft singing.

 

Pulling up in front of the gym, the driver stopped to let them out. Utena and Anshii carried their children into the massive building and through a door immediately to the right, where they deposited the dozing youngsters with a smiling young woman who seemed quite familiar with their little family.

 

“Another sleepy Saturday, hmm?” she asked, as she laid out a pair of small futons and gently tucked them in.

 

“Yeah, thankfully!” Utena laughed.

 

“Oh, I know what you mean. I seem to recall that one rainy Saturday a couple of weeks ago . . . they were just great big balls of energy, weren't they?”

 

“Most certainly,” Anshii said with a smile, “But today it's back to normal. So if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on them while they sleep, we should be back in an hour or so.”

 

“Not a problem! Sleeping children really are the easiest to take care of!”

 

And with that, the trio of adults made their way into the gym proper. Utena started to offer to buy Juri a guest pass, but the taller woman just smiled.

 

“I actually have a membership to the same gym in Kyoto, so I'm sure it will be fine.”

 

And, aside from a brief moment of confusion because her membership was based in Kyoto, it was indeed alright, and she followed the couple into the locker rooms, gratefully accepting a set of slightly small workout clothes from the pink-haired girl.

 

A while later, her arms and legs beginning to burn gently as she worked on the elliptical machine, Juri mused that she was, so far, extremely pleased with this visit. She sighed softly.

 

“I wish I could just stay.” Utena, two machines over on a treadmill, looked over as Juri spoke.

 

"What did you say," asked the pink-haired girl, "I couldn't hear you."

 

Juri shook her head. "It's nothing. Just thinking out loud."

 

"Speaking of thoughts...I wonder why Miki-kun has suddenly decided to leave Ohtori?"

 

"It wasn't really very sudden. I told you they've been thinking about it for more than three years. Hmm, actually that's odd." Juri paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, "It's been a little more than three years since I started thinking about coming to see you all. I wonder why."

 

"Yeah, that is weird. Three years..." Just as Utena might have been about to say something else, Juri's machine beeped to tell her that her twenty minutes were up, and she waved briefly to her new-but-old friend and made her way over to the weightlifting apparatus to get to the main part of her workout.

 

Forty minutes later, three pleasantly tired adults collected two still-sleepy children and everyone returned to the house for a light, pleasant lunch and a nap. Juri, unused to sleeping during the day, simply read for a while. It wasn't until the Sunlit Garden rang out from her cellphone, startling her awake, that she realized that she had dozed off. Fumbling for the phone, she mumbled into the receiver as she sat up.

 

"Moshi moshi, Arisugawa desu."(2)

 

"My, my, Juri-san. You sound so...disheveled."

 

Juri nearly threw the phone across the room, so startled she was as the deeply familiar voice, not Miki's although it was his phone number, rang in her ear. What stopped her was the subtle difference she could hear, even through the phone. Goading and taunting was not a new tone for this voice, but somehow it sounded lighter, as if layers of silent hate and anger had been peeled away.

 

Perhaps, Juri thought to herself, perhaps the chains really are broken. And she smiled into the phone and spoke a name that she had not uttered in years now, but was suddenly glad she could.

 

"Kozue."

 

END CH.10

 

Footnotes:

 

(1) Toudai: Short for Tokyo University (Toukyo Daigaku), one of the most prestigious universities in Japan.

 

(2) Moshi moshi, Arisugawa desu: "Hello, this is Arisugawa." Moshi moshi is 'hello' when answering a phone.