Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Sang Sur les Roses ❯ Chapter XI ( Chapter 12 )

The simplicity of just a few words strung together had the power to make a difference or devastate a life. Utena learned this lesson after her last phone conversation with her aunt. In all likelihood it would perhaps be the last conversation she would have with the woman as she reflected upon her situation after the fact. Anthy with the tolerance of the saints cleaned up the kitchen having been forced to put her shoes back on lest she cut herself. Every plate, bowl and glass Utena smashed, the phone receiver dangled by its corkscrew cord loudly beeping having been kept off the hook for so long. The TV in the living room displayed a rainbow test pattern and droned with Utena balled up unconscious on the sofa, on the floor a brownish green corn syrup oozed from an empty quart of mint chocolate chip permanently blotting the carpet. Joining it was a discarded plastic package of coconut sprinkled red bean paste mochi. Utena did not leave her room let alone attend class the following day. Anthy too played a bit of hooky, not that she would be reprimanded, and went to Hou'ou-shi to purchase new glassware and china. She restocked the fridge with Neapolitan ice cream and green tea mochi. For a week Utena continued this routine without intervention from Anthy, the Rose Bride could only serve her mistress meals leaving them on the low table in her room where Utena slept profusely with the shades drawn imitating perpetual night. And then she began locking her door. Anthy left trays by the door and sometimes the plates would be empty.

            ; Wakaba struck her in the refectory calling her a bitch and splashed juice in her face when she forbade her from visiting Utena. Anthy knew that wasn't Wakaba's only reason for lashing out at her. She sincerely pitied the girl but was silently grateful that Tatsuya and Benika restrained her from doing serious harm to her. But adrenaline was on Wakaba's side and the nurse was called and managed to sedate her during a terrifying fit. Just as the white-clad woman injected her Wakaba cried out Utena's name in a blood-curdling passion praying that her pink-haired prince would come galloping on her white charger to put her sword through the vile witch and carry her off to the castle. But Utena slumbered, ignorant and uncaring of her friend's anguish. An emergency Student Council meeting was called Saionji as usual was not present and forced them to hold it in the dojo.

            ; “You are mocking the sanctity of this room,” he glowered bringing his bokken down.

            ; “You are the Vice President of the Student Council, Saionji.” Juri reminded him bluntly.

            ; “Thank you Juri, it must have slipped my mind.”

            ; “Please let's not fight!” Miki interjected. “Tenjou-sempai's disappearance has thrown everything off-kilter. What could have driven her to such extremes, this is not like her at all!”

            ; “Agreed,” Juri acquiesced. “This is particularly uncharacteristic of her since she's always rather annoyingly optimistic.”

            ; “You forget Juri that since Tenjou has joined the game ignorant of the rules and us uncertain of the means to which she received her rose seal life has been stressful for her,” Touga said. Saionji was silent and focused on the thought of Anthy. How was it possible that he lost the duel? Him, the kendo team captain where dozens of fools who dared challenge him fell just as impetuously from the swipe of his blade! Only Touga he had yet to conquer, truly make him feel the humility of defeat. As children he had triumphed on occasion in the dojo, and as a perfect gentleman in miniature Touga bowed to Saionji and said, `Well you won this round, again?' Was he fazed at all? At anything? But Saionji recalled Touga telling him once the run was more thrilling than anything. And that he only looked forward to being Alpha, master of his own fate. And they were content… until that night. It was the first time Touga ran away. The first place Touga's father and the butler Okabe-san searched was Saionji's house, he was petrified more so than the time Touga told him of his visit from the prince. The prince! Did he run away because he wanted to be with him? Just why was Touga so damn special to see the prince? Whatever the secret Saionji made it his goal to learn even if he had to beat it out of him with his shinai. And he almost did once. It was when everything changed, when Touga began to act bratty. Not Nanami-type bratty that would have been a welcome relief, but his spoiled attitude was surreptitious. It paved the way to his present posture of backstabbing, arrogant duplicity. It was when they were going to turn 13, Saionji in August and Touga in June. Fate wanted him brought into the world first, and even at Saionji's party Touga stole the show bringing his best friend the best gift.

            ; Saionji had struck him so hard that the bamboo split and tore into the flesh on his temple. The blood dribbled down Touga's head blending perfectly with his hair making a few follicles stick looking like a skein of wet silk. The only thing Saionji said was: `You know your name doesn't suit you at all.'

            ; `Why would you say that?' Touga asked keeping his sharp eyes on Saionji.

            ; `Well, your name means “winter bud” but your birthday's in the summer, and it's really hot!' Touga tapped the bloody snail trail with his fingertips and licked them clean. He rolled the coppery substance around his mouth as though he were a connoisseur tasting a fine wine. `Touga, I really-' He tackled him to the floor his hands feeling whatever flesh presented to him sucking on Saionji's mouth. `What're you doing? Touga!' The ivy-headed youth pulled back and kicked the redhead in the chest. He went for Touga's shinai and took a defensive stance. `What's come over you, huh?!' Touga stood blinking at Saionji blankly and the other boy lunged at him out of blind fury. Touga, smirking, took advantage of the opportunity and smoothly disarmed Saionji as he rushed him, then took the boy out with an uppercut chop to the ribs utilizing their Aikido training. `Touga…' Saionji wheezed falling into his arms but the redhead distrustful of his friend forced him to his knees and twisted both little arms behind his back. `Naze da?'

            ; `Don't be difficult Saionji.' He tenderly pressed his cheek to his back. `Doesn't it feel good? Don't you like it?'

          &n bsp; `It isn't right, and you know it kisama!'

          &n bsp; `What are you now? Those self-hating humans? It's perfectly acceptable amongst our kind.' Saionji bit back a sob when he felt Touga's erection push against his buttocks. `We don't have to do that now if you don't want to… there are other things just as nice…' How did he know of these things? Touga was attractive, pretty even, all the girls in their class swooned over him and the teachers gave him special attention and privileges perhaps because of that. Saionji didn't feel himself lifted off the floor or hear a door close. The closet Touga shut them up in was warm from their combined hyperactive body heat. His lips kissed him deeply then ran up and down the marble column of his throat. `Ah, my beautiful Saionji so pretty when you cry…' He had no idea he was crying only that his face felt wet. No. Not like this you bastard. Play this game and it will be on my terms. Kicking him in the ribs Saionji stole out of the closet for the purpose of giving him chase when he collided with the long legs of an adult who in all probability had been standing there for an undetermined period.

            ; `Saionji Kyouichi, desu ka?' Touga smelled Saionji's panic and a stranger then made his appearance in the closet door with his gi undone. `Kiryuu Touga desu ka?' At that moment the only thing Touga thought was how much he didn't like the strange man fondling his friend's ponytail. “So why didn't you just say something?”

            ; “Saionji?” Saionji was painfully aware of himself then and how all eyes were on him. Touga posed with one hand in his pocket.

            ; “What- what did you say?” The kendoka was flustered.

            ; “I said what do think?”

            ; “About what?”

            ; “About Tenjou.”

Saionji violently chucked the bokken across the room. “I could give a rat's ass about Tenjou.” He proceeded to walk out the door.

            ; “Saionji!” Juri shouted to his back. He spun on his heel to look at his unresponsive best friend.

            ; “Your plots and battle plans are such bullshit!” He said. “You never had the balls to openly challenge me to a real duel!”

            ; “I never play at dueling Kyouichi,” Touga's tone and use of his given name indicated how Saionji was skating on thin ice.

            ; “That's because you only know play dueling.” Saionji turned his green ponytail away from his council mates. “Whatever retribution you're rewarded Touga you deserve. As for me I'm no one's puppet therefore I renounce my position as Student Council Vice President.” Miki clicked his stopwatch.

            ; “Masaka!”

            ; “At a time like this?” Juri screeched. “Saionji you've lost your mind! You don't turn your back on the clan! What will your father say?” She was met by a resolute silence for a few emotional moments.

            ; “Nothing.” Saionji said. “Until I'm finished saying what I've needed to say to him for the longest time.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Sayonara.”

 

 

*           *            *

 

 

            ; No one truly believed the brashness of the former Fukukaichou until his withdrawal documents were processed. Boxes labeled with permanent marker and fastened with thick brown cellophane tape piled outside his private dorm. Juri was made the interim Fukukaichou, normally she would advance to the position but there was no one chosen to take her office so her duties were doubled and she was not looking forward to all the paperwork. Saionji scribbled his signature on a clipboard and handed it back to the driver of the moving truck, his taxi to the station would be arriving soon.

            ; “You really are making good on this promise, aren't you?” Juri approached him with Miki. Saionji looked odd in jeans and a denim jacket.

            ; “You do know sempai, that even with your tenure the code of the Rose Seal is absolute and your withdrawal cannot be reversed.” Said Miki. He knelt down to where his suede duffel bag rested at his feet.

            ; “Wakarimashite. This is something that has been coming a ling time now, and something that the two of you should consider at length.” The blue-haired prodigy and his fencing captain blinked and didn't reply. “I don't expect you to really comprehend my motives, just that I can't subject myself any longer to mind control.”

            ; “Saionji…” Juri said. Of course she knew Touga wouldn't show up for the big send off, there were trash bags filled with cards, pleading letters and tokens from loyal fangirls sitting in his empty rooms awaiting to be taken to the furnace. Earlier that morning Nanami accompanied by the kendo team tried one last-ditch effort to prevent him from leaving, but nothing could sway him, Saionji was an extremist to the last. For all of Nanami's pettiness and immaturity the tears she shed were real, she mourned the loss of a family member. The team was let down and was right to be angry; his second Jougasaki Kaname was promoted to captain. It brought him neither comfort nor a sense of accomplishment. Saionji was their prince but wouldn't rest on his laurels as he deserved to, at least that fairy Kiryuu wouldn't show his face at the dojo any longer.

            ; “Miki.”

            ; “Eh?” Saionji handed him a brown leather book with a brass lock. “Kore wa?”

            ; “A trifle,” Saionji yanked the drawstrings and threw the bag over his shoulder. “But one that leaves me wide open. I can only trust you with that, Miki.”

            ; “Do what with, sempai?”

Saionji began his final stroll to Ohtori's front gate. “To take to the furnace. I apologize for putting you out this way.”

            ; “No. No sempai you aren't.” A gaggle of laughing elementary aged school children jogged past him to the playground where their youthful, attractive teacher waited. He stopped to watch them, a soccer ball rolled out from somewhere and a pair of boys threw down their bags to vigorously kick it between one another. Saionji saw a redhead and his green ponytailed chum do the same only without the green short-panted uniforms. He couldn't remember what school they attended before Ohtori, only that they didn't require uniforms. If only Touga hadn't run away that night… if only he didn't tell him about the damn prince… if only he'd just let Touga do what he wanted with him… if only he knew where Touga ran away to that night! And why he pulled disappearing acts so often back then. The pieces dropped to his feet like pennies from heaven and only now did he see how the interlocking wedges fit perfectly. Saionji looked back; the tower seemed thousands of miles away and not so very big though realistically he was only feet from the gates. It was remarkable how a little perspective can cleanse the vision.

            ; He was eight or nine when Touga's mother was first admitted to the hospital. An elegant Tokyo socialite such as Mrs. Kiryuu would hardly be the sort to succumb to exhaustion. She was at home the majority of the time entertaining friends or playing the piano, Touga and Nanami were exceptionally biddable and were constantly surrounded by nannies and maids. Similarly Saionji's upbringing was done by his mother and assorted teachers in his father's traditional Japanese manorial home. Nanami preferred the company of her elder brother and was oft amused by him and repelled by the nurses. She acclimated herself to Saionji since he also made her brother smile practicing in the dojo or playing games all over the pre-Victorian Kiryuu Mansion. Everything was managed by Kiryuu-sama, Touga's father, a mysterious man whose given name Saionji never learned and encountered four times in his entire association with the family. And he was glad of it. A beautiful home, the perfect wife and two enchanting kids, what more could a man ask for? Things were no longer the same as the three kids saw Mrs. Kiryuu helmed out of the house in a wheelchair slumped over with a trail of drool like quicksilver dangling from her lower lip and a towel draped over her head. Touga locked himself in his room that day, Nanami begged him to hold her, banging her tiny four-year-old fists on his door until her knuckles bled and swelled. Saionji spent the night; never again did that lovely woman fragrant of talcum powder and gardenias return just a shell with transfixed eyes, dull hair and rubbery flesh. She tremored continuously and carried her purse everywhere rattling of pills. Then when Touga was 15 they packed off for Austria, the calm air for Mrs. Kiryuu and Kiryuu-sama to run the business. Their two capable children left to their own devices at home where Nanami rotted herself on other people's misery and worshipping her brother who ruled supreme by the sword and the flesh.

            ; Kiryuu-sama's home office metamorphosed into Touga's study, the window falling from ceiling to floor never had its curtains drawn and Touga's black leather armchair, his throne really, was always facing it. He was notorious for his exhibitionism, the son of a bitch was good-looking and hung like a horse therefore had to flaunt. It was peculiar how he kept locked his bedroom and study, you had to be genuinely special to gain access. Nanami and Saionji had been in and out of his bedroom since the beginning, for Saionji it became sexual much later on. Juri was there, Kaoru Kozue and it was only a matter of time for Miki. Slide off his clothes and Touga would press his lips to the blushing flesh, a favorite and much cuter than his twin. Who knew, getting laid could ease the Prodigy's tension. He remembered Kiryuu-sama sending them to visit his old sensei shortly thereafter; they practiced in the dojo until all hours of the night when they decided to bike home. They were soaked by a sudden storm unmindful of the crackling thunder and lightning.

            ; `I told you we should have capped it at the tenth match!'

          &n bsp; `You're the one who wanted to stay and clean up. Sensei only took advantage of us further.'

          &n bsp; `Maa na…' Church bells bleakly pealed and Touga tensed his fingers on the brakes.

            ; `It's a funeral.'

          &n bsp; `Kimi-tachi!' Two grey suited men approaching them startled the two schoolboys. `Have you seen a little girl around here?'

          &n bsp; `She's about your age,' the man on the left described. `She ran off somewhere.'

          &n bsp; `Her parents were killed today in an accident.' The other on the left said.

            ; `Jikou?' Touga whispered.

            ; `Sorry,' Saionji apologized. `We haven't seen anybody.' The two men sighed frustrated.

            ; `Thank you anyway.' They walked down the path back to the church. Saionji listened carefully to their conversation. `Do you suppose she was kidnapped?'

          &n bsp; `Don't be absurd! She's in shock…'

          &n bsp; `Did you hear that, Touga? The girl might have been kidnapped. Touga?' But he wasn't listening only focusing on the church and its superlative amber, ruby, emerald and sapphire stained glass gothic spires.

            ; “A kidnapped girl. But how…”

            ; “So it's true isn't it sempai?” The bell towers gonged with their noontime chimes and Tenjou Utena climbed out of hibernation.

            ; “Tenjou?!”

            ; “What is this about Saionji? Anthy? If you're really serious about her why run away?” Utena demanded. She was dressed in black Lycra pedalpushers, Kung Fu slippers and a silver trimmed Cantonese blouse with shirttails draping over her narrow hips. Her hair was bound up tight in a ponytail.

            ; “Nice outfit Tenjou. Cosplaying?”

            ; “I've thrown myself back into training.”

            ; “For a Final Fantasy tournament?”

            ; “You're stalling sempai.”

Saionji turned away from Utena. “You're an idiot for taking Anthy seriously Tenjou. I was an idiot for taking her seriously. Except that I learned my lesson, I'm no one's watchdog.” Utena's eyes shifted to a brilliant amber.

            ; “And I never do things half-assed. I go all the way!” A blue-grey sedan with a private taxi logo on its doors pulled up in front of the gate and honked.

            ; “Suit yourself.” Saionji climbed into the backseat and drove off.

 

 

*           *            *

 

 

            ; Behind a copper-plated telescope Touga watched the commotion on the ground from the tower. “Didn't you give your well wishes to your friend?” Akio asked sipping his martini on the white leather sofa.

            ; “Was he really my friend, Mr. Chairman?” He observed Utena with renewed tenacity walk to the gymnasium.

            ; “Be nice to your friend Mr. President.” Anthy sprawled out on the sofa topless, head on his lap euphorically looked up to her brother hearing Touga walking towards them and the shutters clattered down once again.

TSUZUKU