Something Amiss Anthy Himemiya, the dark skinned beauty who was the owner of a very celebrated catering and floral business, sat back in her easy chair in front of the television set. She looked somewhat rumpled, a startling contrast from the flawlessness she presented for her clients. Her mind was whirling. I know what I saw...what the camera picked up. But...how can this be? It's simply not possible... But it had to be, although what it could signify, she wasn't quite sure. Idly she ran a hand over her shoulder as if expecting a small furry companion to be sitting there. But that was right...he had long since left her side. Anthy tiredly leaned forward, her head in her hand, her blouse loosely unbuttoned. Her tailored suit jacket had been tossed carelessly onto the floor, next to a stack of papers and articles she had clipped out of magazines and newspapers. A stack of cds were next to the stereo system she had installed. All with her face on them. Anthy closed emerald eyes and leaned back again, soft lips dropping the name in a sigh. "Utena...how is it that you're so close...yet feel so far away from me? Why won't you remember?" She clicked off the t.v. set, where Utena and her band had been guests on some talk show. It had been so achingly wonderful to see that pink hair sway with her movements...that slender athletic form capturing the audience with her gestures and grace behind the mic...and those clear blue sky eyes... She sat up again, her eyes narrowed as a frown marred her expression. Those eyes had changed during the show. There had been some sort of sound difficulty, but there was no halt of video footage. Her eyes had changed from blue to silver...and it wasn't a trick of the light. Her mind ran over several possibilities as to the reason. It would take more observation. Perhaps it was the power of Dios she had obtained at that fateful final duel...and now even with her memory suppressed, it was beginning to leak out in ways that showed. That made her frown all the more. It could be dangerous if she didn't control such raw power...the mere implications... And that led to more frustration...why wouldn't she at least talk to her? And she kept returning all of the flower arrangements Anthy sent to her. It was as if Utena hated her...and that thought was unbearable. She stood as she heard the tea kettle whistle from the stove. Standing up, in stockinged feet and loose black slacks, she moved across the plush carpet to where her tea was waiting. Then she felt a niggling in the back of her mind. Stopping she lifted her head. There...something had...changed...she could feel it. Like a cord in a tapestry snapping...or tiny bolt in a complex lock sliding away and free... She moved to where her playing cards were stacked on one table...the same ones she and her prince had played with when they were in school...back before her disappearance and the memory spell that had spiraled out across the campus. She supposed it was for the best...better for all involved that no one recalled their savior...the one who sacrificed everything just to change things a little bit... That little bit had been Anthy's freedom from her brother's control...and the chains of hate and guilt that had been weighing her down for as long as she could remember. Maybe that wasn't the massive world-altering revolution everyone had pictured...but it was an important one...one that rippled its effects across that isolated school campus... Without the Rose Bride...the games could not continue, although Akio had tried. Without her backing, the duels had ceased...the imprisoned spirits within the campus itself had finally graduated, and Akio's entire power base and intricate plans had crumbled. And so Anthy had gone out looking for her prince...her special fair skinned protector, to show her just what she had managed to become once the egg's shell had broken. But to no avail. She searched...using every ability she had...had hired private detectives...traveled Japan...nothing. The smiling girl in the picture had vanished without a trace. Oh...but look...the tea was getting cold. She had been standing dazed in recollection. Focus Anthy...Focus... She sat down at the dining room table, far too large for just one person, and picked up the deck of cards. Taking a sip of the herbal brew, and shuffling the cards in her left hand, the dark skinned business woman began laying out face down cards in a strange intricate pattern...much like a fortune teller with tarot cards. She turned up the last card, the 2 of spades and frowned. Her eyes went blank with a different sort of vision... xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Saionji Kyouichi, still dressed in a crumpled kendo uniform sat up groggily from atop his mattress. He groaned and place a hand to his head. Looking over to his right where the fiery maned Touga sat perched in a chair watching him, he growled. "What the hell was that? I feel like I was hit by a truck..." Touga gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "It will pass...at least it did with me. So how are you...can you...remember?" That last bit came out uncertainly. Saionji stared off into open space, a faraway look in his violet eyes. "...yes...I remember everything." He was quiet for a moment...his saffron hair having come loose from it's ponytail to flow about his shoulders like a curtain to hide his expression. He sat up, a scowl on his face. "The duels...that girl....Himemiya...how could we have forgotten all of that? The trip with World's End is something I should not have so easily forgotten I would think." He rubbed his arms as if he were suddenly cold. Touga gave that luxuriant shrug of his, "I don't know...but I imagine it has something to do with the final duel." Saionji gave a nod, and scratched the back of his head as he swung his feet over the side of the bed. Thankfully Wakaba hadn't gotten home yet. He would have been hard pressed to explain why exactly he had collapsed. He looked at Touga and gestured at the printed picture he had brought with him, from off the internet. "I have to say though...a big 180 from the girl we used to know. I wonder what made Tenjou-san change?" Touga's gaze darkened. "We never did find out what happened at that final duel. Who knows? Maybe the power altered her...or maybe she too has forgotten everything. I just don't know..." Saionji stood, and stretched out his arms to work the kinks out of his back. "So what do you want to do...now that we remember who we are...who we were...what do you want to do about it?" Saionji knew him too well. Touga stood, "I want to see her again. Meet her face to face. If only to fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle." xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Anthy jerked out of the journey her power had allowed her mind to travel and pushed the cards away messily. She frowned again, ignoring her tea and began to pace, a habit she had picked up from Utena. The memory spell was breaking? She had felt the nooses upon two of the old student council members fray and then snap. Was this due to the prince being in the public eye so much? Seen and loved by many, as it should be? Or was it...due to something else. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss. Like a knot of dread in the pit of her stomach, twisting and coiling like a sleeping snake. Snakes...Akio? No, she was dead certain. He was out of the picture. In fact, he was even aging at the normal human rate again. The one time she had gone back to visit him, looking for clues, she had saw strands of gray in that lavender hair...oh-so-carefully hidden from the eyes of many, but nothing could be hidden from her eyes. The crows feet at the corners of his eyes were yet another sign. So what was it then? This threat that hung in the air... Only one way to find out. She needed to speak with Utena alone. Get her away from her band and those hounding fans. Get her to talk...if only she could jog her memory... Anthy moved to the phone, glancing at the clock, and began making a series of calls. Never underestimate a witch with a goal. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx A lamp crashed into the wall. The coffee table had been flung across the room and now lay upside down. Jared himself looked like pure fury incarnate standing there breathing hard, his mohawk hanging like a limp track of curled hair once he had washed out the stiff glue. "I can't believe you! What's with you?!" Utena sat calmly on the couch, after hearing an extensive tirade from the other man. She wished she had a beer or... "I find stacks of empty bottles in your room, bags of weed, I mean what the hell!?" ...or maybe a cigarette... "And I let it all go...I figure what's your business is your business..." ...the headache was building in her mind again...it hurt...she needed to make it stop somehow... "But you've gone too far this time...way too far! You can't just go around threatening talk show hosts like it's no big deal...and I would have even forgiven you that. Maybe you where having a mood swing or something. At least you had the bloody sense to turn off your mic." ...maybe what she needed was a new way to relieve the pain...maybe what she needed was... "But I find you shooting up too?! Track marks! You've been hiding track marks where we can't see them! What is your malfunction?! Why won't you talk to us anymore?" Jared, finally spent, collapsed onto the couch beside her, but she continued to stare straight ahead like a doll. He buried his face in his hands as he spoke, "Ten...Utena...despite what the tabloids say, we're your friends. Why won't you tell us what's happening to you? You're so angry all the time...you're slipping away from us, and I don't know what to do....What if the company finds out about this? What if they drop you? What if the media catches wind? I don't want to see you hurt...please...please...just tell me what's going on...is it that girl? The one that sends you flowers and shit? Bloody hell, I'll get rid of her myself. If that's what it takes I'll screen your mail or whatever....but please...I..." He was suddenly cut off as Utena turned to him and placed an arm around his shoulders. She brought her face to his, just shy of actually touching. "Do you really want to know?" Jared found he couldn't move. Like being caught in headlights...he barely managed to get a trembling whisper past his lips, "..ah...yes..." Utena placed her slender fingers upon his cheek. "Then let me show you..." ....It was morning. It was early. And Utena was not pleased to have to be out of bed so early to go to some meeting about an upcoming photo shoot. And after that, they had some kind of interview scheduled at a café. But they hadn't mentioned who it was for. Most likely some magazine or something. Who cared? She had far more important things to do...but then again, all of these tedious projects were means to an end she supposed... She moved through the lobby of Pelican Records, the one stationed in Japan, and made her way to the board room. Opening the door and stepping inside, it was suddenly firmly shut behind her. Whirling around, her muscles tense, she found herself staring up into the eyes of a tall man with hair like seaweed. He was dressed in a business suit, but her eyes flicked to his hands at the calluses. This wasn't just a suit. Another man, in a sleek looking three-piece that looked like it had stepped out of a G.Q. magazine, was reclined in one of the chairs. Warning bells were going off in her head, especially at that self assured smirk on the red head's lips. "What's going on here?" Her voice came out steady and cold, with the slightest tinge of edge to it. Like a sword that had been lifted slightly out of the scabbard. The man raised hands to metaphorically show he was unarmed. "We wished to speak with you, Utena. I hope you don't mind, I promise you this will not take long..." The green haired man moved to take a seat next to the red haired man, sitting perfectly straight in his chair, as if he were used to sitting that way for hours on end Tenjou was liking this less and less. "Look you...my name is Ten. And yes I do mind...especially when I was called down here for business and find it was some hoax." The man stood and gave a bow. "Please...I see you do not recall us. Then for the sake of introduction, my name is Touga Kiryuu. This is Saionji Kyouichi. We once went to the same school as you." Utena snorted and walked over onto to other side of the table from them, plopping down into a chair and thunking a boot onto the polish mahogany. "Great...another one. You two going to start sending me roses also? Look, I'm really getting tired of this...people popping out of the wood work to say they 'went to school with me'. Even if they somehow did, why should I care?" Her mood was quickly turning black. The two men across from her turned to look at each other, an unreadable glance. Then the man, the one who apparently was doing all the talking, seem to suddenly switch tracks. "Ah...I see then. Forgive me for bringing up a touchy subject." His winning smile was locked back into place, like a million watt bulb shining from those perfect neat teeth. Utena was getting that headache again. Firmly she held it back. The man stood again, and his looked turned a touch more serious. "But there was another more business related reason we are here. We had planned to offer your manager a photo shoot opportunity with Cultivated Elegance magazine." Judging from the quick glance of confusion from Kyouichi, there was no 'we' involved with the planning. Utena was highly suspicious but couldn't quite get herself to turn away and leave the room. A firm voice inside of her was reminding her how widely popular and widespread C.E. publications were. They only took the cream of the crop to have an article about in their columns. And a photo shoot? Forget it. Average models had no chance. Even Utena, who cared little about such things had heard stories of famous actors and aristocracy getting turned away. To be offered such a chance to publicize their band would be a great opportunity. Unless... Utena looked across at the Kiryuu character with a frown. "And just who exactly is this offer being made to?" Touga gave a reassuring smile, "You and your band mates of course. We would not think of excluding any one of you." Utena crossed her arms. Her interest was taken, despite her ingrained distrust of the playboy sitting across from her. He made her think of a gigolo. "I see...I'm certain our manager would be most appreciative of such a fantastic opportunity. I can assure you we would be honored." Her face said otherwise. Then her eyes zeroed in on Saionji, holding his gaze as she asked her next question of both of them, "And do the two of you work for the magazine?" A flinch in those purple eyes. Touga answered with a mild shrug, "Not precisely. But we are very close friends with the owner." The owner? Utena gave a nod. "I see. Well then, I'm certain you'll want to discuss all the lovely details with my manager. Now if you'll excuse me...I'm late for my..." The sound of the door opening made all three heads turn to see the male secretary from the front desk escorting a woman into the room. The four people stared at each other with varying degrees between shock, anger, and confusion. It was Anthy Himemiya standing there. Utena was instantly on her feet along with Touga and Saionji who both looked like they had seen a ghost. Anthy for her part looked surprised to see them. Jabbing a finger at Anthy, Utena violently exploded, "YOU! Listen here you damn stalker, I swear to all that is unholy, you had better not be the one I was set up to meet." Anthy shook herself and looked back at the hot glare on Utena's face. Touga's smile had disappeared at the black vehemence emanating from the pink haired woman. Such hatred...at Himemiya? It was uncanny! "You were late, so I came to see if -" "No! I don't even want to hear it. Stay away from me you freak! You disgust me! Stay out of my life! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!" Her voice became a harsh animalistic roar of fury, and the other three people blanched. Her eyes shone hot white silver. Papers that had been neatly stacked on the meeting table began to fly about the room as if carried by a wind. Except that they were indoors. Then one by one, the fluttering sheets of white snapped apart, cut by an invisible blade. And just as suddenly as it had happened, it was gone. The papers scattered onto the floor and chairs. Shoving her way violently past, Utena knocked Anthy into the paneled wall, and slammed the door behind her as she exited. Saionji was already around the table, to grab her firmly about the shoulders, concern evident on his face, "Anthy...Anthy are you alright? I...it's really you!" Silent tears coursed their way down her bronzed cheeks. Touga came over and placed a hand on her as well. "Anthy...tell us...what is going on?" The long haired woman managed to gather herself and looked up into the matured faces of two men she knew so well. Choking back a sob of anguish, Anthy clung to their jackets. "Utena...she...she's in trouble..."
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