I could feel the winter chill seep in through the window as I brushed my hair. It still seemed strange to me to see it. For ten years it had been black and short. I held up a lock of pink hair, as long as my shoulder and stared back at the face in the mirror. "Maybe I should cut it." I said out loud. "I think you will look beautiful no matter what length it is." Anshi came in with a newspaper and handed it and a cup of coffee to me. "Did you see this?" I asked her, pointing to a small article in the business section. She looked over my shoulder. "It says that Kiryuu Touga has been sent to a spa in Switzerland for rehabilitation…and Nanami has resigned, pending her move to New York." Anshi took the brush out of my hand and began to brush my hair. "Poor Nanami. I always felt bad for her, you know. She set herself up for disappointment all the time." "Maybe she’ll finally work it out this time." I drank the coffee and hummed with pleasure as Anshi brushed. "Juri called." Anshi said. "She and Miiko will be coming to Kyoto for a shoot later this month. She was wondering if they could meet us for dinner." "I’d like nothing better. Do you think, " I asked a little hesitantly, "we should invite Miki?" Anshi smiled at me in the mirror. "I think that would be a nice idea." She brushed my hair a little longer then handed the brush back to me. "Anshi?" I looked at her reflection and our eyes met. "What do you think the next ten years will be like?" "I don’t know, Utena, but they’ll probably be interesting." And she grinned. An honest-to-goodness mischievous grin. "Yes, I said, grinning back. "I guess they will." *** End notes: Wow. That was a lot of fun to write! Probably the most fun of all of them so far. I have so many people to thank; I hardly know where to start. First, let me say that this story began germinating at the moment I first watched the "poison" conversation in the TV series. I knew there was a story there…and I wanted to be the one to write it. Then I read "Ten Years After," by Chris Davies and I knew that Juri was a lawsuit waiting to happen. So Miiko is for him. I hope he likes her. Finally, I decided that writing a "hardboiled" mystery story would be fun – and I was right. I think I may just have to write more of them. All the places I mention in Kyoto are real. It sounds like a lovely city. Moti is real too, and does have a Shinjuku branch. I’ll let you know how it is if I ever get to Tokyo. I want to thank the members of the "Fanfic Revolution" who so carefully comb my stories for mistakes and inconsistencies and who never get tired of challenging me to defend my interpretations…thank you all. I cannot possibly thank you enough, for the help, the support and the chitchat. And I want to thank Pattie, because she means everything in the world to me.
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