"You slept with HIM?!" a clearly shocked Juri asked her,
standing in her lover's messy dorm room at Ohtori academy.
Shiori merely looked sullen, not answering her.
Juri found herself slumping up against the door. She hadn't
really wanted to believe it, but now she knew that it really was
true. "You slept with him," she repeated it with a sick sounding
voice, "while you were sleeping with me."
"Juri," the violet haired Shiori looked up at Juri
entreatingly, "you don't understand..."
Juri looked down at the beautiful girl and felt her heart
breaking. "It's over, Shiori," Juri said, her voice breaking. "Don't
come see me, don't talk to me. You make me sick."
With that, Juri turned and quickly left, slamming the door
shut behind her. She didn't trust what she might do if she stayed.
She made her way down the halls, hurrying toward her rooms. She just
wanted to be alone.
Fate had other ideas.
Coming around the corner, rushing, Juri slammed into a
smaller figure, sending her sprawling to the ground. "Watch where
you're going!" she barked angrily at the girl.
"You're the one who ran into me!" the other girl snapped
back angrily, scrambling on the floor for her fallen books.
Juri was so stunned over getting any back talk that she
actually bent to help the younger girl with her books. She found
herself looking over the slim girl as they worked, and was struck by
the girl's spirit and style.
"Who are you?" Juri finally asked as the girl rose to leave.
She took a few steps away then turned and gave Juri a sunny smile.
"Shinobara Wakaba," she answered her, "and I know you're
Asirugawa Juri, captain of the Fencing Team." As she said the last,
her eyes shone with simple admiration. Quite suddenly she blushed
and then hurried off.
"Shinobara Wakaba," Juri murmured to herself thoughtfully.
The next day came, as much as Juri didn't want it too. She
tried to keep busy, maintaining her usually exhausting workload.
Still, it couldn't keep her mind off Shiori. The library was quiet
that afternoon, and she came up behind Miki almost silently.
"Hello, Juri-sempai," Miki said quietly, not even turning
around.
Juri still didn't know quite how he did that. "Thanks," she
said quietly. Miki blushed a bit, looking uncomfortable. He had told
her what Shiori had been doing with the former Chairman, even though
he knew that he might be endangering his friendship with Juri by
doing so. She placed her hand on his shoulder, smiling warmly,
saying non-verbally "It's all right."
They talked for a bit on various things, in the comfortable
way that friends do, when Juri found herself asking him, "What can
you tell me about Shinobara Wakaba ?" Juri was surprised to hear the
question cross her lips, but she found herself eagerly awaiting
Miki's answer.
Miki surprised her again, this time with a burst of sudden,
warm laughter. He smiled as he said, "Wakaba is Tenjou Utena's best
friend." He shrugged up at her eloquently before continuing
on, "What else do you need to know?"
Juri laughed with him for a minute. "Really, I'm curious.
What can you tell me about her, oh quiet but all-seeing one?" she
asked.
Miki looked thoughtful, searchig his memory. "Shinobara
Wakaba is a fair student, in the eighth grade, popular with her
classmates. She's been friends with Utena for many years,
apparently. She has so far avoided joining the various clubs,
although," he added teasingly, "she has been seen around the fencing
matches."
Juri blushed a bit before offering, "She probably has a
crush on you."
"Wakaba's had some bad luck as far as love is concerned,"
Miki continued. "She fell hard for Saionji, a feeling he did not
return, and for his amusement he posted one of her love letters on
the bulletin board."
"He what?!" Juri blurted. She looked at him for a moment,
then rose, her fists clenched and face dark with sudden anger.
"Whoa, there" Miki said, putting his hand on her arm, "it's
already been dealt with. Utena called him on his actions and
challenged him to a duel." Miki grins, "Kicked his ass, too. There
was a rumor that Wakaba and Utena are involved, but I don't think
so."
"So that's how Utena got involved with the duels," Juri
murmured.
"So why are you asking?" Miki asked giving Juri a steady
gaze. Juri blushed a bit.
"I met her recently. She seemed to be..." Juri paused for
thought before shrugging slightly and saying, "interesting."
Miki smiled to himself thoughtfully then tore a sheet of
paper out from his notebook and wrote something down on it
quickly. "Here's her room number and dorm." he said before pushing
the sheet of paper towards her. Slightly surprised, Juri took it as
he added, "This way, you can say you're sorry for knocking her down
earlier." He packed his books up and left.
'How does he find these things out?' Juri wondered as she
watched him go.
Juri stood in front of the door, running through her speech
yet again. She couldn't believe that she was this nervous. 'I can do
this, no problem. She's just an eighth grader, after all,' Juri
thought. Steeling her resolve, she firmly knocked on the door. A
young girl, clearly not Wakaba, opened the door, looked up at her in
absolute shock, and quicky slammed the door shut. From inside, she
could hear a faint conversation:
"Oh my god, that's Asirugawa Juri! The fencer! Oh my god!"
one voice said.
Another voice that sounded like Wakaba, "Yeah, I met her
yesterday."
"Why didn't you TELL me!" the other voice replied, nearly in
hysterics.
"Shouldn't we let her in?" Wakaba asked.
There was a moment of dead silence, then Juri heard very
fast footsteps. The door opened up and the other girl smiled
winningly at Juri, who was doing her very best to keep a straight
face. It was taking some effort.
"I'm really sorry," the young girl said, blushing. Juri
smiled and assured her that everything was all right, greatly
amused. A few moments later, the other girl excused herself.
Juri took the chair by the school desk, swinging it
backwards and resting her hands on the back. "I just wanted to say
I'm sorry for knocking you down yesterday. I was a little upset, and
I wasn't watching where I was going," she said charmingly.
Wakaba smiled reassuringly. "There's no harm done." Juri
smiled back at her, struck by the girl's casual warmth. So different
from her.
"I wanted to make it up to you." Juri reached into her shirt
pocket, and placed a ticket on the desk even as she rose to
go. "There's a exclusive fencing match coming up in a few days.
Admittance is by invitation only. I got this for a friend, but she
can't come. I'd... appreciate seeing you there." Juri found herself
blushing a bit.
Wakaba looked at the ticket, then up to Juri. "I'd be glad
to," she answered happily.
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