Story: Strike A Chord, Sing Revolution... (chapter 1)

Authors: Jessica Knight

Back to chapter list

Chapter 1

Title: Part 1: Softly Spoken, The Play Begins...

Part 1 "Softly Spoken, The Play Begins..."

===================================================

"Sing softly the songs of revolution, that our voices may be heard throughout the heavens and the Earth." Shiori Takatsuki spoke to her, surrounded by a glowing light and the scent of roses. Shiori's hand was outstretched to her, beckoning her forwards.

Spellbound, Juri moved towards her and reached out to take the hand offered her. Somewhere inside, she knew what would happen next, but still she went forward and found the hand withdrawn with a smile as Shiori turned her back and walked away.

Juri wanted to follow, but found that she was too afraid to. So she stood there and watched Shiori walk away. "I would sing for you." She said softly to the girl who had left her. Her body felt heavy and she wanted to sleep. The ground would be fine enough, she considered.

"Oh Miss Juri, oh mistress yes..." She heard a soft and passion filled voice moan. Juri jerked back to wakefulness and turned to see a soft bed in a familiar room. Her room. Her bed. Her... Her bride. And herself laying there with Anthy's naked and beautiful body stretched over her own, the girl's thighs straddling and riding her double's thigh, seemingly in ecstasy.

Juri swallowed hard seeing this. "This is a losing battle." She spoke out loud, not knowing to whom she was speaking.

Her double's face turned to the side, clearly flushed with passion. "Is this really what you want?" She spoke.

As she listened, Anthy breathed out her release and fell down over her double's body and started to kiss her neck. "I wish someone would sing for me." Anthy whispered sadly in her double's ear, the words somehow sounding in Juri's own ears as if it really were her on the bed beneath the other girl's body.

Juri suddenly felt so tired again. So tired, she felt herself fainting. She longed to rest. If not with someone whom she loved, then by herself. Just for a little while. The sound of some buzzing thing tried to tell her something as she fell to the ground. Was it important?

"Miss Juri?" A soft voice spoke to her. "Miss Juri, it's time to wake up. We have classes before too long, and I've made breakfast for us."

Juri opened her eyes blearily and her gaze focused on the red lit up numbers on her alarm clock. [So that's what the buzzing was.] Her sleepy mind pieced together. She turned her head over and looked at the girl standing over her bed. She suddenly found herself unreasonably annoyed with that girl for some reason. "I'll be there in a minute. Go entertain Chu Chu or something. I know you love to do that." She spoke grumpily, turning over in bed and burying her head in the pillow.

Anthy's lilting laugh was the reply. "I'll be waiting for you, Miss Juri." Anthy said as she left the room.

Juri groaned to herself and turned over, staring at the ceiling. "Engaged to be married yet. All because I beat Touga Kiryuu in a duel under an impossible upside-down castle. Sometimes I truly think life is simply too bizarre for words."

===================================================

Still drowsy from sleep, her mind obsessing over the dream she'd had, Juri Arisugawa slipped on her Ohtori Academy Student Council uniform jacket and shook out her hair. She considered herself in the mirror for a moment. Wondering obtusely who it was exactly that was looking back at her.

Shaking her head of the ridiculous thoughts, yet still not quite able to banish the mental image of Anthy Himemiya's naked body poised over her own in bed. It shivered through her again and she hated it. That girl was so maddening to just be around, she once again found herself utterly indecisive about her own feelings and what her life had become. She found her hand unconsciously moving up to clasp her locket again. She closed her eyes and thought of Shiori... There had been a time when she thought Shiori was her entire world, all she needed to be happy and at peace. ["Sing softly the songs of revolution..."] Her mind repeated the words. Revolution. What did it all even mean anyway? What did it all even matter?

She sighed in annoyance and tucked the locket inside the folds of her jacket and buttoned it up, heading out into the other room to meet her bride. At the door, her eyes lingered on her bed, another involuntary shiver going through her.

As she walked into the room, the scent of waffles and seasoned tofu and vegetable soup met her nose and she realized: yes, she was hungry. The soup was left over from their meal last evening and Juri had to admit she was looking forward to eating more of it. "It smells... really nice." She said sincerely to Anthy, offering her a small reluctant smile for her efforts. Especially pleased by the strawberries and cream she saw were accompanying the waffles.

"Why thank you, Miss Juri." Anthy spoke, smiling serenely over at her. "Shall we sit down to eat?" She asked.

Juri momentarily closed her eyes and sighed softly. "We can do that." She spoke, going over and taking her seat. Watching with a vague sort of curiosity as Anthy took the seat next to her at the small circular table.

"Would you like some tea, Miss Juri?" Anthy asked.

"Yes, I would." Juri answered. Her elbows on the table, she folded her hands under her chin and watched with something like fascination as Anthy poured her a cup of tea. She had to admit, no matter what else was true, it was also true that it was... nice... to be able to share her mornings with someone.

"Did you sleep well?" Juri asked in a casual sort of voice, not really sure why she'd asked.

Anthy looked at her for a moment, meeting her eyes with that sort of calm way she had about her. "I slept very well. Thank you, Miss Juri... And you?" Anthy asked. Uncharacteristically leaning her head against the palm of one of her hands, braced by an elbow on the table.

Juri blinked, caught off guard by this unexpected and deceptively innocent turn about. "I uh... No. No, I didn't." She admitted.

"I see." Anthy said. "I'm sorry to hear that, Miss Juri... Please know, that if there is ever anything I can do to make your nights more pleasant, you have just to ask me."

Juri's eyes narrowed at the other girl. "Just what are you saying?" She asked coldly.

"...Only that I wish for you to be able to sleep peacefully." She told her. "I belong to you, Miss Juri. You have just to speak it, and I will do as you ask, happily."

Juri just stared at her, caught between outrage and confusion. "Just eat your soup and let me be." She seethed at her, turning away and picking up her fork.

"As you wish, Miss Juri." Anthy spoke quietly, picking up her spoon and partaking of the soup before her.

Juri raised her head slowly and looked at what Anthy was doing. "God! Stop that! It wasn't a command, damn you!" She fumed, getting up from the table and pacing around the room.

"Have I done something to upset you, Miss Juri?" Anthy asked, seemingly anxious over her betrothed's behavior.

"Oh, you'd like me to answer that, wouldn't you?" Juri shot at her, her nerves worn ragged. "Don't think I don't see what you're doing. I see it." Juri got up into her face, looming over her a breath's distance away. "If I gave you a command to tell me the truth, would you do it? No matter what I asked?" She dared her.

"Of course, Miss Juri. You know I would do anything you say." Anthy said.

Juri closed her eyes, defeated. "That's what I thought." She said, not willing to actually force even that on the other girl. "Do you like it?" She found herself asking. "When I'm this close to you? Do you like how it feels?" She asked, reaching a hand up and gently touching a few locks of Anthy's hair.

Anthy closed her eyes. "Very much." She said softly.

Juri lingered there just a moment, then backed away. "I wish I could believe you meant that." Was all she said, leaving and going back to her room, her food forgotten.

Anthy didn't say anything as she left.

Juri sat on the edge of her bed, her head in her hands. [This is so unfair.] She thought to herself, not believing just how much she had wanted to just go a little further and know what it was like to really know the touch of the girl in the other room. To feel her lips on hers, see her eyes as her double in her dreams must have seen them as they made love together.

It was so maddening how much that quiet, unassuming girl out there had gotten under her skin in the time they'd been living together. She wasn't surprised by it anymore. The little things Anthy said to her to drive her to distraction. The small ways her words brushed against her defenses and gently shook them. In a bizarre way, she'd almost come to enjoy it. Like a dance... or a duel. A few times, she'd actually half way convinced herself that maybe Anthy really did love her and all of this was just her way of... of letting her know how she felt.

With Anthy, you could never tell for sure though. And that's why. That's why she would never touch her like that. Not if she were the last girl on Earth.

"Miss Juri?" The soft, familiar voice spoke to her. Juri looked up and saw Anthy at the door. "The food will get cold... Are you sure you won't have some more before we go to classes?" She asked.

===================================================

"Ah, good morning, Utena my love." Wakaba Shinohara cheerily greeted her best friend, Utena Tenjou, as she rounded the corner and came into view.

"Wakaba! Good morning!" Utena laughed as the girl launched herself at her and hugged her fiercely. "In good spirits today I see?"

"Of course I am, silly. With a cute boyfriend like you to make me happy, what more could a girl ask for?" She teased.

"Well I don't know about you, but I need some food!" Utena replied. "Come on, I want to get to the cafeteria before the lines get too huge." She told her.

Wakaba giggled and grabbed hold of Utena's hand and pulled her along. "Well come on silly, we need to get a move on then!"

"Coming, I'm coming." Utena smiled in indulgence and let herself be pulled along, hurrying to keep pace with her friend who had entirely too much energy for this time in the morning in the pink haired girl's humble opinion.

===================================================

"So, what do you think of the new teacher in history class?" Wakaba asked as she sat across from Utena at one of the cafeteria tables.

"She seems alright, I guess." Utena said thoughtfully as she took a bite of her food. "I kind of like her accent." She admitted, crinkling her nose a little.

"Yeah. Where do you think she's from anyway. One of those European countries?" Wakaba asked.

"I think she said... It was Italy?" Utena tried to recall more clearly.

"Really?" Wakaba questioned. "I guess I didn't catch that part when she introduced herself to us..." She pondered.

"Yeah. I remembered it, because it was a city that had a name I'd heard some place before."

"Huh." Wakaba considered the news. "Do you remember what city it was?"

"No... I don't know." Utena admitted, a little sheepishly. "But so, how are you doing on our assignment, Wakaba?"

Making a somewhat over-stated show of aggrievement, Wakaba answered. "Horrible." She admitted. "I mean what kind of assignment is that anyway? Describe an historical event as if I was there? I don't know how to do that!"

Utena laughed. "Yeah. I'm not doing all that well with it myself." She admitted.

"You're not?" Wakaba looked at her. "Well that's no good." She complained. "I was going to ask you to help me with mine."

"Gee, I'd never of guessed." Utena gazed across the table at her, her chin resting on the palm of one of her hands, propped up by an elbow on the table.

Wakaba just looked at her, clearly annoyed. "Well, what do you expect me to do? You always help me with these things, Utena." She pointed out. "I'm so disappointed."

Utena laughed again, Wakaba never failing to cheer her up, even when she was complaining about her. "Aw, come on, it's not that bad, is it?" She ventured.

"Hhmph. If you were a proper boyfriend, you'd help me, Utena." She complained.

Utena just looked at her. "I never said I wouldn't help you, Wakaba. Did I?" She pointed out, continuing the tease. "How about we just work on it together? We can help each other." She offered.

Wakaba smiled. "That's what I like to hear!" She said cheerfully. "Well, now that that's taken care of, I can enjoy my breakfast for real finally."

"Well I'm glad I could help." Utena laughed, nibbling at her food, her gaze absently watching her friend across the table. It gave her a sense of peace somehow.

"Good morning, Miss Utena." A voice interrupted her.

"Good morning, Utena. Hi Wakaba." A second more cheery voice chimed in.

"Oh, Hi Kaori, Chiaki. How are you two this morning?" Utena smiled up at the girls who had stopped by. Kaori Tanaka and Chiaki Minoru were her and Wakaba's best friends lately. They'd met the two of them over break and discovered they all got along really well with one another.

"I'm doing very well, thank you." Kaori replied.

"Same here." Chiaki echoed. "Can we sit with you two?" She asked.

"Of course you can. You always sit with us." Utena pointed out with an amused smile.

"Oh, just sit down already." Wakaba admonished them. "It's not like you were interrupting anything." She teased.

"You never know. The way you two talk." Chiaki pointed out logically.

"It's true." Kaori agreed. "Lots of people think you might really be a couple."

"Do they really?" Utena asked, once again supporting her chin with the palm of her hand and using the other one to pick at her trail mix.

"Totally." Chiaki confirmed. "Of course, we know it's all just talk, don't we Kaori?"

"I know no such thing, Chiaki." The other girl disagreed airily. "For all we know, it's all an act, put on for our benefit."

"Guys, come on." Wakaba whined.

"Who's that?" Utena asked, her gaze having caught something out of the ordinary.

Wakaba and the others turned and saw what had caught Utena's attention. Two girls, one in a student council uniform and the other in a normal girl's uniform. They seemed to be having some sort of argument. Or the girl from the student council was anyway. The other girl didn't seem to be raising her voice at all.

"That's Juri Arisugawa. The other girl's Anthy Himemiya." Kaori answered, watching the scene with interest.

"Looks like a lover's quarrel to me." Chiaki observed. "Some girls get all the luck." She complained.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Wakaba asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Kaori asked.

"Don't know what?" Utena asked, taking her eyes away from Juri and Anthy as their argument seemed to stop and they left to go on their way to wherever it was they had been going.

"About Miss Arisugawa." Kaori answered.

Chiaki nodded her agreement. "It's a tragic tale of unrequited love." She informed them.

"Really?" Wakaba's interest was piqued. "That sounds mysterious."

"Tell us about it, Chiaki?" Utena asked, finding she was interested.

"Well, you know about her don't you? Juri Arisugawa. She's totally famous. The captain of the fencing team from a young age. I heard she won a championship last year." Chiaki informed them.

"That is impressive." Wakaba allowed.

"Darn right it is." Chiaki replied. "When she fights, it's like she's a dancer or something. Nobody can touch her! She almost never loses." She praised. "Anyway, at her old school, no one knows the specifics, but... They say she got her heart broken really badly."

"What happened?" Wakaba asked, totally having been drawn into the drama.

"Well, nobody knows for sure. Some say it was over a boy..." Chiaki drew out the telling of her story a little. "But I heard it was really another girl, and that she keeps her picture in a locket under her uniform and looks at it whenever she's alone and she thinks no one can see her."

"What we can't figure out is how she ended up with Anthy Himemiya." Kaori put forward.

"I know, right?" Chiaki agreed. "I mean, all they ever seem to do is not get along. You wouldn't think a girl like that would be her type."

"Some girls like things like that." Kaori offered.

"Well I don't buy it." Chiaki defended her point of view. "I still think there's something weird going on between them. I mean, haven't you looked at them? They don't act like they're together."

"That is true." Kaori allowed.

"Maybe they're just friends?" Wakaba put forward.

"Maybe..." Chiaki allowed.

"They are roommates after all." Kaori pointed out.

"You two really seem to know a lot about this." Utena laughed, amused by her new friends' depth of knowledge and opinion on the subject.

"Well of course we do." Chiaki defended. "I mean, come on Utena. Did you look at her? She's like a goddess or something! Who wouldn't be interested?" She questioned.

"She'd totally dump me if Juri smiled at her." Kaori accused. "Don't even deny it."

"I would not." Chiaki defended. "And besides, you're the one who..."

"Do not go there, Chia." Kaori warned. "I said I was sorry for that."

"What's she talking about?" Wakaba asked.

"It was... Okay, so I kind of cheated on her two weeks ago. It just sort of happened... and it was just a little kiss. It totally didn't mean that much."

"What happened?" Utena asked.

"Kaori had this blonde girl for a lab partner. Kana something. She is such a slut." Chiaki explained. "They stayed late at school one night and Kaori still won't tell me the whole story, but..."

"It's so embarrassing." Kaori put in.

"Kana doesn't even like girls." Chiaki explained. "Kaori swears she made the first move though and that she was just so shocked by it she let it happen."

"It's the truth!" Kaori insisted.

"Yeah, whatever."

"How did you find out about it?" Wakaba asked.

"Kaori told me about it after." Chiaki proudly spoke.

"Of course she did." Utena spoke up.

"Yeah." Chiaki sighed just a hint. "She was so guilty over it, it was really kind of pathetic."

"Hey!" Kaori protested.

"Okay, so you were kind of cute too." Chiaki allowed.

"Well that's better than nothing, I guess." Kaori still looked rather put off.

"Hey, come on. You know I love you." Chiaki consoled her.

That made Kaori smile. "Yeah, I know."

"You two are so cute together." Utena praised them, smiling.

===================================================

To be continued...

Back to chapter list