The former opera hall was buzzing with activity, the people
rushing about to finish off their tasks before the meetings actually
began. Moving through the crowds and down the beautifully decorated
hallways the lady's ice cold glare split the mob easily, letting her
quickly reach the handsome young man dressed in blue. Their uniforms
were similar, designed in the patterns of a bygone era, but unlike
him, hers was in red.
"The communications link that you requested has been
established, sir," Lady Une said to him respectfully, her round
glasses catching the light. Her long brown hair was tied back, the
woman holding herself in stiff control.
"Thank you Lady," Treize Khushrenada nodded to her
respectively, his short brown hair styled back. He had a presence,
this man, as soon as he entered a room people were drawn to him. With
a slight smile, "I'll take it in the study, then."
"Of course, sir," Lady Une bowed her head to him slightly
before swiftly departing to attend to her other duties.
A few moments later Treize was sitting down in front of one of
the viewscreens, among the finery and the scent of old books. A bit of
snow appeared on the screen before another man's image appeared.
"Zechs," Treize smiled slightly.
The man in the image looked even more like he had walked right
out of another era, dressed in dashing red, the helmet he wore
concealing his eyes. His blond hair went slightly below his square
shoulders, and his manner was both casual yet very competent. "You
have my deepest apologies, Treize," Zechs said, grimacing slightly.
"It wasn't your fault," Treize reassured him, "I know you had
those Gundams to deal with." He frowned, "Do we know why those fools
attacked Ohtori?"
"They were clearly ordered to just perform surveillance on the
school and the dueling forest behind it," Zechs' hand clenched
slightly, the rose signet that he wore catching the light, "but
apparently they decided to show some initiative."
Treize leaned backward, frowning as he sorted through his
thoughts. "Has there been any news on the Rosebride, or of her
champion?" he finally asked.
"Nothing," Zechs answered him with a frown. "There's been no
sign of their bodies in the wreckage nor any evidence of their
presence ever being there." A soft laugh, "Even their school records
seem to have disappeared."
"We need to find the Rosebride as soon as possible," Treize
murmured, "if the rumors are all true, she could be the key to
everything."
"There seems to have been a survivor from the current batch of
duelists," Zechs offered that fact up thoughtfully, "if we were to
keep an close eye on her, it's quite possible that the Rosebride might
be drawn to her."
"And the Duelist's name?" Treize asked.
A slight smile appeared on Zechs face, "Arisugawa Juri."
In another part of the world, night was falling on the academy
as Arisugawa Juri made her way from the school itself to the nearby
dorms. The buildings, designed in a Victorian style, were different
from those at Ohtori, and for that she was quite glad.
The breeze kicked up, her long orange hair blowing from her
face, and she took a deep breath of the summer air. 'It's been one
hell of a day,' she thought ruefully, the boy's school uniform she
wore standing out among the girl's uniforms all around her.
Her duel with Heero Yui still reverberated in Juri's thoughts.
He was fast, dangerous, but there was something... badly off inside of
him. Looking into an opponent's eyes Juri was used to seeing many
things, like anger, fear, or excitement. Buy in Heero, she had felt
nothing, saw no emotion but a cool purpose in his dark eyes.
'He wanted to hurt me,' Juri mused, 'but why?' Somehow she
knew he didn't do anything without a reason, and she suspected she
wasn't going to like very much. 'Hopefully he's just an opponent,' she
thought, 'and not an enemy.'
And then there were the consequences of her duel...
Juri took a cautious look behind her, and noticed that the
band of adoring young women were still closely following her. The mob
had begun to form after the duel, and it continued to build as the
word spread around the school about her victory.
'I so do not need this right now,' Juri sighed. Her mouth
twisted into an odd smile, 'Not to mention the nickname that I seem to
have been given.' Almost as soon as she began fencing here she had
acquired the name 'The Prince,' and it seemed to want to stick.
With a bit of relief she noted that the mob came to a
disapointed stop once Juri went inside her dorm. There was also a
certain amount of peeking out of doors going on as she passed by, and
she sighed softly once she got into her single room and shut the door
behind her.
Stepping carefully inside Juri avoided the letters that were
scattered on the floor, and with a curious look she picked them all
up. The delicate scent of perfumes wafted up, and with a fierce blush
she realized they were all love letters.
"You have got to be kidding me," Juri muttered softly.
Only one of the envelopes didn't bear any obvious scent, and
Juri hesitantly opened it up. The invitation to Releena's birthday
party dropped into her hands, along with a short note: "Thank you for
your help. I would be honored if you would come."
Juri carefully put the invitation aside, setting all the other
letters on her desk to deal with later. She walked over to the window,
looking out at the twilight. Reaching into her shirt she pulled out a
locket, a signet ring dangling from the chain beside it. After a
moment she clicked it open to reveal the photos that were contained
inside.
On one side of the locket was a pretty, purple haired girl,
smiling out at Juri happily. "Shiori," she sighed softly. On the other
side two people stood side by side, one purple haired like Shiori, but
darker to match her dusky skin. The girl beside her had long, pink
hair, dressed in a boy's school uniform. The blue eyes shone with
happiness, her expression without guile or deceit. "Utena, Anthy,"
Juri murmured, closing her eyes and remembering the last time she had
seen them...
The fires raged all around her, but Juri still knelt,
struggling with the ceiling support beam. She knew that Shiori was
dead, knew that no one could have survived that blow to the head, but
she just couldn't leave her here alone. A gentle hand came to rest on
her shoulder, and ignoring all her protests she was pulled to her
feet.
Utena took one side, Anthy the other as the dragged the weakly
struggling Juri out of the burning dorm. They brought her over to a
hastily set up medical station, and all but ordered them to treat her,
bandaging the burned hands and cleaning blood from her face.
Utena was looked back at the building, the light of the fire
shadowing her face. "I think there's still students in there," she
murmured. She turned to Anthy, "Take care of her, I'll be right back."
With that she strode towards the burning buildings. Anthy stood there
a moment, gazing after her. Then her eyes narrowed, and she moved to
follow.
"Stop," Juri managed to weakly say, "you shouldn't..."
Anthy looked back at Juri, and oddly a slight smile appeared
on her beautiful face. "Where she goes," she said to her with a
complete sincerity, "I go." With that she strode off, soon
disappearing into the fire after Utena.
Juri snapped the locket shut, the noise oddly loud in the
little dorm room. She hadn't seen either of them again, and no trace
of them was found searching through the burned rubble. The mobile
suits who had started the blaze fled too, but not until she was able
to see the letters painted on the side of one of the suits: OZ.
When she recovered from her injuries Juri went to the little
room in the East Dorm. Sneaking inside she took the little photo of
them, putting it in the locket beside Shiori's. She would remember
them and the heroism they showed, always. In her heart she resolved to
live up to Utena's example, the best that she could.
Of course, that was easier said than done.
Knowing the Specials had been the ones to burn the dorms down
left her with conflicted feelings. On one hand she wanted to see them
brought to justice, but the other part... a darker part of her wanted
revenge, pure and simple. Not that she thought the courts would help,
considering how quickly they muzzled and report of OZ's presence
there, but...
Juri abandoned that train of thought, sitting down to look
through the stack of love letters. There were a few from boys, but the
majority were from young girls. 'Wonder if they know anout me,' Juri
wondered, 'or it's just girlish crushes?'
The invitation was sitting just apart, and Juri picked it up
thoughtfully. 'Maybe I will go,' she resolved silently.
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