Kakumei no Bara (part 4 of 8)

a Revolutionary Girl Utena fanfiction by Tanuki

Back to Part 3
She stood in a field of roses. If she had been in a normal state she 
would have stooped and picked them up. Roses reminded her of Anthy. 
However, she had more pressing matters to attend to. Someone stood in 
front of her. Holding Anthy like a human shield; he/she/it had a dagger 
to her throat.

"Fight me 'prince.'"

"Only if you let her go!"

"Oh yes, the bride; I'll let her go once you pull your sword."

"Fine!"

Utena unsheathed her sword. She took a steady position, well guarded.

What's that noise? Is he... laughing?

"What is that? Are you going to hit me with a stick?"

Utena looked down to see her bokken. She suddenly felt very foolish. 
She also felt very angry.

"Shut Up!" Utena dashed towards her opponent. He merely smirked and 
dropped Anthy. He pulled his own scimitar out of his sheath and 
charged. They met with a mighty clash. They stayed that way for a 
moment...until Utena's bokken shattered.

"Nooooooo!" Utena screamed as wood bits flew everywhere. She felt the 
blade tear into her stomach. She saw red as her life drained away. She 
opened her mouth to scream in pain...

...And woke up shrieking as if she really were being killed. Anthy 
bolted awake from the sound and turned around, looking around in fright;
worried that there was some unnamed evil in the room.

"Utena, what's going on?"

Utena could not stop crying. She grabbed for Anthy and clung to the 
girl like an anchor.

"Utena what was it?"

"I don't know."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Kakumei no Bara

Wakaba's Boisterous Homecoming

Utena sat on a park bench and stretched. She hadn't slept since the 
early hours of the morning. She yawned and leaned back, arching her 
back against the bench's back rest. She had managed to turn her head 
completely over when she saw a bus pull in front of a restaurant.

What the heck is a bus doing here? This ain't no bus route. It's 
probably a band or something looking for some snacks. Maybe it's Bad 
Luck.

Utena's curiosity got the better of her and she went to see just who 
could be in this bus. Then the doors opened and it's occupants stepped 
out. First came Juri, looking tired with some girl Utena recognized 
from another class in her grade when she went to Ohtori. She briefly 
wondered why this girl was here. Next came Nanami, looking sleep 
deprived and cranky. Touga stepped out after her, chattering amiably 
with a pretty blond. She was a few years older than Touga, but not 
many. Next stepped out Sayonji. He looked as he always did; pissy. The 
worst shock came a moment later, when Wakaba jumped out of the bus, 
covering half the distance between Sayonji and herself and then 
flinging herself onto Sayonji's arm. He looked shocked for a moment and 
did something Utena never even thought he could do genuinely. He 
laughed a little and mussed her hair.

"What in the blue bloodyfuck is going on here?"

Wakaba was as happy as she could be. She was home, and she had brought 
Sayonji with her. She didn't think it could get any better till she 
heard that familiar voice. She found Utena, standing only a few feet 
away. The others also noticed her and merely stopped. Too sheocked to 
glomp, she merely stared. "Utena-sama" she squeaked. Her eyes rolled 
back into her head and she collapsed against his chest.

"Eh, hey Wakaba." Sayonji was glaring at her for making Wakaba faint 
and everyone else was just staring. Utena started rubbing her temples. 
Someone needed to explain what was going on.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

They sat in the restaurant, sipping tea. Utena had grown accustomed to 
tea, it helped sooth her jangled nerves. Wakaba and Sayonji sat across 
from her, eating some of the breakfast they had ordered.

"Mmm, I feel like it's been forever since I actually ate a normal 
meal." Wakaba spoke while she devoured her toast and eggs. Sayonji sat 
next to her, easting his rice quietly, savoring the flavor slowly. 
Utena wondered if she herself had acted like this after she had left 
the academy. She couldn't remember much about those days. Speaking of 
Anthy, where was she? She was supposed to meet them there.

Just when Utena felt like she couldn't take waiting another minute her 
bride entered the restaurant, a collection of books in her arms. She 
walked over to them; apologies all the way.

"Sorry I'm late; I was in the library, looking up some things."

She kissed Utena and sat down next to her. When she finished putting 
her books down she saw Wakaba and Sayonji; they were both in shock.

"What?" The happy couple questioned in unison. They couldn't figure out 
why Wakaba and Sayonji were staring like that.

"Y-you never told me that you and she were..."

"What?" Once again they spoke in stereo.

"Together." Sayonji finished, making a rather suggestive gesture to 
stress what they meant.

"Oh." Utena blushed.

In her seat Wakaba quivered angrily, the shadows that covered her eyes 
kept Utena from gauging her emotions. Her fingers clenched in the 
tablecloth. After a full minute of this, she bolted to her feet with an 
accusing finger at Anthy.

"You; I hate you! What did you do to Utena-sama?"

Anthy didn't even flinch, but merely reached out and grasped Wakaba's 
hand. She looked up at the girl with cold, steel eyes.

"I did nothing to her except try to show her how much I love her. The 
fact that she reciprocated is by no enchantment but her own. If you so 
much as accuse me of ever using my powers to influence Utena ever again 
I will personally see to it that you suffer for that falsehood. I love 
her. That is all you need to know."

Wakaba sniffed with indignation. "Why should I believe you?" Then Anthy 
placed a small leaf shaped hairpin in her hand.

"Because I honestly believe that Kyoichi-sempai can truly love you and 
change. Remember, the duelists weren't the only people to change during 
that last duel." Hen Anthy looked up at her with wide open eyes, 
letting Wakaba see the sincerity burning in their depths. Wakaba's 
resolve melted the second she saw the truth in Anthy's sparkling 
depths. She lowered head and clasped her other hand, trapping Anthy's. 

"Make her happy Himemiya-san, please. She deserves it."

"Of course I will. Also, it's not Himemiya anymore." She lifted her 
left hand, showing them the ring. "It's Tenjou now. We were married a 
month ago." Again, she was privy to their shocked faces. However, the 
recovery form this was much easier. Sayonji merely looked at her 
through his bangs.

"So any thoughts of seducing you-"

"Not a chance in hell?" Anthy replied cheerfully. Wakaba stared at 
Sayonji with a hurt look. He merely looked at her with a benign 
expression.

"Calm down chibi; it's a joke we have between ourselves. I wouldn't 
really try to seduce her."

"At least he wouldn't tell you if he did." Utena smirked from where she 
sat, arms crossed under her chest. Sayonji whipped his head around and 
glared at her. Utena merely smirked at him and cocked her eyebrows. 
"But Sayonji has one thing to remember." Utena lifted her left hand to 
show off an ornate wedding band. "She's off limits; to the game and 
anything else." Utena's eyes promised a pain worse than death if he 
even dared look at her wrong. Sayonji merely leaned back and laughed. 
He wrapped an arm around Wakaba and returned the stare. Their eyes 
threatened as their mouths smiled.

"Chu?"

Sayonji stopped laughing suddenly and looked up, to see the small bane 
of his existence sitting on his hair, eating a banana. It leaned over 
and looked at him; then it gave him a victory sign. His scream could be 
heard down the block.

"GET THIS DAMN RUNT OFFA MY HEAD!!!"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

They sat in the dark room, watching as the projector played back a 
fight between Utena and Juri. Utena suddenly crouched, and the power of 
Dios was upon her.

"Interesting; at first her technique is so weak against this one, then 
she suddenly improves exponentially. It's as if this power she has can 
compensate for any flaws.

"It can. With that kind of power, what you want could be within arm's 
reach."

"Really? As a man of science, do you really expect me to believe that 
this is some sort of magic?"

"You've seen the data yourself. The evidence is right in front of you. 
I've shown you what her presence and that power did to the students of 
her last school."

"And you expect me to able to defeat her? How exactly does that work?"

"I have faith in you."

"I see"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In Ohtori's drama department, three young ladies were preparing to put 
on a play for no one in particular. They danced, posed, and prepared to 
dispense the school's gossip.

"Kashira, Kashira, Dozonai Kashira!''

A-ko stood on a fake rock, holding a stage sword and staring off into 
the distance

"A journey, a journey; 'tis a journey we shall be going on!"

"What are you talking about," B-ko asked behind her. There was a thump 
as A-ko panicked and fell off of the rock. She landed on her butt and 
looked up at her partner.

"We're going on a journey. All brave knights go on journeys."

"We are?"

"Yes; an evil king is threatening the people of a far off kingdom, the 
prince and her knights have already left. We must go to join them."

"And what will we do when we get there?"

"... I haven't thought about that part yet." 

B-ko fell over at that. However, she wasn't too surprised. Her partner 
rarely thought things through.

"And how are we supposed to get there anyway?"

Suddenly a spaceship landed behind them. The hatch opened and a robot 
stepped out.

"I am a robot. I am programmed to catch the monkeys. I see a monkey. I 
will catch the monkeys!"

"RUN!!" They screamed as they bolted out of sight. The robot gave 
chase. Suddenly, C-ko ran on stage. She had a fake horses head in her 
hands. She slammed the horses head onto the front of the spaceship.

"Kogai, Kogai, Kogai! As a brave knight I now commandeer this horse to 
take us to the foreign kingdom. Hurry up!" Then C-ko ran into the 
flying saucer. A-ko and B-ko ran back onto the stage a minute later and 
jumped in. The saucer lifted off, the horses head spinning about as the 
saucer circled. The robot ran by a moment later.

"Monkey, monkey, I will chase the monkey." She stared around for a 
moment then ran off. In the background very faintly, you could hear 
"Kashira, Kashira Dozonai Kashira" then the lights went out.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It had been months since she had come home. Her parents were almost 
strangers for so many months out of the year. Needless to say, when she 
stepped through her front door it was a cause for celebration.

"Mamma, Papa!"

"Wakaba!"

Sayonji was afforded a most amazing sight as both parents and daughter 
flung themselves at each other, and didn't break anything as they 
impacted. He also wondered how someone could live through being hugged 
by a living vice grip. Let alone give a similar death hug to the other 
people involved. He merely stared in rapt fascination. That is, until 
they took note of him.

"Hello hello, who is this?"

Sayonji panicked as Wakaba's father fixed his gaze on him. Granted her 
father was a rather small, unremarkable looking man in his late 
forties; but fathers in general made him nervous. He didn't have the 
overwhelming charm of Touga. He also didn't intend to do half the 
things Touga did with his girls to Wakaba. So he did have an advantage 
over Touga. His intentions were actually honorable. Of course; that 
didn't change the fact that the small man advancing on him was starting 
to make his higher brain functions slow down.

"Oh daddy, this is Sayonji, he's my sempai back at school. He and I 
were transferred to the one opening up here soon." Wakaba was trying to 
cover for him. Sayonji looked like a deer caught in headlights. Se 
giggled as he nodded, dumbstruck.

"Oh really? So, how long have you known our little Wakaba?"

"Um; just a few months now. We met through a mutual acquaintance."

"Really; and who is this acquaintance?"

Sayonji took a long sigh and forced himself to say it without malice. 
"We were introduced because of..."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Tenjou Utena."

The delivery boy stood at Utena's door and waited for someone to sign 
for the package. He had places to be, and lunch to eat. Finally the 
strange dark girl finished signing and took the boxes. She regarded him 
with a smile and giggle before closing the door. Looking at the tip in 
his hand, he sighed. He was never going to afford anything at this 
pace.

"Utena; something came in the mail for you. Come one out and let's see 
it." Anthy called enthusiastically from the entranceway. Utena crawled 
out of their bedroom, looking much better than she had that morning.

"Oii, I'll be down in a minute. And stop yelling; I just woke up 
again." Utena was grumbling her replies. She wasn't yet awake enough to 
be civil. She trudged down the stairs and made her way to where Anthy 
had placed the packages. "Oii Hime; this one's for you." She said 
motioning for Anthy to catch before throwing it to her.

Utena had just opened her's and was removing the tissue paper when she 
heard Anthy's box clatter. She turned to see Anthy holding a white 
version of the Rose Bride's dress. She remembered wearing something 
like it when Akio had pulled her sword out in that last duel. Anthy's 
looked like she had just been slapped. Spying a card on the floor, she 
picked it up and began to read aloud.

"White is the real color of a bride. It is also the color a princess 
wears. Your sins are forgiven; welcome to the revolution." Utena looked 
up at Anthy. "Hime?"

"We'll never be free, will we Utena-sama? All I wanted was to be free." 
Anthy hugged the dress close to her body and started sobbing. Utena 
moved to comfort her, but was pulled back her box on an impulse. She 
peeled aside the paper and saw her old duelist uniform. She threw the 
box to the other end of the room and went to Anthy.

Unseen to them, when the box went flying; its contents scattered about. 
Out of it feel the uniform, the paper, a card similar to Anthy's, and 
finally; a gold rose went flying out. It landed next to the card. It 
glittered for a moment and then turned a dull black. It then dissolved 
into nothingness, taking the card and the other things with it. All 
this was missed as Utena held Anthy to her chest and stroked her back.

The prince was challenged; and there would be no peace until that 
challenge was met. Not for the prince, or for the world.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Juri sat on a bench, looking up into the sky when Touga sat down on her 
left side. Sakaya sat on Juri's right, playing some handheld game or 
another.

"Are you going to tell me what's been bothering you lately Arisagawa or 
will I have to guess?"

"Oh come now Touga-san, we both know how much you love your guessing 
games."

"Don't tease me Arisagawa."

"Touga, have you ever felt... haunted by things from your past?"

"Sometimes; there are things in my past I might have considered not 
doing if I had a second chance at them. Why do you ask?"

"Lately I've been thinking about someone."

"Shiori?"

"Luka."

"Oh."

"I alienated him didn't I... in the end I mean. I mean he loved me, 
genuinely loved me, and I did what I did to him."

"You were suffering. We all were at that point. He knew that when he 
came back. He wanted you to be happy, so he did what he did."

"I just wish he were still around sometimes; comforting me like he did 
when we were younger."

"Who's to say he may not be. Remember Arisagawa, 'there are more things 
between heaven and earth, than are dreamt of in your philosophy'."

"That would require a miracle."

"Maybe you should learn to reaffirm your belief in miracles."

"That's not likely."

"Is it?"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Wakaba and Sayonji stood on her terrace, staring at the setting sun. 
Sayonji merely stood there, staring pensively. Wakaba noticed and 
nudged him with her hip.

"Hey you there; mr. serious-thinker."

"Eh, what is it Wakaba?"

"What's got you looking like someone killed your cat?"

"Touga is the one with the cat obsession."

"You get the idea. You look pissed; why?"

"I'm worried about what's going. This isn't like the last tournament."

"Well yeah, now we know what to expect."

"No, I don't think we do. I get the feeling that they going to be 
throwing surprises at us. I can feel it in the air. Whatever's going to 
happen, it's going to be big, bigger than the last one."

Wakaba stared at him with sad eyes. Sighed then hugged his arm. She 
snuggled in close to his side and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Whatever happens, I'm not worried. Not when I have you. If we all 
stick together, we'll make it. I just know we will."

"Wakaba-"

"Don't say anything. Just hold me and tell me that we'll make it."

So he did

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

He was walking along the highway, staring at a map, wondering which way 
he was supposed to go. Souichi was tagging along behind. The boy was 
humming his na no da song again. Finally they came to a crossroad.

"Hey Yuuki, which way are we supposed to go?

"I don't know." Yuuki was starting to feel frustrated, when he felt a 
presence behind him. He turned to see a dark man with short white hair, 
leaning against a stylish convertible.

"Maybe I could be of assistance then. Tell me, how does the great Yuuki 
Eiri feel about teaching a few high school classes."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"This is your captain speaking. We have just passed into Japanese air 
space. We'll be landing in Tokyo bay shortly. The flight attendants 
will be making one more pass for refreshments."

The young flight attendant was moving her cart slowly through the 
aisles, handing out bags of chips here and there. She stopped at the 
last seat in the aisle. A young man, all of sixteen years old sat 
there. His long, navy blue hair was pulled back into a rather tight 
ponytail. He glared at her for interrupting his peace.

"Excuse me sir, but would you like a bag of chips or refreshment. You 
haven't actually had anything since we left Beijing."

"Your concern is touching, but I require nothing." He replied sharply. 
His eyes bore into her skull. She was starting to get nervous. "I am 
not as undisciplined as these fools here. You have disturbed my peace, 
in any other environment that would be cause for death. Now leave me 
be...or else." His eyes flashed darkly for a second and the flight 
attendant scattered. He sat back and stared at the seat in front of 
him.

"Why must I, Tianquing Han; greatest swordsman in my clan, be 
surrounded by these fools?" He looked at the card in his hand. "Ohtori 
academy huh? Why did I feel compelled to take this invitation? How 
could such a small slip of paper rule my destiny so? No matter; I will 
win this tournament and gain the revolution. Then people will know the 
true skill of my family. Maybe then I can- No! Don't think about that. 
All that matters it victory." 

He leaned back against his chair and closed his eyes. The plane 
continued on, its goal set in destiny.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Preview of Next Episode:

Utena: Hay Anthy what you got there?

Anthy: Oh, just some designs for your new uniform. I drew them up the 
night of the carnival.

Utena: Really?

Anthy: Yeah. Utena, do you remember the night of the carnival?

Utena: I'll remember that night for the rest of my existence. That's 
the night we-

Anthy: Shh, don't tell. Let them find out on their own.

Utena: Right; Next time on Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Kakumei no Bara; A 
Carnival, A Carnival; Can True Love Flourish In Two Shy Hearts.

Anthy: It's the Absolute Destiny Apocalypse!

Other notes:

-Otto= (Informal) My husband

The new character; Tianqing, is a take off on Wufei from Gundam Wing.

The white Rose Bride's dress Anthy is wearing is actually the one she 
wore in the first few volumes of the manga.

Yuuki Eiri and Souichi are the names of the two love interests in 
Gravitation. It's hilarious.

Onwards to Part 5


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