Mrs. Ohtori felt an odd pang, a pain in her chest as she
looked out into the darkness of the night, standing there all alone in
the spacious apartment. 'I think I miss her,' she found herself
realizing. Shiori's presence here had been oddly comforting to the
elder vampire, and tutoring the child had reminded her of much more
pleasant times long, long ago.
Mrs. Ohtori bared her fangs as she muttered under her breath,
"I must be growing soft." But still, the feeling didn't want to go
away.
She scowled, forcing herself to consider other, much more
serious matters. Like the... creature she had sensed, out in the
night. Not a vampire in the normal sense, yet still immortal, and a
hunter of her kind and kin. Mrs. Ohtori had heard of Saya before, the
last of an ancient type of vampire, but she hadn't truly believed
those stories. Not until the first vampires began to turn up in and
around Tokyo, all slain by a expertly wielded katana.
It was tempting to consider directing Saya to Utena, to see
what the youngling could do against the ancient slayer. Mrs. Ohtori
hesitated to do that however, for many reasons. Utena might be able to
forge an alliance with Saya, or that Utena's powers might rise to
destroy the vampire slayer.
But another concern was scratching at the back of Mrs.
Ohtori's mind, simply refusing to leave her alone. The fear that Saya
might slay Shiori as well.
"Damn it," Mrs. Ohtori growled out, "what is WRONG with me?!"
The silence of the room provided no answers for her.
The two reached the apartment building at almost the same
time, Anthy coming from one side, Utena and the others coming from the
other. The women hesitated for a moment, then Utena folded Anthy into
her arms for a gentle hug.
"How did your meeting go?" Utena finally asked.
"Well enough," Anthy smiled up at her. She looked over at the
cart that Wakaba was pushing and said, "I see the shopping went well."
"Well enough," Utena echoed her with a smile.
"And we're having a party," Juri remarked with a slight smile.
"What?" Anthy looked up at Utena in surprise.
Utena smiled wryly, "It'll take some explaining." They all
gathered to talk in the apartment upstairs, sitting around the living
room comfortable. Utena explained the shopping trip, the Utena doll
that was purchased, and the slow realization that their attempt to
hide had been largely useless.
Anthy soaked it all up like a sponge. "If you're right about
the widespread knowledge of our vampire slaying activities," she
finally said, "and I think you are right, then it's reasonable to
assume that Mrs. Ohtori has known about where we were all along."
"But a party?" Shiori asked weakly.
Utena smiled grimly, "I want to do something
uncharacteristic." She got up out of her seat to walk over to one of
the windows. As she gazed into the night, it was almost as if she was
searching for Mrs. Ohtori herself.
"Well, it certainly has style," Ruka admitted.
"There's that," Juri grinned. She cradled Shiori close to her,
frowning slightly as she felt a stiffness in the other girl. 'Well,
Mrs. Ohtori put her through a great deal,' she reminded herself
firmly, 'she shouldn't press.' Looking up at Utena calmly Juri said,
"You want to send our lovely Mrs. Ohtori a little message?"
Shiori bit back the words that bubbled up. She so wanted to
speak in defense of her Mistress, to cry out her many virtues, but
held herself silent. Her place was to watch, to learn all of their
secrets and weaknesses. And when the time was right, Shiori would tell
Mistress everything.
"Mrs. Ohtori knows we're here," Utena agreed, "so why not?
Lets inform the lady that we won't cower in fear from her." A slight
grimace, "Not any longer, anyway."
Anthy got up from her seat, gently putting her hand on Utena's
shoulder. "There's something I need to tell you about," she said
softly, "privately."
Utena and Anthy left the living room together, moving into the
kitchen so as to not disturb any of Utena's harem, sleeping in the
bedroom. "What's going on?" Utena asked her softly, leaning up against
the counter.
Anthy shifted a bit uncomfortably under Utena's steady gaze,
"The people I went out to meet, they were from the vampire hunting
organization that once trained me."
Utena gave her a strained smile, "I guess the information
requests we asked you to make set off some warning bells. Did they ask
about Juri and I?"
"I didn't mention you," Anthy replied firmly. She sighed, "But
I did detail our encounters with Kanae, Miyu and our speculations
about Mrs. Ohtori."
Utena nodded thoughtfully, choosing not to ask about the
people Anthy had met. She rather suspected that she wouldn't tell her
anyway, "OK, we can deal with that. If things really do get bad and
crazy, we might even be able to call on them for some help."
"Not without paying some cost," Anthy thought of Integra
ruefully, "I suspect that any assistance we got would have to be paid
back on a later date."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Utena pushed
herself off the counter, preparing to return to the living room.
"Utena?" Anthy asked her before she could leave.
Utena didn't turn as she replied, "Yes?"
"I got the impression they were interested in my going to work
for them once again," Anthy said to her hopefully, "do you think you'd
be willing?"
"I've never considered working for an organization before,"
Utena said as she pushed through the door back into the living room.
Anthy remained standing in the kitchen a few moments, "No, I
guess you didn't."
Juri raised an eyebrow at the look on Utena's face as she
returned to where the others sat, "Trouble in paradise?"
"No," Utena answered her tersely.
Wakaba looked up at her in concern, the brown haired girl
sitting curled up in a corner seat. "If we are going to have a party,"
she offered, "where are we going to hold it?"
Utena gave her one of her nicer smiles even as Anthy returned
to the living room. "Thanks for reminding me, Wakaba," she smiled as
she went to grab the phone, "I need to call up Ayeka Kisaragi and ask
her about it."
The phone rang once, and a younger man's voice came on the
line, "Phantom Quest Corporation, can I help you?"
"Can I speak to Ayeka Kisaragi," she answered, "if she asks
who is calling, just tell her that it's Tenjou Utena."
A few moments later the rather breezy voice of Ayeka Kisaragi
came on loud and clear. "Sorry, I don't have any new jobs for you
quite yet," she said to her cheerfully, "though I sure appreciated all
the help on those five cases."
"It's not about a job," Utena smiled slightly, "I was
wondering if you could tell me if there's a bar where a party
including vampires could be held."
"Am I invited?" Ayeka asked eagerly.
Utena blinked, then shrugged slightly as she answered, "Why
not?"
"Then I've got the perfect club for you," Ayeka grinned, "got
a pen and paper?"
Utena scrounged around for a pen, "Ready."
"The place is called Arisugawa's Locket," Ayeka reported with
a smile evident in her voice, "I know the owner, I helped her out with
an exorcism once. As long as you're paying the tab, I'll make all the
arrangements."
Utena laughed, "I'll appreciate it. Let's go for tomorrow
night, then. We'll see you there."
As Utena was dialing the call Juri got up out of her seat to
walk over to Anthy's side, a slightly teasing smile on her face. "You
two fight?" she asked curiously.
"No, we did not," Anthy answered her coldly. She hadn't liked
Juri back when she had first met her, and even though they were both
vampires now, she still didn't like her.
"You two sure don't act like it," Juri remarked mildly.
The glare Anthy gave her might have cowed a lesser woman. "You
do not know me or Utena that well," she said with even more frost in
her tone, "to be a judge of that."
Juri gave her a catlike smile, "I know Utena much better than
you think."
"How so?" Anthy made the question a challenge.
Meeting Anthy's gaze steadily Juri answered her, "I did make
love to Utena once."
"What?" Anthy looked shocked.
Utena put the phone back into it's cradle, walking back over
to the couch where Juri and Anthy were talking. "Ayeka's going to make
all the arrangements," she reported cheerfully, "we just have to show
up tomorrow night."
"Excuse me," a pale looking, even for a vampire, Anthy got up
out of her seat and said, "I'm going out for a walk. I need some air."
"But you don't need to breathe," Utena blinked at her
owlishly.
"I want some time alone," Anthy snapped as she walked out.
"What's going on between you to?" Juri looked over at Utena
with a frown.
"I don't know," Utena pushed a hand through her hair.
Juri sighed as she took Utena's arm, "Come on, let's talk."
Ignoring Utena's protests she grabbed her arm and pulled her outside.
'Interesting,' Shiori thought, 'very interesting.'
The trip up to the roof was mostly silent, the padlock that
normally closed off the area easily yielding to vampiric strength.
They stood there silently for a few moments before Juri said, "We were
talking, and I mentioned having had sex with you."
"How did that casually come up in conversation?" Utena looked
over at her in surprise.
Juri just ignored that question. "Anthy seemed really shocked
and upset when she heard about that. Why?" she asked her.
"I.. haven't, with her," Utena admitted softly.
"Why the hell not?" Juri blurted.
"Anthy's so pure," Utena mumbled a bit uncomfortably, "clean.
I don't want to tarnish her, not like we are..." she trailed off.
"You are the most noble woman I know," Juri said intently,
"you're the nearest thing to a knight in bloody armor that I've ever
met! You could never corrupt her."
Utena smiled back at her, "I didn't know you thought of me
that way." The slightly shorter girl put her hand on Juri's arm,
"Thank you."
Juri and Utena stood closely, but Utena had to strain to hear
what Juri said, "I have always admired you, Utena. If Shiori wasn't
around..."
"I thought you loved her," Utena murmured softly.
"You stole my heart that day you walked into Akio's throne
room," Juri answered softly, "and you haven't let it go."
"What about Shiori?" a whispering Utena leaned in closer.
"If I couldn't have you," Juri shrugged slightly, "and I do
care about her. Just not the same way." She cupped Utena's chin in her
hand and then leaned in to kiss her gently. Utena hesitated for a
moment, then she gave in to the sensation, letting her tongue duel
with the other woman's, tracing across her fangs.
Anthy froze, standing in the open doorway watching the two
together. Silently, she turned around and was gone...
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