The swords flickered, a sudden flash of silver, and the final
touch was made. "Next!" Juri barked, and her next opponent stepped
into the ring.
Wakaba sat up in the stands, watching wide-eyed as Juri easily
eliminated opponent after opponent as she trained herself hard for the
upcoming fencing matches. Even dressed up in all the regulation
fencing gear, her face and body mostly concealed by the pure white
uniform, helm and gloves, she still cut a striking figure.
"Next!"
A faint blush colored the brown haired girl's cheeks. More and
more often Wakaba had found herself noticing Juri as they spent time
together, talking, walking around the large campus. She knew about
Juri's reputation, but oddly she found it didn't matter too much. She
liked the intense fencer, no matter what people might say about her.
"Next!"
"Juri-sempai is really doing well today," a amused voice noted
as he settled down beside her. Miki had a slight smile on his face,
his short blue hair messy from the headgear that they all had to wear
for the practice.
"She's incredible," Wakaba said breathlessly.
"Maybe so," Miki quietly noted, "but I find that she does even
better when you're sitting in the audience."
"Really?" Wakaba looked over at him in surprise.
"So keep up the good work," and with that, Miki got up to walk
down and rejoin the other fencers bellow.
Her matches finished, Juri gave a soft sigh, reaching up to
pull the protective headgear off. She shook her head, letting her long
orange hair fall free in it's usual waves, and felt that warm gaze
rest on her again. She looked up into the stands, saw Wakaba beaming
down at her, and smiled slightly at her in return.
In another part of the sprawling campus of Ohtori Academy,
Tenjou Utena gazed out the window, completely tuning out the droning
lecture that was coming from the teacher standing in front of the
classroom. At that moment, the pink haired young woman thought that
she had much more important things to be considering.
'Juri and Wakaba,' Utena mused, still a bit unsure, but
knowing what she had seen. She had watched the two of them walking
together earlier, Wakaba's face tilted up happily as she intently
listened to the fondly smiling Juri.
Not that Utena minded any of that, exactly. She rather liked
Juri, like her friend Miki she was an honorable opponent. She hadn't
tried to trick Utena in their Duel, or to mess with her head like
Touga did. 'Well, except for that bit by the fountain,' Utena thought,
distracted a moment by the mental image of Juri in a nightgown.
A daydreaming Utena smiled a slightly goofy smile, then shook
her head firmly. And she knew that she really wasn't one to talk. Here
she was, engaged to the Rosebride and living with her over in the East
dorm. Yes, it was all completely platonic, but still!
No, the real problem she had with the situation was a lot more
personal. Wakaba had been Utena's best friend since they were in
elementary school together, and she didn't want to see anything bad
happen to her. Juri wasn't exactly a playboy, but she did have that
reputation...
"Guess I'll have to talk to her," Utena muttered softly.
Utena looked over at the wall mounted clock and groaned to
herself softly. 'Only a half hour to go,' she thought gloomily.
Kiryuu Nanami raised an eyebrow as the note fell out of her
locker a short time later. The golden haired young woman received love
letters like this fairly often, but not ones that smelled of perfume.
She opened it up, reading swiftly, then nodded to herself slightly.
Dismissing her hangers- on, she strode out of the building.
The decorative gardens were oddly quiet as Nanami made her way
through the greenery, eventually reaching the secluded spot indicated
in the note. She smiled slightly when she saw who was waiting there
for her and remarked, "Somehow, I'm not surprised."
Shiori smiled slightly, rising from where she was sitting on
one of the stone benches, "You're right on time, Miss Nanami."
"You wanted to see me," Nanami gave the younger woman an cold
gaze, "so talk."
"I was wondering if you were planning to enter the free-sword
competition at the end of the next fencing match?" Shiori asked,
moving a bit closer to where Nanami stood.
"I was considering it," Nanami answered quietly. She looked at
Shiori cautiously, not backing away from her at all as Shiori got
right up to her.
"If you could defeat Juri then," Shiori reached out, gently
cupping Nanami's chin as she let her perfume wash over her, "I'd be
ever so... appreciative." She leaned a bit closer, her breath brushing
Nanami's cheek before a gentle hand stopped her.
"There's two things that you need to know," Nanami's voice was
quiet, the young woman gazing into Shiori's dark eyes, "first, if I
fight Arisugawa it will be for my own reasons, and second," she
abruptly pushed the girl away, "I'd sooner kiss a snake."
"Your brother didn't seem to mind it," Shiori shot back at her
from where she lay sprawled out on the green grass.
Nanami froze, then she forced a slight smile onto her face.
"Then I'm glad that I'm not repeating my brother's mistakes," she
answered.
Shiori got up, dusting herself off carefully. "You know," she
looked up at Nanami through half closed eyes, "I think I kind of like
it rough." With that, the dark haired girl left, her hips swaying just
a bit beneath her short skirt.
"I can't believe this," Nanami sighed, sweatdropping.
The sun was just going down as the two walked away from the
school together. Wakaba had reached out tentatively, gently slipping
her fingers into Juri's, and found them clasped tightly. "You were
terrific in the matches today," Wakaba beamed.
"Thanks," Juri answered quietly. She hesitated a moment,
"Thanks for staying through it all. I really appreciate it."
"I like watching you, Juri," Wakaba blushed, realizing how
that might be taken wrong.
Juri chuckled softly, but she understood what she meant. As
the two approached the school gates they saw an odd sight. Leaning up
against two posts a pair of young women waited, pointedly ignoring
each other in the process.
"Utena?" Wakaba blinked.
"Nanami?" Juri looked at her in surprise.
"Juri, I need to talk to you," both ladies said at almost
exactly the same time. They glared at each other, little sparks of
lightning dancing between them.
Wakaba shook her head with a little smile. "I'll see you
later, Juri," she gave them a cheery wave, and then she was gone.
Juri scowled at both of them, clearly irritated that her time
with Wakaba had been cut short. "All right," she sighed, "what's going
on?"
"I'd prefer to discuss this in privacy," Nanami said
haughtily.
"My dorm, then," Juri sighed and lead the two off. Almost as
soon as they closed the door behind them Nanami began, quietly
reciting what had happened in the garden even as Juri poured them all
cups of tea.
"Wow," Utena blinked, a bit of a blush to her cheeks.
"Thanks," Juri sighed, admitting to herself that it sounded
like something that Shiori would do. She looked at Nanami curiously,
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I don't like you," Nanami said simply as she got up to leave,
"but I think that I may dislike her even more." With that, she left.
Juri picked up her cup, taking a drink. She waved it at Utena,
"Your turn."
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