Finally getting to the rest of this:
THREE
* * *
So the princess fled from her castle and her brother, and sought
sanctuary with the nobles of the court. But their own houses
were in turmoil, and she could not abide long with them.
Like the way you intro this. Very Utenaesque
What happened next is well-known, for the princess came to
discover the what darkness dwelt in the shadows of the prince's
bright castle. Some say that her horror was great as it was
because what she saw reflected the darker desires of her own
heart.
For in truth it was said Nanami craved sex with Anthy as well.
But some say otherwise, and none can know the truth.
Which is, perhaps, for the best.
There was another princess, one who wished to be a prince,
and the two princesses were adversaries. Some might call them
opposites, for one was cruel were the other was kind, one was
magnanimous where the other was selfish, one was petty where the
other was forgiving.
But enough about Utena's numerous faults...
But things are never so simple as that, and
some might say that the two of them were in truth more alike than
any other two ladies of the court.
At the end of the day, there was a victor and a defeated,
a defeated just doesn't sound right to me. 'vanquished' sounds better, but
not with 'a' preceeding it. Might want to rephrase it slightly.
And the nit-picking begins. :)
The defeated, perhaps, returned docilely to her castle and
to her brother, though due to cruel deception and cruel acts she
believed him no longer her brother at all. There she calmly
waited out her days until it had come time for the ending of the
story. And, with the other lords and ladies, she said her pretty
ending speeches and took her bows and then she went off to take
on another role after the curtain had fallen.
Or perhaps it was not so simple as that.
Somehow, I thought so.
"Move your arm," he said coldly. What the hell did she
mean Touga wasn't her brother? Stupidest thing he ever heard.
Another one of her childish delusions over some misunderstanding.
More like she's been played like a fiddle. On the other hand, if Saionji has
known Touga long enough, there is the possiblity he does know the truth.
He regarded her with blank dismissal. "It's not that I hate
you. I merely don't care. There's a great difference between
active dislike and apathy.
True
She sat. "Did you believe them?"
"Believe what?"
"The rumours."
"Hell no. The truth around here is always far worse then the rumors."
He shrugged as her
he
opened a cupboard. "I didn't care enough
to decide whether I believed them or not. I suspect it was all
just part of whatever game your manipulative bastard of a brother
is running with the Trustee Chairman."
Akio: Oh dear, he's becoming perceptive.
"Since the day I first returned to the Council after my...
absence." He pulled down a small tin and put it down on the
table. "I baked cookies yesterday. If you wish, you may have
one." He gestured at the tin.
Hmm. Saonji baking cookies. Interesting. Seeing him in a chef's hat and
apron is an interesting picture as well. :)
He looked at her flatly. "Why should I have? It's no
concern of mine if you or Miki or Juri go blundering about making
fools of yourselves. And, really, do you think any of you could
have avoided your part in these rituals even if I had told you?"
Nanami: Of course. All I would need to do is 'fix' the breaks on the
Akiomobile, and a lot of people would lead a whole lot simpler lives.
"Ow! Stop it!" He put up his arms and managed to take most
of the hits upon them, but she slipped one little fist through
and nailed him hard in the ribcage, robbing him of breath.
"Nanami," he gasped, "stop it, you crazy little bitch!"
Surprised he didn't slap her. He seems fond of that against women.
He didn't have any idea how to deal with an upset woman.
He has difficulty with women period. Just look at his 'diary' :)
Damn Touga. This was all his fault, somehow. Telling
Nanami they weren't related by blood or something. He didn't
believe it for a second. And even if it was true, he didn't get
why it was such a big deal to Nanami; she'd lived like she was
his sister for thirteen damn years, so what did it matter if she
was a blood relative or not? Some people cared about the
stupidest things.
Ah, and Saionji's ignorance finally comes back. This is good. Having him to
aware doesn't feel quite right. It was always easy for Touga to pull
Saionji's strings.
"I'm sorry," he said. It came out quite insincere.
"It's only that you don't look very pretty when you're crying."
Hmm. That might actually calm her down.
"I don't," he said icily, "have any desire to talk about
Anthy with you."
"Oh?" Nanami smirked at him. "So, you get to lecture me,
but I don't get to lecture you?"
Yep. It's his house, therefore his ground rules apply.
He laughed. "You ought to be more gracious towards your
host, Nanami-kun."
"You're a shitty host," she muttered.
She has a point. :)
"There's a saying about beggars and choosers, isn't there?"
He set down her teacup before her; it had turned a pale brown
from the amount of milk he'd added. Out the window, night was
oncoming,
'oncoming' doesn't sound quite right. I think just plain 'coming' would flow
better.
"I don't act dishonest and hide my real feelings so that
people won't think badly of me
No. they think badly of you for reasons other than that. :)
His laughter was harsh and sharp. "Right. You're so
pampered you won't last a day without someone else to rely on.
And, if I understand you right, you've already tried Miki and
Juri."
Hmm. Wonder who told him.
"Don't act self-righteous. You hate her as much as I do."
Nah. Nanami's jealous. There's a difference
"What's it all for, Kyouichi? The Revolution, I mean."
"Like I said, it's a ritual." He had only come to the
conclusion himself some days ago, but chose to act as though it
had been his opinion all along. "You know how rituals ends,
right?"
"No."
"With a sacrifice."
Hmm. Perceptive again. Never thought of it that way, but it is appropriate.
She went a little pale. "No. I don't think I would be.
Set fire to Touga. Run over the Akiomobile with a steamrollar. Seduce
Utena.Knee Akio in the groin everytime you see him. I think if she takes
that tact she'll be allowed to leave soon enough.
"The Rose Bride and her brother... the things they get up
to..." She closed her eyes and put a hand over her mouth, as
though trying to keep her voice sealed away; but it came out all
the same, though muffled. "It's awful. Unnatural. Disgusting."
"Lies," he said slowly, finally beginning to understand what
she was hinting at. "Don't say such filth. I won't hear it."
Nanami: I took pictures.
Saionji: I didn't say I didn't want to see it. Gimme.
"Yeah," he said at last. "You do. Hop on." He patted the
rim guard over the back wheel, the same place he'd always used to
sit when he rode with Touga.
Nanami perched on it, grimacing. "It's uncomfortable," she
complained. "No padding."
Saionji: Really. Your butt is so big I thought there would be plenty of
padding.
"Bastard," she half-stuttered, slowly removing her arms
and stumbling away from the bike. "I'm going to be walking
funny for days," she said, wincing and rubbing her hips.
I can see how that would turn out.
Keiko: Nanami, why are you walking funny?
Nanami: I got a ride from that jerk, Saoinji.
Keiko: A...ride? One that makes you walk funny?
Nanami: Yes.
Three hours later, Wakaba beats Nanami up for no apparent reason. :)
He glanced at her, smiling. "But don't you feel _alive_?"
he asked. "Like everything's more... real, somehow?"
She glowered at him. "No."
Heh
* * *
Brass called, strings swept; the timpani rolled like the rolling
of thunder. The music built until it seemed it could build no
more--and then it did, and the climax went on, and on, and
finished at last, leaving only silence as the last echo faded.
With a chant of 'Ice, Ice, Baby.'
He stood at the unbroken window that should have been broken
and watched the night, wondering where his sister was; what she
was doing, who she was with. The Bruckner symphony was ended.
'was finished' or 'had ended' perhaps?
Rostropovich and von Karajan; the Dvorak concerto; nineteen
sixty-nine. One of the original German LPs. Unbroken window.
Cross the floor, lift the arm, place the record upon the
turntable, position the needle...
This was the same room, was it not? But, if so, why was the
window unbroken? If you drove a car through a window, it should
stay broken, he thought. It was not right for it to be another
way.
Err, didnt' he realize the damage from the other car crashes healed
themselves as well?
Mr. President, just what are the ends of the Ends of the
World? Do you know? Do you?
Does it really matter at this point?
"And you don't?"
"Of course not; I'm chivalrous."
"You're full of shit," Saionji snapped, eyes narrowing.
Touga; That too, bit chivalrous shit.
The blow was dirty and unexpected, and it left Touga
gasping on the floor for air that simply would not cooperate and
allow him to draw it.
Heh. Thought he would do that
"Shut up," Saionji snarled, looming over him. "Shut up, or
I'll kick your fucking head in. I actually thought better of you
than that. You're scum, Touga. I'd spit on you, but I don't
want to waste the saliva."
Heh. Now that is a Saoinji insult.
"Since when did you care so much about Nanami?"
Of course, the proper response to that is, 'When did you start caring so
little about her?"
Saionji slipped an arm free in Touga's moment of distraction
and clubbed him in the side of the head with his forearm. Touga
reeled and Saionji hurled him off with a twist of his body. They
came up from the floor almost simultaneously, fists bunched and
held up before them.
The first movement allegro of the Dvorak swelled to a
crescendo. Saionji stepped forward, clumsily jabbing the air
with his fists in wasted aggressive motions; Touga retreated,
trying not to smile. His stomach still hurt like hell, and his
head was aching, but he felt oddly good.
Well, you know he's going to win. He never loses to Saionji, which is made
all the worse since he's the measure Saionji seems to judge himself by.
"You should have taken those boxing classes with me back in
our freshman year, Saionji-kun," he said. "I found them very
informative."
Can KO a boxing kangaroo with one blow, yep.
Saionji seemed almost to hear the unspoken words; his
expression softened slightly. "He's a real bastard, isn't he?"
"Yes. But so am I,
Nah. He's a pro. You're a rank amateur. Give it a few years though.
The first movement ended; the second--adagio ma non troppo--
began. Touga shifted in his chair; Saionji glared at the floor
between his legs. The music filled the silence like water in a
vessel.
"Izanagi and Izanami, though brother and sister, fathered
all the gods of Japan,"
Well, each was the only other game in town, too, if I remember correctly.
Touga nodded, tried not to smile. "Saionji's not the most
pleasant of men, but he's a saint compared to me."
In many ways. He doesn't know how to be as cruel.
Saionji turned his gaze to Nanami. "Nanami."
She raised her head and narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"
"You take care of yourself," Saionji said, with something
Touga might almost have called warmth. "Don't let your brother
use you again, because he will if you give him the opportunity."
"Thank you for the advice," Nanami said ungratefully.
Heh. That's Nanami. Still too angry
"Of course I want to hear it," Nanami said, a little
peevishly. "Don't you think I want to know who I really am?"
Her mother said something under her breath, too quiet for
her to hear.
"What's that?"
"I said, doesn't everybody?"
Heh. True.
"The first thing he said after that was, 'Mother, Nanami is
crying.' He always talked so proper when he was little; it was
adorable. After that, he talked normally, but if your father or
me or anyone else tried to ask him about things that had happened
before he came here, he just wouldn't say anything. Nothing
would make him talk about that."
"Oh." Her mother hadn't actually answered the question, but
she decided not to pry. "That is a strange story."
Yep
"Is there anything you want to talk about? I mean, you're
thirteen now. You're growing up. Pretty soon you'll be a woman,
not a girl." Her mother looked uncomfortable; the speech was
obviously prepared in advanced, and made with some effort. "I
mean... you know about... things, right?"
Hehehe.
"Really? No boys at all?" Her mother appeared somewhat
disappointed. "What about Kyouichi? It was nice of him to bring
you home; he's a nice boy, isn't he? And very handsome."
She doesn't think the age difference matters?
"You would have, wouldn't you?" she finally hissed bitterly.
"I wouldn't have wanted to," he replied.
Heh. Well, that's as good an admission as any. Surprised he isn't lying here
again.
"Wishing never did anyone any good. You can't make anything
happen just by wanting it enough."
Heh. Akio's philosphy, which Utena pokes holes in eventually.
"Do you really want to risk the wrath of the Ends of the
World?" he asked quietly.
Fear is the easiest way to keep others in line. Playing right into AKio's
hands, so to speak.
END
Notes:
Whew.
More of a novella than a short story, this one turned out to be.
Yep. But a good one.
...but sometimes it leaves those of us who are rabid fanboys of
various Student Council members feeling a bit unsatisfied. ^_~
I'm a little uncertain about the whole story, particularly the
ending. Is it too unwieldily to fit within the canon?
No it fits. Surprisingly well, in fact.
But no story ends up the way you see it in your head; in your
head, everything works perfectly. And then you write it down,
and it doesn't work at all as you'd intended, and...
Heh. Too true. Too true.
Very nice work. I enjoyed it immensly. Now I still have Sonata for Duo to
get too. Hopefully within the next month or so.
D.B. Sommer