Presented, for your convenience, in a *readable* format this time...

C&C actively encouraged.

***


	I stand outside the gates of Furinkan, my new school.  The gates loom
forbiddingly before me, like the teeth of an immense hound.  My
heartbeat quickens.  I reach into my purse and find my lunchtime dose. 
Two caplets, in a small plastic vial.  I shake them, and they rattle.  
	I wish I could return to my old school, but I could not face them.  My
classmates, my teammates.  I was their captain, and they followed me,
even as my tactics grew more and more bizarre.  �It�s not against the
rules!� I would say.  �Show me the rules against it!�  And I browbeat
them, and they fell in line.  Except Eriko.  I spat on her and called
her traitor, even as they took me away, but she was my only true friend
among them all.  I am terrified by the thought of what she saved me
from.  No, I cannot return to St. Hebereke.
	My spittle, clinging to her cheekbone, mixing with her tears.
	These are shameful thoughts, and I must banish them.  Dr. Nakajima told
me to think on the future, and my future is in this building.  My
brother is in here, and he will protect me.
	Oh, Tatchi.  So strong and so noble.  How I regret all the names I
called you, all the things I accused you of.  It was so wonderful to be
home with you again and hear you talk of your new girlfriend... and
talk, and talk!  She must be a wonderful girl for you to be so crazy
about her.
	I must stop using that word so freely.
	Thoughts of my brother make the gates smile, and I push them open.  I
must hurry; school has started, and I am already late.  
	Inside, boys lie scattered like straws tossed about by a cruel wind. 
As I watch, one rises painfully to his feet and staggers towards the
door.  I move to intercept him.
	�What happened?� I ask.  �Who did this to you?�
	He smiles.  His cheek is scraped open and his eye is dark and
swelling.  I think he is missing a tooth.  �Akane Tendo,� he replies,
and turns toward the door again.
	Akane Tendo?  My brother�s girlfriend?
	What madness is this?

			THE ROSE AND THE WORM

	In the echoing halls, I fumble for the paper that has my classroom
number.  341, on the third floor.  I dart up the stairwell and past rows
of closed doors.  The thought crosses my mind that school buildings and
madhouses are built much the same, but I cannot tell if the thought is
meaningful.  I find the door.  
	The teacher stops his lecture and chastises me quietly for being late:
�I�ll have you stand in the hall next time.�  Then he introduces me to
the class as �Upperclassman Kuno�s younger sister, Kodachi.� A grumble
runs through the room at my brother�s name, and one girl gives me an icy
glare.  Is my brother not liked?  It is the nature of the younger
students to resent the upperclassmen, but who could not respond to my
brother�s noble spirit?  But perhaps it is me they dislike.  It has been
six months since the antics of the Black Rose were the talk of St.
Hebereke, plenty of time for stories to have reached Furinkan.  Does
this school have a Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics team?  I do not
immediately recall one, but my memories of that time are distorted and
strange.
	Glancing at the enrollment sheet, I see Akane Tendo�s name, and ask the
teacher to point her out for me.  He indicates the girl who gave me that
fierce glare.  This is my brother�s beloved?  She is pretty, in a common
sort of way, but when my brother spoke of her beauty and ferocity I
imagined something on a higher plane than this surly girl.  I take a
seat near her and, when the teacher has his back turned, pass her a
note:  �What happened this morning?�
	She scribbles a reply and hands it back.  Unfortunately, she is not
careful and the teacher spots her.  �Miss Tendo, Miss Kuno,� he says,
�Perhaps you would like to continue this discussion in private.  Go
stand in the hall.�
	
	The buckets are heavy, but I am no weakling.  I find this quiet and
restful, much preferable to a straightjacket or having my hands caned. 
I glance at Akane.  She stands quite stiff and stares at the wall.  I
ask her again about this morning.
	�Ask your brother,� she says.  �I�m not speaking to you.�
	And she does not.  I am reminded again of the asylum, and the thought
strikes me that I might be back there, and only imagining that I am
here.  The thought takes a terrible hold over me.  My arms are heavy. 
Perhaps I really am in a straightjacket, and that is why I can�t move
them.
	I fight the notion.  I remember being released from the asylum.  I
remember my day in detail.  I analyze my own behavior and find it
reasonable and free from paranoia or grandiosity.  I think about the
drugs in my purse, which I will swallow at lunchtime.  Slowly the notion
begins to fade.  �I�m not crazy,� I whisper.
	�What?� asks Akane.
	�Nothing.� 

	At lunchtime, I eat quickly, swallow my medication, and set off to find
my brother.  Inquiries lead me to his table, where he is seated with a
girl I do not recognize.  
	�Hello, brother dear!�  I say.  We are always somewhat formal in
public.  �It�s so good to see you.�
	�Ah, sister,� he replies.  May I introduce Miss Nabiki Tendo, sister of
my dear Akane?�  Turning back to her, he adds, �This is my sister,
Kodachi.�
	I bow.  �Pleased to meet you.�
	She raises an eyebrow.  �Hey, there.�
	Hey there.
	She taps the table, drawing my attention to five snapshots she has laid
out.  They are of Akane, most of them showing her practicing some kind
of martial art, perhaps karate or kenpo.  �I�ll take them,� my brother
says.  He reaches into his wallet and begins counting out thousand-yen
notes, laying them on the table.  Nabiki leans forward with greedy
eyes.  At ten, she reaches forward, but I slam my hand down on top of
the pile.  Ten thousand yen of our much-depleted family fortune... for
these?  What is my brother thinking?  Is he thinking at all?
	�Brother dear, why are you buying pictures of your girlfriend from this
person?    Surely you can take pictures of her yourself.�
	Nabiki throws me a poisonous look.  I stare icily back.  
	My brother speaks.  �My beloved is very shy, and does not like to be
photographed.  With her sister, however, she is willing to display the
rare loveliness which you see before you.�  
	�And then this creature sells them to you for two thousand yen each? 
Dear brother, you are being used.�  It is a very old scheme, but a
reliable one.  A samurai, young, naive, becomes enraptured with a
geisha, and she leads him to believe she returns his passion.  Blinded
by love, the samurai does not realize how much he is paying for access
to her until he is ruined, whereupon he is discarded like a broken
chopstick.  �Go sell your sister elsewhere,� I tell Nabiki.  �We don�t
need her here.�
	Nabiki says nothing, merely looks expectantly at Tatewaki.  He does not
disappoint her.  �Surely ten thousand yen is but a small price to pay
for such beauty as this?�
	�Dear brother,� I say.  I had best not attack Akane, though she is
doubtless equally involved in this charade.  He is so besotted that he
will disbelieve anything I say.  �Have you not told me she loves you
well?�
	�Her love for me is higher than the highest mountain, and deeper than
the deepest ocean.  The tallest tree is nothing compared to her love for
me.  Her love...�
	I see fit to interrupt him before he conjures another stale image.  �If
you have her love, then what need have you for these trinkets? 
Especially at these prices, dear brother.�
	He waves a hand airily.  �The true samurai does not concern himself
with money.  It is beneath him.�
	I see an opening and dive for it.  �Of course not,� I say in mock
horror.  �That is a matter for women.  And as your sister, and the
female head of your household, I must insist that you not spend this
money.  Please, brother.  Allow me to handle this matter for you.�
	He is silent.  Nabiki, with a great show of casualness, reaches forward
and adjusts one of the photos.  �Look at her, Kuno.  Look at her.�
	He picks up a photo and examines it.  I hold my breath.  He sighs,
closes his eyes, and sets it down.  �Very well, sister dear.  On your
advice, I will forego this purchase.  But be advised that this is a sore
trial for me.�
 	Nabiki leans back coolly, but her eyes belie her poise.  They are dark
with anger.  �Little sister�s looking out for her big brother.  How
sweet.  But little sister doesn�t know what she�s dealing with.�  She
scoops up her pictures and stands up.  �When your brother changes his
mind -- and he will -- the price will be fifteen thousand.�  She turns
and saunters away, like cat feigning uninterest in the bird it was too
slow to catch.
	
***

Next time:  At home with the Kunos.  Memories of madness.  Akane's
fiance.

-- David