Note: If you haven't yet seen up to Episode 20 of the series, "Wakaba Hath
Flourished Verdantly", this story will make little or no sense.
For a synopses and script of said episode, I heartily reccomend
http://www.duellists.tj, home of all things even vaguely Utena-like.
SPOILER ALERT: This fic contains a number of facts about Utena, either stated
outright or implied, that you may wish to find out on your own by watching
the series. Read at your own risk.
Shoujo Kakumei Utena and all related things belong to Ikuhara and the
BePapa's, who likely will never know about this and wouldn't care if they
did, but it's polite to acknowledge anyway.
This story is officialy dedicated to Chris Davies.
......i lost a bet, okay? No, seriously.
And now, without further ado....
Lunatic Fringe Fanfic Productions is proud to present....
Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Some Enchanted Evening.
by Mercutio
Copywrite 2000, Matthew Giglia
* * *
The sun sank fat and golden over Ohtori Academy and its accompanying city.
All about campus, students bustled at their evening affairs, eager to eke out
some use from the last of the day before it turned into the first of the
night. Art students hurriedly tried to complete sketches before the light
failed; various sports teams hit various showers; teachers prepared to
continue the ongoing struggle against paperwork by flourescent rather than
sunlight.
And in a tiny one-person room in the South Dormitory (with a western
exposure), a former student eased his back against the wall as he
painstakingly applied a coat of laquer to a small, leaf shaped wooden hair
ornament. It had been weeks in the making, but now it would be done.
Kyoichi Saionji held his handiwork up to the failing light to make sure he
had applied the laquer evenly, then blew on it, softly, to aid the drying
process.
He smiled to himself. Wakaba would be pleased.......
He stretched, and almost yawned. "Evening already?"
"What an enviable position you're in, Kyoichi Saionji-kun," said the
well-dressed man who was suddenly in the chair across from him.
Saionji started rather violently. "You... Mikage!"
"It's been a while..." There was the faintest HINT of a smile on Mikage
Souji's lips....
"When- I mean, how'd- you get in here?" said Saionji.
"Oh, the Black Rose Society is privy to even the smallest secrets in the
Academy. But all that aside, Saionji-kun... imagine, you who once served as
Student Council Vice President... now reduced to freeloading with a female
student."
Saionji bristled almost palpably. "I don't intend to idle here indefinitely,"
he said, with more than a trace of the old loftiness returning. "Eventually,
I will return to the Academy, nay, even the Student Council."
"Oh?" Mikage resisted the urge to arch an eyebrow. "How?"
"Er...."
"What do you plan to do about your current state, having wasted your time?"
"Well......" Saionji said, preparing a desperate attempt at equivocation....
That failed miserably when Mikage asked, "Well what?"
Pause.
"You could do something. Had you a bit of our power."
"What?"
"We are distressed by the future prospects of the Academy." said Mikage.
"Your talent is very precious."
Outwardly, Saionji didn't react all that much. Inwardly, he was a mite
suspicious. Mikage was making a direct appeal to his ego. That probably would
have worked about a month ago, but the intervening time had worn away some of
his arrogance.
"I see," he said, "So that's how it is. What should I do instead?"
"Well, you see..." said Mikage, "There's one item that I want from you."
"It's a trifle, really..."
* * *
Saionji walked along the darkening boulevards of the city. He was sorely
troubled, and wasn't really enjoying it.
'The hair ornament?' he had said to Mikage, rather surprised. 'You want me to
give the leaf to ANSHI?'
Mikage had nodded. 'That's right. Give the leaf to Himemiya Anshi, and you
will be readmitted to Ohtori. We have... ways.'
'But.... it's not mine to give......'
The elder boy had shrugged. 'The choice is yours, Saionji-kun. You can stay
here, or perhaps return to the public education establishment,' a wry smile
told Saionji precisely what Mikage thought of THAT option 'OR.... you can
seize the day.'
Saionji, looking down, had said nothing.
'Will you bring the world Revolution, Saionji-kun?'
He'd jumped to his feet, yelling 'HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT-' just in time
to see the door of the apartment swing shut with the gentlest of clicks.
Saionji had waited a bit, then slowly and painstakingly wiped the ornament
dry on a small piece of white cloth. He then wrapped it in a tiny piece of
blue linen and placed it in his breast pocket.
Then he'd gone out. He hadn't left Wakaba's apartment for, oh, by now it had
to have been something like six weeks. Apart from the impropriety involved,
(how interesting, he mused, I never really cared about that sort of thing
before) as an expelled student he was prohibited from even being ON campus
grounds from the instant that the Provost's notice was publicly displayed. It
was more a guideline than an actual rule, as many people returned to visit
friends or file forms of one sort or another, but he had the feeling in his
case it would be rather vigourously enforced.
So instead he wandered along the lower streets of the city (it had a name,
which nobody ever used, it being simply "the city") and thought.
It really wasn't that hard a thing.
It WASN'T, dammit! All he had to was go, and find Anshi, and give her the
tiny little piece of laquered wood, and he'd be readmitted to Ohtori, and all
would be right with the world.
Except that he'd already given the leaf to someone.
And he OWED Wakaba.
And Wakaba was nice.
Anybody who pulled a bait-and-switch on her would obviously be a real jerk.
Saionji sighed, and stopped to lean on a small steel railing overlooking the
seaside quays and cottages that dominated the west side of the city. The sun
sat halfway below the horizon, leaving only the upper hemisphere to cast
ruddy red light over the town.
"Guilt really isn't fun at all," he murmured to himself.
"How odd," said a female voice from behind him. "I always thought guilt was
one of those emotions that was beyond your grasp."
*Oh, fantastic,* thought Saionji. *The LAST person I wanted to deal with,
barring Nanami.*
"Hello, Juri."
"Saionji." she said, moving forward to lean on the railing beside him. The
light glinted off her red-gold hair, making it look like it was on fire. "I'm
quite frankly surprised you decided to show your face anywhere near Ohtori."
Saionji smiled. "I never left, Juri. I have.... ways of supporting myself."
There. Let her ponder THAT for awhile.
"I suspect," she said languidly, "That you merely inveigled upon some poor,
unsuspecting girl for sanctuary."
Saionji blenched. "Did you follow me down here just to poke at me, Juri?"
"Actually, I followed you down here because I saw you in the street, and was
curious, and because I really have nothing better to do." She smiled. "You
were always a valuable source of entertainment, Mister Vice-President."
Saionji gave her his most penetrating glare. "I don't remember you being this
acid, Juri. Or this blunt, for that matter."
"You DID outrank me in the Council, Saionji. I am nothing if not proper."
"Oh yes, and it's ever-so-important to be proper, isn't it?"
"Of course it is. But, then you know that. What precisely IS it that you are
feeling guilty about, Saionji?" said Juri, drastically changing the topic of
conversation. Was it just him, or was there a slight glint in her eyes he'd
never seen before? "Some debt you never paid? Perhaps, some girl you wronged?
There were SO many of them, of course. I never could keep track of them all.
Not that I tried to."
Saionji wanted to snarl at her, he really did. How DARE she? He was Kyoichi
Saionji! He was pre-eminent of the students of Ohtori Academy! He was... he
was....
"I hope you keep well, Arisugawa. I really do." He pushed off the railing and
turned to go. "Good evening." He walked off, trying desperatly not to do it
in a manner resembling that of a petulant child, and, he suspected, failing.
Juri watched him go.
She smiled, a slow, sad, smile.
"When pride cometh, Saionji, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom."
Then she turned, and walked into a shadow.....
And there was the flash of a dying sun off a white cloak and noble sword.....
And then he was gone.
* * *
And on the streets, Saionji resumed his aimless walk.
He thought about stopping for coffee, and decided against it. Mainly because
he couldn't really afford it (how that GALLED him) but also because he wanted
to be clear-headed.
Around him the streetlights were beginning to wink on.
*I hate this,* Saionji thought. *Why is this happening, anyway? Why does
Mikage want me to do this? Is this one of his stupid little intellectual
mind-games?* He frowned to himself. *What are my options? I can give the
stupid little leaf,* he absently patted his breast pocket, *to Anshi. I get
readmitted to Ohtori. But that would mean taking it away from Wakaba. Wakaba
has been good to me. I owe her. Yes, I can buy her something, but I already
_gave_ her this thing, even if I hadn't finished it yet. Did I ever give
Anshi any gifts? I can't recall. I miss Anshi. I miss my apartment. Wakaba's
is nice, but I want my own back. To do that I have to give Anshi the leaf. I
don't want to give Anshi the leaf. This is quite vexing. Is that a new cafe
on the corner there? I don't remember it being there the last time I was out.*
Saionji was rambling, and knew it. He didn't care. He stopped, and leaned
against the dull, red brick wall of the newly-discovered cafe. Light spilled
out the door near him, and he inhaled deeply, catching the smell of
freshly-brewed coffee, hot pastries from an oven, interlaced with the soft
yet unmistakable fragrance that meant at least a few of the people in there
were enjoying some of the finer french wines and ports available-
"Buy you a cup of coffee, Vice-President? I'd offer a glass of wine, but
we're of course both far too young."
Saionji started out of his reverie. "Touga!" He hadn't even noticed him walk
up, but the older boy was there, standing silhouetted in the light of the
doorway, his thumbs hooked over the pockets of his uniform, a jaunty smile on
his face. "Um, no, that's quite all right, I don't indulge....."
Kiryuu Touga shrugged. "As you like it." He hopped lightly down off the
dorrstep to stand next to Saionji. "It's been awhile, hasn't it? You're
looking well, I must say."
Saionji blinked. "You aren't surprised to see me then, I take it."
Touga waved a hand dismissively. "I knew you'd never leave the city,
Saionji." He started off walking down the avenue, back towards the Academy,
and Saionji followed him. "I haven't quite had any luck reversing your
expulsion, however. Especially considering the circumstances."
Saionji's spirit drew back in on itself a little. He was quite ashamed of the
actions he had taken towards Tenjou Utena during said.... circumstances. *I'd
never done a crazy thing in my life, before that night.* Aloud, he said "Yes,
I can imagine. I have heard you had some difficulties of your own."
Touga's face clouded. "There was some...... unpleasantness, yes, following my
last Duel with Tenjou Utena."
Saionji grunted. Every night, Wakaba recounted the various pieces of gossip
she heard on the Academy's grounds to him. He mostly zoned out during it,
content just to listen to her talk (Saionji found the way Wakaba's voice
seemed to be set permanently on 'bubble' to be quite relaxing to him) but the
bit about Touga's sudden disappearence from school life, coupled with the
fact that he would have been the next Duelist to face Utena..... well,
Saionji had put two and two together. "You seem to be doing much better now,
though."
Touga nodded in a satisfied way, then abruptly changed the subject. "Of
course, you realize, you aren't exactly doing much to further your
readmittance cause from this side, Saionji."
Saionji stood up a little bit straighter and started paying a little closer
attention. "Oh?" he said, with studied casuallness.
"Do you know what other students do when they are expelled from Ohtori,
Saionji?" asked Touga, slowing his pace a bit so that he could walk beside
his old friend. "They find recourse to be readmitted. They file for appeals
to the Board of Trustees, or gather teacher recomendations as to their
fitness to attend, or a number of other methods available. You however,"
Touga glanced at Saionji crosswise, without turning his head, "seem to think
that simply dropping off the face of the planet for six or so weeks is a
viable option."
Saionji stiffened quite palpably. "My methods are my own to choose, Touga.
For now, it suits me to exist in quiet repose." Saionji very much wished he
believed everything he said. "Should I decide in the future to take a more
active role, it will be in a time and manner of my choosing." That didn't
quite make sense even to him, but it felt good to exercise his old habit for
loquaciousness after so long.
Touga sighed in an overly-theatrical way. "Saionji, Saionji. You cannot
simply take life as it comes to you. If that were my attitude, I would not be
on the Student Council at all, let alone President."
The sun was perhaps a bit more than two-thirds of the way beneath the horizon
by now. Saionji found it hard to make out his friend's face in the weird
shadows thrown by it.
"The thing is, Saionji, passivity won't get you anywhere. You must take an
active role in your own destiny. Make a few small sacrifices, even. Carpe
diem." Touga clapped a hand on Saionji's shoulder. "Take the word of someone
who knows."
Saionji looked at the hand resting on hs shoulder. He looked up into Touga's
eyes, which were the blue pools of earnestness and enigma they always where.
He looked back at the hand.
Blinding, stunning flashes of insight can sometimes hit people at the
strangest times.
"Touga," said Saionji abruptly, "what did you do with my exchange diary?"
Touga, to his credit, hardly blinked. "Your exchange diary? It's in one of my
desk drawers back home, I believe. I told you I'd keep it safe. Why do you
ask?"
Saionji could almost HEAR the crackle of dry paper dissolving in flames.
"Goodbye, Touga," he said, extricating himself from the man's arm. He walked
off, briskly, in the manner of someone trying to avoid something unpleasant.
Touga stared after Saionji with the same puzzled expression one has when the
package of snacks fails to fall out of the machine when one pulls the lever.
"Tell me, Muse," he said slowly, "of the man of many wiles."
Then he whirled about, and walked rapidly back along the streets. A car,
perhaps with an over-cautious driver, turned the corner with it's high beams
on, playing them directly over Touga-
-and if one squinted against the blinding halo that surrounded him for that
one instant, one could perhaps see a blood-red shirt, and chocolate skin, and
long blue hair pulled back into a ponytail that snaked down his back-
-and then he was gone.
* * *
and you call yourself subtle
THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOUVE WON SOME SORT OF SMALL LITTLE VICTORY
the thought had crossed my mind
ITS NOT OVER YET
it as you say will never be over until the revolution comes
THE REVOLUTION WILL COME SOON NO THANKS TO YOU
i am who i am you are who you are mores the pity and this one will not serve
your ends now
WONT HE
* * *
Saionji was _mad_.
And this isn't your normal, generic kind of "i've just been ticked off and I
want to hit something" mad or even the "i'm going to go postal on you all now
because of long-standing hostility and perceived slights" variety of mad.
This was different.
*They were manipulating me!* Saionji snarled to himself as he stalked the
streets of the city blindly. *Both of them! Juri and Touga! They know! I
don't know how they know, but they know! Do they think I'm some sort of
idiot? And Mikage! Him as well!*
Saionji stopped briefly to punch a tree. The tree won but lost some bark in
the process.
*Everybody! Everybody has always manipulated me! From the time I read that
first letter from the Ends of the World and saw the Castle, to the time I
became engaged to Anshi, to now! It's always been one thing after the other!
I'm tired of it! Tired of it all!!!! I don't need Ohtori! I don't need the
Council! If I decide to bring the world Revolution, I will do it on my own
terms!*
He stopped at the top of the street he had been practically running up. It
formed a sort of cul-de-sac. There were some public benches and several
streetlights surrounding the circle of paving stones. One side was bounded by
the large green hill that eventually ran up to peak at the Academy, and the
other dropped away sheerly in the growing gloom to the dimly glimpsed streets
below it.
"I AM KYOICHI SAIONJI!" he yelled into the night, not caring if anybody heard
him, "AND I WILL NOT BE USED!"
Ripping the small blue cloth surrounding the tiny, beautifully carved leaf
from his pocket, weeks of his labor and craft, and leaned back, arm tensing
for the throw -
"Saionji-sempai?"
He fell on his rear.
A slight female form, seeming almost insubstantial in the darkness, emerged
from the shadows. "Gomen nasai, Saionji-sempai. I didn't mean to startle you.
Are you all right?"
Saionji blinked. "Him... Himemiya?"
The purple-haired girl nodded, the glare from the streetlights reflecting off
her glasses, hiding her eyes. "I saw you in the streets, Saionji-sempai, and
thought it might be nice to talk you again. It has been so long." Anshi
hesitated. "You seem to be troubled, though. I won't bother you
anymore......" she began to move backward, away from him.
Saionji swallowed hard. "Wait.... don't go."
* * *
YOURE MINE
* * *
Saionji sat on the bench beside Anshi, relaxing as he felt the tension drain
out of him. It had been like this in the old days, he remembered. they would
sit, and he would talk, and Anshi would listen. It was remarkably
therapeutic, somehow; he could barely even remember what he had been angry
about, and his outburst seemed to be a bit childish, now.....
Anshi was a very, very good listener.
"Anshi," said Saionji, sufficiently at ease with her now to lapse back into
his old form of address for her, "tell me of..... of Tenjou. Has she been
an...... agreeable...... person to be engaged to?" Saionji felt somehow as
though he of all people had very little right to ask such a question of the
Bride's engaged one, but that had to be ridiculous. If he hadn't been quite
good to the Rose Bride, would she be sitting here next to him now, of her own
free will?
"Utena-sama?" Anshi paused. "She is..... quite agreeable, yes,
Saionji-sempai."
"Ah." Saionji wasn't sure if that pleased him or not, and thought for a
second, which was a bit unfortunate. If he had paid attention he would have
noticed Anshi cock her head a bit, like she was listening to a distant
prompting.
"I..... am sorry we do not have an exchange diary anymore, Saionji-sempai.
I....." she struggled a bit, "I enjoyed.... our correspondence. Very much."
She smiled, seemingly pleased with the sound of her words.
Saionji's ego ballooned. "Thank you, Anshi. I quite enjoyed it as well. It
was a good reminder of our days together, was it not, to exchange words. I'm
only sorry my.... present status precluded such things."
Anshi nodded happily, then paused again. For the tiniest of instants her brow
furrowed, and she seem to strain to hear something....
"Is something wrong?" Saionji asked politely.
"Oh, no, Saionji-sempai. I was just thinking how I'd like to say that....
that sometimes I miss..... miss those days... when we were together, as well.
They were.... good days." Anshi stood up. "I am suddenly tired,
Saionji-sempai," she said, rubbing her temples with one hand. "I think I must
return to my room now. Good evening."
Saionji watched her take a few steps. 'sometimes I miss..... miss those
days... when we were together, as well.they were..... good days,' she had
said, obviously unsure of how to get the words out because of her shyness and
modesty. Obviously. Gods, but Anshi was such a prize.....
He looked down at his right hand, still clutching the small bit of blue
linen. He had all but forgotten about it.
*She can be yours again,* a tiny bit of Saionji whispered in his head, *If
you will but fight for her. If you want those days to return.....*
"Anshi, wait." He slowly unwrapped the blue cloth from around the tiny,
beautiful, leaf. "I have a gift for you...... a trifle, really......"
* * *
anshi...... oh anshi what has he made of you what has he done
IS SHE NOT A BEAUTIFUL ROSE
anshi....... anshi.......
-END-
Author's Notes: Well, now let's see.....
I don't like Saionji, either as a character or as a person. Never have,
probably never will. However, I always felt rather sorry for him. He had a
number of chances over the course of the series to become a decent, if far
from admirable, guy, but kept blowing them. Partially because of his
overweening pride and ego, but also due to the ongoing manipulations Akio was
visiting upon him and every other freaking person on campus right from day
one.
I wanted to show Saionji as sympathetic, for starters, and I also wanted to
show the ugly "behind-the-scenes" to the manipulations going on all the time.
Hence, I watched my episodes until I found a significant enough section of
"unspoken" plot, that is, plot that was never actually SHOWN, only skipped
over, and dropped this sucker in.
Liberties were taken, of course: the idea that Dios, imprisoned as he is
behind the Rose Door (and if you haven't figured out who [THIS GUY] and [this
guy] are by now, you weren't paying attention) is actively working against
Akio (I'd like to think he's responsible for the Shadow Play Girls as well)
is entirely new, and, I think, unique in Utena fanfiction so far. So also,
for that matter, is the concept of Akio being THIS MUCH of a puppet master,
but like I said, this is "behind the scenes" so I'm allowed to be
considerably more blunt than the actual TV series was.
Oh, and if anybody takes umbrage with my spelling of Anshi, i'm sorry, but
I've listened to it pronounced several hundred times, there is NOT a 'th'
sound anywhere NEAR that name.
Source list:
Dios-Juri's "When pride cometh [Saionji] then cometh shame: but with the
lowly is wisdom" quote is from the Bible, Proverbs 11:2.
*I'd never done a crazy thing in my life, before that night.* This little
jewel comes from Glen the Psychotic Lunchcounter Guy, from "Wayne's World."
Akio-Touga's "Tell me, Muse, of the man of many wiles" quote is from
Alexander Popes translation of Homers 'Odyssey.'
Special Thanks:
Alan Harnum- Prereader, Canadian.
Nick Leifker- Prereader, Texan.
Beecher Greenman- Prereader & Utena info guy.
Scott Johnson and SKJAM!- For "Ma Vie en Roses."
The fine folks at the various duellists.tj sites- you guys rule.
and
Shinohara Wakaba
Just Because.
-fin-
-Mercutio
"A plague 'a both your houses!"