As promised, here's part b.  And let's hope that chapter 4 won't be
dated "January 2005".

Laurie
milo@winternet.com
http://www.winternet.com/~milo
-----------

----Continued from part a----


      Three numbers passed and the four agreed to split off for 
other activities.

      "I'd like more of my drink," said Utena.  She had to speak 
right at Yuki's ear to make herself heard over the pounding bass 
beat.

      "Dancing makes me thirsty too," agreed Yuki, in turn also 
speaking directly into Utena's ear.

      Utena hadn't realized how far they had drifted from their 
table. It took care to get through the dancing crowd without 
colliding with anyone, but they finally achieved it.  Utena 
gratefully grabbed her drink and sipped, easing her dry throat.  
Then she heard Yuki, apparently speaking to someone else, and looked 
up.

      "Excuse me, please," Yuki was saying.

      Yuki was unable to pull her chair out from the table because a 
man was standing there with his back to them, who hadn't seemed to 
have noticed their presence.  It was a tall man, with long wavy hair, 
and Utena felt her stomach twist in sudden anxiety.  *No, no, not 
tonight, it's been so fun.*

      "Excuse me," Yuki said again, louder to be heard over the 
music.

      Saionji turned then to face Yuki.  Seeing her attempts to move 
her chair, he stepped aside.  "Pardon me."  As he turned further 
away from Yuki, his gaze came up to meet Utena's.  "Tenjou," he said, 
nodding in her direction.

      "What are you doing here?" Utena ground out.

      Saionji glanced at Yuki and back to Utena.  "Getting out of 
your friend's way," he said calmly.  For once, he didn't exhibit the 
scowl which she seemed to see every time they encountered each other.  

      "You're still here," she observed flatly.

      "It would be polite to introduce us," he said.

      She bit down on the initial wild reaction to yell at him to go 
away, then suddenly wondered why she was blurting out stupid things 
whenever they met.  Surely he couldn't be putting her that much off-
balance, not after all this time.  And she saw that Yuki was 
confusedly watching the whole exchange.

      Resigned, Utena gestured to Yuki, "This is Yuki Hanazawa."  
Indicating Saionji, she said, "Yuki, this is Kyouichi Saionji."  
Yuki and Saionji bowed politely to each other.  Turning back to 
Saionji, Utena struggled to keep her voice even.  "Satisfied?"

      "Yup," said Saionji.  Utena thought there might be a hint of a 
grin on his lips as he turned away.

      In a clear voice that easily carried over the music, Yuki said, 
"Damn, girl, you were right.  He's gorgeous!"

      Utena stood frozen in horror as Saionji stopped and slowly 
turned back to them.  His wickedly amused glance only briefly met 
Utena's appalled one, brushing past to focus on Yuki.  Utena 
wondered if a good hard stomp would create a hole in the floor to 
allow her to crawl away into a sub-basement.  No, with her luck a 
small retail building like this wouldn't have a sub-basement.

      Yuki seemed to be blithely unaware of Utena's discomfort.  
"Utena and I live in the same dorm," she explained.

      Saionji nodded.  "Tenjou attended my school for a while."

      "Yes, I know," said Yuki with a mischievous grin.

      "Do you, now?  Might I ask how?"

      "You may ask, I believe the saying goes."

      "Ah, a secret."  Saionji raised one eyebrow towards Utena, and 
said to Yuki, "Then I think I should ask you to dance before your 
dorm mate strangles you into an early grave."

      Utena indeed found that her hands had clenched into tight 
fists, and it took embarrassed conscious effort to make them open 
and relax.  *I didn't say "gorgeous",* Utena thought testily, *the 
most I said was "handsome".*

      Yuki, still making a show of not noticing Utena's agitation, 
cheerily accompanied Saionji out onto the still-crowded dance floor.  

      Utena angrily shook her head, perched on her tall chair, and 
let her long legs swing loosely.  She was being silly again.  There 
was no need to worry about Yuki, not here.  What harm could Saionji 
do in a crowded public place like this?  Even before, at Ohtori, he 
hadn't been given to physically lashing out while under this kind of 
scrutiny.  And Yuki certainly was not going to run off and leave 
Utena at the club without telling her.

      Utena sipped more of her wine and observed the dance floor.  
Saionji and Yuki had moved off to the center of the floor, but the 
crowd parted often enough that Utena could observe them regularly.  
Why shouldn't Yuki take the opportunity, and dance with a guy that 
even Utena agreed would appear attractive to someone who'd just met 
him?  It wasn't like they could actually converse under that loud 
music, after all.

      Willing herself to put her irritation aside--Utena was *not* 
going to let Saionji's presence spoil her evening--she sat back in 
her chair and let herself absorb the club atmosphere.  

      As she let her gaze drift lazily about the club, she became 
aware of a feeling of deja vu.  Intrigued despite herself, she tried 
to identify what she was sensing.  She put her gaze out of focus to 
see what she could absorb.  

      In a moment, she had it.  She remembered when, a year after 
she left Ohtori, her aunt took her on a vacation to the seashore.  
They were able to go diving, and Utena had been delighted with the 
underwater panorama.  Here in the club, the arrangement of lights 
and mirrors evoked that shimmering underwater light.  She focused on 
the closest mirrored pillar, studying how the effect of filtered 
light intensified in the aqua glass.

      There was a subtle distortion to the glass, which caused her 
reflection to warp slightly, and added to the brilliant bouncing 
refractions of light.  She shifted her chair around the table so she 
could watch the dancers in the pillar's reflection.  The more 
distant reflected figures warped even more, truly casting the 
illusion of an underwater party.  

     Utena wondered if she'd be able to spot Yuki and Saionji in the 
altered view, and tried to identify reference points for where she'd 
last seen them.  Saionji would be easier to find, with his height, 
and she resigned herself to looking for him.  She ruefully 
considered that that was yet another task which she'd never expected 
to find herself doing.

      It was difficult, given the overall low light level, and with 
how the pillar mirror altered colors, but Utena finally caught a 
glimpse of Saionji.  As he moved to the side, she could just see the 
top of Yuki's head.  The crowd closed in again, and even her line of 
sight to Saionji was blocked.

      Resting her chin in one hand, elbow propped on the table, 
Utena continued to sip her wine, and lazily observe.  Maybe she 
could locate one of those acquaintances of Yuki's that they'd danced 
with earlier.  Or maybe she'd order another drink, as she noted that 
her glass was almost empty.  She began scanning about to find a 
waitress, then remembered that she could just go to the bar herself.

      As Utena slipped off her chair, she spied a pale image out of 
the corner of her eye and stopped to determine what had caught her 
attention.  

      The man whose gaze met Utena's in the reflection of the pillar 
was not dressed as she normally saw him.  He was still clad head to 
toe in white, but instead of the cloaked uniform that she was used 
to, he wore shirt, trousers and loosened tie that was in no way at 
odds with the apparel of the dancers surrounding him.  It seemed 
that he was some distance out onto the dance floor, yet as she 
watched, none of the moving figures interrupted her line of sight.

      Utena squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head to clear it of 
what had to be a hallucination.  It was impossible that her prince, 
her Dios, could be standing right there in that same room so that he 
would appear in the mirror.  It was impossible because he didn't 
exist, he had never existed.

      Hesitant, afraid both that she would still see him and that 
she wouldn't, Utena opened her eyes and focused on the mirrored 
pillar.  Dios' image remained, now smiling sadly at her.  He kept 
his eyes on her as he slowly turned into the crowd, then broke their 
gaze and walked away.  Dancers began to fill the space, but the pale 
shades of his hair and clothing were still visible between the dark 
moving figures.

      Utena ran to the pillar, slapping her hands futilely against 
it.  She forced down rising panic and tried to analyze where Dios 
would have to be if she could see his reflection from this point.  
It would be there--again she caught pale flashes which had to be him.

      He was there, he was real!  She ran onto the dance floor, 
heedlessly pushing people aside, hardly hearing the angry calls over 
the pounding music.  The crowd shifted, yet she still caught 
glimpses of phantom white and she felt herself growling in 
frustration as she shoved her way through.

      The tide of people shoved her to the side, and she lost the 
will o' the wisp figure she trailed.  Another gap opened as she 
desperately searched and she stumbled through, stopping only as she 
fetched up hard against Saionji.  He quickly regained his balance 
and grabbed her arm as she tried to dash past him.

      "Hey, no cutting in," called Yuki with a smile.  "*You* didn't 
want to dance with him."

      Utena ignored her.  She grabbed Saionji's shoulders to make 
him face her.  "Where did he go?" she cried.  "He came this way, you 
must've seen him!"

      "Seen who?  Who are you talking about?" asked Saionji.

      "Dios!"

      "That's not funny!" yelled Saionji, suddenly radiating fury.  
"I don't know what you think you're trying to pull, but I'm not--"

      "I'm not trying anything!  He was here, I saw him.  I can't be 
dreaming again.  I can't be..."  Utena's voice trailed off as she 
released Saionji.  She was vaguely aware of him watching her 
confusedly, but her attention was only for the crowd.  She moved 
away from Yuki and Saionji, in the direction she thought Dios must 
have gone.  How could she find him now?  Why didn't he wait for her?  
She was sure he had seen her, he looked like he had been waiting for 
her to spy him.

      She took one hesitant step, and another.  On the third step, 
the room seemed to warp and turn like its watery namesake, causing 
her to stumble.  The flashing blue lights inverted into black 
splotches before her eyes.  *I'm falling,* she thought as she 
instinctively twisted and extended her arms to protect her head as 
she went down.

      Utena rolled onto her back.  The smooth hard dance floor was 
cold against her shoulders through the thin silk of her shirt.  Two 
silhouetted figures moved close to partially block the brilliant 
ceiling lights.

      "Utena!  Are you all right?"  A female voice, distant and 
echoing, came from her left.  There was other sound, loud and 
vibrating, and the voice only seemed to reach her through turgid 
liquid.

      "Are you hurt?  Sick?"  That was a deeper voice, male, from 
her right.  "Come on, Tenjou, talk to us!"

      "N-no, not hurt," she managed to stammer.  Would they hear her, 
so far away?  No, they were right next to her, weren't they?

      "We've got to get you off the dance floor."  That was the 
female voice, sounding closer but the figure hadn't moved.  "Can you 
walk?"

      "Dunno."

      "We'll have to find out," said the male voice.  The figure on 
her right moved above her head, and strong arms slid beneath her 
shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position.  "How's this?"  
With the voice right in her ear, the odd distance effect vanished.  
"Do you feel dizzy?"

      "Not now," Utena was able to say, more certainly.

      Yuki crouched on her knees in front of her.  Of course it was 
Yuki, Utena could see now that the angle of the lights didn't cast 
her into shadow.  "Can you get up?"  Her voice sounded normal now 
too, and the indefinable loudness had resolved back into amplified 
music.

      "I'll try," said Utena.  She rolled over onto her hands and 
knees, out of the supporting embrace.  It was Saionji at her other 
side, who had been bracing her, but she didn't have much attention 
to spare for that, as all thought was focused on determining if she 
could indeed stand.

      Yes, she could stand.  Yuki and Saionji both watched her 
closely as she regained her feet.  Actually, she felt pretty normal.  
That was, until she tried to take a step and her legs trembled 
dangerously.

      Then Saionji's arm was around her waist, pulling her against 
his side.  "You are *not* going to fall on your face again," he said. 

      "Hey!  I don't need--"  Utena protested, and tried to sidestep 
out of his grasp, but her feet weren't paying attention.

      "And I don't need you fussing," he growled.  "Fuss after 
you're sitting down."  Saionji turned to Yuki.  "My table is closer, 
I think, over under the dolphin."  He gestured with his free hand 
towards the near wall, where hung a leaping dolphin formed of 
glowing green neon.

      Yuki took the hint and forged a way through the crowd.  
Saionji guided Utena closely behind.  Utena's legs were still weak, 
and she found herself glad for the support, even if it was Saionji.

      There were two people, a man and a woman, seated at the U-
shaped booth beneath the dolphin.  They looked up from their 
conversation at Yuki's approach and then Saionji was telling them to 
make room.  The two slid to the inside of the booth, so Utena was 
next to the woman as Saionji deposited her on the seat.  Utena 
leaned her head against the back of the booth seat and closed her 
eyes, breathing slowly.

      "She collapsed," explained Saionji.  Utena felt a warm hand 
pressed to her forehead beneath her bangs.  "Doesn't feel like any 
fever," said Saionji.

      There was a gentle touch on Utena's arm and Utena opened her 
eyes to look at the woman.  "Do you think you could take some 
water?" the woman asked.

      Utena nodded weakly.  The woman gave her a glass of ice water, 
and steadied her hand while Utena drank.  The cold liquid did feel  
good, soothing her jangled nerves.

      Yuki had sat across the table from Utena at the other end of 
the booth.  Saionji pulled up a chair so he could sit next to Utena.

      Saionji let Utena sip some more water before asking, "Were you 
drinking a lot?"

      She looked at him, bewildered, then at the glass in her hands.  
She was drinking right now, why was he asking that?

      "Utena," Saionji said gently, and she struggled to focus on 
his face.  "I meant liquor.  Did you have much liquor to drink?"

      Utena shook her head.  "I hadn't even finished my glass of 
wine.  And I've never reacted like this to alcohol before."

      "You haven't seemed sick," observed Yuki.

      "No, I've been feeling fine," agreed Utena.  "Until tonight, 
that is."

      Saionji seemed about to speak again, but his eyes flickered 
across the others seated around the table.  He turned to the man and 
woman and said, "This is Utena Tenjou and Yuki Hanazawa."  To Utena 
and Yuki he said, "These are my friends Kyosuke Matsui and Akiko 
Fujiwara."

      Utena noticed Kyosuke studying her.  "Didn't I see you 
speaking with Saionji a few weeks ago?"  The question reminded Utena 
that this was the man she'd seen Saionji talking with after their 
brief altercation.

      "I think so," she agreed.  "We went to school together, 
briefly, some years ago."  She hoped that would put off any innocent 
questions that she didn't care to be discussing at the moment.

      "Utena, shouldn't we go back to the dorm?" asked Yuki.  "If 
you're not feeling well..."

      Utena waved a negligent hand.  "Don't worry about me.  You 
shouldn't have to cut your evening short."

      Saionji sighed and shook his head.  "Still stubborn to the 
point of idiocy."

      "What?" cried Utena, rounding on Saionji.  "I seem to recall 
you being--"

      "Utena, please!" Yuki cried earnestly.  "We can always come 
back another night."

      Utena was about to continue protesting when Saionji cut in, 
"Why are you arguing with your friend when she's completely right?  
And lest you think *I'm* just trying to get you to leave, I'll even 
walk you to the train station."

      "Why?" Utena asked, suspicious.

      "Don't argue, I couldn't carry you if you collapsed again," 
pleaded Yuki.  Then she added sheepishly, "Not in these shoes."

      Despite herself, Utena found herself laughing, and agreed to 
the arrangements.  Surely she'd prove quickly that she was fine, and 
could get Saionji to leave them alone.

      Therefore it irked her greatly when she stood up from the 
table and again found her legs trembling so that she immediately 
leaned on the back of the booth.  She cursed under her breath.  What 
could be wrong with her?

      Utena shook her head angrily and looked up.  Saionji stood 
there next to her, an arm extended in invitation.  She studied him 
closely, but could detect no sign of the anger, or even irritation, 
that she expected in response to him being in a position where he 
was required to help her.  Instead, his expression was concerned, 
even warm.  It seemed odd and alien to her.  Resigned, she moved 
next to him and let him support her as before.

      Saionji looked to his friends.  "I'm not sure how long this is 
going to take.  If I'm not back here by the time you two want to 
leave, go ahead."

      "But we've got no way to let you know," said Akiko.

      "I'll call your place from Utena's dorm, if I end up going 
that far," said Saionji.  Utena wanted to protest, but bit it back.  
He was going out of his way to help her, and he had never been one 
to put on an act of this kind.  It didn't seem likely to her that 
this would just be some ploy of his.  Saionji continued, "I might 
still miss you that way, but that's no big deal.  I'll find you 
tomorrow if that happens."

      Akiko shrugged.  "Okay, I'll be at my studio."  She looked to 
Kyosuke.  "You?"

      "Library, probably.  But not until late morning," Kyosuke said, 
laying his hand over Akiko's where it rested on the table, and she 
smiled at him in return.

      "Good enough," said Saionji with a sigh.  He turned to Yuki, 
"Lead on."

      Yuki set out for the stairs, again finding a path through the 
crowd for Saionji and Utena.  Utena climbed carefully and held 
firmly to the railing as they went up, with Yuki anxiously glancing 
back at her and Saionji following close behind.

      Once they emerged onto the street, and escaped the noise of 
the club, Yuki described for Saionji the route back to their dorm.  
Saionji confirmed that he was familiar with the locales she 
mentioned.  In fact, he'd lived in the dormitory next door to theirs 
for his own freshman year.

      The three walked in silence after that, which eventually began 
to unnerve Utena.  She'd expected the normally-talkative Yuki to be 
distracting her with conversation.  Instead, Yuki kept peering 
nervously at Utena, as if expecting her to fall flat again despite 
Saionji's aid.  This was the most shaken she'd seen Yuki yet, and 
experienced another pang of guilt for troubling her dorm mate this 
way.  

      It seemed to Utena that she'd have to break the silence, and 
then maybe Yuki would see that she was okay.

      "Saionji?" 

      "Yeah?"

      "What's the class you've got on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when 
we see each other?"

      He looked down at Utena, eyebrows raised slightly, like he was 
surprised that she was actually speaking to him about something so 
innocuous.  Then he looked forward again to their path, and said, 
"Advanced fiction writing."

      "You write?" she asked.  That didn't fit with her image of him, 
which was composed of bluster, and conflict, and the duels she and 
he had waged.  Then she remembered a very different incident and 
added, "Oh yes, I remember.  That exchange diary."

      "I suppose Anthy would have mentioned it to you," he said.  
Then with another sardonic grin he added, "But I did say *fiction* 
writing."

      She'd done it again!  She'd said something stupid, and she 
wasn't even angry at him.  Utena hoped the sudden heat in her cheeks 
wasn't visible under the street lights.  Having him see how 
flustered she felt was not something she needed at the moment.

      But Saionji wasn't looking at her as he continued softly, 
"Then again, maybe that *was* fiction."  Utena wasn't quite sure if 
he'd meant her to hear that, so didn't comment.  "Which class do you 
have then?" he asked.

      "Twentieth Century Lit."

      "Is Kawamura teaching it this term?"

      "No, I've got Harada."

      Saionji nodded.  "She's pretty good.  I had her for 'From 
Scroll To Stage', her class about dramatic productions based on 
fiction works."

      *This is so strange*, thought Utena.  *We're just talking, 
like nothing odd ever happened between us.*  She was certain they'd 
never had reason to simply talk at Ohtori, not when her very first 
meeting with him ended in her challenging him to a duel over the way 
he'd insulted her friend.  She realized he'd asked what works had 
been assigned to her class, and she rattled off what she could 
remember from the syllabus.

      They turned a corner and the train station became visible at 
the middle of the block.  Utena felt relieved--surely she could end 
this uncomfortable situation now.

      As they approached the station, Utena drew away from Saionji 
and both he and Yuki stopped to face her.

      "I'm feeling much better now," Utena said to Saionji.  "You 
don't have to bother with me any further.  And, um, thanks."

      He looked at her skeptically.  "Are you certain?  I don't want 
to leave Yuki stuck with dragging you the rest of the way home."

      "Yes, I'm sure."  To prove it to them, and to herself, she had 
to admit, Utena jauntily walked up the street a ways.  She was 
delighted that there was no hint of shakiness in her limbs.  Knowing 
she'd be regretting it if the infirmity returned after she'd sent 
Saionji off, she launched into a series of simple karate kicks.  One 
foot lashed out forwards, back, and even before it touched ground 
again she'd thrust out the other and spun herself about in perfect 
balance.  As she came back to rest, she called back to Yuki and 
Saionji,  "See?  If I can keep my feet through that, I can walk 
home."

      "I can take a hint," said Saionji.  He bowed to Yuki, "It was 
nice to meet you, and dance with you."

      "Thank you for all your help," Yuki returned, also bowing.  
Saionji turned back the way they'd come from Deep Submerge, and Yuki 
hurried forward to join Utena.  "You could go to the campus clinic 
tomorrow," she said.

      "I could," agreed Utena.

      "But you're not going to, are you?" finished Yuki, frowning.

      Utena sighed.  "I'll see how I'm feeling in the morning.  If I 
feel at all weird, I'll go.  Okay?"

      "I'll be checking on you," Yuki warned.

      "You live next door," Utena said dryly, "I doubt I could stop 
you."

      "Hey, Utena!"  Both women looked up abruptly, to see Saionji 
not yet far away.  "If I don't see you at class on Tuesday, I *will* 
be coming around to find out what's happened!"  He waved, and 
sauntered off.

      "He better not!" growled Utena, and she spun on her heel and 
stalked into the station.

      "Then I guess you'd best be as good as your word and not faint 
again," Yuki said primly, skipping next to her.  

      Utena marveled that Yuki actually was skipping in those shoes.  
Utena lengthened her stride, her long legs letting her keep pace 
with Yuki while still walking.  Yuki cast a sidelong glance at Utena 
and skipped faster.  Utena grinned and quickened her step as much as 
she could without actually running.  With a quick cut in front, Yuki 
was first through the turn-styles, with Utena right on her heels as 
they dashed to the platform.


January 2004       

Author's Notes:  Honest C&C is very welcome, flames will be 
laughed at and cheerfully ignored. 

Laurie Gerholz
milo@winternet.com
http://www.winternet.com/~milo


             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'