tampered | (no subject)

(no subject)

When; Around noon-ish
Rating; Probably nothing bad
Characters; Akio, Anthy, Utena
Summary; Akio and Anthy are plotting, and the oblivious pink-haired girl bursts in to kidnap Anthy.
Log;

Though this was not Ohtori Academy -- or really, anything like it at all -- Akio still had several luxuries he took advantage of in the Chairman's wing. Fine wines and Champagnes, books to read, and stars to study. Of course, that's what he would let others believe those were his only interests. He had his sister, and her assistance in manipulating the plentiful naive people of this world.

He did, however, work much more carefully and behind the scenes than ever before. In Ohtori Academy, the students followed his will. He could erase a person from existance there. That world belonged to him, and he was the god that watched over things. Naturally, this caused a shock to his mind when he found himself in a world full of other gods who controlled even him.

"Anthy, how is your progress going?" His sister was the one who would befriend the others, and then she would introduce them to him. He watched over the networks, carefully selecting targets, and making sure to take his time before acting. To slip so soon would be a large mistake on his part.

Besides, he and Anthy had eternity on their side. He was a patient man. "Have you spoken with Utena?" He poured himself a glass of Champagne, and lifted it. Anthy had her orders, and he expected she would follow them. As long as she did that, he would be rather pleased, and plans could progress to his liking.

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She was standing back from him, staring out the window. When he spoke she straightened up and turned to him, creating a placid look in her eyes, though not the overtly happy smile she threw up for strangers.

"Something is very different with Nakajima-san since returning from her world. It would seem she is able to sense the truth behind me. It may be better to cease communication with her. Romeo-san is friendly with me, though we have not met in person yet."

She paused for a second over the inquiry about Utena. "Hai, Onii-sama. I have spoken with her several times on the network as well as met her in person twice."

He took a sip of his drink, listening to the latest bits of information. Youko was now too much of a risk to speak with. For now, he would leave her alone. "You should invite Romeo here for tea one day."

He looked directly at her while she spoke of Utena. "Have you discussed me yet, Anthy? I want you to remember the instructions I have given you."

She shook her head. "She mentioned you very briefly, but I believe that she was referring to the version of you in her world."

Oh yes. She knew his instructions. But that didn't mean that she wanted to follow them. Guide Utena back into his waiting hands. Convince her of false security. Again.

No, she did not want that. But she wasn't so bold as to undermine him by confirming Utena's beliefs of him. No. All she could do was act as though she was following his orders, but in reality skirt the subject with Utena as much as possible. Perhaps it would be believable that Utena was just that stubborn.

And she was that stubborn.

"I have not broached the topic as she seems so adamant in her opinion of you. I am waiting for the right time so that she will hear me and not discard my words."

He expected her to place Utena in his hands. He had told her to do so, and didn't like the thought that she may be so independant as to dance around the subject forever.

He also did not like the thought of this Utena telling others about him. He may have to take matters in his own hands if something wasn't done soon.

"It is up to you to change that opinion, Anthy." Though a patient man, he was also still angry with this Utena, and wanted the quickest method that remained effective. If Anthy told to her that he had never done anything to harm her, she may begin to listen.

After some not-so-lengthy internal debates, Utena had decided on her course of action. Drag Himemiya away from her brother. Simple, right? Right. Doable, right? Right! ...Right? RIGHT. As she strode up to the door, the pink-haired prince straightened her shoulders and tugged at hem of her black-and-white jacket.

Jaw tightened as she lifted a closed fist, knuckles rapping firmly against the door. "Himemiya, open the door!"

After a few seconds ( which really wasn't a suitable amount of time for anyone to process that a knock had even occurred ), she began to knock again. Loudly and relentlessly.

"Hi-ME-MI-yaaaaa!"

"..." The knock had caused him to glance over. Then he heard the distinct voice of Utena, who they had just been speaking of.

"Anthy, I want you to talk to her about me. Today. Remember my instructions." He placed his glass down on the coffee table before him and stood, heading to open the door. He was not going to give the satisfaction of allowing Anthy to be the one to open the door.

"Hello, Utena." He spoke in a rather polite and pleasant tone -- he looked, dressed, and acted nothing like the Akio Ohtori she had known. ~~The other was more of an uke.~~

"Hai, Onii-sama." Oh yes. She could lie to his face as well. But considering her words were the same as always her small betrayals were possibly going without notice. Others, she subtly threw in his face. But nothing so significant as this.

She bowed her head in submission as he moved to the door, though the second his back was turned her eyes snapped to his retreating figure, and one of her rare moments of pure hatred shown through her eyes. But she pulled it back just as quickly as she let it out.

Subtlety was her forte. It had to be. She had no other choice.

Quickly, she threw the bright smile that Utena was used to seeing on her face and followed to the door.

"Hello, Utena."

It felt so odd to say her name with no honorific...

Oh... damn.

Utena let the troubled look flit across her features as she was presented with the absolute last person she wanted to see. The confusion in her blue eyes was evident as she weighed her options in the small lapse of time between Ohtori appearing in the door and Himemiya's voice coming from behind him. She couldn't exactly pull the girl outside around the much more imposing figure, but it had not been in her plan at all to actually go inside.

Making sure to keep her own posture as intimidating as she could, she glared at Akio. The idea of punching him in the face skirted onto the edges of her mind, but she decided against it.. for now.

"Himemiya!"

Not paying much attention at all to the girl's maddening smile, she slipped past the man and wrapped an arm firmly around Himemiya's waist. Holding her companion against her side, she looked down to meet her bespectacled eyes. When she spoke her voice was a tense and heated whisper, though not so soft as to think he wasn't hearing every word she said.

"What in the world are you doing here with him?!"

Akio watched as Utena moved past him, and looked back to her and Anthy. He did not comment on her question as to why Anthy was there. With him. It was rather quite obvious, really: This was Akio's place to live, and Anthy lived with him. Of course they would spend time with eachother.

"Anthy, please remember to be home by supper." His tone remained polite despite the venom in Utena's. He would not give her the satisfaction of giving a reaction just yet. "Utena, if you would like, you may join us."

He had hoped she would agree, if only to observe the two interacting to find out what he was planning, and what he was doing to Anthy. Of course, it would be the most pleasant meal he would ever serve, and not a single detail would be awry. ~~As long as Anthy didn't act too independant, and Utena remained oblivious.~~

An actual surprised look flitted across her face. The boldness of this Utena kept catching her off-guard for no other reason than that she'd gotten used to her own Utena's mannerisms. The surprise in her eyes faded, but her brows remained raised. Her words echoed her brother's.

"Oh, I live here, Utena. Why wouldn't I be with my brother?" And she let her smiling mask fall back into place.

Utena didn't know whether to sweat drop, throw up or run away. Maybe all three? She'd had her own Himemiya figured out, so to be given another that she had to learn all over again was still headache-inducing. And having HIM around didn't help things. Was this what the other Utena had to deal with on a daily basis? She suddenly felt very sorry for her counterpart.

Arm kept itself firmly around Himemiya's small waist, and she wasn't about to let go.

"We've talked about this," she said. "You didn't think the fact that you live with him would be something worth sharing?"

Head swiveled around to stare at Akio, blue eyes burning. "You've got to be kidding me! Neither of us is staying, and she's not going to be back by any time. At all."

Akio appeared rather taken aback by Utena's statement. She would really attempt to prevent Anthy from coming back home to him? He settled the look on his face to be calm once more.

"Anthy, please be home in time for dinner." He reiterated himself calmly. "If you would like, you may invite friends to come along." He looked at Anthy, before turning to walk back to the room he had originally been sitting in. He was certainly not happy, but he also knew Anthy would not leave so suddenly and not return.

This... was not good.

This was really not good. She wasn't the only one who wore masks in this charade. No, her brother wore them too, and she could see through that pleasant one he had just been wearing to the anger underneath.

She didn't really care what that meant for her, but what that could mean for this Utena... was...

She turned and let her gaze follow him, that particularly dead smile she kept just for him set in place. "Hai, Onii-sama."

What she would do? She really wasn't sure. At this point, driving Utena away would probably be the best bet. But she would do so once they were no longer in this apartment.

She would have to wait and see how things played out before making any moves.

Utena hated smoke and mirrors. All this shadow play was not anything in which the pink-haired prince wanted any part. No matter the smiles or blank stares or forced politeness, she could feel the tension in the room. Her anger wasn't hidden or directed anywhere but the place it belonged. If she thought she could get away with it, she'd jump on his back and rip out all that pretty hair of his.

As she heard Anthy answer, brows rose in surprise as she turned to look at the girl. Free hand rose to the girl's dark cheek, turning her head so that their eyes met. It was still a bit unsettling to be looking through a pair of unfamiliar glasses.

"Himemiya, you can't be serious!" she said heatedly. "You can't stay here. You just can't!"

The dead smile fell away a bit, before being replaced by another, quite cheerful one.

"Where did you want to go, Utena?"

She would speak when they were not so readily overheard by her brother. Though he had is ways of knowing things, his power in this world was significantly staunched. Outside of the apartment she could be assured of some anonymity.

Sweatdrop. Dammit.

After she recovered, Utena shot a glare in the direction Akio had gone. Feeling she had sufficiently stared down his no-longer-visible backside, she looked back at Anthy. Blue eyes rolled at the eternally weird smile on her face, and she pulled the girl toward the door.

"Let's just leave. This place gives me the creeps."

Then she pulled the door open and ushered Anthy outside. It gave the prince some measure of childish satisfaction as she slammed the door behind them.

She allowed herself to be guided outside, keeping that same cheerful expression on, as if she was going out on a joyful little excursion.

She started down the hall to the appropriate exit doors, fully intent on not speaking until she was far enough away from her brother to feel that she had some security over her words.

Utena followed behind Anthy, rubbing the back of her neck in an agitated manner. She was mumbling things under her breath, most likely threats of what she would have done back there had it proven necessary. But she had Himemiya now, right? There wasn't anything to worry about anymore.

...Right?

She kept right one walking until they were outside. And once they were outside, she chose a direction and just started walking in it, assured that Utena would keep following her, never mind that there was snow everywhere.

Utena did follow. She was lost in her own thoughts for a spell, shoving her hands into her pockets and ambling along at Anthy's back. She was waiting for something. What that something was exactly? No idea.

The silence between them was deafening.

"Say something!" She'd stopped walking, and her cheeks were red from both the cold and frustration.

She stopped. They were far enough away that it should have been alright. After all, her brother's power was only absolute inside his own little world. Here, not so much.

She reached up, removing the glasses that were such a huge part of her act. As she stood there her demeanor seemed to change. Where she had seemed a young school girl just moments ago, now she seemed to give off the air of someone much older. And when she turned that age could be seen in her eyes. Her face was young, but her eyes seemed ancient.

She merely stared at Utena for several seconds, her face blank. Not the empty stare that she normally threw up, but that of her true face. One full of suffering and ageless melancholy.

"I don't know what my counterpart has said, but End of the World is not one to be trifled with... When I came here, I was going to attempt to stop the duels so that his plans for you did not come to pass. I don't know what action I can take here to do that..."

A particularly cold blast of air tore at her clothes and bound hair, but she didn't seem to notice.

"I'm supposed to make you trust him. But I don't want to." Her lips tightened and her brows drew down. "I'm a dirty woman. I've known from the beginning what was happening... and I lead you along as if I was innocent in it all." That twinge in her brow hit again. "I've betrayed you the entire time. I am just as bad as he is..." She shook her head slightly. "No... I'm worse than he is... because I made him what he is now... He became the End of the World from my meddling. From the time we met here, you have wanted me to leave. But I can't. I made him into what he is. Because of that, I owe it to him to stay by his side. I am the witch who took the Prince from the world. I deserve this torment. I don't deserve to be saved."

Anthy's words were hitting her ears and seeping into her brain, but their meaning was sort of lost amidst the pounding in her skull. What she was saying... it didn't make any sense. Blue eyes blinked, trying to clear the fog settling in her mind. That was... a lot to compute in one go. And Himemiya looked so... Utena turned away.

No longer wanting to keep her focus on the purple-haired girl, Utena turned away and walked a few steps. She wasn't going anywhere, necessarily. It was nervous energy. Or maybe if she just kept moving she would shake off this incredibly heavy feeling in her chest. The heavy feeling that was getting more and more intense by the moment.

Handsome expression turned into a pained grimace, and she clutched loosely at her jacket. She looked back at Himemiya over her shoulder, doing her best to conceal how awfully both her head and her chest felt. This was much different from anything she'd ever felt at Ohtori... with her Himemiya. It was scary. Truly.

She needed to sit down. She needed to think. She needed to wrap her throbbing mind around all the things she'd just been told. Jaw clenched. Teeth ground together.

God, why did her chest burn so badly?

Long legs took uncertain steps in one direction until she let herself fall onto a snow-covered bench. Elbows moved to knees as her head dropped forward into her hands.

She held to the serious stance she had taken. She couldn't afford to back off now. This was for Utena's own good. Hurt her to save her, was that how it went?

Still, while the pink-haired girl was turned her brows did manage to find a life of their own and curl into an upset frown. And... she felt moisture in her eyes.

She was not crying. She did not cry unless it served a purpose. And if anything, this would impede against what she was trying to accomplish. She closed her eyes tightly and blinked away the stray tears that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Really, when had she come to think so highly of Utena--this one or her own. Did you already forget that you were about to sacrifice yourself for her sake? How is this any different?

"Whatever has happened... or will happen... I don't want you to be hurt. And the place that End of the World has chosen for you... that is what will happen. You will be hurt. You could be killed. And I don't want to see that happen... I'm supposed to be a mindless doll... I shouldn't even be thinking this... I..."

Her shoulders slumped a little then.

"You... remind me of the Prince I once loved... and I don't want to see the same thing that happened to him... happen to you..."

Blue eyes closed as she fought against the growing pain in her chest. It was like pinpricks at first, then it increased in intensity until it felt like her chest would explode into a million pieces. Every syllable that came out of Himemiya's mouth was punctuated by an illusory stab.

As she heard the other girl's voice trail off, Utena realized she had to respond. She had to say something. She had to let her know what would happen.

She blinked her eyes open, concentrating on the same spot on the ground until her vision came into focused clarity. Swallowing around the impossibly large lump in her throat, Utena brought herself to a standing position. For a few seconds, she was silent as shaky legs righted themselves. Chin lifted, and she met Himemiya's gaze. For reasons beyond her comprehension, one hand remained clenched against a seemingly random spot at her abdomen. She didn't seem to notice.

"I-" she began, testing out her voice. "I'm a prince, Himemiya. I can't give up. I'm.. too involved in this to walk away. I can't look away. I can't go on with my life pretending like you don't exist in a reality no one deserves."

Things sounded much darker in this Himemiya's world. Again she felt a pang of sympathy for her own counterpart. The fingers at her stomach gripped her jacket tightly. No matter what the other girl said.. Utena had to carry on.

Even if Himemiya doesn't want to be saved? she heard her mind ask. That's what it sounds like to me.

Not possible! she shouted back angrily.

"I will continue. I will save you. I will prove real princes still exist," she sounded confident, even if she was shaking all over. "And if I'm hurt, or if I die... at least I'll die knowing I didn't give up. I'll never give up."

Stubborn. So very stubborn.

You mustn't move anymore!

Her browns curled up again of their own accord, and the rouge tears she had been fighting to bring under control lined her eyes again.

Stop now. Don't fight anymore.

She closed her eyes again, the stray tears escaping.

You'll die.

"The Rose Bride takes the swords of the world's hatred in the place of the Prince..." she said in a low voice before just trailing off.

"NO!"

The passionate interjection escaped her mouth as a force to be reckoned with. Her cheeks were flaming red, though at this moment it had nothing to do with embarrassment. Chest heaved with the exertion of heavy breathing.

"You won't be hurt any longer! You WON'T! I'll take it all on, and I'll win. I'll beat this. Believe in me, Himemiya."

Head dropped as the wind deflated from her sails a bit. All the excitement made it more difficult to breath in the chilly air.

"...Please."

So innocent. So naive.

...

So noble.

...

Just like Dios...

Before she even realized she was doing it, she had reached forward and let her fingers touch the side of Utena's face.

Wide eyes blinked in surprise.

This Himemiya had never touched her voluntarily. In fact, if anything this Himemiya seemed a bit unnerved by how tactile Utena had been since arriving. She had just assumed things were slightly different in the other Ohtori.

Still, it felt familiar, and despite the chill, Himemiya's hands were warm. One hand reached up and held the dark hand in place while she leaned into the touch. A light dusting of pink spread across her cheeks.

She wondered how different this other world must have been. Did her other self not want to protect this girl? Did her other brother not pose as large of a threat? Or perhaps her other self didn't care as much?

When had she started caring at all?

Whether it was the fault of the wind or the doings of a witch attempting to prove a point, any onlooker would never know, but her hair lost its bindings and cascaded down her back, strands being caught by the wind and swept around her shoulders and her eyes were dark again.

"I'm going back, Utena. There are princesses to save. Don't waste your heart and soul on a witch who destroys everything pure around her."

Her hand slipped away and she took a step backward.

"Himemiya..." the name escaped her mouth on a breath so soft it barely made a sound.

She was unsure of what to do or say. Anthy had to stay. She had to. What kind of failure was she if her own chosen person refused to accept her efforts? What good was she if Himemiya did not want to be saved?

Utena felt tiny pinpricks around her eyes as her jaw clenched shut. Crying now? Fantastic. Just great. She did her best to choke them back. Crying was not very prince-like.

She watched as the dark-skinned girl took a step away from her, and she felt like there was nothing she could do to keep her from turning and walking away completely. Walking away completely and going back to him.

What could she do? What could she say that hadn't already been said? Why wouldn't Himemiya listen?

"NO!" For the second time the word was bellowed out, and suddenly Utena had reached out and pulled the smaller girl against her. Arms wrapped themselves securely around Anthy's slim frame in a strong hug. "You're not a waste, Himemiya. You're not a waste. I love you. Please. I won't stop.. even if you hate me. I won't stop."

A small gasp of air found its way into her lungs as Utena pulled her into an embrace. She tensed for an instant, her eyes wide and staring into space.

Well... that little act hadn't worked as well as she'd hoped...

And at hearing Utena speak those words...

Then I'll become a prince! I'll become a prince and save her!

Another gasp found her lungs, and that wetness she had felt at her eyes came back, just like it had on the tower and her frame shook slightly.

No. No, this was all wrong. She couldn't be doing this. It wasn't possible for her to be doing this. She was the Rose Bride. She was a doll without a soul. She was an empty shell. She did not feel.

It wasn't possible for someone to love the Rose Bride...

Her arms moved then, curling around Utena in return, her head bowing.

Utena held on tightly, refusing to let the smaller girl go. Her cheek pressed against wild purple hair, and her eyes were clenched shut so tightly she saw stars. When she felt Himemiya respond and return the embrace, Utena's shoulders caved just so and she turned her face further into Anthy's hair.

"You're not a waste, Himemiya.." the words were repeated, more softly this time, but not lacking any fervor.

She didn't know what else to say or do.. except hold her ~~princess~~ ~~witch~~ most important person. So she did.

She remained there for a long while.

Not a waste?

Perhaps not.

But it would take more than a few kind words to convince her of that.

And it would take more than kind words to convince her that she was worth Utena sacrificing herself.

She couldn't do this.

She would return to her brother. She would do what she had to to play both parties until one of them hopefully were released from this world.

She pressed against Utena until she was able to step back again, touching her face carefully. She had no more words to say. She wanted to make Utena understand, but she knew well that she wouldn't be able to.

And this time, when she moved away there was no pause. Once she was out of Utena's grasp she all but vanished. An onlooker wouldn't have been sure what had happened. Had the wind simply rose too quickly and sent snow up in a blinding spray of white and the girl just retreated unseen? Or had she actually disappeared.

It was hard to say.

Edited 2008-08-01 05:04 (UTC)

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