Sho-I Tanaka
30th December 2002, 06:19 AM
Shojo Kakumei Ukyo
A Revolutionary Girl Utena/Ranma 1/2/Samurai Cat crossover
by Sho-i Tanaka
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters portrayed in this fanfic;
they are the property of Be-Papas, Rumiko Takahashi, Mark Rogers, etc, etc.
Not used for profit, just for fun.
chapter 8
ukyo agonistes
(The phone don't ring
And the sun refused to shine)
They were the happiest days of my life. Fourteen beautiful days in
which I had everything I ever wanted. A handsome boyfriend, that was all,
really...all the long years of searching, of perfecting the Art, that
was just a means to an end.
I should have known it wasn't real.
I should have known he was just setting me up so he could knock
me down.
(Never thought I'd have to pay so dearly
For what was already mine...)
When you're in love you don't want to listen to anyone tell you
Anything about your boyfriend. Even if it's his little sister, who
knows him better than anyone. You just don't want to know. You just
want that wonderful feeling to go on forever, and you can't imagine
it'll ever change.
(For such a long, long time
We made mad love, shadow love,
Random love and abandoned love)
I was so far gone in love I gave him the very thing I swore I'd
never give to anyone but Ranma. What a fool I was.
(Accidentally like a martyr
The hurt gets worse
and the heart gets harder)
Every girl wants to find a prince, wants to be a princess,
and I'm no different, really. Dressing like a boy? Well, that's
really out of habit...when I came here and took the place of
Utena Tenjo, literally stepped into her shoes, it seemed
natural to wear the boys' uniform as she did, especially since
I'd always dressed as a boy in Furinkan and while I spent those
long years looking for Ranma and his bastard father. How was I
to know that not all princes are noblemen?
(The days slide by
Should have done, should have done, we all sigh)
I can't even remember a single one of those days apart from
the others. They were all just one long, rosy sarabande of romance
and passion. The princess of the spatula swept off her feet by the
prince of the duellists. The leisurely breakfasts before class. The
lunches spent gazing into each others' eyes. The light dinners and
the nights...oh, those nights! I never wanted them to end.
(Never thought I'd be so lonely
After such a long time
Time out of mind)
I remember the last day very well, though. I'll never forget that
day as long as I live. It was the worst day of my life, even worse than
the day Genma Saotome stole my dowry and my husband and ran off down
the road...
"To-chan! Are you ready for lunch?" Ukyo ran up to her boyfriend,
her face shining with expectation.
Toga Kiryu turned to look at her. The look on his face brought her
to a dead halt.
"To-chan, is something wrong?"
"My name," he said coldly, "is Toga Kiryu, Kuonji-kun. *You* may
address me as Seitokaicho-san, however."
"Toga, what's the matter? Why are you treating me like this?"
"Not very quick on the uptake, is she, Toga?" Shiori sneered.
"No, apparently not," Toga sighed. "Look, Kuonji-kun, it was fun
while it lasted, but it's over."
"Over? But you - I - we..."
"I guess it isn't true what they say about those country girls,"
Shiori laughed. "This one, at least, seems to take sex a little too
seriously."
"Toga-"
"Go *away*, Kuonji-kun. We're discussing Student Council business
here, or we're trying to."
Ukyo looked from one face to the next. Miki and Kyuichi avoided
her eyes, and Mitsuru looked confused, but Toga stared at her coldly
Shiori looked amused. A crowd had gathered, and she could hear muttering
among the students behind her. "He dumped her...right in front of
everybody! Oh, no, how embarrassing! Poor Kuonji-sempai! How humiliating!"
Every whisper felt like a knife in her back. Pulling together all the
self-control she could muster, she walked away. This had to be a nightmare.
Any minute now, I'll wake up and To-chan will be next to me, she thought.
Surely this can't be real.
The whispers followed her to the East Dormitory. Nobody was home,
of course, so there was nobody to see her collapse on the bed and cry
as she hadn't cried since she was a little girl. She was still crying
when Anthy came back from classes, hours later.
"Any other business?" Toga asked.
"I thought you were going to challenge her, Mr. President," Shiori
said disappointedly.
"Not right away. I want to give her time to think about it," Toga
replied.
***
Nabiki smiled to herself. It had been pretty hard to get new pics
of onna-Ranma since he and Keiko had become engaged. This was the first
chance she'd had to sneak in and get some "wet shots" of Ranma in several
weeks, but she'd managed to get Keiko to run an errand for her and
figured she'd better strike while the coast was clear. She began to open
the door-
"Not so fast, oneechan." Keiko spoke in a low tone of voice,
pregnant with menace.
Nabiki turned slowly and saw her adopted sister standing right
behind her. Keiko was cracking her knuckles quietly and had a dark
frown on her face. "What are you doing here?" Nabiki hissed.
"Keeping an eye on you," Keiko answered. "Shut that door. I don't
want you waking Ranma up."
Nabiki closed the door quietly and turned back to face Keiko. "I
thought I asked you to run down and pick up some stuff at the store
for me."
"You did. I had Aiko do it for me. You want to tell me what you're
doing with the bucket and the camera?"
Nabiki had the rare sensation of being trapped. There weren't any
good answers in this situation, but maybe- "I was going to play a
practical joke on Ranma."
Keiko nodded, unsmiling. "The sort of practical joke that earns you
About a thousand yen per copy?"
Nabiki frowned. "That's none of your business."
"So sorry, oneechan, but it is my business. Ranma is my fiancee,
and I don't like the idea of you exploiting his curse so that you can
load up on pocket money." Faster than Nabiki could react, Keiko reached
out and grabbed the camera away. Working quickly, she popped open the
film compartment, extracted the film, and pulled the film into the
light. "Oh, gee, no good pictures on this roll. Too bad." She handed
the camera back to a seething Nabiki. "Now then. I'm going to make this
pretty clear to you so we don't have to talk about this any more.
You're a smart girl. I'm not. But I promise you this: if I ever find
out you've been taking pictures of Ranma's girl form without asking him
first, I'll break your camera. Then I'll break your fingers. Understand?"
"You wouldn't dare."
"Try me. I'm not like Akane. She didn't care what you did to him,
from what I hear. I do. She let you pimp him out to the rest of his
fiancees-"
"It wasn't like that!"
"The hell it wasn't! What kind of girl does that to her fiance?
I don't know, but I'm not that kind of girl. And I'm not going to let
you use him like that any more. You find some other way to raise money,
oneechan. Ranma is off limits." She shoved the camera into Nabiki's
stomach, eliciting a surprised "oof!" from the older girl. "You being
a smart girl, we shouldn't have to have this conversation again."
The door opened, and Ranma poked his head out. "What's going on?"
Keiko stepped in front of him, hiding the camera from view. "Oh,
nothing. Nabiki and I were just discussing money."
Nabiki nodded. "Yeah. Money." She turned and walked away, sliding
the camera into her pocket.
Keiko stepped closer to Ranma. "Money is so boring. Are you all
rested up now?"
Ranma smiled and embraced her. "Well, I was having a good nap
until you two woke me up."
Keiko kissed him. "I know magic. I can make you go back to sleep!"
she giggled.
Ranma smiled back at her. "Want to come in and see how well that
magic works?"
Keiko kissed him again. "What a silly question!" She hooked a foot
Behind his leg and tripped him. They fell together onto the futon, and
Keiko kicked the door closed.
***
Nanami lowered the epee and looked at Ukyo disappointedly. "You're
not concentrating, Kuonji-sempai. My brother will kill you if you fight
this poorly, don't you understand?"
Ukyo mumbled something inaudible.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said."
"He should have just done it right away and gotten it over with."
Nanami's jaw dropped. She looked at the forlorn girl and closed
her mouth. Presently, she sheathed her epee and walked back into the
dormitory. In the window, Juri turned away, shaking her head.
***
Happosai awoke to find himself completely trussed up and upside down.
That was bad enough. What made it as bad as it could possibly be was the
voice that woke him. "Good morning, Happy," it said in fluent Japanese.
"I've been waiting a long, long time for this."
"Cologne-chan?"
The question was answered by a vicious blow to a pressure point on
his neck that filled every nerve with the sensation of scorching flame.
He closed his eyes, mustering just enough control to keep from screaming.
"Don't call me that ever again, Happy. Now, I have a question to
ask. Are you going to tell us everything we want to know now, or do I
get a rare opportunity to instruct my granddaughter in some of the more
exotic Amazon interrogation techniques?"
Without thinking (or perhaps because he was distracted by the
close proximity of Shampoo's breasts - we'll never know now) he
replied, "Uh - what? I haven't done anything!"
"Oooo, very good!" Shampoo clapped her hands with joy. "Shampoo
always want to learn extra special Amazon technique of toenail
extraction!"
The screaming began shortly thereafter, and continued for many
hours.
***
"Anthy, what am I going to do? He won't look at me, he won't talk
to me..."
"I don't know, Ukyo-sama. I'm here for you, though."
"Oh, Anthy..."
***
"Kodachi-sama, I'm worried about Kuonji-sempai," Nanami said over
dinner. She, Juri, Kodachi and Akane were the only ones there; Ukyo
hadn't come out of her room since returning from class, and neither
had Anthy.
"As am I," Juri agreed. "She looks like a lost soul."
"More importantly, her practices have been going very badly.
I'm beating her easily, mainly because she isn't concentrating.
It's like she's not really there."
"I don't suppose she is, really," Akane offered. "I don't think
she's been hurt this badly since Ranma and his father left her behind
as a child. She certainly didn't act like this when she found out
Ranma and I were already engaged to each other."
"I don't think she took you very seriously," Kodachi replied,
"but that's beside the point."
"More to the point, if she's like this now, what's she going
to be like when she loses?" Juri said.
"You mean 'if', right?" Akane looked skeptical.
"I said 'when' and I meant 'when"." Juri's voice was flat and
hard. "She's in no shape to fight Kiryu-san and win right now. She
can't even hold her own with Nanami-chan here, who isn't half as
good as her brother. Her concentration simply doesn't exist. After
she comes back from the duelling ground and finds Himemiya-san gone,
we'd better hide all the sharp objects around here until she calms
down."
"Finds Himemiya gone? Why wouldn't Anthy be here?" Akane
stared at Juri in confusion.
"She is the Rose Bride, the one with the power to bring the
revolution," Nanami said quietly. "When onii-sama wins the duel,
she will become his Bride and do whatever he requires. That's the
way she is."
Akane shook her head. "That's just...weird! Why would she
do that?"
Nanami sighed. "I've thought about this for a long time.
At first I thought she was just mental or something, but the
longer I watch her the more I think there's nothing there, you
know? It's as if in exchange for her magic she's sacrificed
whatever personality she once had, and now just reflects the
desires of the one she's attached to."
"Like a tulpa," Juri interjected.
"A what?" Akane asked.
"A spirit being that has no existence aside from the wants
and desires people project onto it."
"That's a lie."
They all turned to see Ukyo in the doorway. Her eyes were
red-rimmed and bloodshot, and she leaned against the door frame
with a look of utter weariness on her face. Kodachi half-rose
from her seat. "Kuonji-san..."
"That's a damn lie, Arisugawa-sempai. Anthy Himemiya is a
real flesh and blood girl, just like you or me, with real
feelings. Maybe you want her to be some sort of magical spirit
being, but she's just a girl like the rest of us. So spare me
your sympathy, okay? You can keep your wacky theories to
yourself. Anthy loves me, and even if I do lose, she's going to
be right here."
Juri stared at her for a moment, then shrugged and went
back to eating. Kodachi stood up and took a step toward Ukyo.
"Ukyo, what if..."
"Forget it. I don't need help from people who talk about
me and my girlfriend behind our backs." She turned and went
back to her room, and a minute later the girls all heard the
slam of her door.
There was an awkward silence. After a minute, Akane spoke
up. "Well, that could have gone better," she commented mordantly.
***
The day everyone in the East Dormitory had been dreading
finally came. As with all the other duels, the note from End
of the World was waiting for me when I returned from class.
I dropped her book bag heavily and stared at it, not touching
it where it lay on the table. Anthy looked at me silently, as she
had all day...I hadn't said much to her either, really. It seemed
like so much effort to do the simplest things, that day. "Well,"
I said, "no point in putting it off. Let's go." Together, we
walked out of the room, out of the dormitory, and began the long
walk to the Dueling Arena.
I arrived and found Toga and Kyouichi Saionji waiting, along
with Anthy in her Rose Bride dress. That was unusual, but it
didn't really bother me. I just wanted to get this over with. Toga
was laughing at me, teasing me, but I couldn't seem to understand
what he was saying. It was so hard to think, to function at all...it
would be so good to finish the duel and get back to normal.
Somehow I thought that after Toga defeated me, things would be as
they were before. I don't know why.
I drew the Spatula of Dios from Anthy, but it seemed heavier
than worlds, heavier than it ever had before. So hard to move it,
to summon the energy to block Toga's thrusts and slashes. I could
feel his blade slicing my uniform and my flesh, feel the blood
oozing from the cuts. He was yelling at me, taunting me, playing
with me like a cat plays with a mouse, slashing my uniform to
ribbons. I think it angered him that I was so passive. I don't
remember even once trying to strike back. Then again my memories
of the duel are so disjointed,...it was like a nightmare that
happened to someone else until I feel the scars he left on my
face and my body.
I only remember two things during the duel with any clarity.
Once I saw Anthy's face, and thinking that it was so odd for her
glasses to have become mirrors reflecting the empty gray sky,
bright shiny frightening mirrors showing nothing at all. Once,
I saw Saionji grab Toga's arm, trying to stop him. "No!" he
shouted. "You're going too far! Cut her rose and have done with
it, Toga!" Toga just laughed and pushed him away, and with his
next swing of the sword slashed my hair off. My beautiful ponytail
fell lifeless to the ground, and all I could do was try weakly to
raise my spatula and try to keep him from slashing the rose from
my chest.
I failed, of course. After many, many eternities of pain
and darkness he finally tired of playing with me. Toga stabbed
down with his blade, and it was finally over. I lay there curled
up around those petals for what seemed like years before I
finally got up. Saionji had tried to help me up, but I didn't
want his help. I just wanted to lay there and die. I remembered
the last thing Toga had said, leaving with Anthy on his arm.
"Do I remind you of your prince, Ukyo? Your Ranma Saotome?"
He laughed and walked away, and inside my head I said Yes.
Yes, you do.
A long time later I got up. My body was tired, as if I could
sleep for a week, but I couldn't make my mind shut up and leave
me alone. It kept showing me all the images I wanted to forget.
Ranma and Akane. Me and Toga. Ranma and Shampoo. Me and Anthy.
Over and over again until I wanted to scream, but I couldn't seem
to find my voice until I found myself at the Academy kitchens.
I'd spent some time getting to know the cooks, and they liked me
better than the other kids, who treated them like part of the
furniture. Third Cook Fuchida was there when I showed up, ragged
and bloody and with half my hair hacked off. He gasped in horror
when he saw me. "Kuonji-kun! What happened to you?"
"I ran into a door," I mumbled. "Got any sake? I can pay you."
"H-hai, Kuonji-kun, but...don't you think you ought to see the
nurse?"
"I'll be all right, Fuchida-san. Thank you." I waited, leaning
against the door frame and trying not to smear blood on it, until
he came back with a large jug of cooking sake. "Thank you,
Fuchida-san. I'll pay you back tomorrow." I walked back to the East
Dorm, knowing that Anthy would be there.
She was finishing her packing when I arrived. "Anthy, what
are you doing?" I whispered.
She smiled vacantly at me. "I am engaged to Toga-sama now,
Kuonji-san. He has instructed me to take up residence with him
tonight."
"But you- I..."
"See you around, Kuonji-san. Take care." She bowed and left.
I stared after her as she disappeared down the hall and kept
staring into empty space until I heard the downstairs door slam.
After a while I went back into my room, shut the door, and began
to drink.
***
Note: The song at the beginning of the fic is "Accidentally Like A Martyr",
by Warren Zevon.
Comments and criticism welcome.
A Revolutionary Girl Utena/Ranma 1/2/Samurai Cat crossover
by Sho-i Tanaka
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters portrayed in this fanfic;
they are the property of Be-Papas, Rumiko Takahashi, Mark Rogers, etc, etc.
Not used for profit, just for fun.
chapter 8
ukyo agonistes
(The phone don't ring
And the sun refused to shine)
They were the happiest days of my life. Fourteen beautiful days in
which I had everything I ever wanted. A handsome boyfriend, that was all,
really...all the long years of searching, of perfecting the Art, that
was just a means to an end.
I should have known it wasn't real.
I should have known he was just setting me up so he could knock
me down.
(Never thought I'd have to pay so dearly
For what was already mine...)
When you're in love you don't want to listen to anyone tell you
Anything about your boyfriend. Even if it's his little sister, who
knows him better than anyone. You just don't want to know. You just
want that wonderful feeling to go on forever, and you can't imagine
it'll ever change.
(For such a long, long time
We made mad love, shadow love,
Random love and abandoned love)
I was so far gone in love I gave him the very thing I swore I'd
never give to anyone but Ranma. What a fool I was.
(Accidentally like a martyr
The hurt gets worse
and the heart gets harder)
Every girl wants to find a prince, wants to be a princess,
and I'm no different, really. Dressing like a boy? Well, that's
really out of habit...when I came here and took the place of
Utena Tenjo, literally stepped into her shoes, it seemed
natural to wear the boys' uniform as she did, especially since
I'd always dressed as a boy in Furinkan and while I spent those
long years looking for Ranma and his bastard father. How was I
to know that not all princes are noblemen?
(The days slide by
Should have done, should have done, we all sigh)
I can't even remember a single one of those days apart from
the others. They were all just one long, rosy sarabande of romance
and passion. The princess of the spatula swept off her feet by the
prince of the duellists. The leisurely breakfasts before class. The
lunches spent gazing into each others' eyes. The light dinners and
the nights...oh, those nights! I never wanted them to end.
(Never thought I'd be so lonely
After such a long time
Time out of mind)
I remember the last day very well, though. I'll never forget that
day as long as I live. It was the worst day of my life, even worse than
the day Genma Saotome stole my dowry and my husband and ran off down
the road...
"To-chan! Are you ready for lunch?" Ukyo ran up to her boyfriend,
her face shining with expectation.
Toga Kiryu turned to look at her. The look on his face brought her
to a dead halt.
"To-chan, is something wrong?"
"My name," he said coldly, "is Toga Kiryu, Kuonji-kun. *You* may
address me as Seitokaicho-san, however."
"Toga, what's the matter? Why are you treating me like this?"
"Not very quick on the uptake, is she, Toga?" Shiori sneered.
"No, apparently not," Toga sighed. "Look, Kuonji-kun, it was fun
while it lasted, but it's over."
"Over? But you - I - we..."
"I guess it isn't true what they say about those country girls,"
Shiori laughed. "This one, at least, seems to take sex a little too
seriously."
"Toga-"
"Go *away*, Kuonji-kun. We're discussing Student Council business
here, or we're trying to."
Ukyo looked from one face to the next. Miki and Kyuichi avoided
her eyes, and Mitsuru looked confused, but Toga stared at her coldly
Shiori looked amused. A crowd had gathered, and she could hear muttering
among the students behind her. "He dumped her...right in front of
everybody! Oh, no, how embarrassing! Poor Kuonji-sempai! How humiliating!"
Every whisper felt like a knife in her back. Pulling together all the
self-control she could muster, she walked away. This had to be a nightmare.
Any minute now, I'll wake up and To-chan will be next to me, she thought.
Surely this can't be real.
The whispers followed her to the East Dormitory. Nobody was home,
of course, so there was nobody to see her collapse on the bed and cry
as she hadn't cried since she was a little girl. She was still crying
when Anthy came back from classes, hours later.
"Any other business?" Toga asked.
"I thought you were going to challenge her, Mr. President," Shiori
said disappointedly.
"Not right away. I want to give her time to think about it," Toga
replied.
***
Nabiki smiled to herself. It had been pretty hard to get new pics
of onna-Ranma since he and Keiko had become engaged. This was the first
chance she'd had to sneak in and get some "wet shots" of Ranma in several
weeks, but she'd managed to get Keiko to run an errand for her and
figured she'd better strike while the coast was clear. She began to open
the door-
"Not so fast, oneechan." Keiko spoke in a low tone of voice,
pregnant with menace.
Nabiki turned slowly and saw her adopted sister standing right
behind her. Keiko was cracking her knuckles quietly and had a dark
frown on her face. "What are you doing here?" Nabiki hissed.
"Keeping an eye on you," Keiko answered. "Shut that door. I don't
want you waking Ranma up."
Nabiki closed the door quietly and turned back to face Keiko. "I
thought I asked you to run down and pick up some stuff at the store
for me."
"You did. I had Aiko do it for me. You want to tell me what you're
doing with the bucket and the camera?"
Nabiki had the rare sensation of being trapped. There weren't any
good answers in this situation, but maybe- "I was going to play a
practical joke on Ranma."
Keiko nodded, unsmiling. "The sort of practical joke that earns you
About a thousand yen per copy?"
Nabiki frowned. "That's none of your business."
"So sorry, oneechan, but it is my business. Ranma is my fiancee,
and I don't like the idea of you exploiting his curse so that you can
load up on pocket money." Faster than Nabiki could react, Keiko reached
out and grabbed the camera away. Working quickly, she popped open the
film compartment, extracted the film, and pulled the film into the
light. "Oh, gee, no good pictures on this roll. Too bad." She handed
the camera back to a seething Nabiki. "Now then. I'm going to make this
pretty clear to you so we don't have to talk about this any more.
You're a smart girl. I'm not. But I promise you this: if I ever find
out you've been taking pictures of Ranma's girl form without asking him
first, I'll break your camera. Then I'll break your fingers. Understand?"
"You wouldn't dare."
"Try me. I'm not like Akane. She didn't care what you did to him,
from what I hear. I do. She let you pimp him out to the rest of his
fiancees-"
"It wasn't like that!"
"The hell it wasn't! What kind of girl does that to her fiance?
I don't know, but I'm not that kind of girl. And I'm not going to let
you use him like that any more. You find some other way to raise money,
oneechan. Ranma is off limits." She shoved the camera into Nabiki's
stomach, eliciting a surprised "oof!" from the older girl. "You being
a smart girl, we shouldn't have to have this conversation again."
The door opened, and Ranma poked his head out. "What's going on?"
Keiko stepped in front of him, hiding the camera from view. "Oh,
nothing. Nabiki and I were just discussing money."
Nabiki nodded. "Yeah. Money." She turned and walked away, sliding
the camera into her pocket.
Keiko stepped closer to Ranma. "Money is so boring. Are you all
rested up now?"
Ranma smiled and embraced her. "Well, I was having a good nap
until you two woke me up."
Keiko kissed him. "I know magic. I can make you go back to sleep!"
she giggled.
Ranma smiled back at her. "Want to come in and see how well that
magic works?"
Keiko kissed him again. "What a silly question!" She hooked a foot
Behind his leg and tripped him. They fell together onto the futon, and
Keiko kicked the door closed.
***
Nanami lowered the epee and looked at Ukyo disappointedly. "You're
not concentrating, Kuonji-sempai. My brother will kill you if you fight
this poorly, don't you understand?"
Ukyo mumbled something inaudible.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said."
"He should have just done it right away and gotten it over with."
Nanami's jaw dropped. She looked at the forlorn girl and closed
her mouth. Presently, she sheathed her epee and walked back into the
dormitory. In the window, Juri turned away, shaking her head.
***
Happosai awoke to find himself completely trussed up and upside down.
That was bad enough. What made it as bad as it could possibly be was the
voice that woke him. "Good morning, Happy," it said in fluent Japanese.
"I've been waiting a long, long time for this."
"Cologne-chan?"
The question was answered by a vicious blow to a pressure point on
his neck that filled every nerve with the sensation of scorching flame.
He closed his eyes, mustering just enough control to keep from screaming.
"Don't call me that ever again, Happy. Now, I have a question to
ask. Are you going to tell us everything we want to know now, or do I
get a rare opportunity to instruct my granddaughter in some of the more
exotic Amazon interrogation techniques?"
Without thinking (or perhaps because he was distracted by the
close proximity of Shampoo's breasts - we'll never know now) he
replied, "Uh - what? I haven't done anything!"
"Oooo, very good!" Shampoo clapped her hands with joy. "Shampoo
always want to learn extra special Amazon technique of toenail
extraction!"
The screaming began shortly thereafter, and continued for many
hours.
***
"Anthy, what am I going to do? He won't look at me, he won't talk
to me..."
"I don't know, Ukyo-sama. I'm here for you, though."
"Oh, Anthy..."
***
"Kodachi-sama, I'm worried about Kuonji-sempai," Nanami said over
dinner. She, Juri, Kodachi and Akane were the only ones there; Ukyo
hadn't come out of her room since returning from class, and neither
had Anthy.
"As am I," Juri agreed. "She looks like a lost soul."
"More importantly, her practices have been going very badly.
I'm beating her easily, mainly because she isn't concentrating.
It's like she's not really there."
"I don't suppose she is, really," Akane offered. "I don't think
she's been hurt this badly since Ranma and his father left her behind
as a child. She certainly didn't act like this when she found out
Ranma and I were already engaged to each other."
"I don't think she took you very seriously," Kodachi replied,
"but that's beside the point."
"More to the point, if she's like this now, what's she going
to be like when she loses?" Juri said.
"You mean 'if', right?" Akane looked skeptical.
"I said 'when' and I meant 'when"." Juri's voice was flat and
hard. "She's in no shape to fight Kiryu-san and win right now. She
can't even hold her own with Nanami-chan here, who isn't half as
good as her brother. Her concentration simply doesn't exist. After
she comes back from the duelling ground and finds Himemiya-san gone,
we'd better hide all the sharp objects around here until she calms
down."
"Finds Himemiya gone? Why wouldn't Anthy be here?" Akane
stared at Juri in confusion.
"She is the Rose Bride, the one with the power to bring the
revolution," Nanami said quietly. "When onii-sama wins the duel,
she will become his Bride and do whatever he requires. That's the
way she is."
Akane shook her head. "That's just...weird! Why would she
do that?"
Nanami sighed. "I've thought about this for a long time.
At first I thought she was just mental or something, but the
longer I watch her the more I think there's nothing there, you
know? It's as if in exchange for her magic she's sacrificed
whatever personality she once had, and now just reflects the
desires of the one she's attached to."
"Like a tulpa," Juri interjected.
"A what?" Akane asked.
"A spirit being that has no existence aside from the wants
and desires people project onto it."
"That's a lie."
They all turned to see Ukyo in the doorway. Her eyes were
red-rimmed and bloodshot, and she leaned against the door frame
with a look of utter weariness on her face. Kodachi half-rose
from her seat. "Kuonji-san..."
"That's a damn lie, Arisugawa-sempai. Anthy Himemiya is a
real flesh and blood girl, just like you or me, with real
feelings. Maybe you want her to be some sort of magical spirit
being, but she's just a girl like the rest of us. So spare me
your sympathy, okay? You can keep your wacky theories to
yourself. Anthy loves me, and even if I do lose, she's going to
be right here."
Juri stared at her for a moment, then shrugged and went
back to eating. Kodachi stood up and took a step toward Ukyo.
"Ukyo, what if..."
"Forget it. I don't need help from people who talk about
me and my girlfriend behind our backs." She turned and went
back to her room, and a minute later the girls all heard the
slam of her door.
There was an awkward silence. After a minute, Akane spoke
up. "Well, that could have gone better," she commented mordantly.
***
The day everyone in the East Dormitory had been dreading
finally came. As with all the other duels, the note from End
of the World was waiting for me when I returned from class.
I dropped her book bag heavily and stared at it, not touching
it where it lay on the table. Anthy looked at me silently, as she
had all day...I hadn't said much to her either, really. It seemed
like so much effort to do the simplest things, that day. "Well,"
I said, "no point in putting it off. Let's go." Together, we
walked out of the room, out of the dormitory, and began the long
walk to the Dueling Arena.
I arrived and found Toga and Kyouichi Saionji waiting, along
with Anthy in her Rose Bride dress. That was unusual, but it
didn't really bother me. I just wanted to get this over with. Toga
was laughing at me, teasing me, but I couldn't seem to understand
what he was saying. It was so hard to think, to function at all...it
would be so good to finish the duel and get back to normal.
Somehow I thought that after Toga defeated me, things would be as
they were before. I don't know why.
I drew the Spatula of Dios from Anthy, but it seemed heavier
than worlds, heavier than it ever had before. So hard to move it,
to summon the energy to block Toga's thrusts and slashes. I could
feel his blade slicing my uniform and my flesh, feel the blood
oozing from the cuts. He was yelling at me, taunting me, playing
with me like a cat plays with a mouse, slashing my uniform to
ribbons. I think it angered him that I was so passive. I don't
remember even once trying to strike back. Then again my memories
of the duel are so disjointed,...it was like a nightmare that
happened to someone else until I feel the scars he left on my
face and my body.
I only remember two things during the duel with any clarity.
Once I saw Anthy's face, and thinking that it was so odd for her
glasses to have become mirrors reflecting the empty gray sky,
bright shiny frightening mirrors showing nothing at all. Once,
I saw Saionji grab Toga's arm, trying to stop him. "No!" he
shouted. "You're going too far! Cut her rose and have done with
it, Toga!" Toga just laughed and pushed him away, and with his
next swing of the sword slashed my hair off. My beautiful ponytail
fell lifeless to the ground, and all I could do was try weakly to
raise my spatula and try to keep him from slashing the rose from
my chest.
I failed, of course. After many, many eternities of pain
and darkness he finally tired of playing with me. Toga stabbed
down with his blade, and it was finally over. I lay there curled
up around those petals for what seemed like years before I
finally got up. Saionji had tried to help me up, but I didn't
want his help. I just wanted to lay there and die. I remembered
the last thing Toga had said, leaving with Anthy on his arm.
"Do I remind you of your prince, Ukyo? Your Ranma Saotome?"
He laughed and walked away, and inside my head I said Yes.
Yes, you do.
A long time later I got up. My body was tired, as if I could
sleep for a week, but I couldn't make my mind shut up and leave
me alone. It kept showing me all the images I wanted to forget.
Ranma and Akane. Me and Toga. Ranma and Shampoo. Me and Anthy.
Over and over again until I wanted to scream, but I couldn't seem
to find my voice until I found myself at the Academy kitchens.
I'd spent some time getting to know the cooks, and they liked me
better than the other kids, who treated them like part of the
furniture. Third Cook Fuchida was there when I showed up, ragged
and bloody and with half my hair hacked off. He gasped in horror
when he saw me. "Kuonji-kun! What happened to you?"
"I ran into a door," I mumbled. "Got any sake? I can pay you."
"H-hai, Kuonji-kun, but...don't you think you ought to see the
nurse?"
"I'll be all right, Fuchida-san. Thank you." I waited, leaning
against the door frame and trying not to smear blood on it, until
he came back with a large jug of cooking sake. "Thank you,
Fuchida-san. I'll pay you back tomorrow." I walked back to the East
Dorm, knowing that Anthy would be there.
She was finishing her packing when I arrived. "Anthy, what
are you doing?" I whispered.
She smiled vacantly at me. "I am engaged to Toga-sama now,
Kuonji-san. He has instructed me to take up residence with him
tonight."
"But you- I..."
"See you around, Kuonji-san. Take care." She bowed and left.
I stared after her as she disappeared down the hall and kept
staring into empty space until I heard the downstairs door slam.
After a while I went back into my room, shut the door, and began
to drink.
***
Note: The song at the beginning of the fic is "Accidentally Like A Martyr",
by Warren Zevon.
Comments and criticism welcome.