This is a story based on Revolutionary Girl Utena. The characters are all from the anime except for Airen, who is my own creation and is based on myself. This takes place after the end of the Black Rose Saga. It has a few similarities with the remainder of the series, but I will not reveal any of the anime or manga conclusions, so consider it a sort of amateur alternate ending. The Utena characters I use have certain similarities with people I know, so parts of my story come from real life. I do use certain aspects of the anime’s symbolism, and for those of you who know how the anime ended, it should be easy to spot what came from the original story. For the rest of you, if you don’t want to spoil the story, it’s better for you not to read it..
Thank you for reading my fanfic.
Rouresu Airen
Airen stood beside Touga and watched the two girls circle each other. Kozue struck at Juri at intervals, but Juri was too fast for her to get lucky. Juri moved to the right. Kozue blocked her first strikes with ease. Juri smiled to herself. The girl was slow. If those had been serious blows, she would have won by now. Seeing that the constant barrage of random strikes were tiring Kozue, she decided to move in for the real attack, and she cut at Kozue in lightning quick patterns, until the girl tired herself out trying to block her feints. Juri watched for her opening, and moving down and forward, she sliced at the rose on Kozue’s chest. It seemed like an eternity passed before Kozue’s rose dropped from the stem in a shower of petals.
Kozue cried out in anguish, but before she could say anything, she disappeared in a cloud of light blue petals. Touga and Juri were stunned. Airen smiled her strange, haunting smile. Miki’s coffin faded, leaving Miki standing beside Juri. He opened his eyes.
"Juri? Why are we at the dueling arena?" he asked. Looking about him frantically, he spotted Touga, "Touga! What are you doing here! What’s going on?"
"I think we’d better ask Miss Oberon…Miss Oberon?" Touga looked around him, but the girl was gone. Juri tapped her fencing sword against her theigh.
"Something strange is going on."
Utena trudged into her building tried from after school practice. Anthy was waiting in their room, with tea ready for both of them. Chuchu was already gobbling down the cakes, but Anthy had a second plate that she kept out of reach from the red-cheeked little monkey. Utena plopped down at the table with a loud sigh.
"What a long day. Thanks for making tea, Anthy. Its just what I need." She smiled at the quiet girl, who smiled back.
"Your welcome, Miss Utena," she said softly. Utena accepted the cup she offered and sipped at it enthusiastically. Drinking from her own cup, she watched Utena. She was confused. Part of her was devoted to her brother and was willing to do anything he wished of her, but the other part was guilty for using Utena this way. She felt different when she was around Utena. When Touga was dancing with her, she felt like she was being stabbed through the heart again and again. She liked being with her. Even if it was her duty to serve her as the Rose Bride, she liked to do those things for her, as herself, as Anthy. When Touga won the first duel with Utena, she tried to be aloof and acted as if it did not matter she wasn’t her bride anymore. As if Utena were no different than her past masters. But when she was alone, she remembered how nice it felt to be with someone who wanted to be her friend, who wanted to protect her. She remembered how they had such pleasant conversations, and how Utena laughed when Chuchu would do something silly. She realized that she loved Utena. She wanted to be with her, and only her. At that moment, she realized what she had felt at the ball, the pain that struck her so deep, was jealousy. She Touga. She liked him. He was a really nice guy.
"Well, Anthy, I’m going to turn in, good night." She got up and undressed, put on her pajamas, and climbed onto the top bunk. Anthy stared at her still body for a long time. She finally stood. Chuchu climbed up onto her shoulder and together, they left the room.
Outside, sitting on the edge of the fountain, Anthy stared at the moon’s reflection. Chuchu snoozed beside her. She smiled at him, but it faded. She was too unhappy to enjoy his company. All she could see in her mind was Utena with Touga, and the pain in her chest was getting worse.
"Is this my punishment?" she whispered to herself, "Did I do something to deserve this?"
"Love is not a punishment." Anthy looked up to see where the voice cam from. Airen stared back at her. She sat down beside Anthy and took her hand, "Love can hurt sometimes, but there is always times where it can be happy, and you’ll find that out."
"Miss Oberon…" stammered Anthy. She remembered being introduced to her at the ball, but this was the first time she’d ever spoken to her alone. She felt like she knew her. Something about her made her different from normal people. She looked down at her hands, being held by Airen’s. Then she stiffened. Airen was wearing a rose seal, "You’re a duelist?" Airen released her hands, and looked at her seal.
"I am and I’m not. It’s difficult to say." She looked very far away, a slight frown on her face. Looking up at a confused Anthy, she smiled sadly, "Don’t worry." She stood and walked away, leaving Anthy beside the fountain. Looking back at Anthy, Airen smiled. "We have much in common, Miss Anthy. I hope we can be friends."
Miki stood in Juri’s room. He’d never seen it before, and he wasn’t entirely comfortable being there. Juri’s hands slide around him and he jumped a little. He hadn’t heard her coming up behind him. She and Touga already told him what happened at the dueling arena, even the part where he was bound to the winner. He didn’t like feeling that his life was forced by a spell, but he didn’t feel any different. Thre wasn’t anything different between himself and Juri that they didn’t feel before the duel. He amended that thought as he experienced a very different feeling of having Juri’s hands under his shirt. He looked into a mirror and was startled to see her in a very…sexy was the best word for the robe she was wearing. She looked so beautiful, so feminine. He closed his eyes as she nibbled at his neck. This would be very different.
Airen sat down on a chair and waited. She knew he was coming, and she was ready to answer his questions. The window slid open, and a figure climbed inside, and silently closed the window.
"Good evening." The figure jumped in surprise. Then it stiffened, "There’s no need to worry, sir. I was expecting you." Touga moved into the light. He had a very annoyed look, but it turned to suspicion.
"How did you know I was coming?"
"I’m not easily surprised, Mr. Kiryuu." She motioned for him to sit down on the chair beside her. Touga hesitated, but finally took the offered seat. Airen smiled at him, "Well, Mr. Kiryuu, we have much to talk about." Touga looked uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to being the one in the bad position.
"Who are you?" he asked, giving her his most dangerous look.
"I am Airen Oberon," she laughed, "I made no secret of my name, but you don’t think that, do you, Mr. Kiryuu." She moved her chair closer and looked at him with half closed eyes and the same strange smile she always made., "Touga…"
Utena had another dream that night. She clawed at the floor of air, trying to reach Anthy, and Touga placed his hands on the floor to help her. The same flash of light came. A hole appeared in the floor, and Utena fell in. Touga looked down as she fell. She stopped at the two coffins, but when she tried to get to Anthy, the lid shut. Airen, the new girl, appeared between them in a black Rose Bride dress. She smiled at Utena, then pointed to both coffins.
"Choose." Then she backed into the shadows and disappeared. Utena stood looking at the two coffins. She went to Anthy’s and was going to open it. But she stopped. She turned to the other coffin, put her hands under the lid, and lifted it up.
