Shoujo Kakumei Utena : The Trajectory of Falling Stars

Another Utena story for tonight, I think. This one is based (if memory serves) around episode 33 of the series - arguably the most startling use of a recap episode ever snuck under the radar.

I wanted to try my hand at using multiple viewpoints in a story, and more importantly to try and convey distinct voices more effectively. Plus I wanted to play with the Akio Car, because hey, who wouldn't?

C'est l'histoire d'un mec qui tombe	(There's a story about a man falling
d'un immeuble de cinquante étages;	from a fifty-storey tower block;
au fur et à mesure de sa chute il se	as he falls he reassures himself
répète sans cesse pour se rassurer:	over and over:
jusqu'ici tout va bien	so far, so good
jusqu'ici tout va bien	so far, so good
jusqu'ici tout va bien...	so far, so good...)

-- Mathieu Kossovitz, "La Haine"

Shoujo Kakumei Utena : The Trajectory Of Falling Stars

"Yes, of course I love you."

They're all the same. By now I can almost do this in my sleep.

"Yes, I'd love that."

Desperation in her voice, then a flood of relief. The words don't
matter - just a promise I have no intention of keeping, and which they
surely don't believe in any case.

"I'll be looking forward to it."

Perhaps I will. A pleasant distraction, if nothing else.

"As will I, Mister President."

A man's voice, deep and sibilant. The line goes dead. I almost drop
the phone in surprise.

I look around - not really in the expectation that I'll see anything, but
because there are some instincts you can't control. The evening suddenly
seems far darker than it should.

The courtyard bursts into light, a squeal of brakes and the roar of an
engine that couldn't possibly have been so close without my having heard
it.

"Care to join me, Mister President?"

So that's what he looks like... Perhaps the evening won't be entirely
devoid of interest after all.

There she is! It's almost like she's been hiding from me all afternoon.
Somebody's going to end up carrying me all the way back to my room if I
have anything to say about it.

I make a dash down the steps, hoping she won't notice me. Looks like
I-- Oooh. So that's why.

She's standing there in the car park with Himemiya Anthy's brother - the
Chairman, no less - and blushing so much I can almost see it from here.
She toys with her hair a bit, staring at the ground every so often as
they talk.

I bet she doesn't even know she's doing it. Or how gorgeous she looks,
just standing there in the sunset... I bet he does, though.

This calls for drastic action!

She's so wrapped up in him she doesn't even notice me creeping up behind
her. This should be fun! I lean over to whisper in her ear.

"Uuuteeenaaa..."

"Wakaba!" She jumps, looking guilty. She's so far gone it's almost
funny.

"Hello, Shinohara-san" he says. I'd almost forgotten about him. He
really is handsome - then again, I always knew my darling Utena had
good taste. Time to tease her a bit...

"Hi! Um, could you call me 'Wakaba' instead of 'Shinohara-san'?" It's
not hard to look giddy when you talk to him - I can almost feel Utena
staring at me already. I give her a nudge.

"Hey, what's with sneaking out here all alone with him? Getting pretty
forward, aren't we?" She blushes. "Are you two about to go on a date
or something?"

"Of course not. We just bumped into each other." Riiiiight.

"Really?"

"Really." She never was much good at lying.

"Really really?"

"Yes already!" she almost yells.

"Glad to hear it! In that case, Akio-san, could I go for a drive with
you?"

She's trapped now, and she knows it. I can almost feel the way she's
glaring at me.

"Hey!"

It's hard to keep from giggling. She's so easy to tease...

"I'm sure meeting you like this today must be fate or something."
Flutter my eyelashes, look starstruck.

"You've been coming over to play every day."

Ouch. Nice try, but she's waaaay out of her league.

"Pretty pretty please with sugar on top! I'll remember it my whole
life!"

I can see it in his eyes - he's enjoying this too. I could get to like
him...

"Well, let's see. If you've got a couple of hours free I'm sure we can
manage something."
"Yes!!" I nearly leap into his car. I can't believe I'm getting away
with this... Oooh, she's going to kill me later.

She mutters something nasty, making a move for the back seat. Oh no.
Not now she isn't.

"Uh-uh." I hold out my hand, stopping her in her tracks. "You stay
here."
"How come?"

I practically throw myself into his lap, rubbing myself against his
chest. His body's warm and hard under that shirt, and I'm not entirely
faking it any more.

"'Cause... a date is something two people do by themselves - right,
Akio-san?"

He nods slightly, caught up in my hair. Whoops.

"Oh really?" If looks could kill... Well, it's for her own good - this
is important! How else are we supposed to get things to gossip about?

She waves a half-hearted goodbye as we hurtle down the road. Now...
what's her new boyfriend really about?

"Utena?"

I look up from the pile of maths papers strewn across my desk, my heart
beating faster all on its own. What could he want?

"I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you..."

"No, not at all. I can't seem to get very far with this stuff tonight
anyway." I haven't been able to concentrate all week. I've been so
forgetful lately...

He smiles. "Well, then. Could I ask a favour of you?"

"Sure." Anything to get myself out of here - the room feels so warm.

"I've got some roses I need to deliver tonight, and I was hoping you
could come along to help me."

Is that--? I'm suddenly so nervous my hands are shaking. Is he-- does
he--?

"I'd love to."

My mind's a mess. I'm so busy thinking that there's no way I can
possibly answer that I almost don't realise I already have.

"You're driving quite fast," I tell him - simply because he is. The
streetlamps whip by on either side of us, faster than anything I've ever
seen before. The wind pulls insistently at my hair.

"She's purring nicely, don't you think?" he murmurs - a half-question in
my direction. For a moment I'm not sure if it's the car or his voice
doing the purring. I'm impressed. There's a power there that I hadn't
imagined, and I know a seduction when I hear it.

"Care to take the wheel?" One hand slips down to his side, inviting me
to lean across him into the driving seat. I favour him with a raised
eyebrow. It's not going to be that easy, even for him.

"What?" I act more surprised than I am. "But I don't even--"

"You're too uptight..." Almost honesty? No holds barred, it seems.
This will be fun.

"That was a rather indecent proposal, Mister Chairman." After all,
there are rules to be followed - but does he know that yet?

"My Ohtori Academy respects its students' independence, Mister
President." I'm sure it does - but he, he doesn't respect anything
unless he wants to. I can barely keep from smiling.

There's a new game to be played here, and I intend to win.

"So," I ask him, "how did you get to be the Chairman?"

As soon as I've said it I feel silly for even asking something so dumb.
He doesn't seem to notice, though.

"I have a confession to make" he says, leaning closer like he's about to
tell me a secret, "I'm not the real Chairman."

"What?" Utena wouldn't lie to me, would she?

"His body's in the trunk." My jaw must have fallen halfway to the floor
before he finally starts laughing, low and maybe just a little
dangerous.

"Sorry," he says, "just joking. The Chairman was unfortunately taken
ill some months ago, and since then I've had to take on his duties
around the academy."

"That must be really hard work..."

"Not really." He smiles again. "The students very rarely cause me any
trouble... I'm just here to make sure things run smoothly. To lend a
helping hand here and there."

He leans closer, one hand toying with my hair for a moment. "Besides,"
he whispers, "it can be rather enjoyable." Suddenly it's really warm in
here - I feel like I'm blushing right down to my toes. And I don't
even--

The sunset catches in his eyes for a moment, and I just slip a bit lower
in my seat. Well, okay, maybe I do just a little, but...

It's such a beautiful night to be outside. The stars are incredibly
bright, and the wind is warm as it blows through my hair. Every so
often I can just about smell the scent of the flowers in my lap... they
smell a little like him...

Suddenly the streetlights end, and it's like we've driven into an
endless tunnel through the darkness. The headlights are a tiny patch of
brightness ahead of us, and I can barely make out where the road is
going any more. It's kind of scary.

"How can you drive like this?" I ask him. "You're going so fast, and I
can hardly see..."

He turns and smiles at me, his hair rippling around his face.

"Close your eyes," he tells me.

"What?" He's got to be joking!

"Don't you trust me?" he whispers. "Just close your eyes for a moment."

I do, nervously, trying to work out what's going on. It feels like
forever, just the sound of the wind and the curve of the road pushing me
across my seat. After a while I start to relax, and I notice just how
hard I've been gripping my legs. My hands are a bit cold.

"Open them," he tells me.

I do.

I'm so shocked I feel like my eyes are going to fall out. The stars are
everywhere, colours and whorls and spirals reflected in the sea and so
bright I can see the road winding along the shore for miles. In the
distance I can see the lights of a fairground, a great big wheel of
colours dancing around in front of us.

It's only then that I realise that he's turned off the headlights.

He puts his hand over mine; his fingers are warm and soft. I'm still a
little scared, but it's the most wonderful feeling in the world.

Looking out across the sea I realise the sun's nearly set already. It's
amazing how fast the afternoon's gone... and I've hardly even got
anything juicy to tell Utena yet! This is serious!

"Ne, Akio-san?" I ask him.

"Hmm?"

"What do you think of Utena? Now that she's living with you and all..."

He gets an odd look in his eyes at that. Sort of a wistful look, but
that's not all. "She's a beautiful young lady," he says. "The princess
of the Academy."

What an odd thing to say... But in a way I can see what he means. He's
very good with words sometimes.

"But aren't you engaged to someone already?" I'm sure Utena mentioned
it, in fact.

"You think I--" he starts, then laughs softly. "Yes, Shinohara-san, I
am engaged." A little smile; he reaches on hand across towards me,
making me feel shivery all over. "And besides, it would be... improper
of me to have a relationship with one of my students, wouldn't it?"

And suddenly it's like a little part of me realises that he doesn't
believe that at all, that's screaming like he's the scary bits of
Himemiya Anthy and Kiryuu Touga all rolled into one, only he's still
so utterly gorgeous...

"The sun's almost down" he says, interrupting my thoughts suddenly. "Do
you want to see if we can race the sunset?"

I just nod, because I'm not sure I can speak right now. Then the engine
roars like an angry tiger and we're zooming down the road so fast you
wouldn't believe, and all I can do is hang on for dear life and think
how much fun this is...

"Wow... that was just so much fun! I haven't been to a fairground in
ages - I'd forgotten what it was like."

He pulls the car away slowly, the lights reflected all over the bodywork
in glittering patterns.

"Thanks so much for taking me..."

"It's my pleasure," he replies, and he makes it sound like he means
every word.

"It's a pity Himemiya couldn't come." I sigh.

"Anthy's never really liked the fairground very much."

"Maybe, but..." My hand brushes something down the side of my seat, and
suddenly there's a huge sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach. I
life the roses up from the floor of the car. "Oh gods... Akio-san!
What're we going to do about the roses? I forgot all about them! We're
probably too late, and I bet they've gone to bed and--"

"It's okay," he says, cutting me off. "I've already delivered them."

What?

I lift them slowly to my face, my hands trembling. They smell so
wonderfully sweet.

He nods, almost imperceptibly.

For a moment all I can do is stare at him. Part of me is just beginning
to realise what this could mean... and part of me has wanted it forever.

"Yes" I tell him, scarcely knowing what I'm doing any more. In his
smile, though, there's nothing uncertain.

The wind roars in our ears as we drive, the road beneath whipping past
in a blur. He runs one hand along the bodywork of the car, a gesture so
thoroughly lascivious it feels almost obscene. His eyes haven't been on
the road for minutes; it occurs to me that it doesn't matter a damn.

"So, Mister President... what is it that you desire?" He leans towards
me, and his eyes smoulder like the fall of angels.

The answer is on my lips with barely a thought. "Power. Power to
revolutionize the world."

A low, delicate laugh. "And how do you plan to obtain this power?" he
asks me.

"My will." As I have so many times before. I meet his gaze for the
last time, and now there can be no turning away for either of us.

"And what if you fail?"

I say nothing, but I realise that, win or lose, I no longer care. Such
a glorious game this will be...

He smiles, and the gods themselves weep.

"The End of the World I will reveal to you..."

I'm so tired... I really didn't expect all this to happen. I clutch my
hands across my chest, a little tingly thrill running through me as I
close my eyes.

As I drift off to sleep I can still hear his voice, soft and beautiful.
I wonder if today has all just been a wonderful dream...

"Is that Anthy?"

"What're you doing up there?"

"They're beautiful tonight... You didn't have to watch the
Planetarium."

"I didn't want to look at the real stars."

FIN