Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Memory of the Rose ❯ Chapter Twelve ( Chapter 14 )

We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill,

going more or less in one direction until we splash into

something that forces us to find a new course.

--Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

Chapter Twelve

The day was pretty enough, he supposed, but car rides always made him sleepy. It didn't take very long for Adam's mind to wander as Nurikia guided the flashy red car toward Ohtori campus and his future. He glanced back at Sari in the rearview, but she kept her gaze trained on the world moving outside the car. Her lack of real response to his welcoming hug had disturbed him, but he supposed it would be difficult to enthusiastically greet such an old friend in front of a girl like Nurikia.

She still wore her mother's ring, he noted offhand, just on her finger instead of around her neck. That bit of gleaming silver suddenly reminded him of the incident the night before she left his life. That gold locket---

"How bad off is it?" she whispered, afraid to look at the bits of gold jewelry cupped in his palm.

"Pretty bad," he admitted. "The chain was all smashed, and so was part of the front. But at least we can look at the picture inside now."

"Is there really a picture inside?" she asked curiously, her Pandora's box of a mind snapping around this new diversion.

"Uh huh," he nodded. "And an engraving. A True Prince'. Hey, Sari…"

"Yes?"

"Well, this girl. She looks a lot like you. See?"

"Wow, if that isn't a coincidence, I don't know what is. Why would some starlet have a locket with a woman like that in it? Are you sure it isn't her own picture?"

"Maybe it's all part of some cosmic puzzle. Maybe the starlet was really a lesbian in love with a long lost aunt of yours and she followed her to New York."

Sari giggled, getting into the story. "Well, if you're going to say something like that, it should be my mom. This lesbian starlet had developed a crush on her after a disastrous love affair she'd been in for years and years finally ended. She met my mom near the bitter end and fell head over heals; despite the fact Mom never felt the same. After discovering what a jerk my father was she followed my mother to New York to try and start fresh, only to discover Mom was pregnant with me."

Adam chuckled. "So they exchanged tokens of love and your mother went off with you in tow. This woman became so famous she probably has own line of sneakers or perfume or something and now she regrets smashing the locket."

"Yeah," Sari chimed in, "she's going to show up on the doorstep tomorrow, demanding the locket back, and I'll be gone."

"Ready, Adam?"

Jostled from his absent memories of that night Adam turned his unseeing eyes from the window to the all too real sight of Nurikia's sardonic gaze. They had slowed and were winding their way up a narrow street toward the campus. A faint chiming of bells could be heard in the distance. Impressive though the campus appeared, Adam felt a chill. He smiled wanly and tried to look excited and cheerful. It was a stretch but he managed.

Just barely.

His gaze met Sari's in the mirror. Was it his imagination, or did she not look happy in the slightest? Was there a darkness in her eyes there hadn't been before?

"Adam-san?"

"Yeah, Nurikia-san. Gonna kill 'em, right?"

Nurikia forced a grin and tried to ignore Sari's presence in the vehicle. The Rose Bride was having a tough time these days, and she didn't need her new slave to be moping about over this new distraction and ruin the great deal Nurikia had as the temporary Victor. Plus it bothered her that the young man had shown up again in her life. She'd never liked him very much- she had been Kiryuu-sempai's favorite pupil until he showed up. Jerk. Well he would soon find out that he wasn't such hot shit around Ohtori. Here the Student Council called the shots and even obnoxious university students like Adam had to follow their lead.

He'd better… or else.

The gates to the new school yawned open as they passed through them. Nurikia parked their vehicle and promptly disappeared, leaving Adam with the silent Sari. He turned to speak with her in this slightly more private setting, but before he had a chance to get a word out she was gone, rapidly striding down the path toward a striking tower of glass.

This was really happening.

He had really moved from Juri's comfortable high rise to Ohtori.

He was really standing here, in front of his new school.

"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto," he muttered to himself and took in his surroundings as he followed Sari, hoping perhaps she'd thaw out a little and tell him where in the world he was supposed to go.

The school itself seemed out of a history book; floor after floor of inlaid white marble carved in ornate spirals at the cornices and edges. There seemed to be some sort of flower theme going on- everywhere he looked were blooming roses. It reminded him faintly of the Parthenon in Athens; when he and Juri had been stuck on a European circuit and Kozue had stubbornly insisted on the most typical sightseeing tour to torture them. At the time Adam had been more than a little tired and grumpy, but the sight of the towering columns had quickly inspired his imagination into overdrive. That night he'd sat up late with her sketchbook, trying patiently to capture the sense of awe the buildings had invoked.

He'd wanted to share his experiences with Sari.

Now here, so many years later, the same endless Grecian columns towered over the front entrance of his school, tall willowy trees dipped down over the groups of arriving students, and little dappled shadows danced lazily in the rapidly rising heat. The lawn stretched out in all directions in a cool green splendor, one group had a Frisbee and was playing an impromptu game before class.

There was an actual marble fountain Adam had to bypass on his way up the steps to the front entrance complete with barely draped statue; Adam paused to watch as an attractive girl dipped her hand in up to the elbow and leisurely swirled her arm in the clear water with a studied indifference. Adam had the old unmistakable urge to run for his sketchbook and charcoal. His fingers twitched to capture it all.

He would use watercolors for the girl and the fountain; quick, light strokes of the brush, and the glittering water and shining hair would blossom under her fingers like a desert bloom after a sweet midnight rain. The building itself, especially the columns, they would need charcoal for all those shadows and careful smudging to create that impression of age and opulent wealth.

This place was definitely straight out of a fairy tale.

Lost in his thoughts Adam didn't notice the boy of about eighteen who raced by on a skateboard, his wild green hair spiked up with the front bangs colored every flavor Kool-Aid offered.

He did notice him however when he jumped the set of stairs above Sari and landed right in the morning spray of water. He didn't seem to mind though; he just shook his head like a wet and rangy dog, slicking it back with one quick swipe of his hand. He pushed off the lowest step of the landing and swung his board by in one tight arc. "Hey baby," he yelled as he passed, heaving Sari into the water with a quick shove. She came sputtering to the surface a moment later. "Makoto-san," she replied calmly, squeezing water out of her hair. "I didn't see you there."

Adam rushed to her side, glaring angrily at the asshole. "Hey, buddy," he snarled in English. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Makoto swung around on the board and gave Adam a wild look. "No speak the English," he snarled. "Japan."

"It's okay, Adam-san," Sari murmured, rising from the fountain. "Makoto was just officially elected to the Student Council this morning. He is no longer a Representative."

"And that gives him the right to…" Adam sputtered.

"He was paying me back for last week," Sari cut in, opening her eyes wide and batting her lids innocently. "I shoved him in this very fountain for a prank."

Now that sounded more like the little girl Adam remembered, but something in the set of her body made him doubt her story very much. She was covering for this jerk. Why? He looked up with surprise as Nurikia appeared and pushed past him. She reached gracefully down and tried to splash Makoto but he dodged.

"Nurikia-san, my love! How I've missed you!" He flashed Adam a frighteningly cheerful grin and crouched for a moment. Adam was surprised to note Sari's lips draw back in an unconsciously feral sneer of fear and surprise. It was as if she had no control over her body, but Makoto didn't seem to mind her practically hissing at him like a cat. His hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist, his eyes too bright, and his fingers too warm.

"Soon you will be MY bride," he said loudly enough for Adam to hear. Two seconds later his lips locked on Sari's and Adam felt a sort of stunned shock and dismayed anger as his mind began to process what was happening. Sari didn't struggle; a doll would have given more protest than she did. Red with fury, Nurikia stepped forward and quickly tried to force Sari from his tight grip, but he was strong and only after kicking his shins a few times was she able to force the girl free.

Now that the smaller girl was safely tucked in Adam's embrace she spat on the ground and glared at the boy. "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING¼ "

She got no answer, as he jumped back on his board and was off like lightening, leaving Sari merely standing there, Adam open mouthed with and furious with surprise, plus several nearby students shaking their heads with mixed amusement and disgust.

Once he got over his surprise and furious indignation, Adam turned to help Sari, but found her already out and wringing out her hair into a nearby flowerbed. "Are you okay?"

She raised her head and Adam met a pair of deceptively calm green eyes. "I'm fine, Adam-san. Makoto-sempai doesn't mean any harm when he does things like that."

How often does this guy do this then? he wondered.

"Fine," Adam ground out. "Is there anyone I'd report this to?"

"I wouldn't turn him in. He's mostly just a prankster. Really, he's harmless. Nurikia will take care of it. She's on the Student Council as well."

"Don't mention it?" Wondering what other surprises were in store, Adam decided to follow her advice and let the strange incident go. It wouldn't do on his first day to blowing things like a first day of school prank out of proportion; it wouldn't make him any friends. It wasn't exactly fair, but it would make things easier on them both in the long run. Sari obviously was very close to the Student Council here. He didn't want to get her in trouble.

Sari shook her head once more and then patted him twice on the arm. "That is the Planetarium," she said, indicating the building that they had been heading for before their interruption. "Dean Ohtori's office is at the top. You need to get your class schedule from him."

"Okay," Adam said, puzzled. "Nurikia?"

The red-haired girl nodded. "Just head that way. Sari-chan here has classes to get to and so do I. I'll be back after my next class to take you to your living quarters. Unless you were planning on living in town?"

Was that his imagination or did he hear a note of eagerness at the possibility? No, surely not. Nodding at the pair of girls, he watched as Nurikia took Sari by the arm and began leading her away. Time had apparently changed his little dancer greatly. He only wondered if he'd like this new Sari as much as he'd loved the old one.

He could only hope.

Fifteen minutes later found him in front of a woman with hair the most unusual shade of pink he'd ever met. Assuming that she was the Dean's secretary, he offered her his papers.

"Take a seat," she said in a low voice, indicating a chair by the window. Adam nodded and settled down into the overstuffed lounge. It would probably be a few minutes, so he looked out onto the lawn. The view from this height was amazing. There was something familiar and comforting about the usual ebb and flow of students across the lawn. It never changed, no matter what the country, no matter where the school. Students were pretty much alike everywhere, uniformed or not. A bell had just rung, so many of the students were still gathering their things and heading toward the building. Those that were arriving a little later were hurrying across the lawn with bags bouncing.

Adam yawned and closed his eyes. It had been a very long trip. Surely it wouldn't take Dean Ohtori very long to get to him.

Softly, unintentionally, he dozed.

There was a movement in the seat beside him and Adam opened one eye. What was Sari doing here? His childhood friend was suddenly sitting next to him in the waiting room. It was her, but it wasn't her… it couldn't be. For starters, she would have had to run to arrive so quickly, and secondly, Sari would NEVER wear that skimpy a dress. Where was her school uniform? Adam felt his heart jump into her throat and he gasped in surprise. Adam's mind went right on reeling from the shock of her sudden presence.

She looked exactly the same as she did in his stranger dreams- exotic and wild and so unbelievably beautiful. Her head dipped down and for one breathless moment Adam thought Sari was going to kiss him in the office, in front of everyone.

Then she did.

Cool lips that tasted like the strawberries and honey Juri used to nibble on hot July nights brushed feather light kisses across his own and Adam felt a moan building in the back of his throat.

This was¼ special.

He leaned back and her eyes met his, Adam felt his heart rev into overdrive just as-

"Sir? Dean Ohtori will see you now."

Adam flushed a bright pink and his head snapped away from the window to guiltily look at the pink-haired woman leaning over him. Just a daydream. An amazingly, fantastically realistic one, but just a daydream nevertheless. He thought she saw a hint of a smile on the woman's face as she pointed to the heavy oak door behind her desk. Her blunt nails tapped a staccato against the surface of his chair. "You'd best hurry."

Jumping up as if coals were under him instead of the plush velvet of the seat, Adam nodded and grabbed his bag, rushing into the office as gracefully as he could manage. He absently hoped the secretary hadn't heard him moaning or doing anything embarrassing like that while he was caught in her daydream. That would just be much too much.

A man with a surprisingly young face looked up benignly as he dashed in, and gestured to the open door with a slender hand. "Utena? Could you please close the door for me?"

The woman nodded and the door closed with a small snick as Adam eased into the seat across from his desk. His bag thumped to the floor as he tried to set it down lightly. He winced at the sound, then straightened up and watched the Dean warily. Here's where he would either be accepted or not. He was the one who'd either agree to the schedule he'd requested or put him in a bunch of pointless classes he didn't need. He desperately hoped it was the former.

Akio Ohtori stroked his chin and leaned back in his leather chair while Adam fidgeted. "Well now. Adam?"

"Yes, sir?"

He coughed a bit and looked Adam over from head to toe with a sort of fatherly attention. "Now, let's see here." A moment later he was buried in the paperwork, ignoring Adam with the same sort of fatherly inattention.

Seeing he would be occupied a few minutes, Adam took the time to look around his office. The walls were sporadically covered in awards and dusty looking Grecian paintings. The mahogany desk shone in the faint rays of sunlight that found their way through the floor-to-ceiling curtains, and nestled in the bookcase behind him were various texts of all sizes. Adam squinted a bit, he could just make out a few of the titles: Masters of Education, Roman Mythology and Fact, Science and Sacrifice, Irish Folklore and Common Arthurian Legends.

Quietly hoping that Juri hadn't enrolled wanted him to attend some religious private school, Adam sat up a little straighter. Dean Ohtori coughed and straightened also, still touching his chin. He beamed a kindly smile and waved his hand mildly in the air before handing over papers to Adam. "Your schedule was approved of course. Very heavy course load though, I hope you have good study habits."

He nodded, inwardly sighing relief. "Yes sir."

"We both need to sign these. Just sign wherever you see an X. Now as for your history I can see you have a good school record so far. I don't see any reason to worry that you'll cause a disruption at Ohtori Academy."

There was a pause. Adam wondered if he was supposed to refute the Dean's statement when suddenly the man took his hand. Adam's eyes widened as the dark-skinned fingers curled through his own, testing the strength in his hands, feeling the calluses from his sword practice. The Dean's cheerful, friendly demeanor abruptly dropped. "You know how to fight." It was a statement, not a question. "Good. You'll need this though." A silver-hued ring dropped into his hand with no further explanation. Adam lifted it to eye level and frowned. An intricate symbol twisted on the face of the circlet, but he couldn't quite make it out. "Put it on and don't ask questions," the Dean insisted, shoving Adam's hand away. "She'll kill me if she knows what I've done for you."

Adam shook his head, but slipped the silver signet on his ring finger. It was surprisingly heavy, cold. The metal wasn't silver, but he wasn't sure how he knew that. White gold perhaps? His mind practically itched with curiosity, but something told him to keep quiet.

"You'll have a guide for the first week or so," The Dean paused and looked around the room, "but she appears to be late. Jitsu-san's on the Student Council, so he might be a bit preoccupied, but I'm sure he'll be here any-"

As he spoke the door creaked open a bit and Adam turned to find an absolutely beautiful young boy easing into the room. He blinked, surprised at his reaction, but apparently the rumors of very pretty young boys at this Academy were true. Bright blue locks brushed the boy's shoulders, but they clashed with his green-trimmed uniform. In a way it was a blessing, he didn't want to think how handsome the younger man would be if he coordinated.

Dean Ohtori turned at the sound and stopped signing papers for long enough to smile tightly and gesture the boy forward. "Ah, here he is at last."

The boy smiled softly and ducked his head. "Sorry, I'm late, sir, I was busy in English class."

"Oh that's quite all right. That's your best subject, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

He nodded, not even listening as he continued zipping through the stack of papers on his desk. "Good, good. Adam-san, this is your class escort, Katsuraji Jitsu. He will be accompanying you to and from each class for as long as you need him. Ask him any questions you feel like. He will listen and help the best he can, but please keep in mind he's not University level yet. Now then, I have other business to attend to."

The two boys nodded and silently filed from the room. Once outside the Dean's door, Adam bowed to the boy who stood before him. "Pleasure to meet you. Thank you for your help."

"I aim to please," the younger man said with a smile. "I met Nurikia-san in the hall, by the way. I will lead you to your dorm. This way."

Adam nodded and looked around the hall as they walked. It was as strange and exotic as the outside. There were large sprawling murals that stretched the entire length of every wall in this building. They were a surrealist's nightmare.

Pointing to one, Adam caught Jitsu's attention. "What's up with the paintings? Dean Ohtori like Dahli much?"

The boy glanced over and shrugged. "I'm not sure. I heard the dean was married to an artist once and she painted all those. Not very attractive, are they?"

The bell rang and the classroom doors opened, gushing students on their way to second period. As they walked down the hall Adam watched with not a little envy as Jitsu couldn't go much further than ten feet before being stopped by someone. He would have killed to have that many admirers in school. But, he reasoned, his tutoring had kept him rather secluded his whole life. It had also given him an edge over all these swarming masses. He'd been able to learn from the best.

Jitsu smiled kindly at the people and promised vague things to each and every one of them. But he was never rude or unkind, just distant. The bell rang and the horde scattered quickly to second period, leaving the two of them in the hall with a random few stragglers.

Jitsu directed them down a new hallway and in the empty silence his heavy bag shifted loudly with every step. "Well, this is the science wing. We used to have another building for the sciences, but after there was a fire many years ago we just have this wing."

Adam nodded, realizing that he had no idea how they'd gotten here from the front office. "I can see I'm going to be lost quickly in this place."

They turned down another hallway and Adam realized with a sort of sick horror that at the end of the hallway relaxed the wild boy from the fountain. The slanted sunlight from the high windows did him a dark justice, making his wild appearance even more uncanny and elfin. Lounging near him was a triad of who Adam assumed were his friends, all had the same dyed hair and skateboards. They all radiated a happy sort of menace that raised the fine hairs on his arms and the back of his neck with out a problem.

"Who is he?" Adam whispered past his dry throat, indicating Makoto.

Before Jitsu could answer, the boy noticed them and whispered to his companions. He watched with bright interest as three of them broke from the group, rose, and sauntered down the hall, stopping in front of them.

The lead boy came closer, only about two feet separated he and Adam. He studied the pair of them with a sort of angry indifference- Adam was silently appalled at how beautiful the boy was. Did good looks get assigned with class schedules around this place? Adam raised his chin and defiantly met the leader's sardonic gaze, noting his hair was dyed a vibrant grape kool-aid and his bangs spiked down over eyes of intense too blue to be anything but contacts. He winked once, and then turned his attention to Adam's guide.

"How you been, Jitsu-san? Kendo's been kinda lonely without your¼ enlightening presence." The last was said with a sarcastic smile.

Jitsu met his grin with a sharp one of her own and Adam was surprised to see Jitsu reach up and stroke the boy's cheek, raking surprisingly long nails over the guy's lips. "Why Tatchi, you almost have me believing you all miss me over there. If you wanted to see me, why didn't you give me a page?"

The boy's smile warmed and he laughed. "Would you have answered? You're too busy with Student Council these days, Jitsu-san."

He tilted her head in ascent, and then shrugged. "Ah, well. Tatchi-san, this is Nurikia's project she was talking about. He's new."

Adam stiffened at being referred to as 'Nurikia's project' but he let it slide. The two others smiled, but said nothing. Tatchi, on the other hand, did not smile, but he did reach forward and enclosed Adam's hand in his own. Adam felt a strange shiver in his stomach, as if he was being touched with a very slight electrical current, but contrary to his expectations, it wasn't an unpleasant sensation. What bothered him most was the wild look in Tatchi's eyes. He wasn't sure if the boy was going to shake his hand or bite it instead.

"It's a pleasure, Mr. Adam," he murmured in perfect English, as he firmly shook Adam's hand. He felt a moment of stunned shock as the tough boy stepped back with the same sardonic smile playing on his lips. "But we have to return. It's been sweet, Jitsu-san. Stop by the shop if you get a bit of spare time. I still owe you an ass-kicking."

Jitsu nodded slowly but as he and Adam turned away Adam noted a faint angry blush across the boy's high cheekbones. He waited a moment, and as they turned the corner, he ventured to speak. "So who was that guy at the end of the hallway? I¼ um¼ noticed him this morning."

Jitsu's expression softened. "Harikino Makoto is his name. He's the newly elected Vice-President of the Student Council."

"Student Council like you, huh? Seems everyone I meet today is part of this group. He's a little wild for politics, isn't he?"

Jitsu shrugged, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "He's actually been mellowing out lately. It used to be much worse. At best though he's just the drunken frat-boy sort. Not really harmful, just wild and well-meaning."

Adam laughed. "No kidding. Is everyone here as strange as that group?"

Jitsu smiled secretly. "That is for you to decide."

They continued the tour in relative quiet.

That night Adam found he couldn't sleep. He twisted the strange ring the Dean gave him on his finger over and over again but still couldn't figure a reason for the odd gift. Eventually he slipped it back on his hand and forgot about it as best he could. He tossed and turned for the better part of an hour before giving up and getting dressed once more. As he made his way down the hallway he tried not to shudder. Despite his feeble attempts at cleaning, the floor was still littered with nasty looking debris. Maybe he'd be able to talk Dean Ohtori into springing for a cleaning crew or something considering the circumstances.

Though he'd had a perfectly good room already chosen for him previous to leaving Tokyo, upon his arrival Adam discovered that his room had accidentally been given to another student. Adam had hurried back to Dean Ohtori's office, but the best the pink-haired secretarial-like woman behind the Dean's desk could offer was not quite what he'd hoped. To make up for the error, he'd been offered lodging in a completely deserted dorm on the edge of campus. He'd expected to be rooming with other University students, but instead found himself in a rather spooky and very dilapidated dorm not too far from the supposedly 'haunted' old science building. A thick forest of trees bordered the back of the building. Tonight there was a high wind and the tapping and screeching of tree branches on panes of glass were getting on his nerves, thus his inability to sleep.

Shrugging into a light jacket near the front door, Adam grabbed his backpack and stuffed a few books and cd's into it as well as his sketchpad. He didn't think he'd find anything too interesting to draw at this time of night, but it didn't hurt to try. Beside, if he was lucky perhaps he'd be able to find Sari. He wanted to get to know this new version of his old friend…

As he stepped outside he saw a pair of shadows dart past the side of the building toward the forest. A boy and a girl by the looks of things. Adam frowned. They looked way too young to be out this late- barely into the Middle school as a matter of fact. Shrugging, he followed them. If it were a tryst of sorts, he'd be on his merry way, but he just wanted to make sure they weren't going to do anything nasty to school property. Yes, this wasn't New York, but old habits die hard.

He peered around the building and nearly jumped in surprise. There was a gate back there! Not only that but there appeared to be some sort of fountain similar to the one in front of the tower butted up against the door. The boy and girl weren't trysting at all, he realized. They seemed to be trying to fish something out of the pool of water.

"Hurry, up!" whispered the girl, the tip of her ebony braid just barely missing a dip in the water. "We have to find it, quick!"

The boy gnashed his teeth. Adam sympathized. She was making whatever he was doing sound much easier than it looked. He was concentrating on his one-armed act, watching the water ripple out from around his hands, feeling the sharp rocky bottom of the bowl and put all his effort into feeling for that minute difference in texture. "Shut up, Yui! There's a catch or a spring or something down here. I just need to find it! If we can open this damn thing without a ring we can PROVE what we saw."

There was a soft gasp from behind the boy, and he yanked his hands from the water with an angry hiss. "Yui," he snapped, "if you can't be quiet, then watch for one of their spies, okay? This is important!"

It was only a moment later that the boy realized that there were four shadows blocking the dim light from the stained glass window, not just Yui's slight one. "But Vishnu," purred a voice, "we wanted to see history being made too." Vishnu tensed his body; he could only see four shadows, but there probably were more.

Adam, from the shadows, tensed as well. Taking one deep breath to calm his body, he slowly stood up. His heart pounded in a horrified staccato in his chest. They were caught; there was no escape now, but should he step in? The people who caught them sure seemed to have uniforms on. Maybe they were campus police?

As if hearing his thoughts, there was a smug chuckle, and a soft whimper of fear. It was that small, terrified sound that seemed to decide Vishnu's next move. He turned in a slow controlled motion; as he did so he scooped up a loose handful of rocky soil. Only Adam noticed this.

Three-

Two-

One-

Vishnu's hand arced outward, the spray of soil intended for the chuckler's eyes, but he'd horribly miscalculated, it was too far back. Though there was no yelp of surprise as dirt met vulnerable flesh, a rock included in the handful DID make contact, smashing into the chuckler's nose with a gratifying crunch.

The uniformed boy yelled something in anger, and Vishnu surged forward, kicking at a blond boy to his left, and then moving in a quick darting motion forward to tackle the chuckler around the waist. Adam recognized him now. The chuckler was that guy from earlier…Tatchi of the Kendo Club. Startled, Adam started to step forward to stop this weirdness when Vishnu dropped down and charged.

His shoulder rammed into the chuckler's stomach, and he used the final bit of latent power he had in his legs to push the creepy guy up and over his head, flipping him into the pool with an impressive splash. There was an odd thud-crack in the darkness; Adam guessed the boy had hit his arm on the side of the basin; it sounded like the arm was broken. It might be if the painful gasp that followed was any indicator.

"ENOUGH!"

The scuffle stopped as if by magic. Vishnu seemed annoyed to discover he was the only one breathing heavily- the group of cohorts around him were as statues, unmoving and almost perfectly still.

Adam fell back a step. Who had spoken and how come he didn't sense their approach?

A moment later he found out. Sari appeared as if by elfin magic beside the crying girl. She moved as if to kneel beside her and offer comfort but a hand on her shoulder stopped her motion. A slim young man stepped forward into the dim light and waved her aside. His skin was darker, almost the caramel of Sari's own hue, and his hair was a chocolate brown. Sari stepped aside and glanced only once at Adam. He felt sick as he watched as the young man took in the scene and carefully regarded each of the younger men, including the young girl sobbing on the ground beside the basin. "Who started this?"

Sari said nothing.

"Tama-sempai," Tatchi began, but was cut off abruptly as the stranger waved a hand. "Why don't YOU tell me?"

Adam was slightly surprised to realize that 'Tama-sempai' was looking in his direction. Apparently he wasn't as hidden as he'd first believed. Stepping forward, he looked the uppity asshole up and down slowly before crossing his arms over his chest. He was sick and tired of every damn person on this campus ordering him around. It had been going on all day long and he wasn't going to stand for the attitude any more. "Why should I?"

Those icy eyes darkened. "I know you. You're that new University student Nurikia-san was speaking of, aren't you?"

Blowing a disgusted sigh through his teeth, Adam nodded. "You got it. Though I'm wondering why Nurikia-san feels the need to tell every living soul on the face of the Earth about me today."

The younger man shrugged. "Our Secretary likes to be…thorough… in her descriptions. This is fortuitous. I wished for a chance to meet you and I suppose fate supplied, huh?" He turned his head and spoke in a language Adam didn't recognize to Tatchi-san.

Tatchi nodded and grabbed Vishnu by the arm. "We're going to the Student Council office," he almost snarled. "Trespassing on private school property is a crime."

Adam wanted to protest, but something in Sari's gaze told him to keep quiet. Vishnu, however, had no such compunctions. "Don't let them take me!" he begged to Adam as he was dragged away. His gaze caught on Adam's hand where a bit of pale light reflected. "Please! You wear their ring, make them let me go!"

Sari and the slim boy stiffened at his words. Adam was also surprised. What did that weird ring have to do with anything? He didn't have time to find out. A hand roughly shot out as if from nowhere and shoved him against the wall.

"Where did you get that?" Adam gasped as a knife pressed cruelly into his neck. He thought about struggling but the knife was just a little close for comfort. Frantically he tried to remember Kozue's lessons. The slim boy snarled in his face. Everything had gone still…

Except for Sari.

His childhood friend was glowing with an unearthly light.

Adam looked past the boy in his face and licked his lips. Sari's school uniform had faded to nothing, giving everyone present a clear and uninhibited view of her slim yet endowed form before the strangest thing began to occur. From thin air a dress wove itself about her body.

Blue, Adam thought. Blue and gray and white. Her dress was the color of a stormy seascape. Blue and gray and white. She said nothing, merely looked at him, but her right hand moved in front of her chest and cupped. For one brief moment he thought she was fondling herself, but then realized that Sari was actually PULLING something from her chest. A long silver something.

A sword.

"Give it to me," Tama snarled in his face. "Give me the sword, my Bride."

She did so, without the slightest bit of compunction.

Adam was stunned by all that was occurring. He held still as Tama drew backwards, the knife now at his feet, the glistening, pulsing sword in Tama's hand. He was about to be skewered, but all that went through his head was Tama's last two statements. Sari… had married this man?

"Adam," Sari said from behind Tama. "Adam, protect yourself."

It was as if her calm, cool voice woke something deep within him. Adam blinked and as the sword swung down through the area his head had only moments before been occupying, he grabbed the knife on the ground and stabbed upward.

In all the sparring he'd done before, Adam had never drawn blood.

But that small stream of blood that slipped easily over the hilt and watered the earth below… that drew his horrified attention. A soft grunt.

A thud.

Tama stumbled back, and his knife went with him, embedded as it was in the fleshy part of his thigh. Somewhere above them bells clanged horribly.

"Sari," Tama gasped. "Sari-chan, help me."

Adam looked over at the girl and was startled to realize her clothing was once more the simple Ohtori girl's uniform. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Tama-sempai," she said calmly, "but I can not without Adam-sama's permission."

Adam choked. ADAM-SAMA?! What the hell?

Tama cursed and stumbled off. Tatchi fell as he pushed roughly past the younger boy. Sari blinked, as if noticing them for the first time, and sighed. "Adam-sama," she murmured, walking up to him and helping him to his feet, "close your eyes."

He obliged, now certain this was a horrible, horrible dream. A light flashed against his closed lids and he heard Sari's voice once more, quiet and calm. "Now forget. Go home and this will be a crazy dream."

Footsteps faded.

"Let's get you home, Adam-sama," she murmured, wrapping one slender and surprisingly strong arm around his waist. "I can see there's much you have to learn."