Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Tears Of Love ❯ Encounters ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four: Encounters

"I love you, Jury." Shiori's soft voice whispers into my ear. I hold her tight, feeling her warm presence pressed up against mine. My heart fills with nothing but pure happiness and I feel the warmth ungulf me. Suddenly, Shiori is ripped away from my grasp. I reach for her with all my might but she is just out of my reach and vanishes. "Shiori!" I yell in desperation as coldness fills me where once there was warmth. I feel completely alone again…

I awake with a start. Feeling small beads of sweat on my forehead, I wipe them away and softly say to myself, "Just a dream…" As I get out of bed, I notice that Anthy is mysteriously gone from her side of the bed. I walk over to my curtains and slightly open them, letting the rays of the rising sun enter into my room. I then proceed to my bathroom and turn on the facet at the sink. Cupping my hands, I take a handful of luke warm water, splash my face, and then reach for a towel to wipe it dry. "Just a dream…" I repeat aloud to myself.

After finishing getting ready, I head over to the academy. I am surprised to find Anthy waiting for me by the front gate. "Good morning, Ms. Jury," she says in her usual happy tone, smiling. I smile back at her, "Good morning to you too. Speaking of which, what happened this morning? You just vanished." Continuing to smile, she replies, "I'm sorry, I had some early morning errands to take care of. Well, I have to be going to class now, I'll see you at lunch, bye!" She walks off towards her class and I leave for mine. That Anthy sure is a strange girl, I think as I get walk to my first class.

During lunch, I sit down with Miki and am slightly surprised to see Anthy already at our table, "Good afternoon, how are you both doing?" Both Miki and Anthy smile and reply at the same time, "Pretty good, and you Ms. Jury?" Their combining words forces me to giggle just a little, something I rarely do. I smile at them and think about my reply. How am I doing? I look at them both, my smile remaining, and reply, "Fine. I'm doing fine." Anthy smiles back at me, "That's very good, Ms. Jury." I blush a little when she calls me Ms. Jury. I've heard her say it to Utena all the time, and this isn't even the first time she has said it to me, but for some reason this time feels different. And for once, I find myself thinking not about Shiori, but about my friends, and it makes me feel at peace.

"I'm going to go get something to drink," Anthy says in her normal, sweet voice, smiling. She then stands up from the table and proceeds to turn around. "Look out!" I hear someone yell in a desperate voice as a tray of food and drink comes crashes down onto our table. My eyes instinctively close and as I open them, I see Anthy covered in what appears to be water and lying on the floor. I hurry over to her and put my arm around her to help her up, "Are you ok, Anthy?" I see she has damaged her hand on the floor. She opens up her eyes, "Yes, just a little scratch, it'll be fine. Thank you." She smiles at me. I find myself smiling back, "Don't mention it." As I help her up, I turn to see who caused all this and find myself looking at Shiori, standing herself up. "Shiori!" I find myself almost yelling as anger rises up in me, "What was the meaning of this?" She looks up at me, her face with the most innocent look plastered on it, "I-I'm sorry, Jury, I didn't mean to, she just came out of nowhere." I glare at her and she suddenly reminds me more of a guilty little child than the beautiful girl I usually see her as, "Well you should be more careful next time. I want you to apologize to Anthy right now." Her face betrays her feelings of surprise but she does anyway. "Sorry, Anthy," She says, her head shrinking down so as to not look at Anthy's face. Anthy just smiles, "That's ok, Shiori. No harm done." I turn look back to Shiori, "Good, now be more careful next time. Clean this up and go to your class, lunch is almost over." Her face full of shock, she replies, "Me clean it up? How is this my fault?! Why don't you make your "new love" do it, it's her clumsy fault!!" Although I feel my face start to blush, I look at her sternly again, getting very annoyed but not showing it, and say, "Because it is not Anthy's fault, it's yours, now stop acting like a child and clean this up right now!" Shiori glares at me, her eyes filled with anger as I have never seen, but she concedes at last, "Fine." She walks off to get the mop while I return to my seat with my friends.

At the end of the day, Anthy accompanies me back to my dorm. I let her use the shower first as I slip off my shoes and lay down on my bed. I stretch and relax as my gaze drifts not towards the beautiful sunset seeping in through my window, but more towards the bathroom door. As I trace the outlines of the door with my eyes, I notice that Anthy did not shut it all the way when she went in. My curiosity surprisingly spiked, I find myself creeping towards the door, trying to peek in. I open the door just a little, but not enough for it to squeak, and peer inside. Steam pours into my face, but as it clears I see the outline of Anthy through the shower curtain. Starting with her legs, I trace her body curves carefully with my eyes. As my eyes go along her firm looking butt, I feel myself more turned on then ever before. I have never seen Anthy like this before, so strong and yet so fragile at the same time. My eyes finally continue upward, stopping again at her voluptuous, perfectly sized breasts, and then again at her face. Her eyes are closed and she is running the water through her hair. Her face captures my gaze and then suddenly, as if waking up from a dream, I drop back and shut the door slowly. What am I doing? How could I be so rude to Anthy when she has shown me such respect? But has the respect she's shown me only been because she is my Bride? No, it can't be like that, I tell myself. I hear her finishing up her shower and return to the bed. She comes out, fully dressed, and heads toward the door. Before opening it, she turns me and says, "I'm sorry, Ms. Jury, I have to be going out tonight, I have a meeting with a friend." My face hides the somewhat disappointment inside, "Oh, ok, well go ahead then. I'll see you later. Have fun." Anthy simply smiles at me, "Thank you, goodbye!" With that she opens the door and departs, closing it behind her. I start to take off my clothes, even though it's still early, and get ready to turn in for the night when something suddenly hits me. A meeting with a friend, Anthy had said? Since when does she have so many friends as to meet them after school? Maybe I should follow her and see where she is going? I know it wouldn't be right, I think to myself, but I just have to know. I get dressed and head out.

I quickly catch up Anthy, and making sure to stay a fair distance behind her, I follow her down the sidewalk to the park. Staying around the corner, I peak into the park and see her talking to someone in the dark. I can barely make out what they are saying but when I look closer, I can see the person she is talking with stepping into the light. Utena. Now my interest is highly peaked, I knew how close Utena and Anthy were before. As I move a little closer I can barely make out the words, I hear Anthy say, "Don't worry, Ms. Utena, she is treating me find. But she isn't you, my love." I see Utena grin as Anthy moves closer to her and they kiss. My eyes filling with tears, I quietly slip away and run home.