Work Text:
There is a spider in the corner of their dorm room. She was there when Anthy returned from the greenhouse, started on her gentle, fragile little web, and had frozen in her work, upon noticing Anthy’s arrival into the room.
Anthy turns to look at the spider for a moment. It twitches. Anthy turns back to her desk, and starts her own sewing project. After a while, the spider too resumes its busy work, reassured of its own safety and the safety of its work.
Utena had managed to rip a hole in her athletic clothes, one of the occupational hazards of being on the girl’s basketball team, volleyball team and softball team. In theory, Anthy could simply blink and the hole would fix itself, but today, she decides to do the work with her own hands. The best things to fix are the pointless, futile things, after all.
She preps the thread carefully, unwinding the white spool and threading it through the needle. She slides the needle into the cloth and out again. Such a simple, repetitive motion, and yet, if she does it enough times, the hole seals shut. Much like roses, the constant, daily chore produces fruit. Or, rather, produces blooms and thorns. She takes pride in the fact she’s never once pricked her finger on the thorns. They know she’s already been stabbed enough.
Clomping feet echo through the outside hallway, marking Utena’s presence. Few people visit this abandoned building fashioned as their dorm, and of them, only Utena walks like that. So loud and unconcerned with the gazes of others. It’s something to almost be envied, how little Utena cares about her own visibility. Neither attempts to hide herself, nor attempts to make herself grandiose. She simply is. It’s oddly pleasant, how unpretentious she can be.
“Himemiya,” she greets, instantly, as she opens the door, and upon noticing what Anthy is doing, her expression furrows. “You didn’t have to do that!”
“As the Rose Bride, this is part of my duties, Utena-sama.” Anthy replies, the rote, practiced response to the token-protest. She’s used to this. Most duelists are uncomfortable with her service at first. It’s odd though, usually by this stage of the revolution, they’ve come to accept it as normal. Utena, on the other hand, still objects a few times, before giving in. Odd.
“Rose Bride or not, you’re not my servant,” says Utena, her face discomfited. She never hides her expression from everybody. Always blooming, never simply a bud. It’s what Anthy can’t help but like about her, foolish as it is to have any affection for any of the duelists. “Unless you enjoy this?”
“Of course, Utena-sama.” Anthya says, with a smile, and gets back to her work. Utena’s always so concerned about volition and desire and free will. Anthy’s come to realize those things are little more than feelings that can be used to manipulate you. She’s manipulated so many people with it herself. And sure enough, reassured about Anthy’s desires, Utena shuts up about it and throws her schoolbag to the floor.
At her side, Chu Chu has fallen asleep on top of the needle-sharpening tomato. Cute.
“There’s a spider in the corner of the room,” Utena says, thoughtfully, as she sits down across from Anthy, “A new pet?”
“Yes.” Anthy says, though she hadn’t actually decided on that until Utena had said it aloud. “She’s called Nanami.”
“Honestly Himemiya,” complains Utena, “It’s going to get confusing at this rate. You can’t just call all of your pets Nanami.”
“Oh, it’s not confusing at all.” Anthy says, calmly, “Nanami the spider and Nanami the cow will never meet each other, so their senses of identity wouldn’t be affected by it anyway.”
“That’s not what I—” Utena cuts herself off, shakes her head, and rests her chin in her palm, a slightly bemused smile on her face. “You’re so strange, Himemiya.”
But unlike the first couple of days of their acquaintance, there’s no judgment in her voice anymore. Just a fond, warm tone. Anthy could get used to that. Maybe she already has.
-
She turns on the mini TV in the late night. She doesn’t sleep much anymore, because of the pain, and Utena sleeps like a log anyway, so she’s not disturbing her. The telecommercial channel buzzes and hums, its low light barely illuminating the room, as the commercial man pushes through his late-night programming. Anthy finds it fascinating. The absurdly loud background music, the way his voice jumps from pitch to pitch with every new syllable, the strained wide smile on his face that he’s not allowed to let drop. It’s a fascinating performance, haunting in its differences.
“Okay Steve,” he says, turning to the puppet who he co-hosts the show with, “The next thing I want to introduce to you is this new luxury product from Audrey Hepburn! The new spider-silk dress is all the craze! Lightweight, comfortable and stylish, you’ll never want to leave home wearing anything else!”
It’s pretty, Anthy thinks idly. A little impractical, she thinks, considering it would stick to everything, and would simply dissolve anywhere near water, but pretty nonetheless. A sort of ephemeral, shiny beauty.
“What do you think, Chu-Chu?” she asks, pitching her voice low to Chu-Chu, who’s currently jumped inside her packet of chips and is trying to inhale as many potato chips as he can in one breath.
“Chu....”
“You’re right,” Anthy concedes, “Not for me.” She’s not fond of clothes that melt.
Utena turns over, in the top bunk, and mumbles something incoherent. Anthy glances up briefly. She’s still asleep. Nonetheless, Anthy turns the volume down a bit.
In the corner, Nanami keeps spinning her web.
-
That morning, there’s a letter waiting for Utena, crisp and clean, laid out across the breakfast table.
Utena lets out a world-weary sigh as they sit down to eat, and she pries it open. “Usually, the other duelists put the challenges in my school locker. Don’t tell me this is Touga-senpai’s way of asking me out agai—”
Her voice cuts off as she slides a large, glossy invitation to a beauty pageant, in bold, sweeping cursive. The letter itself smells like rose perfume, heavy and artificial. Anthy wrinkles her nose slightly at the scent.
“Beauty Pageant, held next week. Contestants will go through three rounds, with three different costumes and three different challenges. Hosted by Audrey Hepburn—isn’t that the famous actress?” asks Utena thoughtfully, as she reads the flyer, “Well. That sounds boring. Unless you want to go, Himemiya?”
Anthy shakes her head. “No thank you.” she says, easily. For once, she isn’t even lying.
“Yeah, doesn’t sound like our scene. Oh well.” Utena crumples up the flyer and tosses it over her shoulder, before noticing with dismay, that while she had been reading, Chu Chu has eaten every single one of the glazed donuts. “Oh, come on, Chu Chu!” she complains, and Anthy can’t help but suppress a smile.
“Juice?” she asks, instead, and lets the day unfold ahead of them. Even if the pageant doesn’t appeal to either of them, it seems like the sort of web that plenty of other flies would be far more interested in.
-
It’s been raining a lot at Ohtori Academy lately, which is unusual for the perennially sunny climate. The students grumble to themselves during the lunch breaks, where everybody is forced to fight for space in the small section of the cafeteria that actually has a roof, or simply admit defeat or go and eat in the classrooms, under the watchful eyes of the teachers. Akio doesn’t care though, as long as the rain clears up by night-time, so he can see his precious stars.
Anthy doesn’t mind the rain, herself. The smell of the rain in the air is like nothing else, and she can always stay dry within her greenhouse. Besides, Chu Chu loves jumping in the puddles, and he looks adorable in his little yellow rainboots.
Utena is more restless, clearly annoyed by how most of her sporting events have been rained out. She and Miki are the ones taking refuge in the greenhouse with her today. Miki keeps shooting Anthy these looks, which means he wants her to join the conversation too.
Anthy keeps watering the roses.
“I forgot how quickly Nanami latches onto things,” Miki says, with a slight sigh of exasperation, “All I did was mention that spider venom lotion is supposed to make you look younger, and now she has a whole spider farm.”
“Seriously?” asks Utena, blinking as she stretches out her calves, “Isn’t that a bit much?”
“Oh, of course. But that’s just how Nanami is, I suppose.” Miki shrugs, “The annoying part is how...determined she is to apply the spider venom at all times. Juri-senpai’s allergic to it, and it’s making student council meetings really awkward.”
Utena rolls out her neck in one fluid motion. “That’s rough. The only person she ever listens to is Touga-senpai, right? Couldn’t you get him to intervene?”
Anthy starts to spray weed killer over the leaves of the roses.
“He says it’s an issue between women, and I ought to stay out of it.” Miki’s expression is complicated, “But you know. I also saw him chatting with his new girlfriends about the importance of properly taking care of your skin, so it’s pretty obvious where he stands there.”
Utena hums, sympathetically, though she doesn’t exactly sound surprised when she says, “That’s too bad. Hopefully she’ll get over this fad soon. She’s going for the beauty pageant thing, right?
Miki nods, “Yeah, and so is Juri-senpai. It’s why she’s so mad, she thinks Nanami’s trying to properly sabotage her. I don’t think Nanami would do something like that on purpose—”
Anthy almost knocks over a watering can, catches it in time, but it clatters loudly, startling both Miki and Utena. “Sorry!” she calls out, and they resume their talk.
“—but she is being awfully inconsiderate.”
“Well, I’ve never understood this whole skincare thing,” Utena says, with a shrug, “And beauty pageants even less. Is it really that big a deal?”
“Of course it is, Tenjou-senpai!” he says, quite seriously, “I don’t do much skincare myself, of course, but even a little bit of work now saves your skin later! I have a ten-step routine I do every day before bed, I can share it with you, if you’d like?”
Utena tilts her head to the side. “Uhhh—thanks Miki, but I’m good.”
“Investment in your skin is important! I’m not saying it’s not,” Miki says, as the school bell rings, “I just think Nanami ought to be mindful of Juri-senpai’s allergy and do her skincare routine elsewhere.”
Utena turns back to Anthy and rolls her eyes, discreetly. “Coming to class, Himemiya?” she asks.
“Yes, Utena-sama.” Anthy says, and lays down the shears. She’ll come back to it.
-
There’s a raffle stall in the middle of the main hall. Anthy would ask Utena if she wants to join in, but they’re late for class anyway, and Utena doesn’t seem especially interested in it, despite the large signs affixed with roses right next to it.
Anthy drops in a ticket for Chu Chu, though. He does love raffles.
-
Akio’s love for mythology and stories is reflected in the Ohtori curriculum. Today, they’re reading through Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Anthy’s never been much of one for these sorts of stories, they bore her. Nonetheless, when Utena gets called on to read, as the teacher notices Utena almost falling asleep, Anthy can’t help but pay attention.
“In her hubris, Arachne challenged Pallas Athena to a weaving competition, determined to prove her own glory. Where Pallas Athena lavishly depicted the feats of the Gods, her founding of Athens, the Gods in their thrones atop Olympus, and the foolish mortals who turned in animals, upon defying the greatness of the Gods; Arachne’s tapestry challenged their might and glory, by depicting their indiscretions with mortal women and the ways they abused their grand powers. Neither Pallas Athena nor Envy could deny that Arachne’s tapestry was more beautiful, more realistic, more powerful. But in punishment for her hubris and her unwillingness to praise the Gods for their contribution to her prodigious skills, Athena ripped asunder the tapestry and beat Arachne mercilessly, until Arachne, in her desperation, attempted to hang herself with a noose, to escape the torment. In pity, Pallas Athena let her live, but instead cursed her to live the rest of her life as a spider, where she must tirelessly spin for the rest of her life, humbly and quietly.”
Utena finishes the reading, and sits down hastily, having stumbled over several of the words. Nonetheless, there’s an honest, naive cadence to her voice that makes her easy to listen to.
“Good,” says the teacher, “Don’t slack off again, Tenjou.”
“Yes ma’am.” Utena says, but she doesn’t look especially repentant.
Anthy finishes the doodle of the spider she’d been casually etching in the side of her notebook. Chu Chu has been helping her, mostly by trying to eat the nib of her pen. Somehow now, the webs around the little spider look altogether too much like swords, pointing at their target.
“Too bad.” Anthy murmurs, quietly to herself, and rips out the page from her notebook and scrunches it up into a little ball. Chu Chu immediately eats it, which really, is the best contribution to her artwork he’s made all morning.
-
As they leave class, Utena is almost killed by Wakaba sprinting down the hall, launching herself at Utena when Utena was right next to a balcony, and clinging to her like a limpet, shaking mercilessly. Utena struggles futilely to both stay upright and shake Wakaba off, but the first attempt stymies the other, and it isn’t until Utena throws them both to the ground that Wakaba finally lets go.
Anthy watches, with a placid, calm look.
“Utena-sama~!” Wakaba sings, merrily, as they jump up to their feet, “I didn’t see you at break time today!”
“We were taking shelter from the rain in Himemiya’s greenhouse, that’s all.” Utena says, massaging her neck out, “Oh, Wakaba! You’re all...shiny today. Did you do something new?”
“Haven’t you heard?” Wakaba asks, her eyes bright and wide as she wrenches her bag open and pulls out a large, brightly-coloured magazine, “Everybody who cares about looking youthful and bright is wearing this new skincare brand!” She opens the page and brandishes the two-page spread advert of a woman and man lounging over a sofa, as much skin revealed as possible to the glossy camera. Anthy looks at the long tresses of the man, and turns away to look outside the window instead. “It’s called Anansi, it’s from Ghana, and it works so well with my concealer!”
“Spider venom—hey, isn’t that what Nanami’s been wearing lately?” asks Utena, looking up, a little surprised, “Miki said it was mad expensive.”
Wakaba nods, “I know, I know, but I won it in the raffle! I entered like thirty tickets and got it. Don’t I look just like a princess?”
Utena smiles, a fond expression spreading over her face. “Yeah, you look great, Wakaba. But then again, you always do.”
Wakaba squeals loudly, and hugs Utena again. “My handsome prince~!” she yells, excitedly, “You know, we could share! It’s important to take care of your skin and stay youthful.”
“Nah, I’m good,” Utena says, shaking her head, “I don’t like stuff on my skin, it makes me feel all tight. Though, I was meaning to ask. Are you going to try for the beauty pageant thing?”
Wakaba’s face slowly turns pinker and pinker until she’s bright red and vibrating with barely suppressed glee. “Utena-sama!!!” she squeals, happily, “You’re so kind and sweet, do you really think I could enter? I don’t know if I look nice enough—and who knows if I’d even win—but I have always wanted to meet Audrey Hepburn and she’s supposed to be the main judge—”
“I think you look great,” Utena says, firmly, a strange fervour to her eyes. Perhaps she’s still remembering Wakaba screaming across the top of the duelling arena, how much she wants to be special, to be recognized, to be known... “And I think you’re just as pretty as anybody else entering, so you don’t have to worry there.”
“Are you going to enter, Utena?” asks Wakaba, curiously, calming down a little, though her face is still bright red.
“We got an invite this morning but...” Utena turns to look at Anthy, and her mouth is slightly open, an almost gentle expression on her face, “Himemiya doesn’t like crowds very much. And I hate wearing dresses, so. We’re not participating. But if you’re competing, we’ll definitely come and watch.”
Wakaba smiles, triumphantly. “If Utena-sama cheers me on, I’ll definitely win.” she says, firmly, “I’m going to do it!”
With that, they hook arms together and Wakaba skips off towards the cafeteria, chattering incessantly about her plans for what she’s going to wear.
Anthy follows them both, trailing slightly behind. Chu Chu’s hooked his tail around her neck and he breathes out a slightly uneasy, “Chu...”
“Mmm.” Anthy agrees, feeling slightly wary. Utena doesn’t like it when Wakaba gets hurt. And she has the feeling that this is the kind of contest that nobody wins.
-
It’s still raining when school ends, so somehow, they find themselves inside the fencing gym, if only to have some shelter. The fencing team are running drills and the fangirls are screaming as per usual at the chance to get a glimpse at Juri and Miki, and all in all, everything is normal. Except for the fact that Juri has yet to take off her fencing helmet even once, all session. Every fangirl has a different theory for why.
Utena exchanges a worried glance with Anthy, and lopes her way down to the sidelines, when Juri stops to take a break. Unlike usual, she doesn’t take off her helmet to drink water, just drapes a towel over her shoulders and hunches over on the bench.
Anthy suppresses a smile. People always think that because Juri has such an interest in sports, that she’d be a true tomboy, unconcerned with her appearance. But she’s always been vainer than most people think.
“Nanami’s still wearing her new makeup around you, huh, Juri-senpai?” asks Utena, sympathetically.
Juri turns her helmeted head away, which says nothing and everything. “It’s childish, is what it is.” says Juri, her voice clipped and slightly hoarse, “But Nanami’s never liked fights she might lose.”
“Do you have one of those allergy pen things? Might that help?”
“I have a few in my bag,” Juri says, with a sigh, “Even so, I’m still struggling to breathe. Not that it’s all Nanami’s fault either. With this raffle giving away free samples of it, half the school’s using the spider venom cream too.”
Utena pulls a face. “If she stops using it, I know everybody else probably would. She’s a trendsetter, after all. Do you want me to go and talk to her?”
Juri sniffs, and pulls the towel off her shoulders. “Do what you wish, Tenjou. But I doubt you’ll have any success. When she’s decided to hurt somebody, she’ll dig her stinger in. She’s stubbornly poisonous like that.”
-
“No.” Nanami scoffs, from her dressing table, as she applies the lotion across her cheeks, liberally. Unlike Wakaba’s slightly dewey skin, Nanami’s skin looks wet, almost pruney.
“Be reasonable, Nanami,” Utena says, her voice taking on that exasperated tone she always seems to get when dealing with the other girl, “Juri-senpai can’t even breathe. If you stop using this, everybody will, and she won’t be in pain anymore.”
Nanami cackles, high-pitched and amused. “What, did she try to sell you that line as well? Don't be so naive, Tenjou. She just wants to win at the beauty pageant. She's trying to sabotage me and my assured victory!”
Utena rolls her eyes. “If it's so assured, it’s not like you need the lotion anyway. What, not confident enough in your own skill?”
Nanami ignores Utena, and squirts out another pump of cream into her hand. She rubs it into her face, slowly and with relish. “Look at me, Tenjou. I am in the prime of my youth. I am vigorous, beautiful, and perfect, and Audrey Hepburn will recognize that and take me to Paris with her!! If Arisugawa-senpai is so concerned, she ought to just wait in her dorm room for the rest of the week, until my triumphant ascent!”
Utena sighs. “What do you even need this lotion for, huh? It’s supposed to make you youthful, but you’re almost certainly the youngest participant in the beauty pageant, anyway. Why do you need to hurt people to look younger?”
Nanami snaps her fingers. Suzuki, Yamada and Honda pop into the room. They stand next to her, pushing their glasses up their face in one quick motion. Then, they step behind Nanami in a straight line and fan their arms out like a spider. There are only six arms, however, so the effect is somewhat ruined. One of them extends out a strangely delicate, thready towel towards Nanami’s face as she continues speaking. “Not that you would know, you dyke, but women are supposed to look young, youthful, and fresh. I intend to be perfect. With the help of this lotion, I will never grow old!”
Anthy’s used to this kind of speech. Perfection at the expense of others. She thinks she notices the exact moment that Utena gives up on trying to convince Nanami. Maybe it’s the way her eyes glaze over and her shoulders slump.
Nanami points her finger directly at them both. “Now get out of here, before you make me develop wrinkles from frowning!”
And with that, Suzuki, Honda and Yamada twirl around loudly, and push them out of the door, into the gardens outside, with a firm slam of the gallery doors.
Utena’s face wrinkles into an annoyed frown. “Honestly....it’s like talking to a brick wall,” she mutters to herself.
-
Their walk back to their dorms is quiet, quieter than usual without the rain. Usually, even when Utena doesn’t have anything to say, she’s loud in other ways. She’ll hum, she’ll stretch, or she’ll accidentally bump against Anthy’s side because she’s walking in an odd rhythm and she likes the sound it makes across the tiles. Tonight, however, she walks entirely normally, a pensive expression on her face, not even noticing Chu Chu slowly climbing his way up her shoulder.
“Never grow old, huh?” asks Utena, finally, as they reach the doors to the large abandoned dorm she’d manifested into a beautiful mansion, for the sake of the game.
“Is something the matter, Utena-sama?” asks Anthy, on cue. The duelists like to talk at her, often. Usually about some contradictory desire or their secret longings, and it’s her role to listen.
Utena doesn’t monologue very much. Akio had laughed, somewhat dismissively, and told her that was because there wasn’t much going on up there. But Anthy had known this time would eventually come. It always did.
“Nothing,” Utena says, with the shake of head, “I just don’t think I ever wanted that, you know? I always wanted to grow up fast, so I could go to boarding school.”
Anthy tilts her head to the side, somewhat curious, despite herself. Even when she is a cliche, Utena’s still interesting.
“Didn’t like your parents?” she asks, softly, despite herself. She usually tries not to actually engage, to be nothing more than a sounding board for the duelists, a mirror of their desires. But. Sometimes.
“Kinda,” Utena says, a strange, rueful smile, “My aunt tried her best, you know? But she wanted to make things normal for me, and I never wanted to go back to normal. I just wanted....a new start.”
Anthy thinks about the school records. Tenjou Utena. 16. Female. No family, except for her aunt in the big city. A funeral in the rain and a coffin. Bunches of red roses, their sickening smell filling the whole church. The accusing stares of a million people.
“I know.” Anthy says, quietly.
Utena meets her gaze, and there’s a sympathetic tint to her face. “What about your parents? I know about your brother, of course...”
Anthy wonders how many years ago her parents had died. So long ago that she’s completely forgotten anything about them. A name. A role they were supposed to embody. The memory that she ought to be missing something. “They’re gone,” she says, pleasantly, and when Utena’s face predictably crumples with sympathy, she shakes her head, “Don’t worry. It was a long time ago.”
“Still.” Utena says, twirling the ring between her fingers, “I’m sorry.”
Anthy opens the door into their dorm room, and doesn't acknowledge it. "Tea, Utena-sama?" she asks, politely. In the corner, Nanami's domain has expanded, enveloping one corner of their shared wardrobe in thin, silvery-spun webs.
-
It’s still raining, and although Anthy would have liked to prune some more roses in the greenhouse, Wakaba is currently panicking about her entry in the beauty pageant, and so they spend their break time in the home economics room instead. After the curry incident, the teachers have not allowed Anthy to touch any of the stoves, so she’s sitting at the table, holding her tea spoon over Chu Chu’s head, teasing him, as Wakaba frets and Utena comforts her.
“Come on, you’re overthinking this, Wakaba. Your special skill is your homemade cooking, and the judges will like it!” Utena says, shaking her head, “Your food is always delicious.”
“But it’s so homely!” Wakaba wails, gesticulating wildly with her piping bag, “What if Audrey Hepburn thinks I’m just.....just some nobody?”
“Then she’s an idiot who doesn’t recognize good food when she sees it,” Utena says, firmly, pointing at the delicious smelling cupcakes, “Right Himemiya?”
“Of course, Utena-sama.” she replies, on cue, as Chu Chu immediately starts to make a beeline for the cupcakes. She almost doesn’t stop him, then, thinks better of it, and catches him by the tail.
Wakaba wrings her palms together, and stares down at the pink, purple, and blue icing bags laid out across the table. “It’s not like I think I’m going to win or anything,” she says, her voice softening, “I know I’m not that kind of girl, who wins things like this. But...I want to put my best feet forward. I want to try, even if winning is entirely out of reach. Is that stupid?”
“No. It’s not stupid at all. And I think you have a better chance of winning than you think, anyway,” Utena says, shaking her head, “At the end of the day, beauty’s something that’s on the inside and on the outside, and you’ve got both in spades. So.”
Wakaba groans, and ruffles her hair. But when she turns around to face them both, there’s a somewhat determined expression on her face. “Okay. Okay. Now you’ve got to try all of these, okay? I want you to rank them on texture, taste, appearance, and which makes you feel like you’re on cloud nine, got it?”
And then she pulls out a rack of about two hundred cupcakes from the pantry.
“Ehh???” Utena says, her eyes boggling, “But there’s only about ten minutes before class starts again, Wakaba!”
“Then eat fast!” Wakaba says, snapping her spatula against her palm.
Anthy lets go of Chu Chu’s tail and watches him dive at the pile of cupcakes. He’ll make short work of it.
-
They’re walking out to their dorms, Utena, for once, having to both slow down and crane her neck slightly to fit under Anthy’s umbrella.
“I told you to bring your umbrella this morning, Utena-sama.” Anthy says, feeling a slight smugness enter her tone, despite trying to sound entirely cordial.
“I know, I know, I should have listened to you.” Utena grumbles, as she brushes off droplets of water from her exposed shoulder, “I thought it might finally clear up toda—hey, is that Tsuwabuki out there?”
Anthy turns her head to look, and sure enough, Tsuwabuki stands alone, a tiny boy in a tiny little orange raincoat, pulling something along with him in a wagon. He doesn’t seem to be making much progress. The wagon seems heavy.
“Let’s go help,” Utena says, and jogs away to meet him. Anthy doesn’t speed up, takes her time to get over there, stopping to note the way the sunflowers droop a little under the force of the rain, before she joins their conversation.
“—so because they all quit, Nanami-san asked me to get all of the spider venom over to her house before the afternoon’s over.” Tsuwabuki explains, looking slightly mournful.
“You’re kidding! That’s just like her.” Utena says, shaking her head, “You don’t have to do this, you know.”
“I know!” Tsuwabuki says, firmly, “But I want to! Besides, Nanami-san really wants to win the pageant. She’s been losing sleep over it, and if this will put her mind at ease, I don’t mind!”
Utena sighs. “Man. You’re such a good kid. She does not deserve you.” She reaches forward for the ropes to the wagon, and pulls it. “Let me give you a hand, okay? We’re going the same way, anyway.”
“Thanks, Utena-san!” Tsuwabuki says, eyes brightening, “Say, have you tried any of this spider venom stuff?”
“Nope, it is not for me.” Utena says, dryly, “I don’t like putting sticky stuff on my face. But I guess it’s good for you, or something?”
“Yeah...I tried to enter that raffle that’s been giving away some tubs of it, but they said I was too young for it. They said I just have to eat my vegetables everyday and that’s more than enough! It’s not fair, adults get to do anything they want to...”
“Not exactly a want, is it?” asks Utena, wryly, as they pull up to the outside of the Kiryuu mansion, “Seems more like a craving.”
“I guess.” Tsuwabuki says, looking unconvinced, “Well, maybe Nanami-san will let me try a bit from her batch when it's done. Thanks for the help Utena, Anthy!”
Utena ruffles her wet hair, and sighs as she watches him struggle to pull it up the main stairs. “Man, poor kid. She’s taking advantage of him.”
“It’s his choice.” Anthy says, ambivalently, “Come on, let’s get home, Utena-sama.”
-
They go up to meet Akio in his tower for tea. The rain has paused, but it still remains overcast, so for once, they’re not crowded around his telescope, but in his kitchen instead, as he makes them all coffee over the countertops.
“Who came up with the idea of beauty contests anyway, Mr. Chairman?” asks Utena, as she finishes summarizing the whole situation to him, hands cupped around her mug.
“In general? Hard to say.” Akio says, with that easy grace of his, “But this one in particular, Kanae thought it would be good for the student morale. It’s always so nice to see young women in the bloom of their youth. She won the beauty pageant last time we held it, you know?”
“Oh, did she?” asks Utena, eyes widening. Anthy takes a long sip of her tea, and focuses her gaze on the dark arching corners of the kitchen wall. She thinks she can see the outlines of a spider’s web extending across the cabinets.
“Yes, she was ever so radiant, up there. It was how we first met.” says Akio, thoughtfully, “I saw her up on that stage and thought—well. Isn’t she just perfect?”
“Well, that’s a nice story,” says Utena, with a dreamy sigh, “I guess I can see the appeal for some, when you put it that way.”
“Of course. In my opinion, like flowers in a garden, young women shine brightest when looked at. Isn’t that right, Anthy?”
“Of course, my dear brother.” she replies, on cue.
If nobody ever looked at her again, she thinks she’d be the happiest person in the world. Or maybe, if she had to be looked at, she’d like to be seen out of the corner of an eye. An apparition, something that somebody would have to take a second glance to confirm.
“Oh no, there’s a spider on your mug, Chairman!” Utena says, looking surprised.
Akio takes but one look at its nimble legs almost touching his hand, his lip curling upwards, and instantly tips his whole drink, spider and all, into the sink, and aims the tap water at it. It drowns, slowly, and spirals down into the drain.
“I’ll have to get the cleaners in here again,” he says, dismissively, “No spiders in either of your drinks, I hope?”
“No, dear brother.” Anthy says, at the same time that Utena crows out a perfectly pleasant, “No, I’m fine.”
Chu Chu mimics the death throes of the spider, on the windowsill. Nobody else notices.
-
The rain continues until the day before the beauty pageant, much to everybody’s disappointment. If anything, the clouds only seem to get heavier and darker, a strange oppressive tension. Even oblivious Utena feels it, a strange frown on her face as they walk around the school.
“Whoever wins this contest, it’s going to be a huge upset,” Utena says, worrying at her lip, as they stop to get her textbooks from her locker, “I wish they wouldn’t all pin their identity to this whole thing, you know?”
“Don’t worry. What happens will happen. They’ll get over it.” Anthy says, lightly, and steps aside.
Utena opens the door to the locker. Behind her, the shadows on the wall grow thicker.
SHADOW GIRL A: Extra, extra, extra!
SHADOW GIRL B: Have you heard? Do you know? Unless you wear sunscreen everyday, you’ll get skin cancer and die!
SHADOW GIRL A: Oh no! I haven’t worn sunscreen even once in my life! What should I do?
SHADOW GIRL B: Apply more! Cover your entire body up!
SHADOW GIRL A: I bought a parasol, extra sleeves, and three sunscreens! SPF 50 for your shoulders and hands, SPF 30 for your legs, and SPF 80 for your face! It’s so heavy—but I’m protecting my future!
SHADOW GIRL B: Not enough! Haven’t you heard? If your eyes are unprotected and see the sun, you’ll get eye cancer.
SHADOW GIRL A: Oh no! I’ve never worn sunglasses ever! What should I do?
SHADOW GIRL B: Too bad, so sad! But if you buy these eye drops, you’ll be able to ward off the problem.
SHADOW GIRL A: I bought essential oils, eye drops, and a whole basket of vitamins A through F! I’m so broke, but I’m protecting my future!
SHADOW GIRL B: Too much! If you don’t get enough sunlight, you’ll die from malnutrition!
SHADOW GIRL A: Huh??? What should I do? Will I die young and alone now?
Utena shuts her locker door. “It’s raining right now, so does it even matter?”
-
Audrey Hepburn arrives at Ohtori Academy, surrounded by press cameras and men with microphones. Umbrellas bracket the entire front lawn, black-and grey drapes concealing the usually verdant lawn. The red carpet is swarmed with girls, boys, and paparazzi waiting to catch a glimpse of her, and thankfully, Utena has decided to not be amidst the swarm, preferring to look down at the spectacle from the third floor.
“What a big fuss,” Utena mutters, with a sigh.
Anthy shrugs. She’d started a finger-knitting skein for Chu Chu. She’d seen the idea on a morning news show, a finger-knitted dress for a cat and thought it would be charming on Chu Chu. “People find celebrities quite interesting, Utena-sama.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Utena says, reluctantly. “Oh—look, there she is.”
Anthy looks up from her knitting. A sole purple umbrella emerges from the limousine, blanketed by the screaming fangirls and the sounds of cameras clicking. From the school entrance, three umbrellas emerge, red, blue and orange, walking across the red carpet to greet her. Then the four umbrellas vanish back inside the school.
“Shall we?” asks Utena, and Anthy falls into step behind her, as they head to the auditorium, one eye on Utena, one eye on her knitting.
Over, under, around. Over, under, around. Chu Chu curls up on her shoulder as they walk, unusually good, for once. It’s nice. It doesn’t make Anthy less aware of the mass of people around her, nor the thrum of anxiety from being here, but she appreciates it anyway.
“Welcome to the first annual Beauty Pageant at Ohtori Academy, judged by Audrey Hepburn!” What a familiar voice. Anthy looks up, only to spot Saionji in a pristine tuxedo, holding a mic, and with gigantic sunglasses over his face, as if trying to hide his identity. Utena frowns.
“I thought he got expelled...?”
“Guess not,” Miki says, pulling up next to them, as the spotlight swivels to focus on Audrey Hepburn, blanketed in one of the largest, floppiest, black hats Anthy’s ever seen. It covers her face entirely. She waves a hand towards the screaming crowd, blanketed in a black glove that goes all the way past her elbow. It could be anybody under there, really. Even her.
“And now, your lovely contestants, in their first contest! The catwalk!”
Girls in bright, fluffy dresses traipse across the stage, their faces and outfits blurring together. Thousands of flowers, thorns and petals bared for all to see. A million princesses, a million brides. Amidst the crowd is Wakaba, in a puffy pink dress; Juri, in a sleek, blue suit and a hat that dips low, no doubt covering her swollen face, and Nanami in a bright, sequin-adorned golden dress, shoulders bared. For all that the audience hoots and hollers for everybody, Utena only cheers for Wakaba, Chu Chu having migrated to her shoulder, with a tiny little foam hand, cheering in his own way.
“They really do look quite pretty, huh?” Miki says, voice filled with admiration, “I asked Kozue if she was joining, but she said that she didn’t need that sort of validation.”
“Can’t believe I’m agreeing with Kozue.” Utena says, dryly.
Anthy turns back to her knitting. Over, under, around. Over, under, around. If she focuses on the weave, she doesn’t feel the presence of the people around her, the crush of the crowd. The cameras flash, and the smell of roses intensifies.
Finally, the crowd quiets down, only for Sainonji to speak again. “We thank our contestants! Ms. Hepburn has made her shortlist decision! These lucky young women will be going onto the next round, to show off their individual talents!”
Anthy’s eyes flicker upwards. The hundreds of girls have been whittled down now, to just twenty. Nanami, Juri, and Wakaba remain among their ranks.
Utena whoops loudly, drowning out what Saionji says next, and pulling Wakaba’s radiant smile in their direction.
Nonetheless, whatever Saionji must have said was a closing remark, as the people around them turn and start streaming away, loudly chattering to themselves about the contestants and Audrey Hepburn’s undeniable grace and beauty.
“The next part of the contest is in the main hall, not the auditorium!” Miki explains, as they all mill towards the front of the stage, “Just so everybody has enough room to show off all of their talents. We’ll start again in an hour, just so everybody has time to make their costume changes. That’s what the Chairman dictated, anyway.”
“Wow, how elaborate.” Utena says, thoughtfully, “This must have taken a lot of time for the Student Council to organize, huh?”
“Oh yeah, especially since two of our own members wanted to participate, it became a big preoccupation for us all,” Miki says, with a quiet pride, “Still, it wasn’t too tricky. Part of our normal duties. Too bad about the rain, though.”
“Yeah, nothing you can do about the weather, though.” Utena laughs, “I saw everybody’s rain dolls hung out yesterday, but I guess they didn’t work.”
Miki just inclines his shoulders, and they all head out together, umbrellas up. Half the school must exit with them, as they trudge through the dreary rain.
She wonders, briefly, about her roses. She hasn’t had a chance to water them today. And with the gloomy atmosphere, they haven’t gotten much sunshine lately. She hopes they’re still blooming. At least the temperature hasn’t gotten much colder. A sudden frost would kill them in a heartbeat.
She wonders how she would feel, if that eternal task of hers were ever to be vanquished in one fell swoop. Those roses, all destroyed...would she feel vindicated or just empty? It’s hard to say. Every time the world has changed, the roses and the thorns have always been a constant.
As they step into the main atrium of the auditorium, they stumble onto the scene of a fight.
“Just a little bit, Nanami-san, I just want to see what it feels like!” Tsuwabuki insists, “Haven’t I listened to your every command so far? Can’t I just have a little bit?”
“No!” Nanami says, looking rather frazzled, “Now hurry up, and let’s go to the dressing room, it’s going to take the full hour to get the next dress on, and I don’t have time to waste on you being dramatic! I’ll give you some later, after this is all over.”
“It’s not like you need it anymore, the competition’s in full-swing, applying more now won’t do much!” Tsuwabuki says, his voice wheedling and somewhat desperate, “I just want to feel it on my skin...a touch of adulthood...” He grabs the edge of her sleeve, a desperate entreaty.
“No!” Nanami snaps, and shakes him off with one, easy motion. Upon noticing Miki, Utena and Anthy in the doorway, she scoffs, loudly, “What are you looking at, huh?” before flouncing off, skirts in hand as she barges away.
Tsuwabuki doesn’t follow her, his eyes downcast, still fixed on the hand that had been holding onto her sleeve.
“You alright, Tsuwabuki?” asks Utena, her voice pitched lower.
“Why won’t she see me...” he whispers, quietly, before starting to cry, loudly, and running away from the hall entirely.
Utena winces as she watches him go. “Should we go after him?” she asks, stepping forward, tentatively, her gaze turning to Anthy.
“Wakaba wanted your help with the cakes.” reminds Anthy, mildly.
“Yeah, go and help your friend. I’m sure Tsuwabuki-kun just wants some privacy to cry,” Miki says, voice also sympathetic, “We can go and check on him after the contest is all done.”
“Yeah...” Utena says, still sounding a little uncertain.
-
The second round starts on time. Clad in new, bright dresses, the girls display their talents to the judges: from dancing, to juggling, to one particularly memorable ventriloquist, with a bright, glossy doll with curled pink ringlets, that looks an awful lot like Utena.
“Did she....base that on me?” whispers Utena to Miki and Anthy. Miki looks concerned and Anthy decides to not comment at all. It’s a rather bad interpretation of Utena, all things considered, since the puppet was wearing a dress and seemed a lot less brash than Utena was, but then again, wasn’t that exactly how a girl was supposed to act?
Nanami’s next, and she comes out dressed in one of the most elaborate kimonos ever seen, trimmed with gold patterns and a deep violet obi. Her hair is tied up into an even more elaborate updo than usual, and she has brought with her to the stage, a traditional tea mixing set.
“Today,” she says, her voice pitched lower, to be much cuter and softer than her normal tone, “I’ll be doing a tea ceremony for you.”
Slowly, elegantly, she measures out spoonfuls of matcha powder into the cups, pour water into each of the cups and gently froths the matcha powder. She then organizes a few premade sweets on plates, all while Honda, Suzuki and Yamada narrate the meaning of each of her actions, according to tradition. In the background, the gentle thrumming of a koto accentuates her every action. It is meticulously planned, and, in Anthy’s opinion, supremely boring. The joy of tea to Anthy has always been in the unique calm each cup brought you on a hectic day. A moment of peace, contemplation. To be so ordained by ritual for simple pleasures...well, Anthy has enough of that in the rest of her life.
Utena is also unimpressed, barely concealing a yawn as they watch. Anthy suppresses a smile to herself. Miki’s still entranced, but Miki’s not exactly the brightest.
Nanami ends the tea ceremony by presenting Audrey Hepburn with a cup of tea and a plate of sweets.
“Hmm, quite delicious.” Audrey says, her voice thick, “How elegant.”
Nanami beams, a bright, almost smug expression flitting across her face. “Thank you!” she says, voice bright as she rises to her feet, with quick elegance.
“Next contestant! Juri Arisugawa,” Saionji says, and Nanami slowly shuffles off the stage in her giant, clopping geta.
As she goes, Juri strides onto the stage, clad not in a dress like the other girls, but in a smart, white fencing suit adorned with patches of orange and pink roses. She carries her foil at her side, and tries to sidestep out of Nanami’s way. As Nanami goes, with her half-filled tea cups still on her tray, she ‘trips,’ spilling bright green matcha all over Juri’s white, neat clothes.
Gasps ring through the audience, and even as Nanami simpers a loud and somewhat overwrought apology, the smirk in her voice is quite noticeable.
Miki’s eyes narrow, and he clicks the edge of his stopwatch, with a little less force than usual. Utena doesn’t notice, but Anthy does.
To her credit, Juri doesn’t even flinch, despite the stain and the hot water. She simply loosens her helmet, and lets her long hair tumble out and settle over the stain, covering most of it, before fixing the helmet back on her head. “Today,” she says, her voice a little more clipped and strained than usual, “I will be showing you a fencing routine. As Captain of the Fencing Team, this is my skill and pride.”
Anthy has seen Juri fight a million and one times, with varying degrees of intensity and so she pays her no heed and returns to her knitting. Miki and Utena seem enthralled though, gasping and clapping at particular moments when Juri’s feet on the stage are especially loud.
Over, under, around, Over, under, around. She’s almost done here with Chu Chu’s new dress. She thinks he’ll look quite dapper in it.
Finally, the performance ends, and a swift, impressed round of applause fills the auditorium. “What grace, what style!” Audrey Hepburn says, with a quick clap, “You wield the blade with an elegance that will be hard to match. And what a swift recovery, adaptation to odd circumstances.”
Juri bows, her face still not visible from underneath her mask, as she departs.
A couple of other performers take the stage before finally, Wakaba takes her stand on the stage, bringing out a large picnic basket and a folding table underneath her arm. There’s a slightly pinched expression on her face when Saionji calls out, “Our final contestant is Shinohara Wakaba,” but it smoothes out into a smile when she notices Utena in the crowd.
“Today, I’d like to show you the art of organizing and decorating a packed lunch.” Wakaba says, her voice a little shaky, even as she puts on the usual cheer she has around Utena and Anthy. “You see, the most important guiding principle is cuteness. The cuter the food is, the more tasty it becomes—appearance is very important in this!”
Wakaba rambles her way through cutting up hotdogs to look like little octopi, perfectly shaping omelette rice into teddy bears and hearts, cutting up the vegetables in curry rice to spell out letters, and how to decorate a cupcake with the perfect amount of icing and sprinkles. Anthy looks up to pay attention at least, as she finishes up her skein, because Utena likes it when Anthy pretends to like her friends.
Utena claps madly as Wakaba finishes, and Audrey says, “How charming and delightful! Your careful attention to detail is quite impressive. What charm! And this cupcake really is quite delightful.”
“That’s good praise, right?” asks Utena, as the lights dim and everybody gets ready to walk back to the main hall again.
“I think it’s a good sign.” Anthy replies, easily. Audrey Hepburn has been rather free-flowing with her compliments today. She must be in a good mood. She herself, has finally finished the dress. She drops it over Chu Chu’s head, and marvels at his appearance.
Utena laughs, gently, as Chu Chu poses like the girls had posed on the catwalk earlier that day, perched on her shoulder. “Oh, that’s cute. Love the red, Himemiya.”
When she turns to ask Miki what he thinks, they both realize that Miki has absconded entirely. “Huh? Where’d Miki go?”
The answer to Miki’s whereabouts becomes clear as they step out into the main hall, where the sounds of Miki and Nanami yelling at each other seems to have drawn a crowd.
“I’ve been giving you the benefit of the doubt all week, Nanami!” Miki says, his voice shrill and piqued, as Utena pushes to the front of the crowd, to try and catch a glimpse of what’s happening, “I thought you were just being a bit thoughtless because you were stressed! But Juri-senpai’s right, isn’t she? You’ve been hurting Juri-senpai on purpose!”
“Miki, it’s not like that!” Having already changed into her third outfit, the auditorium being the only venue with actual changing rooms, Nanami is resplendent in a pale white and gold dress that almost looks like a wedding dress, studded with diamonds and other gems that glitter with her every minute movement. The train of the dress drapes behind her, thin and spindly. It looks familiar, somehow. Hmm.
“Isn’t it? I saw you practise walking in those geta all week. I know you’re good at manoeuvring in them! You tripped on purpose, just to mess up Juri-senpai’s clothes! That’s awful, Nanami! I can’t believe I kept defending you all week.” Miki says, hotly, jabbing his finger at her, with anger.
“What, you’re just going to take her side? She just wants me to lose, she’s been on my case ever since I became the acting head of the student council!” Nanami spits out, angrily. She draws herself to her full height, and looks down at Miki, with a sneering expression.
“You purposefully gave her an allergic reaction because she tried to give you a bit of advice on how to be a leader?! That’s such an awful thing to do! Just—grow up, Nanami! Stop acting like a child.” Miki says, his face contorted with anger, before he turns on his heel and walks away, rapidly, towards the dressing rooms.
For a moment, Nanami’s face falls, and it looks like she might say something conciliatory to Miki’s retreating back. But noticing the audience around her, she just sniffs, grandiosely, and tosses her perfectly coiffed hair behind her. “Tsuwabuki! Come!”
But no small blond boy comes in her wake, as she flounces her way out of the door, towards the next auditorium at the bottom of Akio’s tower.
The rain still pours, endlessly and drearily, as Nanami walks out. And slowly, as the raindrops splatter across her shoulders and hair, the dress slowly starts to unspool and melt.
Anthy suddenly realizes exactly where she saw the dress before. It hadn’t been adorned with gemstones or golden thread on the late night television programme, but this was the spider silk dress she had seen a week ago. And Nanami had walked straight out into the rain without an umbrella.
Nanami doesn’t seem to realize what’s happening to her, not until several tiny little gemstones start tinkling down around her, with little delicate plips and plops. As she looks down at them, she notices the train of her dress slowly melting away, and the shoulders of her dress slowly growing smaller and smaller and smaller.
“No—no!!! No, no, this is not meant to happen! Help me!!!” Nanami wails.
But nobody comes. She’d pushed away Tsuwabuki and Miki, her erstwhile friends with her behaviour, and Touga is still sick. Nobody around seems to want to help her, especially not in the wake of the revelation that she’d purposefully been trying to hurt another member of the Student Council. A fitting end, Anthy thinks. Like a parable.
That is, until there’s a swift streak of movement at her side, and with a running jump, Utena is on the scene. In one swift movement, she opens up her pink umbrella over Nanami’s head, and unbuttons her jacket, revealing the boy’s uniform shirt underneath. With a flourish of her hand, she whips the jacket around Nanami’s chest, to protect her modesty, and offers her a hand up.
It’s a strange mirror image of the ball, a few months ago, when Utena had so valiantly rescued her from Nanami’s awful present. Anthy feels a strange twinge in the centre of her chest.
That’s right. Utena wants to be a prince. She holds the ring her prince had given to her so dearly. And the ideal prince saves any damsel in distress—no matter what the context is. No matter what, the prince saves the princess. Such is the way of the world.
Anthy’s stomach turns, but her expression stays the same. The spider caught the fly in its web, but its own leg got trapped too. Ariadne was a story of hubris, after all. She understands the lesson now.
In the end, the princes are just as interchangeable as the princesses. Anthy pushes her glasses up on her face. The rain seems a little colder.
Nanami is shocked speechless. “Y—you! But...why?” she stammers out, tears still welling in her eyes.
“Because, despite you acting like a massive bitch all week, nobody deserves to be publicly humiliated.” Utena says sternly, and waves her hand to Nanami, still collapsed on the floor, “Now come, let’s get up and get you over to the next hall. See what we can salvage from your dress, huh?” There’s an exasperated tone to Utena’s voice, as she impatiently looks down at Nanami.
Nanami sniffles, but takes Utena’s hand and pulls herself to her feet, tugging Utena’s jacket over her shoulders. “Thanks, I guess.” she says, her voice so quiet that it’s almost inaudible. There’s no adoring look for Utena, as there had been for Touga or Tsuwabuki, but the fact that Nanami doesn’t let loose a single insult towards Utena says everything that needs to be said.
The crowd’s gasps behind them, turns Anthy’s gaze. Audrey Hepburn has emerged from the hall herself and her gloves hands are pulled up to her face, in shock and awe.
“Such beauty! Such grace! Such absolute charm! What a gentleman! What an absolutely magnificent specimen!” Audrey Hepburn proclaims, her voice booming for once, announcing her own presence.
“M-me?” asks Utena, uncertainly, a panicked, deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face.
“No, no, stand out of the way, young miss. I mean, you!” Audrey Hepburn points down at Chu Chu, who’s currently trying to pick up as many of the gemstones scattered over the floor as he can. He’s studded a couple of gems into the woolen dress Anthy had made for him, and carries many, many, more cradled within his little, purple arms. “What an adorable young gentlemen! The epitome of grace, beauty and composure.”
“Chu...” Chu Chu says, with a dazed smile on his face.
“I see no need to continue this competition any further! I have found my successor!” Audrey Hepburn declares, “Little sir, will you do me the honour of accompanying me on my Paris trip, as my new apprentice?”
“Chu!” Chu Chu agrees, clambering up onto Audrey Hepburn’s shoulders.
The cameras surround them in an instant, clicking and flashing. A limousine pulls up right next to them, even though cars aren’t allowed on the grass at Ohtori Academy. Audrey Hepburn and Chu Chu quickly vanish within the limousine, after a swift, elegant wave to her adoring fans. And then, in an instant, she, the car, and the cameras all vanish, leaving only a small crowd of schoolchildren left on the schoolgrounds.
“What?! Ehhhh??? I lost....to a monkey?!” Nanami asks, her eyes boggling with shock.
“Wow.” Utena says,wondrously, “Who knew he was the king of fashion?”
-
A week later, they get a postcard in the mail. The picture on the front of the card is Chu Chu, standing next to a stack of macarons, shaped exactly like the Eiffel Tower. He’s dressed in striped clothes and a little beret, and looks like he’s seconds away from inhaling the whole candied structure. It’s an impressive photographic feat.
“Wow, Chu Chu’s living his best life, huh?” Utena says, approvingly, as Anthy pins up the postcard next to her bed.
“Indeed, Utena-sama.”
“He’s coming back soon though, right? This place is way too quiet without him.” Utena asks, looking a little concerned.
Anthy feels her heart warm, just a little. Even though she knows it shouldn’t. Even then. But none of the other duelists have ever loved Chu Chu this way.
“He’ll be back soon.” Anthy confirms.
“Good. He can help me eat Wakaba’s cookies when he gets back. She’s been baking away her sadness all week, and if I eat any more sweet treats, I might explode!” Utena says, with an easy laugh, “But hey. Everybody else is back to normal. I’m glad the rainy spell’s over.”
“Indeed, Utena-sama. Fads always pass quickly.” Anthy agrees, and goes back to flipping through her magazine.
“Oh, the spiderweb’s all gone. What happened to Nanami?” asks Utena, curiously, as she glances upwards.
“She left, I think. And then I cleaned up after her. Cobwebs aren’t hygienic, after all.”
“Mmm. I guess so.” Utena agrees, with a yawn. “Come on, let’s finish up some homework, huh?”