2

In the Fortnite lobby, Utena finds Souji (his avatar is a taco-head soldier).

"Back so soon?" Souji goes, sardonically.

"My internet crashed-" It's an excuse, but whatever. "So what do you want? How did you even find me?" He still sounds the same as the last time I saw him; I pierced his rose in that duel, after he sent all those brainwashed students on my case. It's as if he hasn't aged a day!

"Please, Miss Tenjou, you don't have to give me the attitude." Souji has his character do a funky dance to lighten the mood. "You're still looking for her, aren't you?"

Utena pauses. "For who?"

"You know. You looked after her, like she was a poor, lost puppy, abused by her other owners. Every time, I'd catch you and her together, the inseparable couple. The one Rose Bride.. Anthy!"

"What the hell is it to you if I still care about her?" Utena snaps, banging her desk and rebounding her mouse in the air. "You're not even supposed to exist.."

Souji cackles, and with the headphones on, it's as if he's laughing right in her face. "You can say I'm the spirit of Christmas past. And Utena.. I don't mean you any harm. In fact, I want the same thing you're after. To find Anthy again. She is the key."

Utena closes her eyes, trying to consider Souji. It was 1997. She faced Dios and his lies, his tricks - even having Anthy as a victim of his spell. Her hand had pulled away from her stomach, it was drenched in her blood. But a strength that she'd always believed in, carried her limbs, over to the obsidian gate, sealed by a tangle of thorns and black roses. Beneath the stone coffin, was Anthy's spirit, trapped. She only knew.. she had to pull Anthy out of that eternal void.

But had she ever really saved Anthy?

The next thing Utena remembers is waking up in her dorm. She was alone. She had always lived alone. It was as if the last year were a waking dream, a dream broken by a cold sweat, and the realisation that she had only been living her fancies of rescuing someone - like how she'd been rescued all those years ago as a child.

"What happened to Anthy Himemiya?" Utena asked the senior's office.

The guy ruffled through the papers, and matter-of-factly, he said: "She left, a year ago. Transferred out to another school."

"What school?!"

"I'm really not at liberty to say, I'm afraid," the official said.

It was as if Anthy had vanished entirely from her life. But Utena was able to recall vividly, all those days when Anthy had shared her spicy curry for lunch, the physical exertions of duelling, Chu-Chu's antics, and the endless drama over the rose bride..

Utena had nearly driven herself to madness, asking everyone about Anthy (they either don't know her or remember her tending the gardens). Finally, it came down to asking Akio.

"You're a liar. Anthy was right here! You made her disappear somehow!"

The boiling point, and Akio, imperturbable, said: "Miss Tenjou, you've been a wonderful student. Maybe not all of your grades were straight As, but up to now, I was actually hoping you to serve as valedictorian by the time you graduate. Why go all this length to tarnish your record, over someone who you barely know - she left after your first day here!"

His words sunk Utena. Even though it was almost like she could smell the shit emanating from his lips, she had to calm down. Ripping herself apart over her convictions wasn't worth her life.

"You're right.." she went, repressing a huge sigh. "I went way out of line. It's just I thought-"

"Sometimes, we all dream something, it feels so real, so vivid, that it becomes a living memory. I think you were acting on such an impulse." Akio was comforting her, rubbing her shoulder. "Utena, you are.. very brave for expressing how you feel. Even in your tantrum, your spirit burns through. I can tell you, someday, you'll shine, be a magnificant star. First things first-"

"My studies, I know."

And like that, Utena had admitted defeat. Deep down, she wanted to change that moment - wanted so badly to fight back against Akio's notions. To prove what she felt, what she had, it was real. I just didn't have the courage..

If she had missed Anthy, she pushed it back out of her mind. The rose gardens became ordinary, and Utena played basketball as usual. She became a senior.. Saionji, Touga and Juri moved on, and soon after graduating from Ohtori, Utena wrote to Wakaba (who told her to keep her spirits up, Wakaba's happiness shone through the handwriting).

Over the years, their letters grew more curt, as they grew occupied with managing student loans, then job-hunting.. Wakaba describing how her soon-to-be-fiance loves her more and more everyday through her cooking made Utena jealous, especially with the recipes involving spiced curry.

Eventually, nothing. Utena stopped bothering with the effort. It felt like a mere formality, like she'd known Wakaba didn't really care for her anyway.

Loneliness was never a stranger for Utena - if she confided her real, deepest feelings in someone, her lips would whisper only sorrow. And though she remembered how to laugh, how to pour out all her charm into Kaneki (a young, very vibrant bachelor), she never found anything resembling real happiness.

Just contentment, from time to time.. forgetting Anthy.

Utena glances down, finding the fresh stain of tears has dribbled onto her keyboard. The pain, the buried grief, always there.

"Utena, are you alright?" Souji goes, his voice concerned.

"I- I've.. I want her back so much," Utena sobs out. "I don't even remember what she looks like anymore, what she sounds like. And it's all my fault! I've let Akio get the better of me, let Anthy die in my heart, and buried her away."

"No, Utena," Souji says, and as Utena closes her eyes, it's as if she could see Souji - exactly how he was, his hair wavering to his shoulders. In the darkness, he's there with her. "You're not to blame. Dios's magic and silver tongue, ardently combined, make an irresistable combination. For the years you've lived, I have spent five times longer, languishing, all but a memory, lost in time and space. Anthy was the perfect opportunity to set my soul at peace, even if it meant fighting you for that chance."

"My name was Nemuro. I'd sought a way to capture the human spirit, in tangible form. Dios took notice of my work, and though he funded me at Ohtori, he only wanted my research to progress as much as it allowed him to hold someone captive.

"When I was about to share the hope that the human spirit was alive, it would mean that we are not just happy accidents, happening to take reign over the animal kingdom. We are both the divine word, and savage instinct - and even after bodily death, our hopes, dreams go on..

"But Dios.. he had my research partner, Tokiko, burn me, the library and the research files with it. Though my body is cremated, Dios reigns over my soul. He tossed me aside when I failed to obtain possession of Anthy on his behalf.. but I found a way to reside in the world wide web."

Utena can almost feel Souji's breath upon her. "What can you do for me?" she asks.

"Besides reciting all the porn you've watched, or your average win rate? It took me forever to identify you on the internet - as even I do not have omniscience, sad to admit. I can help you find Anthy, find the real Ohtori Academy.. you just have to serve as my real-world body, and obey what I tell you."

Souji has his in-game avatar do a gentleman's bow, with all the applause, and Utena, as dumbfounded as she is with the discovery - she finds another hope. The possibility. The question to lead her..

"I'll do whatever you need me to do," Utena goes.

"And together," Souji finishes, "we'll revolutionize the world."