exsilium | duel two (video.)

[The screen flickers on to show Utena sitting on the foot of her bed. Said bed is unusually rumpled, and she looks bleary-eyed and tired. Her hair is disheveled too, but when she turns to the camera, she manages a sleepy grin. It's only a little forced.]

Uh, hi, to everyone who's been here, and all the new people. I think this is around the time new people show up, is that right? For everyone who doesn't know me, I'm Utena Tenjou. I'm fifteen years old...I think. [She rubs the back of her neck, and sheepishly adds:] My birthday's gone by since I got here, but I'm not sure if that counts. It's good to meet you all.

[Her voice sobers some, and she slows down.]

Ah, I wanted to thank everyone who helped me and Himemiya out a few weeks ago. It means a lot. I wasn't really myself then, so...sorry for any trouble. [It almost looks as if she'll stop the message there, but she continues after an overlong pause:]

Say, I was wondering, well, when I was, ah...well anyway. I noticed there's a lot of buildings around here that are run-down. That big greenhouse in the city looks pretty bad, and I thought maybe a bunch of us could get together and help clean it up a little. Y'know, get all the glass fixed, and plant flowers. Where I'm from, there's gardens everywhere, so I miss it a little.

[Her gaze drops. She looks off to the side, and then starts a little, as if suddenly remembering something:] Oh! And to everyone I asked about sports the last time, there's a way we can play without finding a field. I asked around, and that VR machine'll make any kind of field or court we want. That's great, huh? I wanna host a game soon. Maybe we can have something like that once a week. It gets dull around here.

Mm, that's all. [She rests her hand against her mouth, looks and sounds thoughtful. Mumbled:] If anyone's interested in a game or in helping with the greenhouse, you can find me around anywhere, but I stay in room 705.

I had one last question. Does anyone know how to cook? I wanna learn. There's not a lot of instant stuff to eat here, and I'm not so good at cooking from scratch yet...

[After a while:] Hey, Nanami-kun. Are you still here?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sports? Like... team sports? [ She's interested, but reluctant to take her up on the offer. ]

That's right! Y'know, baseball and volleyball, stuff like that. D'you play any sports?

I have not heard of any of those sports...

What about swordsmanship? Or kemari? I can play kemari by myself! [no that's sad]

You haven't? Huh. I can teach you, if you want to learn.

I know how to use swords, but...[Kemari? wow a blast from the past there] I think you're supposed to play kemari with more than one person.

... I'm. I'm that talented. [ NO!!!! ]

But, um, I would like to learn. Those sports, I mean. If you do not mind.

Right... [She won't question it further.] I'd love to teach you. If you wanna learn, it'd be my pleasure, honest.

Truly? Oh, thank you. I'm - I'm Kougyoku. I will do my best not to be a burden.

Aha, don't worry about anything like that. Everyone has to start somewhere, right? I won't get impatient.

[She sounds very sincere.] I bet you'll be better than you think!

You are too kind... [ And she means that. Her eyes widen when she realizes something, and then she bows. ] Ah! How rude of me. I'm K-Kougyoku Ren. It is a pleasure to meet you, Utena Tenjou.

Ah geez, don't worry about rudeness or anything. I didn't even notice. [Because you're rude, Utena...]

It's good to meetcha! I hope you'll like baseball, eheh.