This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)

#1 | Back to Top02-07-2016 04:16:20 AM

LateToTheRevolution
Wakaba Wrangler
Registered: 05-23-2015
Posts: 18

A Case Of Roses

Some time last year or so, I started a thread asking questions about the inner workings of the RGU universe with the intention of using the information provided to write a fan fic. After piecing everything together in my head, I have finally started writing and this is where it will go. Special thanks goes to pesimistamente and their thread about time not working properly in Ohtori for giving me the jump start i needed to put everything into place. The first installment will be arriving soon.

EDIT: And by soon, I mean right now.


A Case Of Roses



    To whomever is reading this, I fear the worst has happened. My name is Michael Addams and this is my journal and final case file.


    The year was 2007 and it was the beginning of summer, school had let out a week ago and I was on my way home from the store. As I entered the house and went to the kitchen, I passed by the living room and saw my father asleep sitting up on the couch as usual. He works in construction so the work hours are long and all over the place at times. Once the groceries were away, I went to the couch to put a blanket on him, gently taking the half empty beer bottle out of his hand and placing it on the end table beside the other four empties. He'd been like this ever since my mother died.

    After quietly tidying up a bit, I made my way to my room and booted up my laptop. It was an older model so it couldn't do what the newer ones could but it was all I needed. I accessed the internet and after checking some messages I found myself at one of my usual haunts; a discussion forum for aspiring detectives. I considered myself to be an amateur detective, solving problems when I came across them, although this did tend to cut into my school life. I had always wanted to be detective since it practically ran in my blood. But part of me always feared that the curse would catch up with me, as it did with my mother and every crime fighter in my family. They were murdered all in the exact same way; a stab wound to the back and through the heart. They had all been investigating the same case; a string of ritualistic duels that usually ended in the deaths of the participants, all with stab wounds through the heart, and all with sightings of a mysterious man in white.

    Other aspects of these cases were just as strange; the victims all had strangely colored hair, most likely part of the ritual because even their pubic hair was dyed and some of the colors were too strange to be natural. They all seemed to have been stabbed by the exact same blade judging from the wound patterns, and rose petals of varying colors always littered the scenes as well. I had discovered my mother's case files as well as those of my ancestors pertaining to these cases while helping my father clean out the attic some years ago. He had expressly forbid me from reading them but I just couldn't help it, my inner detective awakening in that moment. I had solved a few cases in the years since then and even though my father hates that I'm doing this, he had told me that he was proud of me for trying to do some good.

    Once the page finally loaded, I began browsing through the threads. It was the usual: lost pets, stolen objects, things of that nature. I then finally came to the thread I had started in an attempt to get help with my family's mystery. Most laughed me off as a troll or a fake but others joined my cause. It was common practice to assist with the posted cases as I had done in the past and I was grateful to those who tried to help me. Of course, there hadn't been any leads in the year since I first posted the case and I wasn't expecting any but I was wrong.

    The most recent post came after a six month absence of activity. It was by someone who's screen name was 'RoseWitch' and it said 'To finish your story, look to Ohtori'. I looked at the time stamp on the post: 7:30pm. It was 7:31 right now. Either this is an incredible coincidence, or someone knew I would be online on this specific site at this specific hour. I quickly clicked on RoseWitch's name to get to their profile page but it was blank, save for the indication that this user had made only one post. What the hell was this? This couldn't be possible. This was probably some troll or other jerk trying to get me but this was the first possible real lead I've had since I started.

    I quickly logged out of the forum and googled the word 'Ohtori'. What I got was not what I was expecting; a super prestigious private school in Japan. What did this have to do with anything? I clicked the link for the school's web page, a rose emblem being the first thing that appeared on screen, and it was in Japanese so it was natural that I couldn't read it. But I do believe I know someone who does. I logged back into the forum to post my findings but something stranger happened: RoseWitch's post was gone. It wasn't deleted since it didn't have the 'this post was deleted' header, it was just simply gone. I rushed to the user profile page and there was no sign of any RoseWitch. After I searched the profile index three or four times in case I simply misread, I went back to my thread to post.


I've got a lead. If anyone here can read Japanese,
I need you to read the Ohtori Acadamy web page
and tell me what it says. Also, has anyone seen anything
posted by a user called RoseWitch?


    It would probably take some time for a response to come in so I went to the kitchen to get something to eat. When I returned with my sandwich, a user called androgyknight responded:


I'll see if I can handle it. Also, there's no one here called RoseWitch.


    I explained how I found the mysterious rhyming response and how it disappeared along with it's user after my initial search.


That's not possible, are you sure that's what you saw?
Anyway, I'll get on translating that site. It should take
a couple of hours.


    I say that I'm sure of what I saw and thanked them for the help. Hopefully something gets turned up, these fancy pants snoot schools always have a few gold-plated skeletons in their marble walk-in closets. It's nearly midnight by the time they get back to me with the translation. It's exactly what you'd expect; talking about how their graduate turn outs are the best in the country, how they have the most experienced teaching staff, and so on. I thank androgyknight again and log out, figuring I should sleep on what I've found so far. Things were different the next day.

    I woke at around 11-ish as I usually do during a holiday. As I went to the kitchen to grab some breakfast, I knew something was wrong. My father was awake, sitting at the table, and smiling. Not the occasional grin when he finds something amusing, but an honest to goodness smile. I was having a hard time processing this since he hadn't smiled like that since before my mother died.

    “What are you doing here, Dad? Shouldn't you be at work by now?” I ask, confusion evident in my voice.

    “I think being a little late is worth seeing my son and telling him how proud I am,” he responds, still smiling. As he got up, he handed me a manila envelope and gave me a huge hug which I returned in confusion. He then bid me farewell as he left for work. After he left, I took a better look at the envelope and nearly dropped it. It had a rose emblem on it. I quickly undid the twist tie and opened it. What the first page said nearly knocked me off balance:


Congratulations on your full scholarship to Ohtori Academy.
Contained within is all you will need for your school experience.
We are looking forward to having you attend our school.
Signed: Akio Ohtori, Acting School Chairman.


    It then proceeded to list a table of contents of what's in the envelope. What the hell was this? I research an enigmatic message and suddenly I win a scholarship? How is this connected to my family? I then realize that this is my chance, the chance to finally do what my ancestors couldn't. I immediately rush to my room and turn on my computer. Of course, it takes a bit to get going since it's an old model and I think this is the first time I've gotten irritated by it. Once it finally came on, I opened my word processor and I got to work.


New Case File: Ohtori Academy

Last edited by LateToTheRevolution (02-08-2016 03:18:19 PM)

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