Author's Note: This is written for Commission to sharnii. As I consider sharnii has already paid me with her idea, so there is no need for further payment. This story took place at episode 29, just after Juri's duel.

Further P.S.: Since I have got no reply from sharnii, I'm going to make this public. Please, sharnii, if you don't like it this way, please let me know, I'll delete at once.

Ruka's Last Day

    Their duel with Utena Tenjou had just finished. The chance for Ruka Tsuchiya and Juri Arisugawa to get hold of the miracle power fell far below zero. Feeling useless and disgust, Juri left the dueling forest as fast as she could.

    'Juri! Juri! Juri Arisugawa!'

    'Yes, Fencing Captain?' Juri stopped and turned, her face as cold as ice.

    'I am a captain no more. You know that, Juri.'

    'Now that you are back to school, ain't I supposed to give it back to you?'

    'No, Juri, you don't have to. Actually, I am leaving the academy soon, probably tonight. Why don't we have dinner together, to celebrate that you can take over my captain's place completely?'

    'Ruka, I do not think that I can take your place before you graduate from here, Ohtori Academy. And I don't feel the need that we should dine together. I am returning to my dorm. Excuse me.' Juri's voice grew colder with every word she spoke.

    'Juri!' Ruka put his hands up. ‘Okay, now, as Fencing Captain, I order you, Juri Arisugawa, to dine with me now.' However, there was no hardness in his voice.

    'I guess I have no choice, then.'

    'Yes, Juri. There is a good restaurant nearby, let's go.'

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    To Juri's much surprise, Ruka took her to the restaurant they went out together every time they finished fencing practice. As she looked around, she found out that everything stayed in the same place, even the flower arrangement on the table was the same. She decided not to show her surprise, but found it not too easy to do so. She took a quick glimpse at Ruka behind her menu, who showed no signs of noticing her surprise.

    'What would you like, Juri?' Ruka had put down his menu already.

    'Iced cucumber soup, roasted lobster with mashed potatoes and lemon mousse, Captain.'

    'Waiter!'

    'How may I help you, sir?'

    'I'd like a pumpkin soup, lamb rack with fries, raspberry pudding for me, and an iced cucumber soup, roasted lobster with mashed potatoes and lemon mousse for this lady.'

    'Yes sir.'

    'And I also want a bottle of white wine. What would you suggest?'

    'I'd suggest Sauvignon Blanc, for it won't be too...'

    'Okay, I'll take that.' and he waved the waiter away impatiently.

    'Captain, I'm underage to drink, I believe you remember that?'

    'Rules are made for breaking, Juri. Drink for me, at least for tonight, Juri. And stop calling me anything with the word "Captain". Just call me Ruka like those days, okay?' It was like talking about the weather when he spoke.

    'Time has passed, Ruka,' Juri let a sigh escape from her. ‘Things are different now. Everything changed. You and I have changed, too. I can call you Ruka, but those times will never come back. I believe you know that better than I do.'

    Ruka sighed, then gave Juri a warm smile. ‘Why must you spoil the night, Juri? I will leave Ohtori tonight. Can't you make tonight a special memory for me?'

    Probably, knowing that she might be never able to see him again, she found her heart soften, a lot, for him. It must be out of pity, she thought. ‘Okay okay okay,' and she tried to lift a smile.

    The waiter came back, served them their wine and their meal.

    'Let's toast!' suggested Ruka.

    'To your health!' responded Juri.

    Loudly, he replied, ‘To my health!' Secretly, in his heart, he said, ‘To your happiness!' And they dried their glasses. Ruka poured another glass for both of them.

    'Now, this round for you to be the new Fencing Captain!' And they dried again.

    'This wine goes very well with your fillet. Why don't you give it a try?'

    'I think I have had enough for tonight, Ruka.' Indeed it was quite true, her face was burning hot, which made her looked more like a normal eleventh grader who had just stolen her father's wine.

    'Ruka smiled. ‘Can’t you drink some more, for me?'

    She suppressed a sigh. ‘This WILL BE my last glass for tonight, Ruka.'

    'Thank you, Juri.' Did she catch a glimpse of tenderness in his eyes? Or was she just imagining it?

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    'Let me accompany you back to your dorm, Juri.' This was said out of sheer politeness, because...

    '......' Juri was fast asleep. ‘Whatever......'

    'My cute Juri, at last, at last.' He patted lightly on her face. His voice was even tenderer than his voice. ‘I’m so happy to be able to see this secret side of you.' He carried Juri on his back, the soft and sweet girly sensation sent his heart to heaven. On one hand, Ruka wished this journey back would never end; while on the other, he wished it would end the next second, for he had bigger plans for the night.

    'Juri, we have reached your dorm. Where have you put your keys?'

    '......'

    Mentally, he knew that he should wake Juri up, but he enjoyed the moment so much that instead he said, ‘Are you inviting me to search your body?' And proceeded to do so. Juri simply gave no response, apparently she was in a deep sleep.

    'Ah! There it is.' He picked out a bunch of keys from Juri's trousers after he gave a pat on her hips. He then opened the dorm door and took Juri inside. Juri had a really cute and girly dorm, Ruka thought to himself, a nice contrast to her personality too. He lips curved to a smile. Laces and pastel colors always suited a girl best, no matter how strong they looked.

    He laid Juri on her purple lacy bed. She looked much less defensive asleep, and a lot happier too. Yet he knew too well that Juri would not be Juri without her character, and would not be the one he loved.

    'My lovely Juri, you have made today so special for me.' he whispered in her ear. ' Thank you, my love.

    'I love you,' that was the first time he confessed his true feelings. 'I love you, Juri, seriously. Even though we did not success to get the miraculous power, I still hope I can bring forth you a miracle. Please, at least for the following night, focus on me, Ruka Tsuchiya.' With these words, he started to unbutton Juri's coat.

    SLAP! Ruka's left face swelled flaming hot.

    'CAPTAIN!' Juri became wide awake with rage. 'I believe I should not be treated like  this! I AM TO NO EXTENT YOUR FUCKBUDDIE!'

    SLAP! Now Ruka's face swelled on both sides. Juri tried to march away from the scene as fast as she could, yet Ruka was too quick for her. He held both of her wrists in one hand, and used the other arm to support her back, push her towards himself.

    Juri screamed in her highest pitch possible, continuously.

    'Listen to me, Juri, okay? Calm down a bit, would you? I love you, Juri Arisugawa.' Juri was suddenly stunned. She fell completely silent, her body rigid. 'I love you so much... I want you so much... Can't you never feel my true heart?' Juri's mouth fell open in awe. While Ruka spoke these words, he loosened his grip of her wrists and slipped his hand into his trousers pocket to retrieve his last resort.

    'Ouch!' Juri cried in pain. 'What have you done to me?'

    'I have just injected something that let you sleep, something that let you relax, my dear.' Ruka gave a bitter smile. 'I really wish I can bring forth you a miracle. Yes, a *MIRACLE*. At least, for tonight, forget about her, okay?'

    Juri passed out, collapsed in Ruka's arms. Ruka laid her on the bed like a goddess he worshiped. He, at last, made the scene that ran in his mind every night into reality.

    At daybreak, Juri woke up with a really bad headache. She sat up on the bed, trying to reconstruct the things happened after she passed out. Despite the realization from being naked, all she could remember was a faint murmur, 'Thank you, my love, and goodbye. May you be happy always.' She let out a deep sigh. Then she noticed a letter which was addressed to her lying silently on the table. Recognizing the handwriting, she chose to burn it without opening. 'This is no good, Captain. No matter how much you love me, there are some things that cannot change easily. To say the truth, how can I ever feel happy after last night's events happened?' She then cut off all thoughts sharply, and dressed up for school. She made the best effort to cover her true emotion swing throughout the day, by snapping anybody trying to talk to her.

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    One day later, Juri was walking in a hallway after school. Suddenly she noticed there were two more shadows on the wall.

    'Did you know? Did you know? Did you really know?' said A-ko.

    'A patient died in the hospital last night,' responded B-ko.

    'The diabetic patient who left the hospital two weeks ago? Yeah yeah, I remember him. Quite a handsome guy, isn't he?'

    'And a true lover too. I remember he said that he needed to get the miraculous power to give his beloved one one single miracle.'

    'Yeah yeah. It seems that he skipped his injection of insulin the night before, I heard this from the doctors.'

    'What made him forget his life-saving dose of injection? Probably for his love, I guess.'

    They walked away.

    Juri was rooted to the ground. A tear escaped her right eye.

~~ FIN ~~

Last edited by Tenjou_sailorsaturn (10-26-2010 01:06:23 PM)