"Did I alarm you?" asked Anthy, an enigmatic smile curling already over her pert lips as Utena looked out of respite at the fallen petals of a discarded whitening rose. "No," Ms Tenjou acknowledged even as the Rose-Bride slopes her shoulders roundly so she faced her cheery classmate in a fashion suggestible of regretful subservience. Despite Tenjou's charismatic presence Anthy often appeared calmly at Tenjou's bidding, whether she desired to or not. This made her react kind of stand-offish at first, the act irked Saionji more often nowadays but after a few weeks of this ritual it almost seemed routine. This came in handy after realising that Saionji could cunningly pass council messages and school assignments to the tomboy via the Rose-Bride express. This made the poor girl puzzled by Saionji's behaviour, but she got used to this ritualistic 'passing the parcel'. Seeing Anthy stare vacantly in such a demure manner made Utena smile however, even as Chu-chu the blue mouse acted out his endearing pantomimes.
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To be continued next post