4

The police have invaded Utena's apartment, prodded open her drawers and snagged her computer. Under authority of Inspector Lunge (INTERPOL), they have warrented themselves into breaking in - obtaining whatever data on the Infiltrator, and Utena's connection to it.

Lunge surveys the modest apartment, taking in the eclectic decoration, the unkempt dishes still in the sink, the customly lush room lighting, while his hands fidget by his side, typing in an imaginary keyboard what his senses are taking in.

Subject Tenjou Utena, age 36, living alone. She has a taste for art, signifying a strong interior life and an independent spirit, separate from everyone else.

"Lunge, we're heading back to analyze her disk drives."

The inspector's sharply-defined eyebrow rises. He nudges his collar and reluctantly, he leaves with the rest of the team, but not before grabbing a framed photo of Utena, dressed up fancifully with a wig and a futuristic soldier's outfit. You can tell an awful lot about people, the way they choose to present themselves, and in the eyes when they smile. For Utena, she would be a feisty one to deal with if cornered.

A team of two police patrols are left, in case Utena tries to come home. They don't do their job very vigilently, and close to midnight, they are on their phones, livestreaming the latest Korean drama while munching on fried onion rings.

A random kid enters the apartment lobby, wearing a hat, and a pizza box at hand. When he greets the reception, he tells them he wants to deliver it personally as that's Fat Tony's style, and when he gets off on the eighth floor, he pulls out Utena's house key and goes in her room (yellow-taped off).

Inside – he feels it's a cozy place, he pulls out his phone as a flashlight and enters Utena's bedroom, where her drawers are open, and her desk is.. whoa, that computer setup is totally bitching! She must be fun to hang around with! But no time for that, he's in a rush, and he heads for the closet, where he slides the doors aside, and on the top shelf, he sees it unmistakably. The white jewel box, which has the pink rose crest embossed on it, just like how the lady said.

He grabs it.

/

A block away, the kid arrives at the 7-Eleven store, where he meets the pink-haired lady by the tables, and presents her with the box and the keys.

"You got an nice home, miss," the kid goes, seating himself by her.

"You did oh, so well, Raki." Utena offers him the rest of the 35,000 yen in bills. "Nobody saw you, right?"

"Not that I know of. You're sure the cameras aren't somethin' to worry about? What if someone finds out I went in? There's police tape across your door.."

"You're a family friend who forgot his heirloom, that's all," Utena says. She's certain Souji has disabled the camera feeds while Raki's in action, but it's a major relief.. now she has the duelist's ring. Raki is someone she finds every morning on the weekends, when she goes for some grocery shopping, finding him chatting with his friends.

And now, she has to bid him goodbye.

"I've got to go," Utena says. "Am on a tight schedule."

"Where to?" he asks.

She wishes she could tell him everything, in one selfish act of unburdening one's mind over someone to trust, but what would that really do? So instead, Utena says, "I'm paying a visit to an old friend."

And without meaning to, she.. rests her fingers over Raki's face, stroking him gently. He's confused, but he finds her touch warm, comforting, you could absorb her sweet perfume..

/

Luckily, you can pay for an Uber ride in cash, and it's cash which Utena has withdrawn by the dozen – she's a lady on the run, and the police will be tracking her through her card purchases otherwise. She tells the driver to head for the harbour, while her heart palpitates. Utena doesn't notice how all the traffic lights turn in her ride's favour – she just pulls out the white box, and snugly puts the ring on.

She grasps onto her purse hard, as she has half her savings put out to cash, in 10,000 yen bills. When a police cruiser rushes by across an intersection, Utena ducks down, and the driver – noting her in his mirror, "Hey, why the long face?" tries cheering her up.

He taps something on his dashboard-mounted phone, and Utena likes it. She remembers ice skating as a kid, and the years have gone by, but she's never forgotten the song from Madonna in the stadium.

"Eyyy, you like dem classics too!" the driver goes.

Utena cracks a smile. A good rule of thumb in life, when you're venturing out into uncharted territory is if you encounter something – be it a white cat coming your way, or a nice driver – and it makes you happy, it's a sign you're doing the right thing.

She bobs her head, just as her ride parks by the harbour, and she gives the driver one of the bills, "Don't worry about the change."

The driver's eyes widen with surprise, it's like he's won the lottery, "Oooh woow! I'll never forget you!"

/

There are so many people who join the march in Tokyo over the freedom protests in Hong Kong; even live concerts are being held in support. So the lines for Tokyo ferries are more crowded than Utena expects, filled with young people carrying homemade banners.

Utena is sandwiched between a group of K-Pop enthusiasts. She struggles to get her ID out, and her heart pounds as she's able to read her own name and signature embedded. Could she really believe in Souji.. this Tomoko identity.

And then it's her turn by the line-up counter, and she presents her ID, moment of truth.

The girl there swipes the card, her console beeps – she eyeballs Utena nervously, and then she leans in, whispers: "I've been told to hand this to you."

It's a burner phone. A black Nokia, in fact, so sturdy in her hands.

Utena glances at the girl, but the next thing she sees is her calling out for the next one in line. She takes it as a sign that it's going smoothly, and finds the ferry, docked -

Her phone rings.

"Yes?" she goes, in a harried whisper.

"Oh, we meet again." Souji must be thrilled from being a remote control freak. "Sit down, enjoy the ride. If I were you, I would ask the bartender for a Vesper martini, it helps ease the nerves."

The ferry has modernized since Utena last rode it – the seats are padded, and it resembles a first class lounge, complete with a holographic fireplace, and android servants. Utena puts the phone to the side, and by the well-stocked bar, over the noise of a puppy barking loudly, she asks for a Vesper martini.

"What's a Vesper martini?"

Utena pulls up the phone. "He doesn't know what a Vesper martini is.."

"3 ounces gin," Souji recites, "one ounce vodka, and a half-ounce of dry vermouth. Shaken.. not stirred."

So the bartender does just that, and adds a dash of olive on top, and Utena sips it, and it goes down smooth. She begins to realise how spent she feels; her mind has been buzzing with readiness for the entire past two days, and she finds a lounge seat to sink in.

The fireplace flickers, and it's hypnotic to the eyes.. like when Anthy used to bake Utena and everyone in the dorms some gingerbread snaps, when the weather would grow cold come Christmas season, and everyone huddled up by the fireplace, to read, to study, or plain goof off.

Anthy.. a person wiped out of history.. a friend true and dear in all of Utena's life. Maybe Souji has some answers..

Utena snaps out of her reverie and gets her phone. "Souji, do you know what Dios has done with Anthy?"

A beat.

"I do not know. What is the last thing you remember of Anthy?"

"I was.. bleeding. A stone gateway, covered with thorns. Dios had her trapped within the coffin, he always had her trapped there, and I pricked my hands, prying the vines away. I reached for her. Then I woke up, back in my dorm. She was gone. Like I was supposed to believe that was all a dream. If I stood up to Akio-"

"Inferring from your experience, and my understanding of Akio and Anthy, this is a trap. You did stand up to Akio, Utena. You were on the verge of rescuing Anthy from his shell, and in a last resort, he has.. led you to a false- not false, objectively speaking, but relative to you, a false timeline. You know it, but you cannot speak of it with anyone else.. and in the following months after you 'woke' up from that dream of Anthy, you must have been driven mad by her absence, grasping after her in all the spaces she filled you with."

"God.. I want her back so bad.." Utena doesn't notice how the puppy has stopped barking, instead regarding her warily now.

"The punishment," Souji goes, "is never fulfilling your life's potential. Heartbreak, after all, has ruined many a person's life, yours being not the first – or the last."

The ring on Utena's hand has grown out crystalline veins, glistening, burrowing down the length of her ring finger.

"I could continue mourning," Utena goes. "Every day, up to now. Watching life pass me by, as I've withered into this woman nearing middle age. If Anthy is truly out-of-sync with time, then maybe Akio can bring her back. Restore her, and what I've lost.."

"You seem to take it so personally," Souji quips. "The other duellists all had craved Anthy just for power, men and women alike, and the assuredness that comes with having one's inner wishes at their fingertips. But you, you love her.. as you'd want to be loved, beyond the hardships you've endured. Out of everyone else, your reasons of wanting Anthy are somewhat unique."

How Souji says it, it makes Utena almost proud.

"Love.." Utena utters from her lips – something she hasn't said, to anyone for a long while. From the time she's fallen in love with the figure skater as a young girl, to being touched by the young prince by her parents' grave, and.. the people she's met, touched, and been touched by, all residing in her, forever. "Souji," she says, "whatever you really have planned once we find Anthy, I just want you to know, you deserve to have lived."

"I am thriving," Souji goes.

"Not like this," Utena says. "As a real person, warts, life's headaches and all. Living as some piece of information, like some digital neckbeard, you're really missing out. I might have fought you and your cronies.. but if it were another way, I would have been delighted in taking you out with me, even if it was just for dinner."

".. that's, rather kind of you," she hears him say. "If I had to hand the torch to you, to make the world as your heart sees it-"

"I'll be happy to stop by the library for you," Utena says. "Check out all those obscure books of Nietzsche from the shelves."

"You're really pushing it, aren't you."

And Utena lets out a guffaw – the first time in a while. "I've never been much into reading. But who knows.."

"The library's not just for books," Souji says, with a gusto. "There's videotapes, and not just the educational ones about watching birds nest in old branches. A whole collection of Italian horror movies, I've curated over the years, and the Spaghetti Westerns, and erotica-"

"OK, I'mma stop you there," Utena goes. "So I watch porn, everyone does, and maybe you know what I'm into, but don't you think for a second you're free to delve into cyber-sex territory with me, you dirty old perv-"

"That's not what I meant.."

"-oh, I'm kidding, Souji! Relax! First thing, you should lighten up, even as some super god-sentient being from cyberspace. Probably a lot of people have seen my browsing history already.. and I do the occasional strip-tease for anyone willing to cough up some buck. Maybe you'd be interested?"

".. oh boy," she hears from the other end, and Utena swears if Souji were a real person, he'd be fucking blushing so hard right now.