He supposed that he should be doing something more active than walking down
the street, but with all the confusion lately, he didn’t see that he had
many options other than to entertain himself. After all, Ryouma was busy
testing his limits on his own somewhere, and all his other playmates seemed
to be wandering off in the wake of the Nationals.

He noted, suddenly, that he’d walked further than he’d planned, and looked around
to see what kind of place he’d arrived in. Turning his blue eyes to the gate next
to him, he cocked his head thoughtfully at the rose seal on top of it. The place
felt of magic and foreboding.

Which probably meant fun.

Given that the gate resisted a polite touch to it, he had to find a way around
it. If the feel of the place were any indication, it seemed that he’d annoyed
something by bypassing the gate entirely. It was really quite unreasonable, though,
for there to be a barrier that no one meant someone to overcome. He made a pleased
noise to himself and went on, only to discover an interesting tableau.

A girl with pink hair who couldn’t be more human if she tried was talking quickly
to a girl who was a not-human, and attended by a girl who might never have been
human…or alive, for that matter. The third girl turned inquiring, unnatural
green eyes on him, but he simply looked back, waiting for her to make the first
move. She crossed over to him, watching him warily, and reached out a hand to
him. She commented that the barrier had apparently been breeched in two realms,
now.

He answered her that barriers rarely concerned those people whose specialty was
to walk through walls.

The never-human replied that she did not need distractions, particularly at this
time, but that invitations might be issued for a later date.

He shifted, acknowledging her right to ask him to leave, and turned to head back
towards the gate. At the very least, he’d remember where this place was, as it
seemed to be a most interesting development. Perhaps he could bring Ryouma next
time.

The pink haired girl turned to look at the never-human, frowning quizzically.
"Anthy?"

Anthy turned back to Utena with a slight smile. "It was a cat, Utena-sama.
It must have gotten in from the street. It’s going home now."

"A cat?"

"Just a cat." Anthy smiled softly at nothing, and turned back to Utena
and Kurai.