<KiruGM> You've each been meditating on what you saw the day of the party.
<KiruGM> Kseniya, you learned that your young friend Issei had been preyed upon by an older student, possibly with the permission of faculty.
<KiruGM> The rest of you were blown through a dizzying swirl of debauchery, ending when you unlocked a secret room containing the swords you had been using to duel, apparently returned to their cases after a break-in.
<KiruGM> Kita, you used a key to enter that room. Where is that key now?
<Kita_Kiyone> I hid it my room in the dorms, in the lower drawer of my desk.
<KiruGM> And what will each of you like to do this afternoon?
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> I believe I will gossip with Tesser about the student council and jobber duellists.
<KiruGM> Very well. Kamiko is heading to the library to lean on Tesser.
<Kseniya_Opasnost> I will be doing an extra tutoring session with Issei, to see how he's doing in his lessons.
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> No leaning! Tesser is my dearest heart! I haven't seen her in so long, I wanted to catch up!
<MaxFaust> Training, then library.
<MaxFaust> LOUD then quiet.
<Inoki_Aoi> Aoi will be in the library, reading Horace's "Odes"
<KiruGM> Kseniya and Max are catching up on some studying. Yes.
<Kita_Kiyone> I'll most likely be training on the track field for the afternoon, and keeping an eye on the gate into the forest.
<KiruGM> Right!
<KiruGM> Kiyone and Max will head to their athletics, and perhaps join others later.
<KiruGM> Kamiko and Aoi are heading to Abrasax library.
<KiruGM> Kseniya, are you thinking of studying at the library, or in Valpurgis Labs?
<KiruGM> or perhaps out on the lawn or in the garden, since it's so nice
<KiruGM> Tutoring, I should say.
<Kseniya_Opasnost> Out in the garden, since it's such a nice day.
<KiruGM> Lovely.
<KiruGM> We'll begin at the library!
<KiruGM> Aoi and Kamiko, your eyes take a while to adjust to the dimness when you enter. Everything is quiet, and a shaft of light beams through the center of the study hall, striking Tesser's brown uniform loafer.
<KiruGM> When she sees you approach, Kamiko, she closes the book she's been reading and shoves it back into the stacks, behind the other books in the Comparative Religion section.
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko runs up and envelopes Tesser in a terrifyingly huge hug. "Tess-chan! Did you miss me!"
<Tesser> "oof."
<Tesser> "Hi Kamiko."
<Tesser> "Uh, Kamiko-san."
* Inoki_Aoi quietly heads over to the nearby classics section.
* Tesser takes note of Aoi's reading choices silently.
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko plays with Tesser's hair. "I missed you! It's so BORING going to these student council meetings! My council-mates have got to be the dullest people on campus!"
<Tesser> "Really? It seems like you've got some of the more interesting students on campus there...at least, the ones with the most history."
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "Do they really have a history, Tess-chan? The girls are so insufferably cheerful without *saying* anything and the boys hardly say two words!"
* Tesser stares at Kamiko.
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko returns Tesser's fond, glistening look of love.
* Tesser breaks eye contact first.
* Tesser looks at her feet.
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko pulls Tesser over to a table and sits her down, so she and Tesser can put their heads together and whisper!
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "You know Inoki-san's been coming here a lot lately... Has he..." Kamiko looks around. "been following you, too?"
* Inoki_Aoi 's face is impassive behind a copy of Horace's "Odes"
<Tesser> "He barely says a word to me. I think he's just reading."
<Tesser> "He just wants to know about everyone."
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "He could check books out if he just wanted to read! He could ask *me* if he wanted to know about you, sweet friend! I'd tell him nothing but wonderful things! I think he's coming here for a /reason/"
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko pinches Tesser's cheek and winks.
* Tesser sneaks a glance, then looks back down
<Tesser> "Why are you always mean to me, Kamiko-san?"
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "I *love* you, Tess-chan!"
<Tesser> "Ah."
* Tesser spreads her hands
<Tesser> "What do you want to know?"
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "I could never be mean to someone so sweet!"
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko pouts.
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "I just wanted to gossip about my boring old classmates with my darling friend."
<Tesser> "I can tell you're at some kind of odds with the other council members, and there've been some...changes, after you've all spoken with other students."
<Tesser> "Yoko has been on a bender since you turned down her request to put her in the Council, and Tadashi seems to have quit the boxing club altogether."
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko sighs, and looks around again.
<Tesser> [that should be Shiro, not Tadashi]
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "Can you keep a secret?"
* Tesser says nothing
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko leans closer to Tesser so she can whisper more quietly, "The school board has put the council on a major project to remake *everything* and there's been disagreements about how we can make things better."
* Tesser 's eyes flick back and forth as she considers the implications.
<Tesser> "Everything?"
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko nods, eyes big.
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "And... and I think the stress is making some of the council crack a little. They've been fighting with their closest friends! Surely you heard about what happened between Kiyone-san and Stonewall-san last night?"
* Tesser puts a hand over her mouth, considering
<Tesser> "Yes, everyone knows about that."
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "Out in the middle of a party like that! THAT'S being mean to someone, Tess-chan!"
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "That Kiyone-san could hide such cruelty behind her goodie-two shoes persona makes me worry about what she might do to Ohtori if she gets her way!"
<Tesser> "How closely are the Council involved with the faculty on these big changes? Have you spoken to anyone in the Tower?"
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "Well, Opasnost-san has been going to see Dr. Weyland an awful lot, but she won't tell me why..."
<Tesser> "Dr. Weyland."
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko nods.
<Tesser> "I know he won't support any kind of culture change at the school."
<Tesser> "Maybe she's trying to make the alterations more conservative?"
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "Maybe. I know that conservative changes won't help the people who need change most, though."
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "And Faust-san spends all of his time in the boxing gym. He's *got* to talk about things there, yes?"
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "But Inoki-san and Kiyone-san... I don't know. They seem to have burned all their bridges!"
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko looks sidelong at Aoi.
<Inoki_Aoi> ^_^
<Tesser> "Well, Aoi has always been more interested in the other students. I don't think he played with many kids his own age before he was sent to Ohtori."
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "That's so sad!"
* Tesser looks at Kamiko
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko fusses with Tesser's hair again.
<Tesser> "If you really want the upper hand on them, go straight to the top."
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "Mme. Ohtori?"
<Tesser> "No one else has connections that high."
<Tesser> "Well...that's a start anyway. Yes."
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko tilts her head.
<Tesser> "She's got an office on the ninth floor of the tower. Nine of eighteen."
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "Who were you thinking about, Tesser-sama?"
<Tesser> "If you can find out who's on the next nine floors, let me know."
* Shimabukuro_Kamiko 's mouth opens into a silent "O"
* Tesser disappears back into the stacks, as is her wont.
<KiruGM> Kseniya!
<KiruGM> You've taken Issei to Himemiya Memorial Garden to catch up and see how his studies are going.
* Kseniya_Opasnost is also keeping an eye on how Issei looks, health-wise.
<KiruGM> He seems more active and energetic than the last time you saw him, but still a little withdrawn.
<KiruGM> The bandage has gone from his arm, but there's a little red mark in the crook of his elbow still visible.
* Kseniya_Opasnost is also keeping an eye out for predatory older students. Just. In. Case.
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "So how are your declensions coming along?"
<KiruGM> Issei is glad you asked, and expounds for some time on his learning of languages.
<KiruGM> As you come to the garden, the first thing you notice is that it's thick with bees.
<Kseniya_Opasnost> (Honeybees?)
<KiruGM> The roses are in full bloom, and the air is heady with their scent.
<KiruGM> Three other people are in the garden.
<KiruGM> Demi is in her school uniform and gardening gloves, kneeling in a flowerbed with her shears and apparently oblivious to the cloud of insects.
<KiruGM> Sander is sitting on a folding stool out of the main cloud, an easel in front of him. From the way he is looking at her, you can see that he is sketching Demi.
<KiruGM> Demi doesn't seem to have noticed him at all.
* Kseniya_Opasnost looks down to Issei. "How do you feel about studying here? The bees shouldn't bother us if we don't bother them."
<Issei> "Bees are pretty nice, I think. I've never been stung by one."
<Issei> "And they make the flowers grow."
<KiruGM> The third figure in the garden is also sketching, but on a huge flat canvas laid on the ground.
<KiruGM> It's Ayano, barefoot as usual, the soles of her feet black with dust.
* Kseniya_Opasnost selects a good location to sit down, where Issei can sit with his back to the people doing the drawing. So as not to be distracted. She can keep an eye on them.
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "They do! Let's work on some vocabulary for plants and nature things today."
<Issei> <<This is a...pretty flowers.>>>
<KiruGM> Ayano also appears to be painting Demi. She's got a bowl of some kind of dark, viscous fluid that she's dipping her fingers in, and smearing them right onto the canvas.
* Kseniya_Opasnost gently corrects the pluralization. <<Flower. Very good! This is...a bee. Those are...many bees.>>
<KiruGM> The bees are gathering around the bowl, and some are sticking to her painting.
* Kseniya_Opasnost wonders why Ayano would be painting with jam. Some people at this school are, it must be admitted, a little strange.
<Issei> <<The buds are blooming, and the bees are gathering to feed.>>
<Kseniya_Opasnost> <<The roses are blooming, and the bees love the roses. What's your favorite flower, Issei?>>
* Issei considers
<Issei> <<I don't know. Roses are good, but they have so many thorns. They hurt you.>>
<Issei> <<Thorns>>? Is that right?
<Kseniya_Opasnost> <<Thorns. It's the rose's defense against enemies.>> That's a new word, <<defense.>> Can you get it from context?
<Issei> "Protection?"
<Issei> "Something that keeps you safe."
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "Very close! Defense. Protection is a good word for it too. The roses can't wear armor, so they keep things away with little weapons instead."
* Issei nods
<Issei> "But they can't keep the bees away."
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "Well, they wouldn't want to. The bees are helping them. If the roses kept away everything, they'd die out."
* Issei frowns
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "These bushes wouldn't die from lack of bees, but without pollination they couldn't make more."
<Issei> "The roses die after the bees visit them and take their nectar!"
<Issei> "We had roses in my garden. That's what happens!"
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "That's true. But the thorns are to protect the bushes, not the individual roses. The roses are like... a dress that the bush wears, to ask the bees to come over."
<Issei> "The plant survives...uh....<<plant>>, but each rose withers and falls away."
* Kseniya_Opasnost can feel this simile is getting away from her.
* Issei looks at his hands and doesn't say anything.
* Kurouto_Demi is wielding the shears pretty freely, snipping off rose after rose.
* Kseniya_Opasnost watches Kurouto, and tries to think fast.
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "I don't think there are any flowers that last forever. Or any plants. Maybe it's something that science is working on."
<Kurouto_Demi> "Hello Kseniya-san! Hi Issei-chan! I didn't see you there."
* Kseniya_Opasnost waves over to Demi in some relief. "Hello! We were just talking about roses."
<Kurouto_Demi> "Ah, the roses. More than anything, they're what drew me to this school."
<Kurouto_Demi> "The beautiful pictures of the gardens, and the swirling designs in the letters they sent."
<Kurouto_Demi> "I've always loved them so much."
* Kurouto_Demi snips
<Kurouto_Demi> "Would you like one? The bushes make more than they can support because we overfeed them."
* Kurouto_Demi offers you each a lovely rose.
* Kseniya_Opasnost accepts a rose. "What happens if you don't cut the extra ones?"
<Kurouto_Demi> "They weigh the bushes down. Flowers are just groups of specialized leaves that can't produce food, only attract pollinators. They help the plants reproduce, but other than that...they're useless, really."
<Kurouto_Demi> "Though, I suppose they attract us, too."
* Kurouto_Demi smiles
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "I do love the look of roses, and the smell. Not as much as the bees seem to, though."
* Kseniya_Opasnost checks to see how Issei is doing with this.
* Issei is sullen.
<Issei> He doesn't accept a rose.
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "Do you know what type of roses last the longest?"
* Kurouto_Demi smiles
<Kurouto_Demi> "Cut and preserved ones, I suppose."
<Kurouto_Demi> "If you seal them, they never fade or die."
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "...oh! Isn't that interesting."
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "I was wondering if there were ones that didn't get picked as much."
<Kurouto_Demi> "Wild roses wither quickly. All the most beautiful ones are developed and cultivated by gardeners."
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "I suppose the ones in these gardens will last the longest, then."
* Kurouto_Demi smiles
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "Oh, Issei-kun, I'm sorry, I don't mean to neglect your lesson. Did I teach you <<cultivated>> yet?"
<KiruGM> Issei clearly wants to go home and rest.
<KiruGM> he's tired and cranky.
<KiruGM> The bees have begun to die down as the day cools, though, which is nice.
<Kseniya_Opasnost> "Maybe we should start on that next time. We've already done a lot with nouns today."
<KiruGM> Sander has packed up his stuff around the time when Demi came over to you two, and Ayano is in some kind of art fugue.
<KiruGM> Kiyone and Faust! You've finished your training for the day. Where to next?
<KiruGM> Benevento Field, which contains the track and borders the Duel Forest?
<Kita_Kiyone> Yeah, Kiyone prefers to rest out there on the grass and go over her coursework for classes.
<MaxFaust> Maybe even a wander around the Duel Forest, if it's nice and quiet.
<KiruGM> Well, the gates to the forest are locked. Will you prevail upon Kiyone to try her key?
<KiruGM> it's reasonably natural, the forest, except for that weird mirror door thing in the middle
<MaxFaust> Uh..
* MaxFaust backs up
<MaxFaust> What is it?
<KiruGM> The door to the dueling arena?
<MaxFaust> Nnnno, don't want to go there.
<MaxFaust> This is less peaceful and relaxing than I would have hoped.
<KiruGM> it does fix Max's attention, that door.
<KiruGM> It's wrong. It shouldn't be like that.
* Kita_Kiyone watches quietly a couple steps back from Max.
<KiruGM> Shouldn't appear for no reason. Shouldn't be visible from nowhere else.
<Kita_Kiyone> "Well, I'm glad it still bothers you, that passage, Faust-kun."
<KiruGM> Eveything about it is slightly offensive and offputting.
<Kita_Kiyone> "I'd originally thought of you as just boldly accepting it, like Kseniya-chan, despite how... off, the whole thing is. But maybe you'd just been swept up in the moment to really grasp it."
<Kita_Kiyone> "Could I ask a question of you, about the duels?"
* MaxFaust snaps out of it, to a welcome distraction
<MaxFaust> "Duels?"
<MaxFaust> "Oh, right. What is it?"
<Kita_Kiyone> "Do you believe Kurouto-sempai about what they're meant to accomplish? Bring about some new world order, change what we don't care for about the world as it is to the world we wish we had?"
<MaxFaust> "Of course not. What kind of fool do you think I am? How could it?"
<Kita_Kiyone> "I don't know. I wish it were true... there are things I want to change, but she's been so sketchy on the details, and it's so much power to put in the hands of, well, us. I just wanted to know why you accepted, if you also think so."
* Kita_Kiyone walks past Max, facing her back towards the doorway to keep his attention on her rather than the mystery object.
* MaxFaust turns his back
<Kita_Kiyone> "Your reasons are your own then? Fine, I can understand that."
* Kita_Kiyone smiles, looks back towards the mystery door, then back at Faust.
<MaxFaust> "Oh, um. It's no big thing."
<MaxFaust> "If the only way to see how it works is to take part, and all. It's just duelling."
<MaxFaust> "It's nothing serious."
<Kita_Kiyone> "It's just another contest."
* Kita_Kiyone nods.
<KiruGM> You hear a twig snap in the distance.
<KiruGM> Someone is coming towards you from the school.
<Kita_Kiyone> "Y'know, we could look around... up there? Withou-"
* Kita_Kiyone runs quickly towards some of the undergrowth outside of the clearing. Best to not give away she has a key in.
* MaxFaust stands right out in the open having a good old look
<Kurouto_Demi> "Faust-san! Kiyone-san! This is fortunate."
* Kurouto_Demi is leading a sort of drugged-looking Althea.
* Kita_Kiyone tchs, but then sees the state of Althea.
<MaxFaust> "Oh, it's you. What's going on?"
<Kurouto_Demi> "I placed the letters in your locker, Kiyone-san, but I must have stayed too late gardening and not caught you before you left."
* Kurouto_Demi addresses the undergrowth
* Kurouto_Demi beams at Faust
<Kurouto_Demi> "We're getting close to the last of the heats! You've all been exceptionally talented so far."
<Kurouto_Demi> "These are the last two finals before we begin the game in earnest."
* Kita_Kiyone moves out of the undergrowth, hiding her key in her schoolbag.
* Kurouto_Demi gestures to Althea, who is swaying slightly
* MaxFaust frowns
<MaxFaust> "Is she alright? Did she take one to the head already?"
<Kurouto_Demi> "Miss Stonewall has kindly agreed to help us."
* Kurouto_Demi produces two swords from...somewhere
<Kurouto_Demi> "I was just bringing her up to the arena to meet you when you came up. But I see you've already gotten in..."
<Kurouto_Demi> "Shall we proceed?"
* Kita_Kiyone tries to think of a plausible explanation, then figures it's enough that she isn't sure how we got in.
* Kurouto_Demi moves to the door, and Althea follows, as if on a leash
<MaxFaust> "Proceed? Who's fighting? How's she gonna help? She shouldn't be fighting.."
* MaxFaust snaps his fingers at Althea
<MaxFaust> "Hey. Hey, you. Can you hear me?"
<Kurouto_Demi> "Max-san, if you wish to watch the duels, I'm afraid you'll have to go to the observation platform in the tower. Better hurry...we'll be starting presently."
* Althea_Stonewall can't hear Max, apparently.
* Kurouto_Demi begins the long walk up the stair.
* MaxFaust sprints up the stairs to the observation platform
* Kita_Kiyone follows Kurouto-sempai and Althea. There's some concern for her former friend in her eyes, but buried behind something else.
<KiruGM> Max, from the platform you can distantly see the dueling arena, floating weirdly above the forest. A pair of binoculars sit out for closer viewing.
<KiruGM> Through them, Demi's ceremonial gestures are sharp, but silent. You can, however, hear the tolling of distant bells.
<KiruGM> Both duelists hold rapiers and face each other, roses at their breasts. Demi's hands descend, and the duel begins.
<KiruGM> Round one! Declare intentions!
-GameServ/#utena2012- <Roll for Althea_Stonewall [d10]: 8>
-GameServ/#utena2012- <Roll for Kita_Kiyone [d10]: 10>
<KiruGM> 11 for Althea, 12 for Kiyone.
<KiruGM> Kiyone successfully feints left, and when Althea lunges for her guard, Kiyone is already behind her, waiting.
<KiruGM> +4 to Kiyone's next action.
<Althea_Stonewall> "Kiyone-chan! Please! I miss you so much!"
<KiruGM> ROUND 2
<Kita_Kiyone> Kiyone holds her sword up straight across, like in Spanish fencing, keeping as much distance from Althea as possible. "And what am I supposed to do about that? Why can't you understand why I keep pushing you away?"
-GameServ/#utena2012- <Roll for Althea_Stonewall [d10]: 5>
-GameServ/#utena2012- <Roll for Kita_Kiyone [d10]: 9>
<KiruGM> 9 for Althea, 14 for Kiyone
* Althea_Stonewall stumbles backward, and can't help receiving a slice from Kiyone's deft slashing.
<KiruGM> Touche to Kiyone.
<KiruGM> Kiyone's next attack is at +3
<Althea_Stonewall> "I know I've hurt you. But I need you. I'm hurting and I need my best friend!"
<KiruGM> ROUND 3
<Kita_Kiyone> "/You're/ hurting? I burned down everything I had after I saw you with him. It wasn't fair!"
-GameServ/#utena2012- <Roll for Althea_Stonewall [d10]: 5>
-GameServ/#utena2012- <Roll for Kita_Kiyone [d10]: 6>
<KiruGM> 9 for Althea, 12 for Kiyone
<KiruGM> Both girls collide, and Kiyone kicks Althea's legs out from under her.
* Kita_Kiyone pulls back from putting the blade to Althea's throat, and then steps back again.
<Kita_Kiyone> "I should've /killed/ you for what you did to me, for what you stole from me!"
<Althea_Stonewall> "I've...I've lost everything."
<KiruGM> Touche to Kiyone.
<KiruGM> ROUND 4
<Kita_Kiyone> "WE did, Althea, don't you get it? Do you think I /like/ hurting you? Do you think I like having people know what the hell I hide behind the face of little proper atheltic girl?"
<Althea_Stonewall> "I never meant to hide anything from you."
<Althea_Stonewall> "But I hate you for what you've done to me."
* Althea_Stonewall rises from the ground and puts her sword out straight, panting and glaring
<Kita_Kiyone> "But you did! I walked in on you two, and I looked like a goddamn idiot, Althea. So if we're going to be enemies, let's be enemies."
-GameServ/#utena2012- <Roll for Althea_Stonewall [d10]: 3>
<Kita_Kiyone> "BECAUSE I'M SICK OF LOOKING AT YOU AND HATING YOU AND LOVING YOU!"
-GameServ/#utena2012- <Roll for Kita_Kiyone [d10]: 5>
<KiruGM> 6 for Althea, 10 for Kiyone.
<KiruGM> Kiyone explodes Althea's rose in a humiliating shower of pale yellow petals.
<KiruGM> Althea crumples, truly broken.
<KiruGM> Bells toll distantly, and Demi approaches from her vantage point at the edge of the arena.
<Kurouto_Demi> "Well done, Kiyone! You are a truly talented duelist."
<Kurouto_Demi> "I am so proud of the crop this year."
* Kita_Kiyone holds her free hand sleeve up to her eye, back to Althea.
<Kurouto_Demi> "May I have your sword, please?"
<Kita_Kiyone> "Well, I'm glad someone's proud of that..."
* Kita_Kiyone she holds her sword limply in her arm, also not facing Kurouto-sempai.
<Kita_Kiyone> "What's the point of this, Kurouto."
* Kurouto_Demi gently wrests it from Kiyone's hand, and prises Althea's sword out of her clammy fingers
<Kurouto_Demi> "We are changing the world, Kiyone-san."
<Kita_Kiyone> "Then good, because all mine has anymore is ruins."
* Kita_Kiyone she starts walking back down the stairway, ignoring Althea's form like trash.
* Kurouto_Demi follows behind, leaving Althea on her hands and knees in the arena.
<KiruGM> The sun sinks into the sea in the west, flattening out like a split yolk.
<KiruGM> Darkness falls over Ohtori. The end of another day.
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