Welcome to the New Year

[garden_of_maidens]

"Gokigenyou."

"Gokigenyou."

The clear morning greeting travels through the serene, blue sky.

Today, once again, the maidens that gather in the Virgin Mary's garden smile purely to one another as they pass under the tall gateway.
Wrapping their innocent bodies and souls is a deep-coloured school uniform.

Walking slowly as to not disturb the plaits in their skirts, so as to not toss their white sailor scarves into disarray... such is the standard of modesty here. Running because one is in danger of missing class, for instance, is too undignified a sight for students to wish upon themselves here.

Lillian Private Academy for Women.

Founded in Meiji 34, this academy was originally intended for the young women of nobility, and is now a Catholic academy of prestigious tradition. Placed in downtown Tokyo, where you can still see traces of Musashi Field's greenery, it is protected by God, a garden where maidens can receive tutelage from pre-school to university.

Time passes, and even now, in Heisei, three era-names past Meiji, it is a valuable academy, where nurtured ladies raised in greenhouses are shipped out in carefully packaged boxes after 18 years of schooling - an arrangement that continues to survive.
As the last note of Maria-sama's Soul rings through the chapel, echoing into the high rafters, the Yamayurikai stands tall at the front of the procession, ready to give out the gifts of rosaries to their newest arrivals.

The respective classes of each first-year are called, and each one receives their gift from the Yamayurikai members. The second and third year students are sitting by, simply watching, perhaps commenting quietly to each other whenever a particularly interesting first-year passes by, but they are quick to silence when the stern gazes of the nuns passes over them.

A new year has come to Lillian Academy, and the students are ready to start their adventures in life, love, and everything else.

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[Open post for the welcoming ceremony and the beginning of the year! Feel free to use this for the actual ceremony, shortly thereafter, or the general first day of school. Welcome!]

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Everyone say hello to *The* Rosa Gigantea

[ibara_no_mori]

[A:

And up there with the rest of the Yamayurikai is Rosa Gigantea herself. At least in this incarnation. Interestingly enough, she is not right in the thick of things. While she does hand out rosaries, she seems more prone to standing near the back when the announcements for classes go up, and any other words are spoken. Still, she's just a bit behind Rosa Chinensis, so as not to look too antisocial.

To any first years that walk by her, she offers a rather large grin that seems a bit out of place for such a reserved school, and hands over the rosary. She looks a lot more charming than she probably is, but that doesn't mean she's not prone to accidentally stealing hearts. Contain thy dokis.]


[B:

Unfortunately, someone won't let her just be antisocial as she wants to be the entire day (she loves Youko, I promise), and the Journalism club wants her to make an appearance, so as the day winds to an end, and the festivities start to draw to a close, you have 1x Rosa Gigantea in the midst of students and she's happily greeting folks, trying to get them used to a local celebrity being among them.] Ah, we're planning our annual play in the later spring, so be sure to look out for that! There's going to be some interesting things at the Culture Festival, as well. Hey, don't look so shy! C'mere. [Uh oh. Someone just got singled out. Is it you?]

[C:

And then, at the Rose Mansion, Sei's back in her natural environment. A bit too much socializing, perhaps, because she's sitting near one of the windows, merely watching out toward the school grounds. Have a reason to want to visit the Rose Mansion and the Roses? Come say hello! Because as soon as the horribly creaky stairs start up, and the door opens, she's back to looking way more friendly than she feels, but who cares, it's part of what she agreed to, being a Rose.] Welcome to the Rose Mansion. How can I help you?

[ufonium]

[A:

You know, she's almost worried this is going to end in her saying or doing something stupid, but at the same time, she's entirely sure that nothing they're doing involves actually talking to anyone if she doesn't want to. There's a titter through the crowd as they get closer to the Yamayurikai - that's actually them! but Kumiko looks more or less nonplussed.

In fact, she sort of looks around, first at the girls ahead of her, and then at whomever is behind her, to see if she should be more wound up about this. Hey, person behind her... how are you reacting?]

[B:

Well, that was exciting. She keeps playing and fidgeting with her rosary, though, turning over the silver cross in her fingers. She's so distracted, she might have just almost walked into someone-] Heeeeii--! S-sorry! [And made a loud enough outburst to garner stares.

Shh, Kumiko. Speaking quietly is preferred here.]

[ofwindandarrows]

[A:

Haha, she remembers being a first year. Remembers it being sort of terrifying, walking up to see the Yamayurikai. Now... now it's a little different, and while the first-years mill about after school, she starts getting her stuff ready to head out to the archery range. Ah, but it looks like-] Oh, hey. Ya lost? The campus is pretty big, so don't be afraid to ask if you need directions.

[B:

Other than that, this is a Yukari Takeba - popular by means of being pretty and an award-winning archer for the school's team, she's also known as being super friendly, and outgoing, making her popular with the first years and other second years especially.

Her Soeur status is also always kind of a mystery. For some reason, that part of her life has become a mystery, but boy people like to talk about it-] I can hear you, you know.

[Oops. Ya talked about it too loud.]

Chie Satonaka | Second Year

[feminine_carnivore]

[ There's... a number of whispers when it comes to Chie, when she moves to find her seat. Tomboyish, with spats peaking out of her dress, with light brown hair that makes her look like one of her parents must be from outside Japan. Amongst a school filled with upper class ladies of high ranking families with well known names, Chie Satonaka isn't really the usual type here.

But she holds herself well. Friends with everyone. Vice-Captain of the martial arts club. And being scouted as a soeur, or at least that's what the rumors are. But she's usually seen with one girl more than any other, making her chances seem all the slimmer.

In the end though, despite any rumors about her, Chie is happy. Late, by the fact that she blows past the statue of Mary herself, with a call of "I'm sorry Mary-sama!" as she tries to make it to the welcoming ceremony before any of the sisters realize she is missing.

And then later on after nearly falling asleep during the ceremony.. she'll be back to her usual unladylike energy as she stands around with a couple of her teammates, trying to garner the interest of any first years in her club. ]

Come join the Martial Arts Club! I promise you'll only like, get a little hurt sometimes!


[ ooc: Feel free to assume CR, romantic or otherwise! Or get in touch if you wanna plan something out~ ]

Naoto Shirogane | First Year

[truedetective]

[The school uniform mandates a long skirt and loafers. Naoto had fought that requirement tooth and nail. It wasn't just that her business as a private detective sometimes required her to leave the school on short notice and that skirts were hardly practical for, say, police investigations... though that was a big part of it. More importantly, Naoto genuinely hated wearing skirts. Whenever she was in a skirt, she felt wholly ill at ease. The Yamayurikai had been fairly strict, but ultimately the sway of her grandfather had prevailed, and she'd been allowed to wear slacks and a boy's button-down shirt instead of the blouse and skirt she'd been supposed to wear. The cap had been a step too far, however. She's more comfortable dressing like this, though it does mean she stands out and catches the attention of other students. Just on the first day, she's heard plenty of chatter as she passes by, people mentioning her "cool" look, though Naoto's not sure what, exactly, is cool about her. It's morning, after the welcoming ceremony, and Naoto arrives at her shoe locker, bending down to take her sneakers off and put them in the cubby hole... only to find a letter there. With a little sigh, she takes it out once her shoes are stowed away and opens it.] A love letter...? Already?

Euphemia li Britannia | Second Year

[whitequeens]

[The school was once for the children of the nobility, but had in recent years become a school merely for the well-to-do, mostly. Euphemia, however, is the exception to that-- she's genuine royalty.

Euphie is a princess from a small European nation, who has been studying abroad in Japan for a year now to learn more about the world around her. Aside from her expensive wardrobe and impeccable manners, though, it might be difficult to tell that she's actual royalty and not merely a child of the upper crust like so many others here; she's warm and affable and eager to make friends and experience school like a normal commoner girl might.

She's nearly fluent in Japanese by now, but every so often stumbles with her second tongue. Which is why she's standing by the door, her long rose-colored hair pinned back, and bowing to all the new first-year students in welcome, saying:] I hope you enjoyed the upcoming year!

[She's trying, at least.]

Reimu Hakurei | Second Year

[fantasynature]

a

[ Rosa Chinensis en bouton.

The soeur of the Rosa Chinensis, stood there at the welcoming ceremony in her uniform, looking like she'd rather be anywhere but here. Long black hair, a tired, bored look, standing behind her onee-sama with the rest of the Yamayurikai. She doesn't speak, no one really needs to hear from her anyway.

With a sigh, after the ceremony is over finally, Reimu wanders off to find herself a quiet place where the nuns won't look for her. Everyone else is probably meeting first years, scoping out new soeurs... but Reimu looks like she just wants a nap. ]

b

[ After the ceremony, on her way to the clubhouse, Reimu is a bit more lively. She's got an armful of senbei and a bag of fresh tea. She's already got one of the rice crackers hanging out of her mouth. Though perhaps lively isn't the best description. She's surly, more like it, given just how many girls come up to her to bother her. A girl with blond hair who teases her, taking a cracker. A teacher who does the same. The head of the newspaper club who rushes past to grab one.

By the time she reaches the Yamayurikai building the Rose Mansion, she's completely empty of crackers, and not happy about it. ]

I'm going to beat the hell out of the next person who takes any of my snacks!

[complementing]

[Minako turns around in her seat to give the offending gossipers the most dangerous, sweetest smile she can muster until they get the point and lower their voices, heads bowing to talk about her now, no doubt. Minako faces forward again once she's satisfied.]

Honestly, you'd think they'd have learned by now to gossip out of earshot.

[complementing]

[And here comes along another second year that gets whispered about. Minako breaks out into a huge smile when her ears catch wind of Chie's marketing strategy, and she can't help herself from approaching and teasing.]

Only a little? How disappointing.

Minako Arisato || Second Year

[complementing]

[ Ceremony ]

[It's mostly a lack of precedent that landed one Minako Arisato in this situation. Being a second year transfer was strange enough to begin with, but when the question of how she would receive her rosary came up, the nuns had given each other significant looks before deciding that she would receive her rosary along with the first years, and sit with the second year class afterward.

So this is Minako, towering over the tiny first years as she receives her rosary from the Yamayurkai members. She smiles politely enough, but when she returns to her seat with the second years, she's giving her rosary a bewildered look, as if she's still not sure how she got into this school. Maybe a fellow second year could kindly ask if she's alright.]

[ After the Ceremony ]

[There's still about fifteen minutes before club time officially starts, but she's already heading to the club buildings, eager to get rid of her excess energy. No matter what kind of activity or ceremony it is, sitting still in a chair with only leg bouncing as a distraction is the worst.]

Excuse me, there's a volleyball club here, right? Could you please tell me where I can sign up?

A

[theleonking]

[Though her flashy appearance certainly stands out in the procession of first-years, Leonmitchelli's demeanor is appropriate enough, her excessive confidence betrayed only to those who can discern the subtle shades that separate her idle-but-alert curiosity from the nervous energy that seethes under the quiet dignity of the ceremony as the new inductees get their first taste of the school's famously ritualized high culture.

When she sees that grin though she flashes her own right back, hand squeezing her upperclassman's in a friendly, if forward greeting as she takes the rosary. No dokis here, but she's happy to find what she takes for a possible kindred spirit.]

[ibara_no_mori]

[Well, if her surprised look is anything to go by, that particular reaction wasn't what she was expecting.

It's something of a faux pas, standing in front the entire school in one of the most time-honored traditions it even has, to speak out loud, but Sei has always been a little... against the grain as an individual.]

... The first years this year sure are shaping up to be something...

[She watches the other girl as she walks by, glancing over her shoulder just briefly. ... This is going to end in her being sought out, isn't it? Maybe she'll have to grab this one's attention first. Color her somewhat intrigued.]

They're gonna take the girls by stoooorm. BONE STOOOORM

[ibara_no_mori]

[You know what? Sei instantly liked this one. She really only wishes she had the gall to try to get an exception to the uniform rule... but, really, her little phase of rebelliousness had been quashed somewhere between her second and third years, and she had to actually take the whole Yamayurikai thing seriously. Plus she didn't really hate the uniform skirt, she just sort of hated the uniform in general.

Ah, well, all things in the past now. Sei's not the cold, grumpy, antisocial grouch she used to be. She's an overtly friendly, popular, flirtatious antisocial... cult of personality now. And this first year? She likes this first year.

These first years sure are something, though.] You're gonna be popular, trust me on that.

[Thanks, Sei, that's probably just what she wants to hear.] If you can ignore all the noisy ghosts in the background, at least.

b

[green_eyed]

-It is her! Hard to miss those green eyes, made to almost glow by the midday light, and she loathes it, because like the rest of her appearance, it leads to staring and, when someone is feeling particularly bold, shit like this. Unlike most of the girls in her class, she gives pretty much zero fucks about Sei Satou, or any of the Roses. She just wanted to make her way to her dorm and shut down for the rest of the day.

She wasn't being shy, it was just too much. And when Sei called out to her, her shoulders stiffened as if she'd just been scolded, freezing up, before starting to walk even faster, now, away from the others, as if fleeing the scene.-

[ibara_no_mori]

[... Hell, maybe the second years are something, too, she thinks, a little. Maybe she's just getting old. She is going on 18...]

You have to work on your sales pitch a little. [Just a friendly word from a passing Rose. The crowd seems to part in front of her, like she's either something that's untouchable or... something that shouldn't be touched.

Of course, as soon as she says that, a little murmur goes through the crowd that's following her around.] How about... pitching it to the vain girls that they can use it to lose weight? [Sei, that's literally not any better.]

[ufonium]

Wow, a foreigner. [Not that Kumiko's from a small place - Kyoto is still a major city, and even if she's new here, herself, she shouldn't... really... be that surprised and...

... And she can't speak Japanese super well.]

That's... that's not right, either... [She gives a little laugh. She thinks she's talking to herself, hardly realizing she said some of that crap out loud.]

B

[ufonium]

[GOD DID THEY REALLY HAVE TO SEND THEIR NEWEST RECRUIT TO TALK TO THE YAMAYURIKAI. This is like... trial by fire. She never even grew up in this school district and she can feel the pure reverence that the whole student body holds for the much-vaunted Yamayurikai.

She honestly... doesn't care, but why does she have to be the one to talk to them? ... She's horrible with people. This is going to end in the bad kind of spectacle.] Ah, my senpai are su- AH!

[The stairs to the meeting room in the Rose Mansion squeak up a storm, but apparently even that wasn't enough to warn Kumiko there's something coming.

Also, when she speaks, it all tumbles out in a quick mess as she turns, bows, and holds out a folder with some paperwork in it.]

Yes hello, I am Kumiko Oumae and I am here on behalf of the band, we need to talk to the Yamayurikai!

[ofwindandarrows]

[And Yukari, for her part, rolls her eyes and faces forward, about halfway into the turn back to shush the girls herself.] You know, I shouldn't really be affected by it, but why is everyone so curious? It's not like I'm part of the Yamayurikai or anything. [There's probably a yet in there; she is one of the more popular girls outside of that particular circle, and is a running favorite for being head of the archery team for next year, even if she's not the captain's soeur. Rumors are everywhere about who might be out for her hand, though.

And she remains as quiet as ever about it.]

I mean, I figured high school would be full of rumors and stuff, but this is more than I expected.

[ibara_no_mori]

[Honestly, watching the first years flounder when they came to take their rosaries was nothing new. Pretty much all of them did it, especially since they were caught up in the Shiny New syndrome of just getting into high school, and just barely starting to understand the rumors about the Yamayurikai, but acknowledging them as some kind of presence or force. (Even if they're not).

But this one doesn't look shy. Well, yes, she does look shy, but not in the right way. She looks... angry and withdrawn.] Hey...

[Sei tries to go for a more casual, calm tone, just to try to grab the younger girl's attention. Should she put forth the effort to... more or less nip this in the bud? Hm. Well, someone, sooner or later, was going to teach her it, and the girl'll probably be picked up for having a Soeur, so really Sei shouldn't bother, but she knows that sort of grouchy antisocial grump. She lived it most of her life, after all.] It's almost over.

[That's all she says. The implied it'll be better soon hanging in the air.]

Riko Sakurauchi | Second Year

[soundsofthesea]

[Ceremony:]

[Has it really been a year since her own entrance ceremony? It doesn't feel like it, Riko thinks as she watches the nervous first-years. It's nostalgic, in a good way.

Rosa Foetida en bouton she may be, but she doesn't need to say anything. She tries her best to be reassuring, giving every girl a warm smile as she receives her rosary. Once everything is finished, she can be found just outside, ready to direct new students or just say a friendly hello.]

[Later:]

[It's a lovely day, and the windows to the music room are open. The sounds of piano music can be heard, and if you peek inside, you'll see Riko at the piano. School may be in session, but she has a piano competition coming up and isn't going to skip out on practice. She might not be happy to be interrupted, but she certainly doesn't mind if someone listens.]

[green_eyed]

... -She stopped, legs feeling like they were shaking. Something in the other girl's tone seemed to seize her... She didn't pretend to know what it was, but it made her feel like she could at least talk to her, even if she didn't necessarily believe her.-

Today is... but there'll be tomorrow, too. And after that, another day...

[ufonium]

[The wonderful advantages of being a first year - and one without a Soeur, in fact - is that Kumiko gets stuck doing all the gofer work. The wind ensemble band had their first little meeting, and it would've been just her luck that she left one of her notebooks behind in the music room. Not one for any class she has coming up today, but she heads out to grab it just before lunch is over.

What she is not expecting is someone at the piano, and someone that seems like they've been there for a while. She knows people don't like being interrupted when practicing... she doesn't much either, when she bothers to actually do it.

Wait, she knows this face... right? Maybe... ohhh, she was up there during the welcoming ceremony with the Yamayurikai.

... Uhh mmmmaybe she should come back later to get that notebook, it's not that important.

Or she could sit there, indecisive, and stare into the room like a deer lost in the headlights. The music's very good, and she'll always have a musical affiliation.]

[ibara_no_mori]

But didn't you know?

[Oh, she knows this one. She knows this one quite well. Her onee-sama said it to her once, and maybe they can skip to the happier part of the ending there before this gets too bad.]

No one can predict the future.

[Really. It'll get better. She might have to watch out for this one, though. The less of a spectacle the girl can make of herself in the future, the better it'll be for her.]

[green_eyed]

-Parsee snorted... a weird half smile forming on her lips as she finally turned to look at the other girl.-

If you're saying the world might end tomorrow, sign me the hell up.

[ibara_no_mori]

[This is going to be one heck of an interesting school year already. What is up with these First Years? Her inner younger, angrier self approves, but she's grown up enough to know not to encourage it. She knows she's getting a look from the Chinensis family, so she cuts the conversation short, with a grin.]

If that's what makes you feel better today.

[Scandalous whispers! And a few people she knows are going to scold her later for that one. Apparently Rosa Gigantea didn't change that much from her en Bouton days.]