lillian_academy | Welcome to the New Year

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Welcome to the New Year

"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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[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?

[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.]

[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.]

[Leo isn't exactly hard to find for the rest of the week. Her appearance aside, she has a relatively deep voice that carries over the conversations of others, and as a foreigner she attracts her fair share of curiosity-seekers in her first few days and feels free to introduce herself to whoever's around when she doesn't, so even without seeking her out she's easily picked out by ear any time one passes through a common area she happens to be in.]

[Yep, that's easy enough! And Sei is going to meander her way on over, completely ignoring the fact the crowd seems to whisper as she passes by, with intent on one of the other girls in the area.] Hey! Long time no see.

[... has anyone mentioned Rosa Gigantea is a weirdo?]

[Okay, she's a little surprised. Eyebrows go up, eyebrows go down, she can't explain this. But damn it, she's a smooth operator herself, and she give the White Rose a polite little bow for appearances, before her undaunted eyes track up to Sei's.]

If you count by minutes, maybe. I must have made a good impression.

[Leo puts her hand on her hip, breaking the stiff, demure posture of the bow and matching the casual tone.]

Come to join us? [She was speaking to a couple other first-years, something ridiculous about swimming the English Channel.] Or do you need me for something?

No, no, I just thought I'd say hello. Make sure you're not getting into too much trouble. [She says it so casually and familiarly, like they've known each other for months, at least, instead of literally having seen each other once.

Interesting first years are definitely a thing to seek out, because they always have the most interesting stories around them.]

Being an exchange student is hard, and even harder if you're foreign. Call it a duty as a member of the Yamayurikai. [That it literally a lie, but it comes so easily from Sei it placates the crowd. She literally doesn't care about much, because some things haven't changed since she was a second year, spiteful at the world, so she really only goes after what interests her.]

-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.-

[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.]

... -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...

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.]

Edited 2016-10-07 00:34 (UTC)

-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.

[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.]

-Huh. This Sei Satou wasn't at all what she expected. There's something in the sincerity with which she said that, which from most people would be an exhausted platitude, that pinged with her, and the smile turned up even more.-

Thanks... But I still don't care about any of those clubs, so... -She still had the plan of getting back to her dorm and staring at the ceiling to get back to.-

If that's what'll make you feel better tomorrow.

[She tilts her head a little. It seems as much a little game she's playing as anything else, but Sei's a weird one. Always has been, always will be.

She's sort of being encouraging in that weird way.]

-Aaaand back to a look of mild distaste.-

Do you have a twitch or something?

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ibara_no_mori - 2016-10-08 02:38 (UTC) - Expand

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green_eyed - 2016-10-08 03:21 (UTC) - Expand

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ibara_no_mori - 2016-10-09 01:34 (UTC) - Expand

[It sure is! Someone who seems...remarkably unimpressed.

Then again, Kaede seemed unimpressed at the vast majority of things.]

Like what?

[She was not going to go over there, and might need to be dragged.]

We need someone to try out for the part of Juliet, of course. [She either picked the single best person to single out to recommend that to on purpose, or on accident.

Hint: She did it on purpose.

Also she motions to Kaede, which turns the crowd of people that were watching her and all but hanging on her every word toward her.

Oh yeah. This is what happens when Senpai Sei notices you: Trolled.]

Not really interested. [There was a little pause before Kaede spoke, her attempt trying to make her words more civilized. And another at the murmur that went through the crowd around her, which was obstinately getting in the way rather than moving and letting Kaede escape.

She could just start shoving them aside, but that wouldn't be very polite.]

No? And why not? I think you'd turn a lot of heads as Juliet. [She's still trolling, but forcing Kaede entirely to do something out of her comfort zone isn't... exactly what Sei is all about.

She also knows when tempers are at a point you shouldn't shove, but boy is she gonna toe that line.]

[Kaede mumbled again; was that a compliment? A nice thing? Something that at least made her stop eying the nearest wall speculating if she could jump over it, at least.

The respite wasn't that long, though. She'd be right back to grump in about...now.]

I'd have to put up with whoever was Romeo.

That would be the student council president of Hanadera, actually. [Hanadera being the all-boys school that's just on the other side of the hill.]

What's Romeo and Juliet without some fireworks? [She grins because she knows exactly what she just did.]

A play with stabbing, poisoning, and character death?

[Kaede's response to that smile was to scowl, and huddle her shoulders some more.]

I wouldn't be any good at that anyway.

[BOYS HAVE COOTIES especially strange boys she doesn't know]

I'll paint set pieces instead.

[Someone murmured 'how modest' in the crowd somewhere, while someone else said something about 'underselling' Kaede couldn't make out.]

[This? This is Sei bursting out laughing at that first quip. Holy cow that was great. Exactly what she wanted when she poked this sleepy, grumpy bear.]

If you're so sure! [Now that she is satisfied, she seems to be more willing to relent.] I think you could probably bring some much-needed fire to that old story, though.

[If this was a Miyazaki film Kaede would look particularly fluffy right now. As it is not, her bristling is mostly confined to how her head drops and her shoulders come up.]

What's so funny?!

[kaede no don't do it--oh my god]