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04/04, 23:56

M.Arisu

hey... anybody who's awake to see this. hope you're not having too much trouble sleeping.
get rest when you can. work together when you can.
all we can do is keep trying, but i'm hopeful for this year.
feels weird to say... but it's all going to be gone soon, so...
anyways.
see you at school tomorrow.

Any replies on the forum go unresponded, and at the stroke of midnight, the past year's worth of messages are completely gone from the PDA forum, including any sent over spring break. Hope you have a good memory if you were in the middle of a conversation! Though you should really be in ...whatever you've managed to make your bed... because tomorrow is a big day.

04/05, 06:00

The silence continues until six in the morning with the toll of the clock tower bells, and anybody near the locker area will hear two women in mid-conversation as they phase through the front doors, heels clicking on the ground: "-—didn't even have the decency to finish the job! And now I have to— oh, stop crying, for goodness' sake! I swear—" It's a one sided conversation, mostly, and one that stops short the moment the women spot the students lingering around. While the younger woman, recognizable as the assistant principal, hurriedly scrubs at her face with her sleeves, the unfamiliar older woman with the oddly dissonant voice scowls intensely. "I don't need this on the first day of school! Students trespassing over break! I can't believe it! I don't have time for this—" she huffs, shaking her head and stomping down the hall towards the faculty office. "Miss Nene, I expected better of you! And you! Miss Ritsuka— the two of you shall report to the faculty office after the entrance ceremony. I expect a full report of everybody involved. Now behave yourselves and go to the auditorium."

Goodbye...

The assistant principal is left behind and looks confused and distraught. She sniffles and ducks her head a little, draws a shaking breath and stands a little taller. "I'm so sorry. I'll hear you all out after- after this is done. Alright?" She too heads towards the faculty office, trying her best to smile at those she passes by. While they may be followed, they seem to phase through the faculty office doors which remain closed and locked, and cannot be interacted with until after the ceremony.

Until then, other students start to filter through the front door, seeking out friends and chatting about their breaks, remembering about homework and asking if anybody actually did it so they can copy off them before classes start, laughing at any mention of being locked inside the school all break because what?? that's silly. A handful of students wear yellow armbands on the left sleeve of their uniform, marking them as members of the student council, and these student council members go around finally removing the gorinto from the window sills, tossing the rocks into a bag without any apparent ill effects, and collecting the snacks in a separate bag— though they'll offer the food to anybody they pass who looks hungry enough. Which is a lot of you. One or two might give a short lecture about the importance of eating breakfast to start the day off right. Other student council members busy themselves in the locker area, posting the new homeroom assignments and updating the school calendar to reflect exam dates and breaks for the coming year, or help setting chairs out in neat rows in the auditorium in preparation for the entrance ceremony.

04/05, 08:00

The opening ceremony starts at 8, with students and staff moving to the auditorium to sit with their homeroom class, calling characters out by name and dragging them over to their seat— physically if need be, and they're much stronger than they look. Unlike the graduation ceremony, characters are not forced to come to the entrance ceremony, but the moment they take a seat, they find that they can neither speak nor get up again until the ceremony is over.

The assistant principal stands behind the podium on stage, looking rather nervous as she glances down at the watch on her wrist for it to be time, and clears her throat before addressing the room. "Yogen High welcomes you, all our new students," she pauses, beaming at the row of first year classes before her gaze sweeps over the rest of the student body, "our transfer students, our returning students, our... repeat students..." Looking at you, Norton, Gawain, Abel... "I, um. You may have noticed that I am standing in for our principal today, who is currently... unavailable... and didn't exactly leave any notes to go off of..." She wilts a little, but trucks on nonetheless and continues the address, promising that the teachers will pass along any important announcements, expressing her belief in the potential of young minds, and wishing everybody a fulfilling school year. The ceremony concludes in a little under an hour, and the spell binding the students to their seats is broken, allowing everybody to rise and leave.

School lets out for the rest of the day with classes starting the next morning, and while many students take the opportunity to leave, some linger around the school. Gossip is flying already with news of the transfer students caught breaking into the school over break and what punishments they might get, rumors of what happened to the principal ranging from a family emergency to hospitalization to death, complaints about the water pipes not getting fixed over break, and general excitement over upcoming events listed on the bulletin board by the lockers, in particular new club advertisements, fortune telling ads, and a Charity Auction to be hosted the Monday after Golden Week next month.

April

School is school... The first thing teachers ask at homeroom Tuesday morning is for students to hand in their spring break homework. Didn't do it? You're on their shit list now. Characters are not forced to attend class, but patrolling faculty and student council members will heckle any truant students into going and can be a pain to deal with. Classes aren't taught terribly, though. The second year math teacher has a knack for easily digestible explanations, even if she writes and erases the board a bit too quickly to copy. The third year literature teacher combines weekly analytical essays with film studies, and is showing Child's Play, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Silence of the Lambs, and Where the Red Fern Grows this month. The first year biology teacher brings eyeballs and frogs and rats for dissection during anatomy lessons, and if you have a special request for a specific eye color, give him a day or two and he can deliver. 2-A's homeroom teacher can be seen stealing chalk from each of the second year classroom she rotates through and is offering extra credit to any students who sneak her chalk without asking questions.

New students will quickly learn that merit points are awarded for a full day's attendance, turning in homework, participating in class and clubs, scoring 80% or higher on quizzes and exams, etc. Less predictably, the PDA may sometimes ping for a single merit point when hanging out with a friend or arguing with a classmate, with stronger emotions (positive or negative) when interacting with somebody else more likely to trigger a point, and if students are abusing this system, it's kept out of the faculty's eyes. As the month goes on, sometimes a student comes to class with a cut eyelid, or a busted lip, or bandages wrapped thick around a wrist, but they always deny anything more than clumsiness or an accident or having pets who very aggressively show their love. Sometimes it's harder to hide, when a bloody nose drips onto the ground or bleeding knuckles brush against the wall, and those near enough to see blood touch the building will find that everything sort of... shifts... Just for a second. The feeling of vertigo that stops almost as soon as it begins, the world tilting without slotting back into alignment. You feel a bit nauseous. Just a little.

You go to the bathroom to splash water on your face and the pink looks a little darker, a little more solid. On the fourth floor, the water has stopped running in the bathroom sinks altogether, and students are told to go downstairs to do their business so that they may wash up after. With more students milling around the bathrooms, it's much easier to notice that people's reflections in the mirrors are just a bit off, lagging that split second long enough to be impossible to ignore once aware.

Every day you have homework. A new essay for something or other is assigned each week. Nobody wants to do group projects with a slacker who can't promise to meet up after school to get it done. Like clockwork, the school empties out at 6 PM each school day, leaving those behind to their own devices. There is no school on Sundays. Golden Week marks the end of the month, and guess who's going to be stuck at school for an entire week with only vending machine junk food to live off of if they aren't able to make progress concerning their living situation? Yeah.

Charity Auction

At least students have the charity auction to look forward to and work towards. Information about the auction set on May 10 can be found on the bulletin board, and appears to be put together by the student council as an annual event and an incentive for students to start the year off strong in earning merit points. Both students and staff are encouraged to donate to the auction, with the items collected and put on display in the auditorium behind locked glass cases. On May 10, students will be able to bid on items using their merit points, those who donate will receive 10% of the winning bid towards their item, and the school will match donations 100 to 1 point with proceeds going towards the "Save A Brain Foundation."

Throughout the month, glass cases lining the walls of the auditorium start to fill up with donations. The most popular donations seem to be physical items: possessions such as jewelry or gaming consoles, or artistic creations such as hand sewn clothing or paintings. There are placeholders for things that can't be put on display all month, such as placards with a picture or description of homemade food that won't be prepared until the auction date, or the promise of fishing lessons with the guidance counselor or a dinner date with the school principal (pending availability). At the back of the room stands the largest case, with the skinny black cat often found lying on top of it as if guarding it, although it will run away when approached.

Inside the case is a body.

OOC

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✽ The plot will only move forward as things are discussed and acted upon, and clues distributed during app acceptances are meant to be shared and connected, so don't be afraid to ask questions and dig into things! I am here to enable.

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( gg westies )

Reality and fiction aren't the SAME, White-san. While your world sounds far more fantastical than MINE, I feel as if that law can still apply to IT.

[wao........... ~san'd...........]

Perhaps. But reality and fiction may blend more than you think, in a world of magic.

[So many things are spoken of that are thought as mere tales, when they are all but that. White smiles a little mysterious, as if this is a secret between he and Natsume, before he continues on.]

You don't seem particularly phased nor disbelieving of my claims regarding magic and my status as a Sage's Wizard, though you say my world is far more fantastical than your own. Are you perhaps a pursuer or practitioner of such yourself?

[cause like. he knows humans do.]

( he sure as fuck ain't ~chan'ing him so.

but natsume nods, cook cook cook curry... )

Do you know how to make RICE? ( that isn't relevant to the magician question but hold- ) I believe this room has a rice cooKER, if you can find IT. Not every student puts things back where they ought to BE.

( ......anyway, )

I've been practicing what the public considers the dark arts for a few years now; I had a master of my own two years aGO, but I graduated from being his apprentice, I supPOSE. He claims that he never taught me anything, howeVER. ( which is a lie. wataru taught him more than he could have ever imagined... ) A witch, a wizard, a magician, a sorcerer, an illusionist - whatever label you put on IT, I dabble in maGIC, as well as alcheMY.

[it's fine only snow can call him that. i wonder if they picked that up from the other sage actually since it's so specifically ~chan.

Rice... Cooker... He'll step down and look around, trying to match the vague description he recalls from his Sages. Like a pot, but plastic, with little buttons... About the size of his torso... Hm.]

I do not know how to cook anything particularly rice-like in that way [because rice equivalent definitely has a different name given mhyk,] no, nor do we have the device you ask about at home, but I have heard tales of the famed "rice cooker" from my Sages. They were quite the fans of it, as well as "cup ramen".

[Fascinating things, Japanese culture is. What makes noodles in a cup so special? It's intriguing.]

I suppose the young man I met's comment about your broomsticks does make sense, then. [nonetheless.] As a mentor myself, I understand your own somewhat -- I merely taught the fundamentals of magic with my brother to the two we took in, yet they seemed to have learned so much more than what we intended.

[Their kindness towards humans, for example. Even Oz is sweet if you don't immediately assume things of him. Like, he wiped out most of the world, but he's fine now.]

I do know, however, that the magic I possess-- possessed now, really, isn't quite the same as my Sage's world, which seems close to your own, so it begs the question of what your magic is. What would you consider it, dear Natsume?

( oh i hope they did i think that'd be super cute.

their broomsticks... ugh, he'd been occupied by students at the time, but izumi had stopped by white's fruit stand, hadn't he? fucking rude to not stop by an idol from his own agency's shop- )

Magic is magic, isn't IT? ( is that a cop-out answer? a little. ) Things that are beyond the scope of human comprehenSION, that make people smile and their eyes sparkle as if they're children aGAIN... That which accomplishes what seems impossiBLE.

( he tastes the dish so far, hmming, then adds in a little more salt. )

Magic comes in many FORMS. There's stage maGIC, which my master excelled in - I wouldn't consider it the same magic that those charlatans on the street USE, though the methods may be simiLAR. Their reasoning for being is inherently diffeRENT. ( as far as i personally can tell, it's because wataru does it from the heart and to entertain and not solely for money. ) Besides, the magic my master uses aren't ordinary parlor tricks or sleight of hand that just anyone can LEARN. They require true SKILL.

The power of words isn't to be sneered at either - you could simply call it charisMA, but it's much more than THAT. ( you have to know when the perfect point to strike is. natsume stirs the pot idly, thinking it over. ) Naturally, there are the old schools of magic as well - I'd consider sorcery to fall under the modern-day magic of languAGE, seeing as a mastery of such things is born from natural ability that's simply been honed in a specific WAY. Alchemy has evolved to modern-day chemisTRY, something I'm quite apt IN. Cooking is an extension of THAT, so I'm not bad with it eiTHER.

The most important magic, however, is the magic of SMILES. ( is that cheesy? a little. ) It is a magician's duty to guide those who require it to happiNESS... Or more accurateLY, a chance at such a thing - you can lead a horse to waTER, but you can't make him drink IT, as the saying GOES. To ME, the most wonderful thing to see is someone forgetting their worries for just a moment and allowing themselves to become lost in ecstaSY. To forget they're loneLY, to forget that things aren't working OUT, to forget someone or something that may have irritated them earliER.

( maybe it isn't a standard magic. maybe it doesn't do anything really, except alleviate worries and stress for just a moment, except be an accurate mark of his magic working on someone, but happiness - smiles - that's what's important. does he also like money and power to fuel his ambitions and investments? certainly, but he'd never push any of that onto his audience, his customers, the people he's supposed to be helping.

he's no charlatan. )

[Such nice, pretty words. In the end it boils down to "that which eases the heart, that which brings a smile to one's face" for no purpose other than simply because one can, because it is within one's power to do so, and it's so simple, so power, that it makes White smile.

It's such a silly, young Wizard reason, but it reminds him somewhat of the Western Wizards with their carefree view of the world, how they do things for pleasure's sake, and also of the Southern Wizards as well, who help those in need without a second thought simply because they can. In other words, the exact opposite of most Northern Wizards, but certainly not to the kind, gentle Snow and White who love humans so.

(It's still a little opposite to them, because in the end they are Northern to the core, but they do seem better about it than the others... save Bradley of course, who is perfect,)]

Hohoho. What a charming magic you specialize in, young one. [charming.] I do believe you'd get along quite well with the Southern Wizards in my world, who live closely with the humans they help and are always smiling. They're good folk, marked by their kind hearts and sunny dispositions, though I do admit they're often looked down on due to this as well -- those of my home region in the North in particular call them weak.

[But defensive magic isn't weak in the least. Power that can save lives isn't inherently weak, no more than power to kill someone is inherently strong. Those three have so much to learn.]

But they're strong in their own way. Each of us are, and it is by working with one another that we are able to truly show it off.

[He thinks he may have found the mysterious Rice Cooker (he has) and he'll uh. put it on the counter. Really heft it up there, a little struggle but grandpa's got this. Though why don't the buttons do anything when you press them.]

( me knowing natsume's a northern wizard but you're assigning him south. how dare you kin-assign him f

"charming" makes his face scrunch slightly - how patronizing - but he listens to the rest of it... and makes no movement to offer that kind southern wizard help to white as he struggles to get the rice cooker onto the counter. he almost doesn't help him with operating it either, but he does need rice for his curry, so he'll move over for the moment to plug it in. )

There isn't a single person in this world or any other that would claim I have a sunny disposiTION. ( but there are people who would say he's kind, he supposes, so he keeps mum on that part. ) If you're going to eat with ME, you'll need ( whatever ) cups of RICE. Put ( proportionate amount ) of water in - you can check that you have the correct amount by placing your finger tip on the rice and if the water reaches your first knucKLE, you're just FINE.

Close the cooker after and ( - what a kind cooker, he taps the right button without pressing it ) hit this butTON. It'll let us know when the rice is finISHED... It shouldn't be that long after this has reached my desire TASTE.

( he's PICKY about his flavor. )

[don't worry there's enough differing them that he's just figaro adjacent

White will set to do as tasked, even if this truly is quite a lot of work for some food it would appear that he must if he is going to get anything yummy today. He shall only bother people for their food if they don't make him help henceforth. Whew.]

In that case, would others say that they feel comforted by your presence?

[knu...ckle.. knuckle... his knuckles are tiny... is this truly okay? perhaps half his finger instead...]

( food tastes better when you've made it yourself, white san (: )

Not at ALL. I'd daresay that to most peoPLE, my presence is rather unsettLING. ( which is 100% his own fault and you know this peace You Know This. ) I don't MIND. The more on-edge someone IS, the more my words will affect their HEART. One cannot properly guard themselves if preoccupied with something after ALL.

( ................... )

Your knuckle will do just FINE, by the WAY. It's easier to put water in than it is to take it OUT, and I'd rather not have soggy RICE. ( please. ) Do you want me to doublecheck it once you're DONE?

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Charity Auction

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