Diniko smiles and tosses Yoshiro's boxers to one of her ladies of war, "Souveneir for you!"
Glancing back to the two humiliated students, Diniko claps her hands together. "Right. Well, I'm a gal of my word. Usually. When I feel like it. So ... run along, you two."
Fuleiko, red faced, heads for the bathroom immediately. Not that there's any thing in there to help, but maybe her blushing will go down if she waits a while.
Yoshiro's eyes followed Fuleiko into the bathroom, but there really was nothing more he could do, he possibly had made it worse. So instead he adjusted his pants, it was already uncomfortable enough, made sure not to make eye contact with any of the Red Claw and stalked away back to the Assembly and a long uncomfortable sit till he could figure out how to get new underwear....and maybe a present for Fuleiko. She was in a hard situation too.
His cheeks still flamed red as he made his way back to his chair, almost sitting on his donut so discombobulated was he. He managed to save both his pants, and his treat, he had to see the silver lining somewhere.
"That makes sense I suppose." Cecilia finishes helpfully. "I know that people who have ingested those compounds often tell the most vivid and fantastic stories." She did not happen to explain just how she knew about the vivid stories people who ingested psychotropic compounds would tell. She also didn't point out that psychosomatics were not the same thing as psychotropics. Again she wasn't 100% sure if it had been the wrong word or just a language issue. Her command was good, but not perfect.
"Regardless it should be a wonderful year! I hope to work with all of you and enjoy it. And I can't wait to meet my students." The french woman was truly excited about the prospect. She hoped that there would be young minds that she could cultivate and show the wonders of the culinary arts as well as alchemy itself. And the delicious ways the two could be combined.
"Um could you sign this please Akiko-san?" asked Rin. She was beet red with shyness and shoved forward a poster of Akiko to the idol. Thanks to Kei-senpai she could ask for an autograph.
Kei blinks. Wow, Rin brought a poster to assembly? The girl must be seriously obsessed! Akiko was nice, and a good friend, and yeah, her music was pretty good too, but getting all wrapped up over another woman's attention -- well, that was a little yandere for Kei's taste. Ah well, to each their own.
"Rin's been practicing for swim team a lot lately. She's probably going to do really well this year!" Kei offers some encouragement to her teammate in front of her idol.
***
Mr Takahiro checks his watch, "I have 8:59 and 20 seconds. I guess they're going to be late ..."
***
But speak of the devil, and he shall appear. And it's much the same principle concept with the principal. And not just her ...
"And why, might I ask, are so many students shuffling around the hall and not in their seats?" The familiar tones of Ms Gisi Ibeloki somehow cut through all the chatter. Which stops, dead. Even the cluster around Igara, at the far back of the hall on the right hand side.
Apart from Tsaugan, chittering excitedly with one of his nerdy friends, "I'm really looking forward to the next movie, it'll be great. I mean, the laser fights alone will ..."
"MISTER Tsaugan. Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the assembly?" The instructor - clad in a purple wrap dress that comes down to just above knee-level, pressed significantly outward at the chest and hips by her hourglass figure - strides her way towards the stage, accompanied by the principal in her business suit and pencil skirt.
Sheepishly the boy with glasses freezes as if a deer caught in headlights. There is a moment's pause and he turns around, gulping slightly, "No Miss Ibeloki."
Principal Utame comes up to the stage and takes the microphone, "Welcome third-years to another term at Jinaagi Academy!"
Pausing for drama (though without Fuleiko in the room, the cheer is decidedly less enthusiastic than normal), the principal waits, smiling warmly. "We've got some exciting new developments to discuss for the term, but first, let's give a big hello to some new faces." She glances over to Gisi and mouths, "Are they coming?"
Gisi nods back and makes a beckoning motion out the entrance of the assembly hall. While everyone is waiting for the "new faces", Principal Utame recovers ... "First, Ms Hanako Tanaka ... stand up please, don't be shy ..." her hand motions in the direction of the named student.
"Hai" the cuckoolander said standing up forcefully enough that the chair behind her toppled over. She appeared to not notice as she continued "It is fortunate that you chose to introduce mie first Principle Utamae."--Hitomi actually did mispronounce her name there slightly. "It is vitally important that we get dangerous equipment like ladders and janitor buckets and whatnot painted with cautions in accordance with JISHA regulations." She bowed after saying that lest she get admonished for the ruler deciding they make the rules.
Cecilia didn’t have much time to respond. The arrival of the principal broke up the conversation. For now she was just happy to sit and listen. As one of those new faces she needed to take in all that she could during this assembly. It was her first chance to really get to know and see the student body. Her eyes ran down the rows of students, looking everyone over in turn, some might notice her gaze,most probably wouldn’t.
It was a part of the job, part of her life and Akiko was always happy to help out her fans. The fact that she could inspire people and make them feel better, uplift them and raise their spirits never failed to make her smile. And so when Rin took out a poster and held it out towards her Akiko smiled that trademark grin of hers and took out a pen she kept on her for just this purpose. “Don’t worry, I’m happy to sign it for you.”
She wrote on it, ‘To an awesome fan, may your life never get you down, Akiko’. And then the blonde girl handed the poster back with a smile still clear on her face. “If Kei says your will do well I believe her. Best of luck on the swim team Rin!” Akiko has actually been giving some thought to joining the team herself. It wasn’t her speciality but it would give her another chance to spend time with Kei, and to help make sure her soulmate was successful. Her blue eyes flickered over at her friend, lovingly taking in her features for a split second. She knew how important success on the team was to Kei and she wanted to help.
Just before the assembly began she took a seat, making her entourage part to let her sit by her friend. She enjoyed the simple proximity, a warm sensation filling her.
“Isn’t that the girl who was spray painting?” She whispered to Kei as Hanako stood up and was introduced.
Principal Utame nods at this, "Uh, yes. Yes that's correct, Hanako. The regulations are very important. Thank you for that reminder."
Having spotted Hanako, a young woman in a school uniform (Jinaagi is somewhat lax on the rules) is trying to get a little closer to her friend without drawing too much attention. Is that Kuriyo Matumate? None the less, Ms Ibeloki spots the rogue moving about and spears her with a gaze, fixing the poor girl in place.
The principal glances down at her notes, and spotting the newbies at the entrance to the assembly hall, she continues, "Next up, we have Mr Jeremiah Storm, all the way from California. Lets all make him feel welcome."
And out comes the American, walking past the rows of chairs. Some guys have big brains. Some are athletically inclined. Some have style and sophistication. Some even have odd connections to strange forces going for them. But Jeremiah Storm has something else.
As he strides past the rows of chairs, his blue eyes sweeping over the gathered students just below his exotic crown of golden hair, and just above perfect chiseled features, lips pulled up in a dreamy smile - well, at least for those who were into that sort of thing. A wave of feminine sighs whispers out from each row as he passes. Kuriyo, still caught between seats, has her eyes widen as she murmurs, "Gaaah! He's a big blonde superhunk!"
On the stage, Ms Yagumo crosses her legs primly.
His powerful voice rumbles out, "Hello, all. To meet yours, I am a pleasing."
Some of the guys in the crowd snicker a little.
Ms Ibeloki points out loudly that, "Of course all our students are welcoming to foreigners, and understanding of the difficulties inherent in making such an adjustment. I would hate to think we had any that needed lessons in remedial civility."
The snickering stops and Jeremiah looks around for an available seat. There are few over there, a horde of people clustered around a young woman (Akiko) are taking up all the free spots. Maybe further in the back.
Kei nods to Akiko’s question, “Indeed. Seems to have a bit of a ladder fetish. Huh, I wonder if she does high dive.”
Tilting her head a little as Jeremiah is introduced, she listens to the American flub his greeting, “Poor guy. Cute though, if you’re into that sort of thing. Maybe you can write a song about his ‘great beauty’.” Kei pauses a moment, chuckling under her breath, “Or his astonishing linguistic skill. What do you think, Rin?”
***
The principal isn’t stopping, however, continuing on. “And then we have Zakira Ueki, a young athlete.”
And just as Jeremiah caused a reaction, so too does Zakira. Indeed, some had remarked on the general appearance of young people in Oseigi Falls, but adding these two seriously threatens the curve. Well, if teachers graded on such things. Which they of course do not. Not at all.
The woman stands at 5’9” (175 cm, anyhow) with perfect radiant skin, and lustrous hair of a brown so deep it often seems black. She is wearing a tight dress that hugs her features closely, and drapes down to her knees.
Zakira smiles politely, “Hello everyone. I’m glad to be here.” And she moves towards a seat in the far back, reasonably close to the exit.
The principal smiles, “Excellent. So. We also have some new teachers on staff. First up, let’s start with Ms Lefluer, who will be offering a wide array of particularly delicious courses. I’ll let her tell you all about them, though.”
As Kei replied Akiko giggled lightly. “I don’t know, her clothing doesn’t look very good for swimming.”
A moment later as Jeremiah was introduced and made his appearance Akiko was also watching Kei’s response out of the corner of her eyes. She was 99% sure that her soulmate wasn’t into guys, like herself, but if there was a guy to prove it, it would probably be someone like that. He did look like he belonged in a movie.
So it was no small relief when Kei made her comment about him being good looking only if you were into that sort of thing. Akiko nodded and whispered back. “He’s not exactly my type either.” No her type was the beautiful girl sitting beside her. Kei might well have noticed that Akiko had shown no interest in guys during the time she had known her. “I don’t think he’s song material though, and I don’t make teasing ones.” For a split second her expression darkened and her eyes shot over toward where Igara’s groupies sat. Not like some people, she finished silently.
Cecilia’s eyes widened as the spotlight came to focus on her next. Right, it was time for her to make a great first impression on her students and the rest of the academy. She could definitely do this! With a smile that hid some of the worst of her nerves the French woman rose from her seat and walked forward to take the microphone. Her somewhat old fashioned dress was quite distinctive and her blonde hair was tied up, framing her delicate alabaster skinned features.
“Hello Jinaagi Academy!” Cecilia began with a smile, her accent more clear now than before due to her nerves. “I have great happiness to be blessed with a job teaching here.” She raised a gloved hand and waved. “I am going to be teaching several classes, culinary arts where you will learn from the best the methods to prepare wonderful and decorative meals; painting and classical art; and as part of the newly magic program, alchemy class.”
“I am knowing, pardon me, I know that this will be a wonderful year and it will being delightful to teach you and foster your development into wonderful young men and women....”
Cecilia has been going to say more, but as her speech was coming to a close a strange vivid blue light appeared near the donut table. A sigil, a pentagram glowing in eldritch blue hues throbbed and pulsed, and was quite the disruption as she tried to back away and let someone who knew the ceremony handle things.
As the principal appreared, Fuuko took her seat with a sigh of relief. All things considered, that went... surprisingly calm - and if things would blow up now... well, there are actually competent people on site to handle them.
(Even though teachers - being, presumably, among those competent people - talking about classes in magic and alchemy made her question that last thought somewhat...
and then the glowing pentagram appearing above the donut table made her question a lot of things.)
(But then... maybe it was going as planned? Except... the pentagram was smoking)
(No one would allow a live fire in the assembly!)
Fuuko dashed forward from her seat - which wasn't exactly in the first row - by jumping off the chair and over the front rows (giving people sitting there a potential golden opportunity for an upskirt glance, but she didn't care), landing in a roll and starting immediately trying to stomp down the smoke... not that there was any fire to be seen, but one can't be too careful!
A murmur passes through the assembly as the light and smoke starts attracting everyone's attention. On the stage, Ms Olemko's chair tips back and crashes to the ground, the pink-haired teacher appears to have fainted. Mr. Takahiro is quick to check on her though, making sure she's OK. Coach Mokwan stands from his chair, "What the sh ... stuff is going on?"
For a moment, even the normally in control Ms Ibeloki seems a bit taken aback. "An eldritch anchor? Here?!"
But fortunately, Fuuko is there to save the day, taking charge of the situation and rushing down to the pentagram ... and then stomping on it repeatedly. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to have the intended effect. Instead, the middle of the pentagram erupts in a sickly yellow-green light, and a little green ... critter, maybe 2 feet tall, climbs out of the opening, looks balefully around at the crowd, hops back and forth between its feet in excited fashion and speaking, "Brzag! Gak romun ecta-eeeeeeEEEEEE!"
That last trailing bit is more shrieked than spoken as Fuuko whirls, planting her foot right into the critters belly and punting him into the glowing opening.
(ignore the sword, they don't have them)
Two more critters pop up, and then two more. Fuuko knocks another one down the hole, but the other three leap at her with powerful legs, able to hop five feet in one bound. One grips at Fuuko's arm, dangling from it, while the other two team up to cling to the fit woman's plant leg. "Nokobakamoto! K'rikka Meeka!"
"Thank you so much!" replied Rin with a bow after taking the signed poster back. When Akiko encouraged her to do well on the swim team Rin said," Yes! You can visit one of our practices if you want Akiko-san. I don't think Kei-senpai would mind." She made the invitation without thinking. Rin doubted her favorite idol would visit the swim club though. Though it would be rude to not invite her after she encouraged her swimming.
Rin took her seat by Kei. She felt kind of out of place not really knowing anyone else but Yoshiro and Hanako. When her eyes met Jeremiah's for a brief second her breath quickened. Kei and Akiko could see by Rin's faraway and dreamy look, she was smitten. "Senpai, I hope he notices me..." It was love at first sight. Or what ever teenage girls who red too many trashy romance novels think love is.
Yoshrio was uncomfortable without underwear, tugging at his suit legs as he listened to the introduction. Blah, blah....jock....blah, blah... wait...what? A new magic teacher? His eyes fixed on the new teacher, she was young....ohh and pretty!
He tugged at his pants again only to be distracted by something at the back, he tip toed to see what was going on his eyes spotting the pentagram. Did Miss Ibeloki say something about an anchor? A mechanism for liking one realm to another? Well of course she must have been referring to one of the four realms of Madness - shadow, chaos, passion, and the abyss.
And that would mean that its subject to a aetheral binding ritual to hold it in place, but a construct like that would be wildly unstable. It would require substantial arcane energy to produce such a thing - preparation, inscriptions, candles, the works.
Fortunately, that instability could theoretically be used against it, if empyreal energies could be sent into it, the conduit with spiral apart fairly readily. But that's a bit of a thing, generating those requires a sort of purity of purpose. That's always been a fairly boring subject, consecration magic, but Yoshiro had studied it like he had all magic and he had a lot of fairly pure embarrassment to channel.
Climbing on his chair he pulled out his tablet, chanting and drawing runes on the tablet and swiping them into the air blue and red runes floating before them as he focused on his lack of underwear, the embarrassment of the Red Claw gang seeing his rear end and with an final word he sent the energy flying to the pentagram.
And that was when things went very, very wrong his embarrassment was too closely linked to the energy of the portal and instead three more demons leapt out. Yoshiro frowned, one of them looked at him with steely eyes and he felt a connection....and then it grasped on his fear.
His hand dropping to his crotch as he gasped. The beast was going to expose him! "NOOOOO!" He yelled as he leapt off of his chair with his usual lack of grace crashing to the ground knocking over his chair as he tried to get away from the demons,"Demons!"
The rest of the assembly seemed slow for a while, but then things got going real fast. Hanako barely paid any attention to the assembly since she was worried where her black paint can went. It did not entirely escape her notice that Fuuko went straight to panic mode. She laughed when Coach Mokwon almost said shit while Fuuko was flipping her own. There was smoke, there was the eldritch yellow light--that needed black paint-- Yoshiro also yelled, and she wanted to gawk "Oh I know! Chocolate donuts!" Hanako exclaimed "Yoshiro-san! I'm getting donuts since there's so many of them left. You want one?"
After Yoshiro’s spell, three more of the green-beasties hop out of the portal, chittering excitedly as they look around. Well, as two of them look around. The third makes little five foot leaps straight towards Yoshiro, flexing its little claws – is it imagination, or do these claws look just a little bit sharper and more durable? Exactly the sort of thing necessary for a de-pantsing!
As Yoshiro bravely screams and tumbles over his chair, the little critter goes flying through the air, its trajectory taking him straight towards the supine student’s most secret place, with arm drawn back, ready to claw … Yoshiro’s worst fears are a second from being realized!
But then a sneaker flies past Yoshiro’s face, catching the critter right in the belly. With a dull thud, and a cry of frustration, the little creature soars through the air and lands right in front of the donut table, skidding under it and into Fuleiko’s bulk napkin stockpile. Little scraps of paper explode out from under the table as the critter tries to recover.
Kei, having intercepted the creature’s hops (and executed a punt with fantastic hangtime), glances down at Yoshiro, “They feed on fear. Steel yourself!” Oh right, Kei is one of those shrine maidens. Glancing back over the crowd, Kei spots Akiko beginning a dance, her motions in time with the seemingly random lurchings and leerings of the little monsters as they menace the crowd of students. With a brief pause, the athletic young woman glances from the terpsichorean idol to the creatures, then back. Akiko must be picking up on the emotions of the room, capturing their hidden rhythm. And the creatures were moving in sync to that as well.
So I know when they’ll move. Kei thinks to herself, before racing forward and swinging a punch … which catches one of the beasties mid air; sending it flying back to the edge of the hole, where it scrabbles a moment for purchase. Reaching down, Kei hefts the other one by it’s tail and flings it, slamming him into his precariously perched sibling, and both tumble from view down the hole.
Only the two bothering Fuuko and the one in the napkin blizzard are left!
As chaos broke out and monsters leaped forth from a glowing portal that had opened in the assembly hall Akiko was taken aback. She had certainly not been expecting this and honestly had no idea what to make of the situation. She knew that magic was real, her dancing could channel it at times when she needed it, but monsters leaping forth from a portal at school was not something she had known could happen.
It was when Kei sprang into action at her side that Akiko was brought back into the swing of things. Her love was fighting the monsters, she HAD to help her and make sure she was okay. In that moment her instincts took over and the blond idol immediately moved herself, her body shifting gracefully as she began to dance, weaving her own magic into the room and focusing it on Kei to provide what aid and succor she could. "You can do this!" She called out helpfully and encouragingly. She was confident in Kei's abilities and was ready to do whatever it took to help. It also didn't pass her notice that she had gotten to enjoy the sight of the athletic beauty kicking ass, and it was lovely as always.
She exerted herself further, continuing to dance and working to keep the enchantment up. She could feel the mystical energies surging through her, and while they weren't perfectly under control, the majority did flow into Kei. Akiko in her determination to aid her love was completely ignoring any risk to herself, or the fact that her dancing was quite vigorous and a bit of a show.
Cecilia's gaze focused on the eldritch pentagram. She knew this.... it was a gateway of some kind and was linked to negative realms of madness, shadows, chaos, the abyss, and one she couldn't quite remember. The new French teacher took several steps forward towards the front of the stage and raised one of her hands. She was far less skilled and knowledgeable about traditional magic than she was on alchemical processes, but she did know enough to hopefully pull off a banishing spell.
Her hand glowed with a soft light that then exploded out in a pulse. For a brief moment her hand was outlined within her glove and it looked strange, less like a normal appendage and more skeletal. But then the light faded and one of the demons that had been plaguing Fuuko had vanished in a puff of smoke. Unfortunately the last demon that had been plaguing the young woman was now headed her way.
"He who strikes first wins. Boot to the head!" Said Rin. She hurls her shoe at the nearest beast. That missed so she hurled her second shoe and hit it square in the forehead! Sadly she is now out of ammo. She stares at the beasts defiantly! None shall get between her and her chance at storybook romance!
Roll 7. Penalty, Had to take several shots and reduce ammo.
Hanako could not abide by the napkin table being terrorized by the critter "Hey you ugly... THING! I bet you can't bite me and hit me with your tail at the same time!" she said coyly. She didn't know what came over her, but she suddenly decided to hold her tits together. The thing gnashed at her, and caused her CA glue to come out of the bib pocket on the front of her overalls at the same time, The gnashing tooth cut the bottle in half, right before gnashing its own tail. "Eww! are you kidding me? you stuck my boobs together!"But it was so worth seeing that tail fall off she thought as the beast screeched.
Yoshiro looked up to see Kei's foot boot the demon headed towards him away he listened as the girl gave him a pep talk, pushing his glasses up he swallows his fear, or tries to. Standing he gulped and picked up his tablet, looking at the demon headed towards him and the teacher who just banished one...he could do that, right, magic was his thing. Runes formed again and he fired it off, missing completly and hit the pentagram again the magic feeding it and another demon popped out, this one with wings.
Fuuko just stood there, dumbfounded, for a moment while the beasties clung to her. (Hey, you try to not get dumbfounded when some critters emerge out of thin air in the pentagram!)
As the chaos around settled down a bit, though, a gymnast realized one thing... These creatures, demons or whatever, they weren't that tough! Why, she was pretty sure she would survive being hit with a thrown sneaker, at least!
So, the moment the critters let go of her and let her move freely, Fuuko moved on to counterattack. Dashing after the beastie heading to the teachers' table, she grabbed it by the tail and, spinning around, launched the imp back into the pentagram it came from! Bullseye! With a puff of smoke, the critter disappeared - whether passing through the portal back, or just hitting the floor, Fuuko had no idea and, truth be told, didn't care!
The de-tailed beastling wails and rushes for the safety of the portal back home. These people are crazy!
Meanwhile, the winged one soars overhead, headed for one of the air ducts, dodging a few thrown items from the student body on the way. Flapping its wings, it hovers in front of the air duct, working on removing the cover. The screws just seem to work their way out of the mounting, but it's not super fast. Maybe there's one more chance to do something before it gets into the duct.
Akiko watched as her fellow students rallied, and with the immediate threat largely pacified she turned towards the last remaining monster. It was a winged one that had appeared from the portal after Yoshiro tried some sort of magic that misfired badly. It was trying to escape. She didn't intend to let it escape! Especially since defeating a demon herself would surely earn her respect from Kei, after all the shrine maiden had so effectively dispatched the others with her help. Akiko NEEDED to show she could help too and not just as a support!
The young idol picked up a book and using her momentum from the last twirl in her dance, spun around to gain speed before launching it up at the creature. This seemed to be a cue to the others in her retinue as well for a host of small portal objects went flying along with her textbook. Though notably it was her own throw that struck the creature head on and made it vanish in a puff of smoke.
"Woo!" She called out happily, pumping her fist in the air. "Good job everyone." And her gaze shifted to Kei specifically. "You were incredible." Her smile was wide and very warm.
Cecilia really wasn't much for fighting, and while she had managed to banish that first demon she knew it was as much luck as skill that had allowed her to do it. As the other one approached her she did notice how one of the students out in the crowd conjured magic of his own and tried to defend her. It was a noble gesture, even if it misfired badly.
The new teacher made a note to thank the young man after things calmed down, and also to look into it. The magic curriculum was just established so it was surprising to see a student already with something of a grasp of it before the courses had begun.
Rin adjusts her glasses and began to see all the possibilities and outcomes in a bizarre fusion of math and imagination. She then select the best course available and shares it with her friends and fellow students. "Alright ladies, Here is the plan." She then proceeds to give Kei, Akiko, and everyone else in range sound tactical advice. "Celica-san, if you would please do the honors," she said motioning to the magic circle.
Coordinated effort roll 10
Assesses Question: What should I be on the lookout for?
All allies take +1 forward on their ext roll.
What is the magic circle's weak point
Hanako picked up the tail "Guys, guys, wait!" she shouted. She started waving the tail around like some sort of instructor's pointer "Ok, so there's napkins EVERYWHERE, sorry about that. But like in addition to that, my boobs are stuck together, and the portal is throbbing like... I don't know, a heart beat. And Diniko, Jikango, Fuleiko and Zakira are missing." She put her finger on her chin and clearly pulled a pensive face. "Clearly, we have two options, and one of them is super dumb" She went over to the portal and started jumping up and down on it. When nothing happened--as she failed to notice occurred earlier with Fuuko--she looked dejected "Oh, I thought going to the teachers was the dumb one."
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