Wait Until Sachiko Learns That The Practical And Sty

[17:46] <Sachiko> Monday, 16th of April.-
[17:46] <Sachiko> The second week of school had begun, and it seemed to continue all the patterns of the first for Sachiko. She was alert and attentive during classes though she avoided attention where possible; On the rare occasions she was singled out, her answers proved clear and concise. The sticking point continued to be with other students.-
[17:47] <Sachiko> Some of this could be blamed on the fact that Sachiko was clearly comfortable with her own company. Barring one lunch the previous week where Wallace and Terry had sat with her, she spent the vast majority of her time alone. She made few overt gestures towards other students.-
[17:47] <Sachiko> She knew people were talking about her, but few people seemed willing to talk to her. She felt dimly satisfied with this arrangement.-
[17:47] <Sachiko> It did mean that there was little to keep her here once classes and clubs were done, of course. For today, all she had to do was make a quick detour to the student council room to collect some papers, and then she'd be able to head straight home.
[17:50] <PersonaGM> [The student council room consisted of a long chamber dominated by a long wooden table ringed by chairs; attached to the side of this chamber were two smaller rooms, one of which held a small kitchen and tiny pantry; the other played host to a handful of computers and some bookshelves.-
[17:52] <PersonaGM> [At this moment it also consisted of a teacher. Ms Smithson was there, quickly straightening a few chairs and tables. Around her wrist was a lanyard from which hung a key.-
[17:52] <PersonaGM> [Smithson turned as Sachiko entered. "Good evening, Kurata. Good timing."]
[18:09] * Sachiko pulled the door shut, then bowed. "Hi, Ms. Smithson. Good timing?"
[18:12] <PersonaGM> [Smithson jingled the key. "I'm just about to lock the clubroom up."]
[18:14] <Sachiko> "Ah. I won't keep you," she said, glancing around. "Choi said he'd left me some papers, that's all."
[18:15] <PersonaGM> ["Sounds pretty official. How are you finding Council so far?"]
[18:18] <Sachiko> "I'm not on it, exactly," she said, shrugging. She started checking the few neat stacks of papers left on the main table. "They're just looking for extra hands."
[18:22] <PersonaGM> ["Oh yeah? Guess the recent events've caught them flat-footed."]
[18:39] <Sachiko> "Yeah. They're scrambling a little."-
[18:39] <Sachiko> She kept scanning papers. "It's sad that it falls to students to try and fix this."
[18:43] <PersonaGM> ["Yeah." Said Smithson. "Things haven't really changed in that regard since my own time."]
[18:51] <Sachiko> "… yeah, probably not."
[19:01] <PersonaGM> ["Did you know I used to be on Council here?"]
[19:18] * Sachiko glanced up. "Really?"
[19:39] <PersonaGM> ["Mmhmm. Sat on Council when I entered high school, became President in my final year."]
[14:10] <Sachiko> "Hm. Did you get to achieve much?"
[14:18] <PersonaGM> ["More than I expected, less than I hoped." Said Smithson. "Created a few clubs, scrapped a few others. Improved access to counselling for students. Put in library safe days for at-risk students. Had milkshakes put back on the cafeteria menu."]
[14:21] * Suzune is now known as Ai
[14:41] <Sachiko> "That last one didn't stick. Too bad," she said, though she seemed to be smiling.-
[14:41] <Sachiko> Finally she seemed to find what she was looking for. She picked up a thin stack of papers clipped together at the corner. "Sounds like you chose some sensible measures, though."
[14:50] <PersonaGM> ["Thanks. I did my best with what I had." Said Smithson. "I didn't have to deal with what you guys are dealing with, though. It must be pretty confronting…"]
[15:22] * Sachiko held up the papers. "These are the rules Choi wants me to follow while taking interviews," she said. "It looks like I'll be taking them for weeks. So yeah, I'm not surprised enough to be 'confronted' by this, I'm just angry."
[15:22] <Sachiko> "Are you surprised?"
[15:42] <PersonaGM> ["No." Said Smithson. "No… We didn't deal with teachers in our time, but harassment and assault's been around for awhile. It was only a matter of time."-
[15:43] <PersonaGM> ["… I'm not exactly Asaka's favourite person on Earth, either. He's always been willing to abuse his authority for petty things, and when he gets away with it, that only emboldens him. The 'nicest' he's been to me was when he hit on me before realising what role I was filling."]
[16:11] <Sachiko> "Ugh."
[16:17] <PersonaGM> ["He's a winner, right?" Said Smithson, chuckling ruefully. "He's old enough to be my dad."]
[16:29] * Sachiko laughed. "Hopefully that's where the similarities end."
[16:30] <PersonaGM> ["Yeah, my dad's great." Said Smithson. "I mean, to hear him say it, he had a playboy period when he was way younger, but he grew out of that."]
[15:42] <Sachiko> Sachiko watched Smithson for a second, then nodded. "Good for him."-
[15:42] <Sachiko> In the brief silence that followed, she shifted her weight to the right and failed to control a wince. She steadied herself with one hand on the table and the other on her leg.
[16:08] <PersonaGM> [Smithson eyed her for a moment. She frowned slightly.-
[16:08] <PersonaGM> ["Can I confirm something with you?"]
[16:21] <Sachiko> Sachiko's whole posture tightened when she spotted the frown. She pulled out a chair and sat. "Sure."
[16:25] <PersonaGM> ["Am I right to assume that you'd be more comfortable with me not commenting or acting on it when you show you're in pain?"]
[17:04] * Sachiko sighed. "I mean, you can try. Most people are pretty bad at that."
[17:11] <PersonaGM> [Smithson perched on the edge of the desk. "But would it help? Even if I didn't pull it off every time?"]
[17:43] <Sachiko> "…" She frowned at the papers for a moment. "It wouldn't hurt."-
[17:43] <Sachiko> "Ha ha."
[17:47] <PersonaGM> ["Ha ha." Said Smithson drily.-
[17:51] <PersonaGM> ["So, what're your after-school plans?"]
[18:03] <Sachiko> "A lot of studying, then reading through this thing," she said, making a gesture with her papers. "Then probably practice with whatever time's left."
[18:20] <PersonaGM> ["Oh, practice?"]
[18:39] <Sachiko> "I'm trying to get back up to speed with my music."
[18:41] <PersonaGM> ["What do you play?"]
[18:47] <Sachiko> "Piano, guitar… I tried drums once, but it never really took."
[18:56] <PersonaGM> ["Now, that's interesting. Do you have a style you prefer yet?"]
[19:13] * Sachiko kicked her foot. "I was trained in classical, but my-" She stalled long enough for her foot to kick out again, expression briefly tense, before finding her rhythm again. "… I wound up playing a lot of jazz. I guess you'd call that my style now, but I have enough grounding to work in most others."
[19:41] <PersonaGM> ["You listen to much live, then?"]
[19:45] * Sachiko nodded. "Yeah, just not recently. Hopefully that changes while I'm here."
[19:59] <PersonaGM> [Smithson took a card out of her jacket and flicked it artfully toward Sachiko.]
[20:02] <Sachiko> It slid to a stop directly in front of her. Sachiko was already grinning before she picked up the card. "Nice."
[20:45] <PersonaGM> [The card lacked much frill. It was mostly a title and an address- the Blue Finn.-
[20:49] <PersonaGM> ["It's a music bar out in the docklands." Said Smithson. "Usually blues, some jazz, soul. Check it out sometime, and tell 'em you're one of my students."]
[21:02] <Sachiko> As caught off-guard by this as she obviously was, Sachiko's smile was about as bright as it got. "Hey, this is great. Thank you."
[21:03] <PersonaGM> ["No problem. Just don't go telling everyone about this, I wouldn't want people to think I'm too cool."]
[21:04] <Sachiko> "Wouldn't dream of it."
[21:04] <PersonaGM> ["No worries." Said Smithson. "You're alright getting home?"]
[21:19] <Sachiko> "Yeah, I should be," she said. She slipped the card into the pocket, the papers into her bag and stood.-
[21:20] <Sachiko> "You sticking around to straighten more chairs?"
[21:24] <PersonaGM> ["Yeah, I have some errands to run." Said Smithson. "There's not many perks to being known as the 'young' teacher."]
[21:32] * Sachiko nodded. "I won't keep you, then."-
[21:32] <Sachiko> "Have a good night, Ms. Smithson," she said, offering another bow before departing.
[21:34] <PersonaGM> [ Thou art I; I art thou.-
[21:34] <PersonaGM> [ Thou hast glimpsed a new path of thine heart, with which to rewrite your story.-
[21:34] <PersonaGM> [ The first draft of the Empress Arcana has been written; its refinement will bring you new power in the world to come.-
[21:34] <PersonaGM> ["You too, Kurata."]