Scene #1757: A Meeting With The Headmistress

Owner	Pose
Mochi	Both Kyouka Inai and Setsuna Meiou sit in two worlds to a degree; staff at Radiant Heart Academy as well as connected to the magical side of things, both exceptions to a rule for different reasons, and both trusted with the rest of the younger Mahou Shoujo and interconnected. And both of them have, at least once, interacted with the person who the whole school is run by - the school's Headmistress, one Kaoruko Hanasaki, an older woman with long brown hair. She also seems to know more than she lets on - but today, they'll know how much more. At each of their doors, a handsome man stops by - in his 20s as well, he's got black hair with emerald green eyes just behind circular glasses. He was, frankly, seen more often than Kaoruko was around campus, acting as her aide. "Could you please visit the Headmistress in her office, after you're finished with work today?" He asks them. "It's nothing bad, don't worry." The Headmistress' office lies at the top of the administrative building; it's less an office and more a series of rooms, though very few are allowed in. The same boy opens the door once both women have arrived, revealing that her 'office' is more of a full on 'apartment' - there's a desk, but also a small kitchen, a series of couches, and a few other doors. "Please, take a seat." he offers as he stands by the door. "Miss Hanasaki will be with you in a moment. Would you like some tea?"
Kyouka Inai	The young man was lucky to have found Kyouka in her office at all- as the duration of her employment has increased, it seems she's less and less sitting behind a desk and more out and about on one errand, mission or task or another. Which isn't to say that she's not doing her job- just that the veneer of 'guidance counselor' has given way to the more solid reality of 'lemme help you out' when it comes to magical business, whatever that business may be. Which is not to say that she doesn't do the job she's paid for. She absolutely does, and (usually) keeps her appointments and teaches her class, which is likely how the young man knew when and where to find her. Her appointment schedule would be accessible by the headmistress, after all. She is surprised by the summons, if only because her contact with the headmistress has been so infrequent, but there's enough going on in the world at the moment that she has several theories as to what this could be about even before she arrives. It's just a matter of finding out which is correct. Or if none of them are. Finding Setsuna arriving along with her gets a raised eyebrow- not for the woman's presence itself, but rather since that rather changes the perceived landscape of the meeting. This is clearly a bigger deal than 'Hey Kyouka, stop sneaking off to smoke behind the gym'. Wearing her usual school-day attire of white button-down woman's dress shirt and black slacks, her sunglasses stubbornly in place, she nods to the school nurse before the door is opened and they are invited in. "Thanks. Tea would be excellent." She tells the assistant, before finding a seat where it seems appropriate.
Setsuna Meiou	Nurse Meiou blinks as the young man pokes his head into the Infirmary and lets her know the Headmistress would like to see her. After a few moments pondering what could be going on, At frist, she tries to put such thoughts aside and just get on with things. After all, she's not entirely sure just how informed the Headmistress is to events. Unfortunately, a slow day conspires to make her attempt to do so a rather vain one...as she finds herself thinking about things the whole day long. Her meetings and even passing interactions with the woman indicate she's been playing things rather close...and given the other events that have happened recently... Finally she shakes her head and manages to distract herself enough with other things. Hours later, when she arrives along with Kyouka, she similarly notes the other's presence...and similarly realizes that the tenor of this meeting is likely to be rather more on the complicated side. Still, she spares a smile for her colleague and a nod to the assistant, "Tea would be most appreciated. Green, if you have it." After which she follows Kyouka in and similarly finds a seat.
Mochi	There's only a little awkward silence between the three of them as the tea begins to heat on the stove before the Headmistress walks in. A soft smile on her old features, she moves more deftly than she looks like she should. She sits on the couch across from the two women. "Thank you both for coming - though I suppose an invitation from me is possibly not something you feel was optional." she says. "But in any case - I'm sure the discussion here will be important to both of you for various reasons." "Are you two familiar with each other? It occurs to me I've never thought to ask." she says, tapping her chin. "And I don't mean as colleagues at the Academy, but rather colleagues in the other duties you have."
Kyouka Inai	Kyouka's demeanor is relaxed, even as she awaits the tea and the person who both called this meeting and, at least ostensibly, maintains her livlihood. She's not the type to sweat over potential trouble, her self-assurance as problematically durable as ever. When the older woman does make her appearance, she has the manners to straighten and incline her upper body slightly in the minimum of a respectful bow owed to one's employer. She is not completely hopeless. "Even if you had said it was optional, I would still have come." She says, with a faint smile. "You're a hard woman to get ahold of, and curiosity is a weakness of mine." When the Headmistress asks if they know each other, she just nods her head. "We are professionally acquainted," She says, with a friendly grin for Setsuna. "And have more than a few mutual friends in the business, as it were." Moon primarily, but hardly uniquely.
Setsuna Meiou	Waiting, though something she really doesn't like, is something that Setsuna has become all to good at doing, so as the tea steeps and she waits for the Headmistress, she absently rolls a large coin over her knuckles and around again. She nods towards Kyouka, "I, as well. And for much the same reasons as Kyouka-san." Kyouka's rather...vague comment about acquaintance also gets a bit of a smile from the nurse, "...we've also met in passing outside of work...and yes, many common friends."
Mochi	"Good, good." she says. Her assistant walks over with tea for the three of them - no preference from Kyouka so everyone gets green - and stands to the side of Kaoruko, patiently. "Now, I'm sure you're aware all three of us in this room are anomalous - none of us should understand 'the business' as it were. For instance, I can tell you that I was once known as Cure Flower - a long time ago, as you can see!" she chuckles. "Probably no backflipping headkicks in my current state - but you never know." she winks. "It is through a combination of a magical artifact and some... heavy personal sacrifice that I maintain what others lose." she explains. "Currently - there's always a cost." she says. "Now, it wasn't always like this, and maybe we can undo it, but that's not what we're talking about ''today''." "The reason I am the Headmistress here is not because I am any good at the job - thankfully Coupe here handles... pretty much everything for me." She says, indicating her assistant. "But rather because I can still see what you two can see, and because... I did not cower in fear at the thought of being a target and risking that." "I am not the only one but the others are... as a general rule, more secretive, either because of their own role as guardians of something else, or because they fear being targeted by the ones who now call themselves Obsidian. Evil forces would much prefer that we all forgot things so they could swoop in and take the relics and similar things we guard."
Kyouka Inai	Kyouka has never been one to be overly picky with food (or drink). A free lunch is a free lunch. Or tea, in this case. She accepts the green tea with a nod for the young man. Kyouka pays attention to what the Headmistress proceeds to tell them. She doesn't seem surprised- logic would have long ago led her to the conclusion that the Headmistress was a retired actor in the great game, as she thinks of it, though she'd be lying if she hadn't said she was hungry for details. Her own devil's bargain to escape the Fade has always left her wondering it there was a better way. The mention of personal sacrifice rings true, however, and perhaps quiets any jealousy she might feel for the older woman. It seems there's no escaping the need to give something up. She does perk a bit at the mention of 'maybe undoing' it, because that's something she's been working towards, albeit slowly, on her own time. But the Headmistress puts that off for another time, and Kyouka does not pursue in light of the conversation's turning. She makes a noncommittal noise at the mention of others who are more afraid. If there's one thing Kyouka has never been, it's afraid to put herself out there and make herself a target. In this, at least, she can respect the Headmistress a great deal. "Details aside, this is all stuff I guessed a long time ago." She says, her tone respectful, not impatient. "You could hardly have hired me for this job if you weren't in the know, plus you gave me the barrier for the gym I use for class, and so on. So what makes you decide to have this conversation with us now, rather than a year ago, or a year from now?"
Setsuna Meiou	As the Headmistress admits that, once uppon a time she was a Pretty Cure, Setsuna blinks once or twice in surprise. Not for the revelation that the Headmistress was once a magical herself...context and various minor clues made that EXCEEDINGLY obvious...but because, as she said, the mental image of the older woman doing a 'backflipping headkick' runs through her mind...and she brings a hand up to cover her mouth so that the others can't see her having to bite her lip to keep from letting out a giggle. The mention, however obliquely of 'undoing' the Fade gets her back on track, however...but she nods at the reasoning that looking into such is a bit of a 'later' thing. She then sighs, "You're not wrong. And far too many of them are after power. No matter the cost. No matter the consequence." At Kyouka's words, she nods, "A fair question for me, as well." She leans back a bit, "Given what I know now of your resources, I've occasionally wondered how or even if my documents got past you...so I find myself asking the same question as Kyouka-san."
Mochi	Kaoruko turns to Kyouka. "Forgive me, sometimes it's hard to remember in entirety what I've told people and what I haven't. Kind of... have to pick and choose the most relevant information to retain." she half explains. Then she turns back to Setsuna. "You're here because of what makes you unique from other school nurses, I will put it that way. Just as a certain portion of our student body is not selected for aptitude and the lottery for that is quite rigged." she says before stopping to take a sip of tea. "What's relevant right now is that there's an orgnization - a very old one, to the point where they didn't put it in Latin for the fun of it, it was just originally ''in Latin'' - which is named Candidus Cordis. No need to translate it, it means Radiant Heart." she adds with a smile. "As you might guess they had a hand in building the Academy. And they continue to have a hand in staffing decisions and selection of a small subset of the student body." she notes. "But they have largely had a very hands-off approach - hiding, to put it bluntly. Hiding themselves and the various things they are bound to protect. Spread all over the world." she continues. "But, that's somewhat changing. It's starting to become known that just hiding things isn't really enough. With Obsidian's resources it just delays the inevitable. Secondly, it's been decided - finally - that with the school so central to our plans of not having the world demolished AND being so close to Obsidian's own HQ, there's a need to enforce a sort of protection around the campus beyond just trying to get all of the future Cures and Senshi and Everything Else in one place. Which is something I tried to tell them BEFORE something blew a hole in the dorms and similar acts. But an old organization moves slowly." she pauses. "INCREDIBLY. SLOWLY." she adds for emphasis. "To the point, and why you're here and getting this lesson?" she finally gets to. "We're going to be moving in peices of an artifact here that should enable the school to be something like the reverse of one of those Dark Energy zones that occasionally spring up around Tokyo. It won't repel Dark Energy but it will make it weaker and thus it'll make the school safer. It is a bit showing our hand and taking sides clearly, but it's my opinion that, if they wanted to hide the affiliation, they probably should have picked a different name for the school itself." she says, before sipping her tea in a very 'but that's none of my business' manner. "Of course, bringing artifacts in, whether ship or plane, presents unique challenges because we're so close to Obsidian. Namely, being accosted en-route once they pick up the readings." she notes. "So the first thing I'd like to ask of you is your help getting some of this information to others - as you see fit and safe - and arranging some people to play defense while the objects are moving from the airport or port, to the campus."
Kyouka Inai	Kyouka absorbs this information about some kind of secret society involved in the creation of the school- well, again, she's not so much surprised as feeling somewhat justified in suspicions she's long held. It was obvious to her that this school was created by someone or more likely someones with knowledge and resources. Finding out that there's a 'good guy' equivalent to Obsidian (or at least, counterpart if not equivalent) only makes her long-held paranoia about 'them' seem more tangible. If there's one thing that's ever-consistent about Kyouka its her mistrust of organized authority. That said, in this case the conclusion is one she happens to agree with, so her instinct to rebel is dampened. "That should have been in place from the start." She agrees, managing to keep most of the reproach out of her voice since it seems like the Headmistress agreed with that point. "Most of these kids don't know a spell from a hole in the ground when they show up here, and putting them all together affords some protection but ''also'' makes a mighty tempting target. After all, wiping out an entire generation of mahous at once would be a dream come true, if they could figure out a way to do it." "The school existing in the first place is already taking sides. Besides, what sort of 'sides' are there to take? When the other guys want to either rule or blow up the world, depending on who you ask, staying out of it only makes you a silent accomplice." Easy for her to say, given that she has nothing outside 'the game' she values anyway, but her morality has always been rather unfortunately black and white. Just ask Fuyuko about that some time.
Setsuna Meiou	At the mention of 'Candidus Cordis', Setsuna blinks as the name sparks a memory. Then she blinks again and whistles before shaking her head, "Wait...Candidus Cordis? WOW. Those guys really came up in the world. Last I heard of THEM they were being laughed at as something like 'four people making a deal about some rock'." She taps her lips, then shrugs, "...granted, that WAS four thousand, three hundred, twenty five years, three months, and six days ago...so I suppose they had time to put in the work." She then scowls a bit at further memory, "...and Antonious WAS rather a self-absorbed jerk, so I suppose he wasn't paying attention." She shrugs, returning her focus to here-and-now, "I can certainly get behind making the campus safer. We HAVE had rather too many incidents happen here, so anything that generally weakens attempts at shenanigans here is all to the good in my books." She then glances over at Kyouka, "...and Kyouka-san makes an EXCELLENT point. Really this place WAS rather much of an obvious declaration...and I had always imagined that there WERE protections ALREADY." She sighs, then shrugs, "Nothing for it, then. I can generally guarantee at least one co-ordinated strike team at rather short notice, and I can get with several of the other students to start spreading the word..." She trails off and looks at the guidance counseler, "...though I rather suspect Kyouka-san's contacts in our mahou body are a bit more extensive than mine."
Mochi	Kaoruko shakes her head. "You don't have to tell me about taking sides or what should have been done. When I found out there was a bunch of people who could have helped more openly, and didn't, I punched one of them." She smiles, and looks like she's remembering it fondly. "Right in the face." she adds with a laugh. "Now, I'm a little bit less hotheaded and I understand some of their reasons - even agree with them in some cases." she says. Then turns to Setsuna. "Now, I wouldn't say the campus has been ENTIRELY unprotected, but I would say it has been... incompletely protected." she clarifies. "And as to why you didn't hear this sooner - you're both new to the role, on the teaching side. I wanted to give you some time to get your feet under you - and make connections, so you can know who you can and can't trust with this information without it hanging over you." she pauses, hands off her tea to her assistant. "And because, bluntly, I wanted you to already be used to working alone before I gave you the information, because I can't promise that will change anytime soon. You're not going to suddenly wake up and find you have the same resources as an international corporation. We're still the underdogs. The school is by far the biggest thing they've ever done. A lot of their role is merely shepherding artifacts between generations - Mahou used to be a lot more rare, and sometimes it might go a couple generations between them." she explains. "Mostly, they're normal people with a bit more information who carry on an ancestral burden or are picked for their role. They're probably less dangerous in a fight than me. In some cases they have information, but it's passed down, fragmented, incomplete..." she warns. "If you ever find their information dfiffers from the information given to you by a magical talking stuffed animal or other fairy - trust the magical creature." she adds. Then holds up a finger. "Unless it's got glowing or beady red eyes or is otherwise possibly evil."
Kyouka Inai	Kyouka has lots of Thoughts about this information, about moral responsibility and taking (or not taking) action and a lot of things it would be very unwise to say in this context. Most of her old friends would be proud of her though, because she's grown up enough ''not'' to say them- not now. Missing the forest for the trees might be a weakness of hers at times, but in this case it's clear the goal is one that she very much agrees with. She can voice her less charitable thoughts on another occasion, once the magical defenses have already been put in place. Hearing that the Headmistress shared at least some of her discontent does mollify her to some degree. She doesn't comment on the notion that she needed time to adjust before getting the big picture, such as it were, but instead focuses on the actual concrete request which has been made of her, one which she is more than happy to agree to. "Of course, barring emergencies (of which we seem to have several week) I would be happy to help provide security for the transport and installation of magical protections for the school. Hell, I'll be out there myself, when the time comes. But I can also recommend several students who are more than capable and will be more than willing to assist. I think it would make a good number of them breathe easier as well."
Setsuna Meiou	Setsuna blinks as she realizes how one of her upcoming conversations is going to go...and she snorts as she imagines how a certain overly-serious young man will react. She sighs, then looks over at Kyouka as she voices her approval and nods, "So it sounds like you just need to give us the details when you get them, and we can each arrange some guardians whenever one of the artifacts comes in." Mention of a certain magical...being, however, doess cause her to scowl, "...the more I hear about that...THING...the more I find myself having to supress the urge to fling a compressed ball of Death at it the next time I see it."
Mochi	Kaoruko sighs. "Well, that ''thing'' is not going anywhere. Different problems for a different time." she says. "But it isn't the only creature that proclaims itself a mascot it would pay to be wary of, in my experience." she continues. "In any case... I would also like to make myself available to answer any questions you have given this information. It's not every day I have guests over for tea, and I want to be able to provide any help I can. It's possible you two have questions I haven't even thought of, so. Please." she sweeps her hand. "Or if either or both of you have nothing you can feel free to return to your normal and not-so-normal business." she says. "I'll be in touch about the what and then when as soon as they tell ''me''."
Kyouka Inai	Kyouka makes no comments on the trustworthiness of mascots. It seems she's guarding her tongue here today, whether that's because she mistrusts the Headmistress or because she simply doesn't want to accidentally give voice to something that's going to burn bridges, it's hard to say. Likely a little of both, though whatever her feelings she seems more than willing to cooperate with the task being asked of her. When the Headmistress brings up questions, she makes a little noise of scoffing amusement that is more playful than rude. "Sometimes I feel like all I have is questions, but I feel like the answers you have to give me aren't going to be the ones I want, no offense. I'll need time to think about it." She finishes off the tea in her cup and rises, handing the empty cup back to the young man who gave it to her. "Maybe we can have tea again soon once I've had time to sort out my thoughts and have a further discussion about priorities." She smiles, tilting her head. "For now though, just let me know when and where, and I'll see that those artifacts get transported safely. You can count on me for that. Otherwise, I think I'll get back to my office. I have another appointment this afternoon."
Setsuna Meiou	Setsuna finishes off her tea, then spends a moment pondering the bottom of her cup. After a moment, she sighs and stands as well, "I too have things I should do this afternoon." She nods towards Kyouka, "Let me know as well and we can co-ordinate our various groups to get things settled here." She then gives a bit of a nod to the headmistress, "Though I too would enjoy meeting you again for tea at some later time."
Mochi	Kaoruko smiles. "I'll have you both along for some one-on-one tea and talking sometime soon then. I'll try not to be so isolated." she offers, in a concilliatory tone. "But I think as far as today's discussion, it's complete." she says. Her bespectacled assistant shows the two women out and closes the door behind them. They can faintly hear Kaoruko, on the other side of the door, after it is closed. "Well, they took that one better than I did!"