hyralt
Well-Known Member
- RP Date
- YE 43.9
- RP Location
- Kyoto Academy of the Arts
Date: YE 43.9
Location: Kyoto Academy of the Arts
Open: Yes, if you want to join - jump in and I'll try to include your character. Otherwise, I have a little story to tease out.
Prologue
A warbling tone pierced the chill kugatsu air, triggering a flurry of three-dimensional movement in the 22 players and referee above the aerial football pitch next to Kyoto Academy of the Arts. Ikumi knew what the opposing forward, a girl named Eiko, would do before she even started moving. The moment the whistle cried, Ikumi raced into the mess of people flying every which way, flipped herself over and stretched out a leg just in time to intercept the pass to Eiko's star midfielder, a girl named Yuri.
Ikumi knew Yuri would be Eiko's target since Yuri had the most upsetting ability to field the ball to exactly where the rest of their team, Tsubomi Kōtōgakkō FC, needed it so they could score. But not this time, Ikumi thought. She only had a moment to reflect before one of the opposing defenders flew directly at her in a hard tackle. Ikumi flicked the ball a couple meters overhead before backflipping under the oncoming tackle, timing it perfectly to catch and dribble the ball upside down towards their penalty box. Not even another moment had passed before she felt the ball tug oddly, and she realized that Yuri was directly behind her and trying to pull the ball away just as she was reaching a good angle to take a shot on goal.
If she had stopped to think, Ikumi would have felt torn about whether to spend a moment tripping up Yuri with some tricky flying, or if she should shoot her shot. But just past the goaltender, in the stands behind the conical net, she saw a familiar face - that of the exchange student, a boy named Daizō. Without another thought, she gave the ball a quick flick to set it up, then spun around in the air to kick the ball at the net with everything she had. And that was the last thing she remembered before someone crashed into her.
Chapter 1 - The Scary Nurse
Ikumi awoke on her back, looking up at a face she didn't immediately recognize. Whoever it was had nordic features: pale skin, blue-grey eyes, and short platinum-blonde hair. The light from the pitch's floodlights bathed the woman in an eerie glow, which made it all the more menacing when she looked down at Ikumi with the expression of someone who couldn't care less why she was injured, just that she was deeply disappointed regardless.
"Sit calmly, child," the woman said to Ikumi, her voice just as disappointed as her expression, if not more so. "You took a shoulder to the head from behind and were knocked out for a few seconds, but I caught you."
"Nurse Sunde?" Ikumi spoke the name before she even realized that she did recognize this woman, she was the scary nurse that came in after hours and whenever the regular nurse wanted to take a few days off. Ikumi's heart sank and she wondered if the woman would try to amputate her head or something. "Did we win?"
Kari turned away from the stretcher on which Ikumi was laying that floated lazily just out of bounds to one side of the pitch. The score read 2 - 1 in favour of Kyoto Academy of Arts as the clock counted down the final minutes of stoppage time and the meagre crowd erupted in cheers.
Turning back, Kari nodded and projected her voice over the cheers. It didn't change her tone, but somehow adding the extra volume made her sound like she was seething in anger. "Yes, your team won."
"Did Daizō see?"
"I have no idea who that is," Kari replied bluntly. "I'm worried you have a concussion. I'd like you to stay with me for an hour or so for observation."
Without waiting for a reply, Kari suddenly spun around to see the other players on Ikumi's team charging towards them. Kari jumped into the air and dialed her personal gravity down to zero so that she hung there between the rush of bodies and her patient. Though her white lab coat and teal medical scrubs did much to lessen the effect, Kari held herself in the air with her hands and legs poised and ready to strike at anyone who would dare come any closer.
"Back, all of you!" Kari yelled, her tone dripping with murderous intent. "My patient needs her space!"
The team, dressed in purple jerseys and yellow shorts just like Ikumi, collectively decided on a safe distance from Kari at which point they stopped and cheered for Ikumi and her game-winning goal. Ikumi, still somewhat dazed, cheered softly from the comfort of the stretcher as she looked into the stands for her crush, but she couldn't see him among all the moving bodies.
Kari held herself at the ready until the excitement, cheering, ceremonies, and everything else concluded and everyone started going home. Finally, she relaxed and lowered herself to the ground and began pushing Ikumi's stretcher the short distance to campus.
"Do I really have to lay on the stretcher?" Ikumi asked, clearly embarrassed. "I'm feeling much better."
"Yes, it would be best," Kari nodded firmly. "If you got up and fell from this height, I might not have time to catch you."
Ikumi pouted and crossed her arms, looking up at the dark grey sky and the snowflakes that gently began to descend from above.
"I don't think my parents would like this," Ikumi grumbled.
"I shouldn't need to remind you that this is a boarding school, and I am acting in loco parentis for the time being, which means in the place of a parent. Your coach, headmaster, and guardians have already been notified of the incident and are aware of my recommended course of action," Kari said with a visible frown. "That I need to remind you of this makes me more concerned."
"I know where I am," Ikumi snapped. "And I know what in loco parentis means."
Kari's frown slowly faded, but she kept her eyes slightly narrowed when she looked at Ikumi, not quite trusting that the child was in a sensible frame of mind.
"What's your favourite class?" Kari asked as they reached the outer extent of campus and she pulled the stretcher inside.
"What?"
"I asked what your favourite class is," Kari repeated.
"Why?"
"I am trying to put you at ease," Kari said, as if reading from a textbook on bedside manner.
"You're not doing a very good job," Ikumi shot back. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was grateful to be inside. Without all the movement and adrenaline, she was starting to get cold, even under the silvery thermal blanket that she realized Kari had wrapped around her while she was unconscious.
"I am also assessing your mental state," Kari added. "Your favourite class should be at the forefront of your mind as a student."
"As a matter of fact," Ikumi said as she began shaking her head, which she immediately stopped when she realized how painful the back of her head felt. "I doubt it's at the forefront of many students' minds."
"Really?" Kari said, quite obviously surprised. "Isn't this a prestigious, private academy of the arts?"
"Well yes, but most of us spend the majority of our time thinking about having a life outside of school."
"Tell me about that, then," Kari shrugged as she pushed the stretcher into the nurse's office, setting Ikumi aside for just long enough to grab some carefully folded blankets. Kari began burying Ikumi in the blankets, careful to keep her head above the blankets so she could breathe.
"How 'bout I don't, and we say I did?" Ikumi asked, feeling her lips curl in frustration. Again, she wouldn't admit it, but she appreciated the blankets.
"I understand your displeasure," Kari said as she stepped away and leaned back against an ancient-looking examination table that sat in the middle of the room. "Few people seem to enjoy spending time with me. But the shortest path to each of us going our separate ways is for you to convince me you haven't had any serious brain trauma."
"Fine," Ikumi practically growled. "I'm in twelfth grade, my major is painting, but despite my parents' best wishes, I'm mediocre at best. Really, I'm trying to get into SAAMMS. If I can catch a senator's eye with my art, that's great. But I figured I'd hedge my bets and see if I could make a name for myself as a football player."
Kari seemed unphazed by Ikumi's disrespectful tone as she stood silently for just a moment longer than was comfortable.
"Verified," Kari said with a nod.
"Can I go now?"
"No," Kari shook her head. "I have watched you play in several matches so far this semester. Before today, I have never seen you play so recklessly. I have seen you in nearly identical situations, but every previous time you acted more cautiously, dealing with the defender before taking your shot."
"Creepy," Ikumi said with a frown and pulled the blankets tighter around herself.
"Hardly, the full-time nurse doesn't work evenings or weekends, so I am invariably called upon to act as medic for every sporting event on campus," Kari said without a hint of bitterness. "And I have to watch the players particularly closely in aerial football in case someone falls unconscious while they are flying."
"Oh," Ikumi relaxed slightly, then felt like she should say something else. "Sorry."
"No problem," Kari shook her head. "But you haven't answered the question. Why did you act recklessly tonight?"
"I guess I wanted to show off," Ikumi shrugged.
"Why?"
"In case someone important was watching," Ikumi said with another dismissive shrug.
"I'm sure if the Empress, Premier, or a Senator were attending, you would impress them more with careful, tactical decisions," Kari narrowed her eyes again. "Which is exactly how you normally play. Tonight was different."
They sat in silence for a long time. Ikumi refused to say anything, or even meet Kari's gaze. Every time she saw the nurse's face in the corner of her eye, she could tell Kari was still staring at her.
"I don't know," Ikumi said at last, hoping the nurse would move on.
"Is it because you wanted Daizō to see?" Kari asked immediately.
Ikumi felt her heart sink for the second time since she'd started talking to Kari. Instead of answering, she sank down into the blankets until her face was entirely obscured.
"I'll take that as an affirmative," Kari's now slightly muffled voice still managed to reach Ikumi's ears. "For your health and safety, I will recommend that Daizō be banned from attending further matches and give him a warning to stay away from you in particular."
"No!" Ikumi sat up suddenly, knocking most of the blankets aside. "I was going to ask him to go to the year's end dance with me. If he goes with someone else, I'll just die. If you talk to him, at best he'll never look my way again, but at worst he'll move back to Jiyuu early!"
"You'll die if he goes to the dance with someone else?" Kari replied, suddenly tense.
"Yes!" Ikumi felt like throwing some of the blankets at Kari, but didn't think it would help matters any. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."
"No, I understand," Kari nodded slowly. "There are cases of death by heartbreak. They are very rare, but given your emotionally heightened state, I wouldn't rule it out."
"Oh," Ikumi said, tilting her head to one side slightly, not sure if the Nurse was actually taking it seriously. "Well..."
"What's his full name?" Kari asked, but didn't even leave the span of a breath before she continued. "Never mind, I ran a search on the school's roster and found him. Kuroda no Daizō. Exchange student from Jiyuu. Also majoring in painting, with a minor in botany."
"I didn't know he was studying botany." Ikumi said, suddenly realizing she'd have to put more thought into the corsage she'd pick for him.
"It's settled," Kari nodded her head firmly, and though Ikumi didn't know what Kari was about to say, she suddenly had a very bad feeling. "It is my duty to ensure that Kuroda no Daizō accompanies you to this dance."
Location: Kyoto Academy of the Arts
Open: Yes, if you want to join - jump in and I'll try to include your character. Otherwise, I have a little story to tease out.
Prologue
A warbling tone pierced the chill kugatsu air, triggering a flurry of three-dimensional movement in the 22 players and referee above the aerial football pitch next to Kyoto Academy of the Arts. Ikumi knew what the opposing forward, a girl named Eiko, would do before she even started moving. The moment the whistle cried, Ikumi raced into the mess of people flying every which way, flipped herself over and stretched out a leg just in time to intercept the pass to Eiko's star midfielder, a girl named Yuri.
Ikumi knew Yuri would be Eiko's target since Yuri had the most upsetting ability to field the ball to exactly where the rest of their team, Tsubomi Kōtōgakkō FC, needed it so they could score. But not this time, Ikumi thought. She only had a moment to reflect before one of the opposing defenders flew directly at her in a hard tackle. Ikumi flicked the ball a couple meters overhead before backflipping under the oncoming tackle, timing it perfectly to catch and dribble the ball upside down towards their penalty box. Not even another moment had passed before she felt the ball tug oddly, and she realized that Yuri was directly behind her and trying to pull the ball away just as she was reaching a good angle to take a shot on goal.
If she had stopped to think, Ikumi would have felt torn about whether to spend a moment tripping up Yuri with some tricky flying, or if she should shoot her shot. But just past the goaltender, in the stands behind the conical net, she saw a familiar face - that of the exchange student, a boy named Daizō. Without another thought, she gave the ball a quick flick to set it up, then spun around in the air to kick the ball at the net with everything she had. And that was the last thing she remembered before someone crashed into her.
Chapter 1 - The Scary Nurse
Ikumi awoke on her back, looking up at a face she didn't immediately recognize. Whoever it was had nordic features: pale skin, blue-grey eyes, and short platinum-blonde hair. The light from the pitch's floodlights bathed the woman in an eerie glow, which made it all the more menacing when she looked down at Ikumi with the expression of someone who couldn't care less why she was injured, just that she was deeply disappointed regardless.
"Sit calmly, child," the woman said to Ikumi, her voice just as disappointed as her expression, if not more so. "You took a shoulder to the head from behind and were knocked out for a few seconds, but I caught you."
"Nurse Sunde?" Ikumi spoke the name before she even realized that she did recognize this woman, she was the scary nurse that came in after hours and whenever the regular nurse wanted to take a few days off. Ikumi's heart sank and she wondered if the woman would try to amputate her head or something. "Did we win?"
Kari turned away from the stretcher on which Ikumi was laying that floated lazily just out of bounds to one side of the pitch. The score read 2 - 1 in favour of Kyoto Academy of Arts as the clock counted down the final minutes of stoppage time and the meagre crowd erupted in cheers.
Turning back, Kari nodded and projected her voice over the cheers. It didn't change her tone, but somehow adding the extra volume made her sound like she was seething in anger. "Yes, your team won."
"Did Daizō see?"
"I have no idea who that is," Kari replied bluntly. "I'm worried you have a concussion. I'd like you to stay with me for an hour or so for observation."
Without waiting for a reply, Kari suddenly spun around to see the other players on Ikumi's team charging towards them. Kari jumped into the air and dialed her personal gravity down to zero so that she hung there between the rush of bodies and her patient. Though her white lab coat and teal medical scrubs did much to lessen the effect, Kari held herself in the air with her hands and legs poised and ready to strike at anyone who would dare come any closer.
"Back, all of you!" Kari yelled, her tone dripping with murderous intent. "My patient needs her space!"
The team, dressed in purple jerseys and yellow shorts just like Ikumi, collectively decided on a safe distance from Kari at which point they stopped and cheered for Ikumi and her game-winning goal. Ikumi, still somewhat dazed, cheered softly from the comfort of the stretcher as she looked into the stands for her crush, but she couldn't see him among all the moving bodies.
Kari held herself at the ready until the excitement, cheering, ceremonies, and everything else concluded and everyone started going home. Finally, she relaxed and lowered herself to the ground and began pushing Ikumi's stretcher the short distance to campus.
"Do I really have to lay on the stretcher?" Ikumi asked, clearly embarrassed. "I'm feeling much better."
"Yes, it would be best," Kari nodded firmly. "If you got up and fell from this height, I might not have time to catch you."
Ikumi pouted and crossed her arms, looking up at the dark grey sky and the snowflakes that gently began to descend from above.
"I don't think my parents would like this," Ikumi grumbled.
"I shouldn't need to remind you that this is a boarding school, and I am acting in loco parentis for the time being, which means in the place of a parent. Your coach, headmaster, and guardians have already been notified of the incident and are aware of my recommended course of action," Kari said with a visible frown. "That I need to remind you of this makes me more concerned."
"I know where I am," Ikumi snapped. "And I know what in loco parentis means."
Kari's frown slowly faded, but she kept her eyes slightly narrowed when she looked at Ikumi, not quite trusting that the child was in a sensible frame of mind.
"What's your favourite class?" Kari asked as they reached the outer extent of campus and she pulled the stretcher inside.
"What?"
"I asked what your favourite class is," Kari repeated.
"Why?"
"I am trying to put you at ease," Kari said, as if reading from a textbook on bedside manner.
"You're not doing a very good job," Ikumi shot back. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was grateful to be inside. Without all the movement and adrenaline, she was starting to get cold, even under the silvery thermal blanket that she realized Kari had wrapped around her while she was unconscious.
"I am also assessing your mental state," Kari added. "Your favourite class should be at the forefront of your mind as a student."
"As a matter of fact," Ikumi said as she began shaking her head, which she immediately stopped when she realized how painful the back of her head felt. "I doubt it's at the forefront of many students' minds."
"Really?" Kari said, quite obviously surprised. "Isn't this a prestigious, private academy of the arts?"
"Well yes, but most of us spend the majority of our time thinking about having a life outside of school."
"Tell me about that, then," Kari shrugged as she pushed the stretcher into the nurse's office, setting Ikumi aside for just long enough to grab some carefully folded blankets. Kari began burying Ikumi in the blankets, careful to keep her head above the blankets so she could breathe.
"How 'bout I don't, and we say I did?" Ikumi asked, feeling her lips curl in frustration. Again, she wouldn't admit it, but she appreciated the blankets.
"I understand your displeasure," Kari said as she stepped away and leaned back against an ancient-looking examination table that sat in the middle of the room. "Few people seem to enjoy spending time with me. But the shortest path to each of us going our separate ways is for you to convince me you haven't had any serious brain trauma."
"Fine," Ikumi practically growled. "I'm in twelfth grade, my major is painting, but despite my parents' best wishes, I'm mediocre at best. Really, I'm trying to get into SAAMMS. If I can catch a senator's eye with my art, that's great. But I figured I'd hedge my bets and see if I could make a name for myself as a football player."
Kari seemed unphazed by Ikumi's disrespectful tone as she stood silently for just a moment longer than was comfortable.
"Verified," Kari said with a nod.
"Can I go now?"
"No," Kari shook her head. "I have watched you play in several matches so far this semester. Before today, I have never seen you play so recklessly. I have seen you in nearly identical situations, but every previous time you acted more cautiously, dealing with the defender before taking your shot."
"Creepy," Ikumi said with a frown and pulled the blankets tighter around herself.
"Hardly, the full-time nurse doesn't work evenings or weekends, so I am invariably called upon to act as medic for every sporting event on campus," Kari said without a hint of bitterness. "And I have to watch the players particularly closely in aerial football in case someone falls unconscious while they are flying."
"Oh," Ikumi relaxed slightly, then felt like she should say something else. "Sorry."
"No problem," Kari shook her head. "But you haven't answered the question. Why did you act recklessly tonight?"
"I guess I wanted to show off," Ikumi shrugged.
"Why?"
"In case someone important was watching," Ikumi said with another dismissive shrug.
"I'm sure if the Empress, Premier, or a Senator were attending, you would impress them more with careful, tactical decisions," Kari narrowed her eyes again. "Which is exactly how you normally play. Tonight was different."
They sat in silence for a long time. Ikumi refused to say anything, or even meet Kari's gaze. Every time she saw the nurse's face in the corner of her eye, she could tell Kari was still staring at her.
"I don't know," Ikumi said at last, hoping the nurse would move on.
"Is it because you wanted Daizō to see?" Kari asked immediately.
Ikumi felt her heart sink for the second time since she'd started talking to Kari. Instead of answering, she sank down into the blankets until her face was entirely obscured.
"I'll take that as an affirmative," Kari's now slightly muffled voice still managed to reach Ikumi's ears. "For your health and safety, I will recommend that Daizō be banned from attending further matches and give him a warning to stay away from you in particular."
"No!" Ikumi sat up suddenly, knocking most of the blankets aside. "I was going to ask him to go to the year's end dance with me. If he goes with someone else, I'll just die. If you talk to him, at best he'll never look my way again, but at worst he'll move back to Jiyuu early!"
"You'll die if he goes to the dance with someone else?" Kari replied, suddenly tense.
"Yes!" Ikumi felt like throwing some of the blankets at Kari, but didn't think it would help matters any. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."
"No, I understand," Kari nodded slowly. "There are cases of death by heartbreak. They are very rare, but given your emotionally heightened state, I wouldn't rule it out."
"Oh," Ikumi said, tilting her head to one side slightly, not sure if the Nurse was actually taking it seriously. "Well..."
"What's his full name?" Kari asked, but didn't even leave the span of a breath before she continued. "Never mind, I ran a search on the school's roster and found him. Kuroda no Daizō. Exchange student from Jiyuu. Also majoring in painting, with a minor in botany."
"I didn't know he was studying botany." Ikumi said, suddenly realizing she'd have to put more thought into the corsage she'd pick for him.
"It's settled," Kari nodded her head firmly, and though Ikumi didn't know what Kari was about to say, she suddenly had a very bad feeling. "It is my duty to ensure that Kuroda no Daizō accompanies you to this dance."
