Preparations for the Year

[Nicolette]

It was the last week in December and while most of the students of T'zenshin Institute were still enjoying their Winter Break at home with their parents, members of the Student Council had left the comforts of home in order to make sure everything would be ready by the time the rest of the students arrived at the school.

She had woken up very early that morning and dressed warmly for the car ride to the airport. It was very cold in London that morning and she did not need to risk getting sick so close to the beginning of the school year. Bundled up nice and warm in a long sleeved shirt, a sweat shirt, a large jacket, gloves, a scarf, a little hat, a long ankle skirt with wool leggings underneath, and snow boots, she walked toward the car, a few maids trailing behind her with her luggage. Her mother stood at the front door with her younger brother and she paused to go back and give her brother a kiss on the forehead and her mother a kiss on the cheek.

"I promise to phone you when I land on T'zen Island, Mum." She said faithfully to her mother before bringing her hand to pat her brother's head. "Do not cause too much trouble while we are apart. It is only for a week." She gave him a warm smile and he nodded, stepping forward to hug her. She held him in her arms for a few moments before she turned and started off for the car. She slipped into the back seat, the driver soon driving off down the snowy streets on the way toward the International Airport where she would be taking a flight to T'zen Island, where her school was located.

It had been a full twelve hours since she had departed from her home and she was busy directing people who were helping her take her luggage up to her dorm room... On the nineth floor of the girls' dormitories. Once everything was in her room, she made the decision to unpack the following evening, after she would return from the meeting at the school with the new Student Council. The other members were bound to arrive that day and all would be feeling the same extreme jet lag that she was feeling.


The following day arrived in her Winter Uniform and she was sitting in the Student Council room. She had given her first speech of the year to the members and they all gave their introductions and told her how it would be great working with her the coming up school yeah. She was kind and polite throughout the whole meeting and once the meeting was over, she gave everyone their assignments.

She moved to the small office that was located near the back of the room. This was the President's special office, which she would need to personalize soon. She sat down at the cool desk and took the papers from the trays, looking them over as she reached her hand over to push the button of the computer. The machine roared to life. She would be working on the twelfth year's schedules, looking over the papers that read their preferences and what they still needed to take to graduate. It was her job to enter this all into the computer to print out by the first day of classes and then distribute the schedules when the students arrived.

It was quite a production, the first two days of school. Classes were not held on the first or second days. The first two days were the days that all the students' flights would come in, many combining in other places throughout the world so it wasn't just a few students per plane. When the students would arrive, they would go to the front courtyard in front of office where Student Council would be giving out their schedules by checking identification cards and giving out the proper papers to the proper people. The schedules would hold their classes and their dorm room numbers.

The third day would commense the assembly and then classes would begin on the fourth day.

Nicolette De la Fontaine brought a slender hand up to brush some ash-blond hair from her odd colored eyes as she looked down at the set of papers the office had given her. They were instructions on how to enter the school database to begin working on the schedules. Such a production... She sighed and looked up at the computer screen, slowly working her way through the steps on the paper.

Such was the life of a Student Council member...

[Kyerin]

December was wrapping up, meaning that the next school year would be starting soon. However, considering how certain events went at the end of last year, he had received a letter from the administration informing him that he should return early in order to make sure that everything for the SFF would be organized and ready for the start of the year... despite the fact that, unlike the Student Council president, he wouldn't have to make a speech anytime soon.

The early Japanese air had made the traveling day cold and short, considering that he was moving forward a few times zones, and would go to sleep at a reasonable hour when he got to the school. He had wished his parents farewell, gave his sister a fond hug (the school year had made it harder for them to spend time together; hopefully, she would join him next year for his final year), and boarded the plane, opting to sleep through most of the flight, and reading for the rest of it. He would take his time to relax now, considering that apparently he had business once he got back to the school.

Kyerin had a bit of help for moving his luggage up to his room, and made sure to take his first day back to set everything up correctly so that it woud be just like home. It was unlikely that there would be any of the representatives there so early, just the applications for them, and he would make the decisions now for the start of the school year. Fortunately, that gave him a full day to relax and set things up, along with a couple days of work before the start of the school year.

The next day saw the boy using his new key to enter the SFF office, making a few personal choices to make it more of his style, before going through the various applications he had, remembering who they were, and deciding on who would be the representatives. He chose those that thought more along his lines, making sure that the crazy radicals weren't too powerful... though a couple of them were representatives to make things not seem too out of balance. But that took so little time.

Kyerin voyaged the hallways, having left his post for a while to stretch his legs... and to make a friendly appearance. Even though they were of "opposing" forces, it would be polite for him to make the acquaintence of the Student Council President... considering that they would probably be talking a lot in the future.

"Knock knock," he said, leaning into the office with a small smile, placing two light raps on the open door. His eyes focused on the girl at the desk, and he smiled a bit more, taking a step past the doorway. "I just figured that, since we were both here so early in comparison to the school year, I should probably stop by and say greetings to this year's President. It's nice to meet you."

[Nicolette]

Multicolored eyes moved from the computer screen to gaze at the figure at the door. She knew he was at least familiar in appearance since he had been in her mental gift class. His name, however, came as a blank to her since they had never formally met. She had a feeling, though, that he was not just greating her as one student to another...

She rose gracefully from her chair and moved to step around the desk and stand in front of it. She brought her hands together in front of her stomach and examined the boy for a moment before bringing her hands to her skirt and giving a small curtsy in respect as she formally introduced herself.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Nicolette De la Fontaine...-Verity..." She hesitated to add the last part, but it was part of her name, so she spoke it. Her voice was very soft, though audiable to the boy across from her. She had never been very vocal... Her accent British, though there was a small hint of her French accent, though it wasn't as noticable. It was the other way around when she spoke in French.

When she rose to stand straight, the girl folded her hands in front of her stomach again, her eyes focused on him as she waited for his introduction so she would at least know who he was... And possibly his purpose. She knew he was coming to greet her... But why would he be here so early? He wasn't part of the Student Council. She knew that much...

[Kyerin]

Now that she was looking at him, he remembered seeing her in his mental gift class. He didn't quite remember her name, or what sort of gift she had, though she was older than him, even if it was just by a year. Still, he did feel a bit in awe to be talking to the Student Council President so personally, to where he could just waltz in and strike up a conversation, just like he was doing.

He took the chance to bow from the doorway before walking in, taking a few steps towards her, though he did leave a few feet between the two of them, so that he wasn't awkwardly close to her. "I believe the pleasure is all mine, Student Council President Nicolette," he replied, wondering if he should shake her hand; however, since she didn't offer it to him, he placed his hands behind his back. He felt a lot more at ease now that he knew her name; it was nicer than saying "Hey you", especially to the Student Council President.

"I came back early, and figured that we would probably be spending a lot of time discussing what is going on in the school, so it would be nice if we knew each other. I'm Kyerin Saito." His name, his appearance, even his accented English said Japanese, though his English was quite clean and clear. However, he left it at just that statement; she was a smart girl, so she should know what he meant... if not, she could simply ask him, and he would be glad to tell her.

[Nicolette]

Nicolette watched him carefully and then it hit her hard, like a ton of bricks, though physically she made no notion of making the realization. Kyerin had to be speaking to her as the head of the Student Freedom Force... The way he spoke to her and the words he chose were hinting at his position and she felt a great amount of relief when she realized that he was being very civil and polite to her, despite the rivalry that their organizations held.

She nodded at his words. It was wise for them to speak before the school year began since once it did finally start, Student Council would be quite busy and the Student Freedom Force would be hard at work with their own issues. She had a feeling she would hear a few nasty words from those in lower positions in the force, but she was confident to stay that conversation between herself and their leader would be quite pleasant.

She really was unsure of what to say next, as the introductions were out of the way. She let her hands drop in front of her as she smoothed her skirt and then brought a hand up to brush her bangs from her eyes once more, tucking the ends underneath her headband, so they were still covering over her forehead like before, but she wouldn't have to constantly move them back into place.

She looked back at Kyerin. Something told her he was younger than her, though she could not be too sure. She would certainly know if he was a twelfth year if she ran into his schedule in her pile... But she had a feeling she wouldn't see it. She didn't want to seem rude and though her curiosity ran through her very blood, she refrained from asking the question of his age.

"How are preparations coming for the Student Freedom Force?" She could not help but ask. "I assume that you are the one in charge... Not many students would come to the Student Council office before the beginning of the term to greet the president unless they were in a high position themselves... Either that or they had a lot of courage."

Now, Nicolette was a quiet one, but she was not as shy as people would pin her to be. She would much rather sit alone at lunch with a book in hand while eating a sandwich before she would go and sit with a group and laugh with them. She had a few friends, like most students, but they were more like class acquaintances. They would speak in class, maybe passing in the halls, and maybe a hello in public, but they wouldn't go out of their way to get in contact with you. Those were the kind of friends Nicolette had, which she was absolutely fine with... Though she wouldn't mind a companion or two...

Regardless of her friends, Nicolette De la Fontaine was far from shy. She enjoyed conversation and could spout on sentences and sentences of dialogue without getting tired. People would naturally assume, though, because of her soft voice and introvert appearance that she was shy. She just preferred to be more of a bookworm than a party animal.

[Kyerin]

There was a moment of silence while he waited for her to say something, and she seemed to be waiting to find something to say. He took a moment to glance at the watch on his wrist to see what time it was (it was early afternoon, so he still had the rest of the day to finish the little work he had to do), made sure that he hadn't accidentally spilt some of his lunch on his shirt, then looked back at her, waiting for her reply.

To be honest, Kyerin liked to converse; however, the thing was that he wanted to discuss something intellectual, and most people weren't into talking about serious things, instead choosing to reference internet memes and what happened in the most recent episode of reality shows. So, he mainly spent his time reading books by himself.

In response to her question, the boy merely smiled, and nodded a bit. "Yes, I am indeed the one in charge, despite being a year younger than you. They aren't as picky about who's in charge of us as they are for the Student Council. Besides, I'm really only looking through those who asked to be representatives; besides that, membership and rules are really covered in the first meeting. If you want to, I could make sure you know, and you could come for it?"

He was aiming to do two real things with the SFF this semester. The first was to get it back to their roots, which did mean not completely undermining the Student Council. They did have good ideas from time to time. The second thing was to keep things honest and open; there would be little sneaking around. For the things that were SFF only, there would be representative meetings to make those plans.

[Nicolette]

Nicolette was correct in assuming he was younger than her. Being a year younger than her would put him as an eleventh grader. She wasn't absolutely sure how she felt on the matter, but decided to leave that pondering for a later period. She merely listened to him speak, nodding appropriately at times she needed to nod. However, she seemed a bit shocked at his offer for her to overlook the picking of representatives for the Student Freedom Force. She was very sure that the Student Council was not often allowed to be involved in these sort of events and she wondered if she should accept or decline.

"You will have to give me time to think on it." She finally replied. "It is definitely an honor to be given such an offer, but the Student Freedom Force is a group that is not too friendly with the Student Council. I am sure there are returning members as well in the group, so I am unsure if my presence would cause a bit of an uproar with them... But I will consider attending if it is what you wish."

[Kyerin]

Kyerin sighed slightly at her comments, but nodded in agreement; that could possibly put a wrench in his peaceful plans. While they didn't have a problem, some people tend to confuse being against ideals with hating people, and the Student Council president was a symbol of the Student Council, who was their natural rivals (not mortal enemies or eternal foes, in his mind... more like crosstown school rivals). So, if she showed up, he couldn't guarentee her safety... still, he could try that risk, if she was willing.

"I understand what you mean; while those people do give the SFF the revolutionary edge it needs for being an equality motion, they do tend to take things... out of hand. I will be having some of those members back, and a couple as representatives, considering that a complete removal of their presense could lead to... well, events that we don't want to take place. So take whatever time you need; I'll be waiting your answer."

[Nicolette]

Nicolette appreciated his understanding of the situation and offered a small smile before turning to look over her shoulder at the paperwork that awaited her. She hoped to finish it by the time dinner started and it was nearing lunch time, though she would most likely end up skipping the second meal of the day seeing as she had work to do and she didn't feel all too hungry at the time. She hadn't really had breakfast either... But it was how her body worked.

[Kyerin]

Kyerin noticed her sidelong glance, and took the hint; she did have a lot more work than him, and she probably needed to get back to it. He was just wasting her time now, and he had done what he had come here to do, so there was no reason for him to be stalling her.

"Well, I just wished to introduce myself to you, and to extend that offer in case you wanted to accept it," he said, closing his eyes with a small smile, before extending one arm towards the girl, his hand open for a handshake. "I hope that we can meet again soon to chat more informally, Ms. Nicolette De la Fontaine?"

[Nicolette]

The moment Nicolette had dreaded since Kyerin had entered her office... It wasn't like she disliked him or anything, but to shake his hand would require physical contact between the two, something that she often tried to avoid at all costs. It seemed rather foolish for her to mentally freak out over a simple handshake, but she felt herself shake a little as she took a step forward, unfolding her hands from each other and reaching one hand out. The other arm folded beneath the elbow of the extended arm, which had the elbow at her stomach and the hand extended from her stomach outward.

She took his hand in her own, swallowing hard at the feeling of his warm hand in her own. It wasn't entirely an unpleasant feeling, but she could feel the paranoia creeping up on her. She shook his hand briefly before drawing away, letting her other arm fold against her chest.

"It was a pleasure, Mr. Kyerin Saito." She replied to his words. "We shall be in contact soon, if that is what you please."

[Kyerin]

Kyerin noted that it was with great... what was the word he was looking for... reluctance, he supposed, that the girl stepped forward and shook his hand, though she gave a fair enough handshake before pulling away from him. Was it something he said or did? No, he had been on his best behavior... maybe he smelled? He made a mental note to himself to wash his hands, and to take a shower after he finished up things here and went back to the dorm. He didn't want to push his odor ridden self on others, if that was the case.

"I do wish it; I'll usually be in the SFF office, but if you wish to get ahold of me and I'm not there, e-mail will suffice," he replied, musing a bit at the thought. Maybe they should exchange cell numbers... no, it was too early in the year, and that would be pushy now. Instead, he just smiled, and bowed to her. "I look forward to us speaking again." And with that, the young man turned his back on her and exited out the door.

[Nicolette]

Nicolette watched the male's back as he departed and walked back to her desk once he was gone. Her multi-colored eyes rose to meet the computer screen and with a deep sigh, she turned to look at the papers next to her.

She had a long day of work ahead of her...

[Thread Closed]