Kuoh Academy

[Apollymi]

Eira shared a hug with Revil who seemed less worried about her sudden disappearance overall than everyone else. Though admittedly she didn't visit home very often to begin with so he was likely used to not seeing her as frequently as everyone else. "Iie, it's no problem~" she said as they hugged only to see some strange interaction between Revil and Hiroki. "Are you two in a weird competition?" she asked as her hug partner switched to Hiroki instead. To him she had a bit of a smirk on her face as she spoke. "Well as long as you don't turn into Izuna and Leishi~" she mentioned as if this entire thing was all in good fun. Before long, she'd let go of Hiroki as well and settled into her throne properly, but something was bothering her. As she looked, Takumi had been staring for the entirety of these interactions. When she'd looked up his trance like staring seemed unbroken all the way through the forehead kiss she'd laid upon Miyuki. Once this was done, he seemed to return to a singular state with the color of his eyes being uniform. She was deeply worried about the lad but she had no time to consider that, as the tardy time was approaching.

Surprisingly, Maiko wasn't I had detention late. She'd managed to avoid it this day and came running in only to find Eira actually in her throne. "BUCHOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~" she chimed as she launched herself from the door dropping everything to fly through Youmu and tackle Eira in her most usual manner. "You've been gone forever! What did you do for it to take so long? We've been waiting!" she ranted as she squeezed this woman around her waist. Eira's hand met the top of Maiko's head and she patted it once before she hugged the girl. "Gomen. I went to investigate a haunted house. There was a mage trapped inside with no way out... to get out, I had to free and feed a vampire whose magic was binding the whole thing. To me the whole thing only took a couple of hours, but because the whole building was time locked it passed differently outside..." she said which explained the situation to everyone present completely in the same way she'd explained it to Izuna knowing he didn't need a recap. "Oh. That's cool then, I guess..." she said knowing that the woman hadn't meant to leave them for so long made her absence a bit more bearable. But there was still a lot to cover. Regardless she let go of the woman after a moment more and went to join Takumi on the couch nothing was amiss in her world. Once Izuna showed up this could begin and today was a special day, as such several papers appeared in Eira's hands via magic from her desk.

[Bloodedge]

It became apparent to Eira that some competition was ongoing between Sairevil and Hiroki, and the latter laughed lightheartedly. "Revil-kun is, at least. I don't see much harm in it though," he said prior to releasing the woman. It then became Maiko's turn to embrace their club president and master in her usual fashion, albeit without the lateness which normally accompanied it. As surprising as this was, it seemed the general consensus was that Eira's return was the important matter at the moment. With that in mind, the remainder of the peerage was able to hear what actually kept her away for an entire week. It was an interesting tale to hear even the second time for one such as Izuna, who made himself visible to the general population while Eira's story was being told. When the Fox Youkai got a look at the papers she held in her hands though, his eyes widened, and he rendered himself invisible again right away.

[Apollymi]

A smile came to the woman's face as she explained what she'd been up to before this point in time. Of course there was one more little detail, but she supposed she could get to the business of the papers she had in her hand. "Alright then, on to club business. While I was gone, progress reports were delivered. And they're in order by averages~" she chimed, the first one up was her own so she moved that one to the bottom of the stack for obvious reasons. "All A student, way to go Maiko!~" she chimed, very proud of her rough and tumble Rook. "Keep up the good work," she said offering the girl a smile. She'd get a nod of approval from Youmu and an excited wide eyed stare from Miyuki. "Sugoi! That's so cool, Mai-senpai!" she chimed. Maiko in this managed to look abashed finding it a bit much. "Well, I mean... I get into a lot of trouble fighting all the time. So, I try not to fail at anything so I don't get in more trouble," she said. It was a very logical way for her to think about her own life. "Hai hai~ Still you can be proud of yourself," Eira mentioned as she moved along. "Hiroki as well in there at an A as well," she chimed. "Oh and Youmu too. Team averages are looking pretty high," she said which made Youmu shrug. "School was strange to me when you first mentioned it, but... it isn't so bad," she said apathetically. "Sairevil you're doing pretty good as well, with your average only counting for the last few weeks, as a B. Keep growing stronger," she said. This was very strange of all the names she expected to mention, Izuna's wasn't in the top this made her stare at them for longer than she should have when she got to his report properly. "Izuna!" she snapped now knowing why he'd disappeared. "How do you possibly have an F in the History of Kyoto. You're from Kyoto?!" she asked knowing he was still in the room. "You're gonna get ripped out of club activities and end up in cram school, baka!"

[Bloodedge]

Hiroki managed a smile with as much modesty as he could muster when his grades for the period were brought up in the top three. "I try. It helps that I was a high school student when you found me," he said. Sairevil on the other hand, appeared abashed by his lower grades. "I uhh... have some troubles. I'll do better, but there's more I need to understand about the human world," he claimed with much willingness to improve his scores.

At just about the bottom of the list, there was Izuna. One could wonder why he thought it was even a good idea to disappear without actually going anywhere, but he became visible again regardless. This was in part because he was actually quite furious over the situation surrounding his failing class. "Of course I'm from Kyoto! That's why I got an F, because these humans are stupid!" he exclaimed, floating hastily toward Eira and slamming a hand on the arm of her chair while making his point known. His outrage was also apparently accompanied by the presence of his canine features returning once again. "You didn't warn me about this! They made the whole Ounin War into a fairy tale! My MOTHER fought in that war, and these stupid books are trying to say she was some old human named Yamana! My mom was barely even a teen by our standards! They said I didn't even exist!"

[Apollymi]

"Aww, don't be modest Hiro~ You did a good job..." she mused. She didn't know how he felt about his high school experience as he never got to finish his original one but, in this case it was more for what needed to be done eventually in the underworld and less about the schooling itself. It was also in general a good way for her to have a look at up and comers. As for Sairevil she smiled at the lad and nodded. "Hai hai, keep up that attitude and everything will be fine," she said happily.

But there was the matter of Izuna who seemed to have a problem with history because he happened to know it was false. It was as if the lad didn't understand how humans perceived history at all. His furious fox face didn't even garner the usual attention it did from Eira because she was still outraged by the idea that he didn't understand why she was cross with him about this. His issues with history made sense, but that was never really the point. "Did you even read your history book? Of course the humans aren't explaining the Night Parades and Youkai politics to their children. History is written from the perspectives of the winners, and the humans considered themselves the winners. And why would you expect to be written in you were a proper kid back then!" she said not seeming to understand this fox's logic. She could understand him being upset, but this wasn't at all about what he knew it was about what the world thought it knew and those things were very different.

[Bloodedge]

"Why would I read it!?" Izuna questioned immediately. Honestly, he didn't see the point of a history book when the lesson was on something he knew so intimately. "I was there! My own mother risked her life over and over again right in front of me to save Kyoto and the rest of Japan, and they turned it into some stupid human argument over wealth and succession? Have you read that shit!? How the hell was my mom supposed to be the father-in-law of my grandma!? It doesn't make any sense!" Izuna understood why things would be altered to fit humans' perception of themselves - and their ignorance of youkai - in the Ounin War, but even so, it was outrageous that they would change even the events themselves, along with the entire purpose of the war in question. "And I might have been a kid to my own kind, but I was still older than half the human soldiers they claimed were involved in the Night Parades that happened while they were hiding in their stupid little houses!"

[Apollymi]

Izuna explained his outrage aloud and Eira understood by his words but more so by his feelings what his actual problem with the history books were. Even though he didn't really read the book he took issue with how members of his close family were portrayed to the general public. Though they weren't even acknowledged as being female or youkai, she understood the intense amount of anger the boy had, especially if he'd been there. Eira stared at this lad's face for a few seconds longer and her features softened, she reached up and pulled him into herself speaking to him while she fed on his anger at this moment so they could discuss his failing grades like two rational individuals. "I know why you're upset and I understand completely," she whispered to him in this single moment of closeness. "But if you fail properly by the time of report cards they'll pull you from your soccer team..." she said knowing that it was one of the most important parts of this experience to him. "And then who is going to lead them to Nationals?" she asked, a hint of teasing in her voice as she pressed their foreheads together. "Well, I mean Leishi, but it's your hard work too~" she chimed. "You can know the truth and write the lies to pass the tests. Youmu manages to do it, she has an A in it. Why don't you two study together?" she asked of him, and Youmu looked at the pair and nodded. She had no problem helping him out to make sure he could continue to do the things he enjoyed and he needed to do.

[Bloodedge]

Izuna saw an abrupt end to his rage when he was pulled into Eira's arms. It seemed to always be him in these situations, but he was also prone to having such fits. The suddenness of this resulted in his eyes widening and his mouth becoming agape during the fade of his youkai traits. She also made a rather good point about his involvement in sports, and the inability to participate and meet his ultimate goal that would come as a result of failure. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and relaxed fully. "Ugh... you've got some nerve, y'know? Using Leishi getting all the credit as leverage against me." When this was said, Izuna laughed softly. He soon moved away from the woman and looked toward Youmu. "Fine, fine. Fair warning, Paku-chan... I'm a pretty bad student to have around~"

[Apollymi]

"You're the one who has me playing Devil's Advocate. Don't give me ammunition if you don't want me using it..." she commented to the lad as he pulled away from her. She'd noted how quickly his mood had returned to normal and how after the shock of it wore off as it always did, his eyes even relaxed. Perhaps it was a bit shady to use such a move against him, but results were important in his case. The words that Izuna spoke to Youmu caused her to look at him with apathy but there was a hint of curiosity in those eyes of hers. "Iie, you'll be fine Izzun. And I'd be interested in learning about the real thing from the perspective of someone old enough to have been there... it was just a story for me," she said, creatively mentioning that she'd listen to his stories while also helping him learn the human part of the information.

Having let him go, Eira returned to the viewing of grades and saw that the last two members of her peerage had a completely different problem from everyone else, and she knew why. "Ah, Takumi and Miyuki, both of you have missed so many assignments you have incompletes as grades..." she said. "But that is my fault, and I'm fixing it today. You both need familiars to sit in for you when we have to leave and do other stuff. They also work as stand-ins for passing out fliers and can be good partners for you to summon for various tasks magical or otherwise. We missed the last full moon so I wasn't able to take you to the Familiar's Forest, but we'll be able to go tonight and get both of you set up," she mentioned with a curt nod, and just like that the papers disappeared from her hands. Miyuki looked down at the floor. "It got away from me... gomen," she said which made Eira shake her head. "Iie, it's my fault, I forgot you guys weren't all the way set up yet. There is usually a lot more time for me between choosing Peerage members, I didn't mean for my bad time management to bleed over," she mentioned. "So Miyuki, Takumi and Revil you guys are with me for this. You three don't have familiars so, a trip to the forest is in order for all of you~" she said making the group large to help relieve any extra tension. "Hiro and Maiko you two can do your contracts or take a day off. You earned it~" she said to them. And with that she was about done with what she needed to do. "Wait, we get familiars!? We get to make contracts?!" this was a question from Miyuki who seemed excited and this made Eira wonder who she'd been talking to about it.

[Bloodedge]

And so, they reached the bottom of the totem pole. The lowest of the low as far as grades in the club were concerned, were none other than Miyuki and Takumi. The latter was not quite surprised by this information, but he hadn't exactly been in much of a mind to care. If he failed, he believed it would hardly make a difference to someone who was no longer human anyway. As far as all this familiar business was concerned, he couldn't much see the point of it either. Just like something else he 'somewhat' remembered Eira offering, it didn't seem like something that was optional. "Is that an order?" he asked, finally breaking his silence. His expression was empty when he got around to saying this, and he didn't bother looking anyone in the eye while waiting for a response. Doing that seemed to trigger something in him that he'd rather not have happen so suddenly.

[Apollymi]

Eira had given out a list of things for people to do today, and the only person who had anything other than what she wished to hear was Takumi. His words came without him looking at anyone and he rather obviously didn't care one way or another. Still she found herself thinking about her last interactions with this young man he seemed to be between moments of the self she knew him as and this new one he seemed to be making for himself. 'Yare yare, is this what willfulness is like when it's against you?' she thought, still there was something about this question Eira might have liked, that might have reminded her of something or maybe she wasn't thinking right. Still she need to know this lad's mindset, and there was only one real way to learn it. "Do you need it to be, Takumi?"

[Bloodedge]

Takumi's eyes closed yet again, and with that simple action, he also rose from the couch. He was waiting for clarification. Eventually, he would get something... different. Instead of simply giving him the order or confirming whether it was an order or not, Eira asked the boy if he needed this to be an order. 'I... guess I'll do it...'

"Uruse," Takumi said in the lowest whisper he could possibly manage, speaking to no one in the room. As he did so, he looked into his open left palm before clenching his fist. A moment passed before he lifted his head and set his now-burning gaze upon Eira. "Ou. Give your servant an order, master."

[Apollymi]

Eira watched strangely as Takumi stood before her apparently waiting on her answer, when her question was asked his response was delayed. Once again it was a different conversation than she expected to have. She even could have swore he was telling someone to shut up. Of course, in hearing the boy's legitimate reply she couldn't help but have her left brow rise. 'Mendokusai,' she whispered in her mind. Eira chose everyone in her peerage, she was happy that people did what she asked without having to be the kind of controlling person that her specialization of Devil was known for. Was that an insecurity, probably, or rather definitely. But what was she to do? Would she let him leave her a second time without doing what needed to be done? Would she let this moment pass without trying? Eira wasn't demanding, but this was because of her own level of distrust around her actions. The real question was, did she want Takumi with her in this moment more than she cared how controlling she looked? "Takumi..." she spoke his name very carefully as she opened her eyes which were glowing crimson with power. "You're coming with me to the Familiar's Forest, to get your familiar. And yes it is an order," she said, the use of her powers in this moment were measured and very deliberate and would cause the glowing of the filigree like skull marking on the back of the boy's left hand. The command seal would compel the lad to do as she said, since this was apparently something he needed now. Thinking about it after the fact, he'd also questioned the nature of her orders when she'd marked him in the first place. Eira was standing now meeting the lad's gaze. "So come on," she said finally before her tone returned to what it was normally. "Revil, Miyuki you guys come on... " she said creating a magic circle beneath herself that she expected the named people to step into while everyone else was left. "Ja ne."

[Bloodedge]

Some hesitation seemed to be occurring in Eira after Takumi requested an order. Soon though, his name was spoken, and the woman's eyes glowed with a power that invoked the seal on the back of his raised fist. Takumi's eyes glowed as well when the command set in, albeit only briefly. With that out of the way, his arm lowered. "Hai," he said. In stepping forward to the magic circle of Eira's creation, he was joined by Sairevil who took some amount of interest in what had occurred before his very eyes. He stepped out slightly ahead of Takumi and looked at the lad, then looked to Eira. "Sugoi... I didn't know we could do that. There's so much to learn!" he said while also stepping into the transportation circle to be shipped off.

[Apollymi]

On a normal morning with the sun shining, after a couple of days not attending school, Eira Gremory the schools number one idol showed up for class. That wasn't to say she hadn't been attending but simply not as herself. This day there was no stand-in but the legitimate young woman. She looked no different than she normally did, walking with untold grace, head held high with a gentle smile upon her face, crimson locks drifting behind her body in the breeze. Even so, there seemed to be something very different about her. Perhaps it was the company she was currently keeping. Or maybe it was as simple as the new and ornate piece of jewelry worn on the ring finger of her left hand. No matter what it was, Eira seemed to gain even more attention than her already unnatural levels of attractiveness seemed generate. If she noticed this increase, her countenance didn't show it, instead... she walked as if everything was normal.