SW: Pride and Spirit

[Vincent Meian]

(Backdated to 4/29/16)


Friday was here, and with it the last day of Spirit Week at the Hammel Institute. Spirit Day itself was to be a day where students dressed in the school colors (blue and white), but for those who attended different schools prior to this year, it meant they could break out the old uniforms of days past and show their new home another side of themselves. For some, it meant the blazers and sweater vests of Kocher (and other such private schools of Europe and North America). A few had the military jackets often associated with Odarennyĭ, though they were a rare sight considering the possessiveness the Russian school had over their students.

For another small group, this meant an entirely different uniform somewhere between the two. Eisai Gakkō, having been founded long before the 1980's, was not caught up in the sweep across the nation to switch to the now-common blazer style, instead focusing on the traditional seifuku style prevalent until that point.

Despite having not been a student since 1988, Vincent Meian still owned his school uniform. His had to be specially tailored, after all, due to his ridiculous height at the time of his graduation. While he'd only grown another couple centimeters up after leaving the school, however, he had certainly grown more broad across the shoulders. Thus, the uniform had been tailored once again, and it was for the first time in decades the trainer had worn it. While it (now) fit, the wearing of it made the man think of the time when he was a student himself, and the idea had originally made him uncomfortable.

But Nik convinced him.

So the pair arrived at the school early in the morning, the tall man holding his old school bag over one shoulder and his wife's hand in his own. His long hair was tucked up under the uniform's hat, which made the trainer (for once) not look like a delinquent. In fact, he would have looked like a right proper student if he wasn't obviously over the age of thirty.

It was a beautiful day for a stroll, really.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

Unlike many women, Nakia was not prone to fantasizing about her high school days, or wishing that she was that teenage girl again. Ostracizing classmates and fear for her safety aside, it simply wasn't a time where she felt comfortable with herself as a person, let alone beautiful. That she'd grown into as she aged, and now (though it still caught her by surprise when others told her) she knew that she was a chilling sort of beauty.

Granted, that didn't mean that she didn't like to dress up to prove it. Like her husband, she had kept her school uniform from Eisai Gakkō. And, like him, hers had needed to be tailored to accommodate for years of not wearing it. The fact that hers had needed to be let out for her hips and chest was unsurprising, considering the fact that she was a mother of two and in her forties, though it wounded her pride a little. (Until Vincent reminded her exactly how tiny her frame was in her school days from being undernourished, though that still wasn't the point.)

She had chosen to wear the long winter skirt with her outfit to maintain professionalism, but other than that, the pale woman had altered little. She wore the high socks and shiny slip-on shoes common to the uniform, and even had pulled her hair back into a high ponytail with a ribbon, a few lightly curled wisps loose and dangling by her ears. While she certainly didn't look like a teenager any more than the tall veteran beside her, the doctor's appearance did seem to evoke quite a few double-takes as the pair walked hand in hand across the grounds to the main building.

Idly, Nik thought that this might be what normal teenagers felt like back in Japan - shy, fluttery, and utterly happy to be with the person they cared for. But she didn't want to feel like them; albino or not, adult or teen, she was just happy to be who she was in this time.

"We're getting stares," she murmured, icy eyes looking up a ways to catch humored amber. Dr. Kenjutsushi was a great deal less nervous about wearing her old uniform than Mr. Meian, but they certainly were getting a bit of attention. Enough to be noticeable, at least. It was amusing.

[Joelle McIntosh]

Much as she had been for the rest of Spirit Week, Joelle was excited for today. Her closet had been raided earlier in the week, and she'd spent the previous night carefully painting her nails to match the theme of the week. She'd even gotten up early to do her hair and dress up in the school's colors.

Part of her had to wonder if she would cross paths with the pretty white haired snow princess she'd met on the Holiday Day. The idea that today's theme would make her happy, being that the colors were blue and white, made her smile.

Being up early, she'd ended up heading outside to enjoy some time in the fresh air before classes started. Not wanting to be late, she had started to scurry across the courtyard to head back in. On her way, she got distracted, though. Because she was sure she saw the snow princess!

Hurrying to catch up, she grinned when she realized that she was right. And how pretty she looked in her outfit!

What took her another moment to realize was that the man with her was her trainer. Eyes widening, she paused in her running and smiled brightly at the pair. "Good morning! You both look so nice!" They almost looked like uniforms, and she wondered if they were from Japan. If they were, she had to wonder if Koty would wear something similar. They were blue, after all.

"I'm sorry to interrupt! I just... um. Wanted to say you both look very nice." For all she knew she'd just run right into a private conversation. Whoops.

[Vincent Meian]

The tall man chuckled slightly at his wife's comment, though his carefully schooled face revealed that he was still not entirely comfortable with the attention. Not that he'd received any less throughout the rest of the week, but he wasn't wearing an almost thirty year old uniform from when he was a teenager those days either. Still, the fact that it made Nik happy made him happy, and he would suffer the indignity for one day. Just one.

["You are getting stares, beloved,"] he countered, speaking softly in their native language. ["I don't blame them; you're easily the most beautiful woman on campus."]

Vincent grinned and stepped back as a pale hand came up and smacked him in the chest, chuckling to himself with a bit more mirth. It hadn't hurt; it was just his wife expressing herself without needing to scold him. Granted, he would have continued if a rather spirited person hadn't run up to them, chipper and bright and immediately complimenting their clothing choice.

"Good morning, McIntosh-san," he greeted in kind. "You are not interrupting anything important." The rueful look he received from Nik was tinted with something like curiosity, so the trainer continued. "I do not believe I have introduced you to my wife, Nakia. She is the resident doctor for the Hammel Institute. Nakia, this is Joelle McIntosh, one of my newest students."

Though, given the expressions on their faces, they had already met.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

The swat was to remind her husband that they were at school, and that she didn't appreciate his teasing. Even if he was being honest as always, their culture has always scorned such public (and blunt) displays of affection. Not that she cared much, but the instinct was still there, especially when the ridiculously tall man was trying to embarrass her.

The fact that he greeted the pretty girl from the other day (looking just as lovely in the Hammel Institute's colors as she had in pink) was a little surprising. Neither of them had mentioned the other before, at least not so she could recall. Perhaps she simply hadn't remembered the name of the student before now. Still, she let him introduce them to each other, then held out her hand for Joelle to shake. "We've met before," she replied warmly. "How did that good luck charm go for you, my dear? Has anything lucky happened so far?"

Idly, she straightened the dark almost-black of her skirt with a quick brush of her left hand, the silver band catching the sunshine briefly as she did so. Both uniforms were so dark navy as to be near black, and were accented with white in various places, and it was somewhat amazing that they hadn't faded much more than they had. Granted, these were the winter uniforms, given the chill in the air recently; the summer uniforms would have a bit more color to them, if they could find the damn things amidst the boxes they still had left tucked away in the attic.

[Joelle McIntosh]

Joelle's eyes widened when she realized just who the snow princess was. And the things that Nakia had said when she'd met her earlier in the week made her want to giggle with glee. Mr. Meian seemed like he could be very serious, but knowing that he did things like call his wife beautiful (which she was!) made her see him him a different light.

At the mention of the fortune, however, she flushed slightly.  Had she had luck?  Well... yes.  In a weird way.  Koty being the telepath Vincent had chosen to help with her training had been a stroke of tremendous luck.  What had happened afterwards... well, still lucky, but also very embarrassing.  She hadn't expected training to go that way at all.  

To that end, she had a hard time making eye contact with Vincent.  Heck, she'd had a hard time even with Blip, who had teased her for most of the evening while she was doing homework.  

Adopting what she hoped was an innocent look, she shook her head.  "Not yet, but I'm hoping soon."  Or perhaps that luck had been entirely used up in one training session.  She actually had the fortune tucked away under her pillow, pinned to her sheets in a bag to keep it safe. Knowing it was there when she went to bed always made her smile before she fell asleep. "Thank you again for the fortune, Miss Nakia. It was fun!"  

And hopefully talking about the fortune would distract from the fact that training was going to be somewhat... awkward for a while.

[Vincent Meian]

Vincent was one of those people who was ever honest, therefore he could do nothing else but state his bride's beauty as often as possible. It was simply a fact of the world, and if other people couldn't see it (even objectively), then in his opinion they didn't deserve to be in her presence. Naturally, this ideal was not suitable for the real world, but when were they ever? He could still have his preferences, and in his perfect world, no one ever questioned just as radiant Nakia was, inside and out.

The question of fortunes and the corresponding blush made the trainer look away from his student for a moment, almost conspicuously silent on the matter. He did not notice her lack of eye contact because he had none, so busy was he looking relaxed and seemingly more curious about the state of affairs around them. After all, nothing to see here, right?

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

The furious blush from the young woman before her made a pale eyebrow arch in an amused and curious expression. A glance to the tall form beside her showed an equally incurious expression. Which in itself was unusual, considering his propensity towards an almost uncomfortable level of eye contact for most people. It seemed like neither one of them wanted to talk about it, though, so Nik filed it away for later.

"I hope so," she added, smiling. "Good luck is a rare thing, and I'm glad I was able to make your week a little more fun."

Looking the student up and down, the doctor gestured to the outfit. "You certainly went all out, didn't you! Hammel colors suit you - you even got the shade of blue just right." Vibrant colors didn't suit the pale woman much, because it simply accented how little color she had. But Joelle? She pulled it off very nicely. "Has anyone else complimented you on your ensemble yet today? Because you look very spirited."

[Joelle McIntosh]

Oh gosh, now her trainer wasn't looking at her. Apparently the after-effects of yesterday's training session were going to stick around for a while yet. She'd have to find a way to make it up to him. She didn't know exactly how, but perhaps Koty would have some idea. He did know him better, after all. All she knew was that for the foreseeable future, telepaths were out when it came to training.

Carefully keeping her gaze on Miss Nakia, she found herself blissfully distracted from the disastrous (but still sort of wonderful) training session. "It was lots of fun," she said with a quick nod. "I hope no one got cursed too badly. Was the red rope really full, or did a lot of people take a chance on luck?" She'd casually asked Jeff if he'd run into her, but the answer had been a resounding 'no', which had been... somewhat unfortunate. She'd sadly hoped for him to get a tiny curse. Because what were siblings for, really?

Looking down at Nakia's compliment, she smiled at the compliment. "Thank you, Miss Nakia. I haven't seen many people yet. I think most of my roommates were still asleep when I left this morning." Quietly she was hoping to run into Koty, simply because if Nakia thought she looked nice, she hoped he would, too. "You look very nice in blue, though, too." Chancing a peek at Vincent, she offered what she hoped was a peace-making smile to him, too. "You both do." Maybe pleasantries would help smooth over yesterday's events.