Maunder is a private day school on Brookside.  Most of the students are paid for through a series of bursaries, grants and charitable donations.  There are only sixty six students aged from 12 to 20 and many go on to achieve greatness in the wider world.  The goal of the school is for each child to reach her or his potential for the benefit of society.  Most parents and children have no idea how they or their children managed to get a place, it's like winning a lottery they never even entered.

The bad news: it was the first day of school.

The good news: it was the last year of school.

Ann passed through the familiar school gates, seeing a lot of faces she knew. There was also a crop of fresh-faced twelve-year-olds starting today, in blue blazers, trousers and skirts that most of their parents had bought a size or two too big for them to grow into. Ann's parents had taken the same cost-saving strategy with her, and she was now going to see out her last year in a uniform that was a size too small. She consoled herself that at least the blue matched her eyes, though most of the sixth formers at other schools didn't even have to wear a uniform anymore.

As she caught up with friends, she realised that some of those new pupils might not live long enough to fill out their uniforms if she didn't do her job as Slayer right. She also noticed Billy Spencer, the bully of the class, looking down on everyone. Ann would never forget crying after he'd tied her hair to a chair in class once. And now he was in the top year and at the apex of his powers. She involuntarily shrank back from him, before she remembered that she wasn't the weak girl she'd once been. There was no need to seek out confrontation, but it was nice to have one less thing to worry about.

Ann's strength was not the only thing that had changed.  She could feel Spencer's eyes on her as she walked into the school, she'd gained two inches on her legs and possibly more on her bust and it was the latter that caught Spencer's eye.

Whatever piece of evilness had been going on his mind sank from his brain as little Billy took over from Big Billy.  He swallowed and turned away as his usual cutting remark decayed to ashes on his tongue.

It is one o'Clock in the morning and one by one the stars go out, soon enough the streetlights follow as fog arises from the ground and thickens around you.  Those who are awake feel a sudden cold, not a September cold but a December cold.  For those who remember, it's a December 1963 cold, an 1816 cold, a cold that sinks down through the bones and kisses the marrow.

Those who are sleeping dream, touched by malicious spirits, they find themselves struggling against a bitter wind that sings knives of a cold not seen before.  Behind them they hear the howling of wolves, ahead the raucous calls of hunters.  Neither seems a safe bet.

Inoue shows up for classes looking absolutely ravishable in her new uniform; long hair up in a high ponytail, legs snug in pure white tights, and tiny tiny pleat skirt fluttering with her movements. And her waist; there is no way that is her natural hourglass. She walks with her hands folded primly behind herself, almost as much to keep her skirt from riding up as to look pretty and demure. She was new here and while she wasn't really looking for interest in that way she wasn't not looking either, and besides; looking good felt good, and that was good!

As she meandered about the school, idly munching on toast and jelly left over from breakfast, Inoue took the pulse of the school. The ebb and flow of people, of little unstated rules between the students, the local culture. It all felt so strange to someone who had been privately tutored their whole life. Fortunately, this seemed to be a small school. Fitting in should not be that difficult.

If she repeats that to herself enough times maybe she'll even believe it.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 23:00, Fri 07 Jan 2022.

Ann was chatting with a couple of friends, catching up on what they'd been up to over the break; holidays, boys and bands were the main topics. She kept her own answers uninteresting. There was no need to drop any hints about becoming the Slayer.

Wanting to catch up with some other people, Ann left them and made her way through the corridors. Turning a corner, she ran straight into another student. Looking down, she saw they both had jam on their shirts, presumably from the toast in the girl's hand.

"I'm sorry," said Ann as she tried to place the girl. Too old to be a first-former, she was presumably a transfer student.

"There's a toilet just over here. We'd better wash our shirts quickly or the stains will never come out."

Suddenly, collisions! "Sumimasen!" Inoue apologizes, seemingly almost by reflex. That'll teach her to walk and eat at the same time! She knew it wasn't proper to do so but she had read about the magical powers of carrying toast in one's mouth to speed up one's destiny. It had seemed ridiculous, but-

Inoue's thoughts froze as she saw who she had bumped into, followed shortly by: oh praise be to the magic toast gods. Truly they giveth and... staineth. She will never doubt their powers again.

Inoue follows the other girl's gaze with her own and nods. "With haste, then!" and rushes to the bathroom to combat the insidious staining.

Some toweling and rinsing later, Inoue turns to the girl with whom she has inadvertently shared her breakfast. "Hello, I am Inoue," she introduces herself. "I just arrived from Japan yesterday. Please regard me kindly." She mimes a curtsy; no way was she bowing in a skirt this short.

Ann held out her hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you Inoue. I'm Ann. Ann Winters. And there's no need to curtsy; I'm not the queen."

Figuring that a light pink stain was the best she was going to do, she turned on the hand dryer and positioned her chest under it. Over the noise, she shouted, "I don't want the boys to see us looking like we're taking place in a wet t-shirt competition. They're already going to go crazy seeing you wearing a skirt that short. You're new right? I don't think I've seen you before, and at a school this small, you get to know everyone. So what's your deal? Have your parents just moved to town?"

Deciding that her shirt was dry (and therefore opaque) enough, she moved aside to let Inoue make use of the dryer.

Inoue chuckles softly and shakes hands with the other girl. "No curtsying in front of new friend Ann," she notes aloud. "I understand!"

You're new right? I don't think I've seen you before. "Y-yeah, just arrived from Japan yesterday!" Inoue repeats, maintaining the friendly smile. "No, I traveled here by my lonesome. I know no one here. It was very much a last minute decision; everything was moving along normally and then in the midst of minding the garden I just had this epiphany that this is where I needed to be. I still do not know why." She cocks her head at Ann, appraising her reaction. "Does that sound strange at all?"

"You flew around the world on a whim without your parents and got into an exclusive school with just a day's effort? To be honest, that sounds very strange, but kind of cool. It must be great not to have your family looking over your shoulder all the time. We'd better get out of here before people start gossiping about how long we're spending in toilets together."

She led the way out and helpfully pointed out parts of the school. It didn't take long; there wasn't a whole lot of school to show.

"You'll fit in in no time. It's a small school so everybody knows everyone. I'm in the Upper Sixth, taking French, History and Music A-levels in the summer. How about you?"

"My family is very supportive of everything I do," is all Inoue is able to say before the need to get out of the restroom becomes pressing. She follows on Ann's heels, trying to look natural. It is hard.

Inoue fishes her class schedule from her blazer pocket, unfolding it and inspecting its contents as they walk together. "Ah... the same! How fortunate!" Inoue folds the schedule back up. "It seems as though we will be spending a lot of time together. I am excited to get to know you better."

"That's strange. What are the odds of us picking exactly the same subjects? Anyway, we should be getting to our form room. I'll introduce you to everyone."

As she led the way, she said, "So what sort of things do you get up to in your spare time? Are punk and disco big in Japan, or is it like the films where you're always practising karate? I can show you some of the best pubs and clubs if you're into that sort of thing. And I can help steer you past the dodgier boys in school."

Inoue laughs off the first question as if it were just a happy and strange coincidence. Which it was... kind of... if one squints a bit...

"Spare time? Punk? Disco?" Uh-oh, this is the part where she unavoidably starts showing how strange she really is. "Eeeee-to... I experienced a very traditional and isolated upbringing with about thirty other girls, our time was very strictly regimented and we were not allowed to leave the commune without supervision. We trained in self-defense, ancient history, mythology, art, dance, quadratic equations... I despise quadratic equations. Can fill up entire pages' worth of calculations and not get anywhere; one night I dreamed I was being chased by an angry left-paren with asterisk throwing stars screaming about his aunt Sally." She laughs a mirthless, vaguely traumatized laugh. "I am given to believe that my experience was not typical of Japanese youth. I would appreciate any normal-girl things you could show me."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:00, Sun 09 Jan 2022.

"That sounds more like a nunnery than a school. Well the good news for you and me is that there are no quadratic equations in Music, History or French. Well, I suppose French must include a phrase for it. Les equations quadratiques or something. But you won't have to solve them."

As to the question of normal-girl things: Miss Casey had stressed not letting others suspect she was unusual.

"I can totally show you normal things. Because I'm the most normal girl you'll ever meet. I'm abnormally normal. But, uh, not so much so that I'm not normal, if that makes sense. Let's do a normal thing after school. What do you want to try? A pub? I don't usually do clubs outside weekends."

That sounds more like a nunnery than a school. "Haha, it does!"

Inoue gives Ann the side-eye. "Normal Ann is normal, got it! It sounds like between the both of us we might manage a normal amount of normalcy." She considers where to spend a night out. "Hmmm, what would be normal, but not too normal...? Oh, how about going to see a scary movie at the theater while eating irresponsible quantities of popcorn! That is something normal girls do, right?"

Ann took Inoue into their form room and introduced her to their classmates. Then she borrowed a local paper and turned to the cinema listings.

"No horrors on at the moment. Let's see. There is a thriller showing, though I don't know if it will have scares: The Silent Partner. The Art Cinema has a punk move called Jubilee. I've not been there before, so I don't know if they sell popcorn like a normal cinema does. I got the distinct impression that you wanted popcorn. Or at the mainstream cinemas there's also a romance, a comedy or a disco film. Well, you're new in town, so you should pick. Which sort of film shall we watch? I've not seen any of them, so I'm happy whichever way. Oh, and wrap up warm when we go. It can get chilly very quickly around here."

Hello normal classmate friends of normal Ann! Let us have a normal talk about normal things because normal Ann is so normal! Hahahahaha! No doubt this will be Inoue's greatest trial yet.

No horrors on at the moment. "Aw!" I got the distinct impression that you wanted popcorn. "I thought popcorn was the normal thing! If we're being real I would be a hundred percent okay not having to burn those carbs off before bed." It can get chilly very quickly around here. "Yeah no kidding. Cold was a prominent motif in my dreams last night. I still cannot figure for the life of me what the spirits were trying to tell me, unless the janitor at the YMCA is secretly a werewolf hunter. But that would be ridiculous, haha! I'm sure you have only normal dreams, Ann."

Inoue follows along with Ann's suggestions, reading the paper seemingly without difficulty despite doing it from the far side of the table from Ann. Or maybe she's not reading the paper st all. "The disco film might be good research for what all the crazy kids these days are watching," she says after several seconds' thoughtful consideration. "But would that be too normal? I am here to weird up your life! Hey, why don't we let the arcana decide?" She pulls from her handbag a tarot deck.

Weird up my life? Like it could get any weirder.

"Why did you think the janitor might be a werewolf hunter? Have there been any strange sightings or attacks? Or, uh, you're just joking, right? Pretending like in a horror film. And yes, my dreams are very normal. Always." No Slayer dreams. Ever.

She paused when she saw the tarot cards. She'd once thought them just a fun device, but now she knew that magic and the supernatural existed. So who knew the power of the cards? Then again, she was interested to see what they foretold.

"OK, let's try the cards. How do we do that?"

Have there been any strange sightings or attacks? Inoue gives Ann a curious look that only deepens as she digs her hole deeper with every sentence. "That's a very credulous response," Inoue says when Ann seems to be finished. "If that is the sort of thing that interests you we can try dissecting the iconography tonight when we are not in imminent danger of classes!"

"Ah, well, fortune-telling is a very complex art!" Inoue explains as she noisily shuffles cards. "It takes some imagination, a quick wit, quite a lot of occult study, and someone willing to believe enough to pay ten pounds, maybe even twenty if they're really desperate." She gives Ann a mischievous grin. "Okay that's unfair, there is a real art to it, even a bit of magic if you want there to be. If I were hoping to tell a more comprehensive tale of the future I might lay out the Sevenfold Path spread I developed to give the augury-ee the impression of being able to choose their own destiny; turns out people love being able to interact with fate. But for something like this, simple will do." She begins laying down cards, seemingly at random.

She frowns, laying down more cards.

Even more cards. She seems to be getting away from the concept of simple as each new piece of card stock laid down seems to leave her a little more unnerved than the last.

Inoue stops abruptly, a drop of sweat escaping from behind her bangs. She looks up at Ann, blinking. "Aaaa... ahahaha, u-uhm, sumimasen. That got away from me a little. It is times like these that I see my mother's wisdom in reminding customers of the all-payments-up-front policy. I suppose it would be irresponsible of me to suggest we stay in and do something safer, like... Jenga with live grenades?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:46, Wed 12 Jan 2022.

Ann watched as Inoue laid down the cards. Then more cards. Then yet more. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she felt the other girl getting more and more concerned.

When Inoue suggested staying in, Ann considered the cards. What had Inoue seen? Should Ann be out there fighting monsters that the cards showed? It was tempting to hide, but hadn't Miss Casey told her that With great power comes great responsibility? No, that was from a cartoon.

"What did you see? Finish the reading. Not that I'm paying twenty pounds. I know you've just arrived in the country, but twenty pounds is a lot. Way more than the tickets will cost."

She glanced around to ensure that nobody was spying on them.

"Tell me what you've seen. If the disco movie is such a bad choice, we can watch the comedy or romance instead."


<<< To Cinema <<<
This message was last edited by the player at 20:41, Wed 12 Jan 2022.

Not that I'm paying twenty pounds. Inoue chuckles a little, regaining some color. "You get the friend discount," she reassures her.

Inoue looks around in an almost perfect mirror of Ann's own glancing-about. "No, the disco movie is great. But after class when we have a little more privacy we need to have a very honest and serious talk about this 'normal' thing." Inoue collects her cards back into the deck. "I'm beginning to understand why I was sent here. Just give me some time to think about what to say."

(( Exiting scene, departing to Cinema. ))
This message was last edited by the player at 09:35, Thu 13 Jan 2022.