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Michael was in his classroom getting ready for the start of school which was still a ways off, to be sure. But there was no reason to wait until the last minute to get things prepared for his students. So he was doing the usual hanging posters and setting up his projector and arranging lesson plans and desks and all that sort of thing. Well, he was actually currently sitting on the edge of his desk sipping coffee from his insulated mug and contemplating the arrangement of desks. It was actually hard to make a decision without knowing what his kids were like. If they were a good bunch then grouping them up or doing a less conventional seating arrangement might work but if they were all trouble making brats, something more typical would probably be best.

Hmm.

Well, he'd leave them in rows for now and maybe rearrange things once he met his students (of which, he had noticed, there were a lot. In fact, more than half the school was made up of his students.) For now, he set down his mug and wandered over to the door, where he'd piled up some of the boxes he'd moved here earlier.

Slicing open the tape on one, Michael pulled the flaps open and shuffled the packing peanuts out of the way so he could pull out one of the bean bags he'd crammed inside. He tossed it aside and pulled out the other, still unsure where he was going to put them. Even if this was a classroom, he wanted it to be fun and he'd planned to set up a corner for casual study, where students could hang out on the beanbags and things while reading or going over notes. He just...didn't know where he was going to make space for it.

Mike started violently when a sudden nearby voice spoke. He spun around, staring at the rather frightened looking man in the door. "Ah...hi! Sorry--you scared the crap out of me. I didn't realize there was anyone else here at all. I'm Michael Pearson? Um, you know, I'm new. The new teacher, I mean. For the highschool."

He walked to the man cautiously because it kind of looked like he might bolt if Michael made one wrong move.

"Ah...are you a teacher here too? I haven't really gotten to meet any of my coworkers yet," he said a little sheepishly. "There's not a lot of time left before school starts up again so i really wanted to get my class all set up, you know?"

"Ah...haha. Probably so," Michael said. "I was hired by some lady." He went back to pulling out the bean bags, deciding the far corner was probably the best place. "It's good to meet you though. I'd have stopped by to say hello but honestly, I didn't realize there was anyone else around. I didn't even know that the school administration had been changed actually. Guess I missed the memo."

He paused to size up the principal, who seemed a little, well, underwhelming. But he supposed that was alright--it probably meant the man would stay off Michael's case about every little thing.

"And yeah, they're bean bags. I like offering the kids a chance to relax a little here and there, while studying. I mean, have you ever tried sitting at desk for hours on end and trying to focus while your backside is growing numb? You know, studies are showing that some alternative methods of teaching are actually pretty successful. Plus, if, you know, kids feel more relaxed at school and you make it a fun experience for them, you tend to have less problems with discipline. And if they want to be here and learning becomes something enjoyable then, you know--more success."

"Ah, well, just to clarify--they're only going in one corner and it's just an option for students to hang out there if we're having free study time or something. It's not like I'm going to have everyone lounging around in bean bags all the time."

Michael, who'd carried over a couple of the bean bags to drop them in the target corner, straightened and peered at the man curiously. He really did seem sort of, well, lacking in confidence. It was kind of sad to be honest. "Hey, it's totally fine! I was mostly joking. I mean, I wouldn't imagine they send out memos with a small set up like this, so don't worry about it. I'm sure will get on, great. Though--I'd love to hear what the kids are like. You know, if they're good kids or if there are any that I may need to keep a closer eye on, or any that might need extra help."

He grinned as he started back for the rest of the bean bags. "And hey, why don't you call me Mike, you know? I mean, if it's okay with you and all. I like to keep things nice and casual. It fosters better relationships, right? And in the end, I think it's important for the school staff to have good relationships since tension is going to affect the students. Especially in a place like this."

"I mean, in a town this small, everyone knows each other anyway. And hey, if you ever need anything or help or anything, you can just let me know, too." He glanced back at what was left over to do and decided that after dragging the other bean bags over, he'd just clean up the boxes and fix up the remaining details the first day of school. "Anyway, let's just grab these and pull them over and we'll call it a night. I'm pretty much done with unpacking, I think."

The first day of school was a special day, and that was worth celebrating! It was the first day of school, both for the year in general as well as for the new principal, plus it was year 25, which was a quarter of a century, which was pretty impressive or something! To celebrate, the staff had put together an impromptu, and Peter was pretty proud of what they had managed to put together, despite their very very very limited budget and resources. They had game booths! Face painting! Food and drinks! A bouncy house! Flower crowns! Tug-of-war! Animal rides! All donated by the kindness of their own neighbors, parents, and other Sonata residents! They even had one of those dunk tank things, which was where Peter was sitting at that very moment, as he anxiously waited for the new students to arrive. He hadn't been entirely sure what a dunk tank was, but when he had called his mother to ask for her suggestions (because who was more in touch with their inner child than Kotone Harris?) that had been the only really feasible thing out of her mouth, so he went with it. He still wasn't sure what was going on, even as he dangled cluelessly over the water, but as long as the kids had fun, he didn't care!

科学

It had been a while, over twenty years, since Nanami herself had had a child in school, but her grandson would be starting next year (wow what a weird thought that was!) and she always was happy to help out when asked. Long ago, when there had still be an art festival every year, she had tried her hand at facepainting. It hadn't really worked out much, but she still had the set, and she was excited to try again! And so, Nanami sat on a folding chair next to a table with a large FACE PAINTING sign taped to it. She just had to make her she didn't get her hopes up, in case no one was interested, like all those years ago.

美術

Elliot was another adult at the school festival who had no connection to the school, other than her nephew went there, but really, that was practically nothing. But when she had heard that they need people to help run animal rides, she was sure it was directed to her. Afterall, who else would be better for animal rides than an animal trainer? But maybe she misunderstood, what they meant by animal, because she showed up with the most ride-able of her animals -- her tiger, Zinka. Elliot rode Zinka sometimes! Plus, the elephant had a cold, and she had a horse she was trying to teach to dance, but it wasn't ready to be seen by the public. So the tiger it was! Elliot had Zinka on a leash, as usual, and the two of them sat on the grass, far enough away from Theresa's horses as not to spook them, but close enough so that people would know they were part of the animal rides group. For now, she just had to wait, and she absentmindedly worked on tying blades of grass into knots, as Zinka drooled dumbly on a watermelon. Why a watermelon? Because the tiger had popped the beach ball, of course.

生物学

Oh, how exciting! When River had heard that there was to be a festival, she had called up the school and yelled 'I WANT TO PLAY TOO' at them, long before she knew that they were looking for parent volunteers. Even better, she had been assigned tug-of-war referee! She was pretty awesome at tug-of-war, and she had chattered to Zhi about how she'd probably be able to yank like TEN children onto their faces singlehandedly, until Jeremy reminded her that she wouldn't be able to actually play, just oversee. ...Well, that was okay too. But River couldn't live unless there were some sort of game, so she had made a silent promise to herself that she would beat all those other adults and parents by having the most popular activity of all! Yess, she'd beat them all. So as the rope lay limply by her feet, she cupped her mouth with her hands and yelled "HEY KIDS YOU SHOULD COME PLAY TUG-OF-WAR IT'S SUPER FUN AND ALL THE COOL KIDS ARE DOING IT." There! That should having them running over. That was a persuasive argument! At least, it had worked for her when she was in school!

体育

Jian had been going here for a long time, and he was confident he knew what to expect. Every year before then, he had just had to show up to the first day of school, book in hand, and zone out, maybe read, while whatever boring teacher they had rambled at them about the year to come. Jian wasn't dumb, at least not when it came to academics, so it wasn't like he disliked school because it was difficult. It was just boring, and he would have much rather been able to study on his own from home, without having to deal with all these other people. But it was predictable. There was a certain comfort to predictability. For example, he could read while walking to school and back, because the route hadn't changed once in his lifetime. He liked that. What he didn't like was being surprised. And this was a surprise.

He had been reading as he walked to school, as usual, and would have walked right into the school building without a second glance, if he hadn't noticed something orange and tiger-shaped out of the corner of his eye. One double-take later, the book hung limply from his hand as he gawked at the scene in front of him. There were booths! That contained things that looked like games! And... wait, it really was a tiger! When his mother had told him that the principal had changed, he expected it'd be another strict type, just looking for a reason to hold him back another year. But this... what was with this big change?

文学

Chun Fei had been walking exactly seven steps behind Jian, as she did every day, except for the few afternoons she snuck off to maybe visit Icis at the bar. She was also a lot more alert than her brother was (you had to be, to always stay seven paces behind, no more no less) so she had noticed the carnival much sooner than he had. She had stopped dead in her tracks much more than seven steps ago, as she struggled to take in this big surprise. What was the catch? There was probably a catch. And it made her nervous.

数学

Ahh, another day, one less standing between January and getting out of this awful peasant breeding pit of a school for good. She had been counting down the days since Lilia had graduated, since she hated being left behind. Sure, it was nice to have Ferdinando all to herself, but since he had gone off to get surgery or whatever, she hadn't even had THAT to make it bearable, so every day was awful. She didn't want to come today, but her servants had forced her out of bed and into clothes anyway. What were the point of NPC servants if they weren't going to conveniently do everything she wanted, when she wanted, and when it best suited her? They didn't even carry her in her palanquin, since she had left it at the beach and it had ended up getting swept out to sea when the tide came in, and her royal carpenters were still working on the next one. She had to use her feet like a normal person, and it had put the littlest Sonata in a very foul mood.

She had shot disdainful glances at the servants accompanying her to school that day the whole way there, but they didn't seem the least bit fazed, damn them. She was not happy, especially when she saw what was waiting for her at school. Unlike some of the other people there, she hadn't been stunned into silence. In fact, she wasn't that surprised at all. More than anything, she was more offended by how shoddy this impromptu carnival appeared. Tired old tables, folding chairs? Field still muddy from the morning dew? January's face twisted into a rather unattractive look of pure loathing and disapproval. "What is this? It's so ugly."

歴史

Jeremy had known what to expect from the carnival, mainly because River was terrible at keeping secrets, and Elliot would answer if asked. It sounded like fun, though Jeremy would be excited by anything related to the first day of school. New classmates, new teacher, new principal! So many new things, and Jeremy liked new. New was fun and exciting, and he didn't need a carnival to get pumped over the first day. Though it helped. He had been so excited, in fact, he had completely forgotten to eat breakfast! Upon arriving at school, the redhaired boy took a moment to take in the sight of this new festival, and only reacted mildly to how rundown everything looked. Afterall, considering where he lived, he had a slightly higher tolerance for mediocre presentation than perhaps many of his classmates. But he did not dwell on it for long. It may not have been pretty, but it was still a carnival, and one more growl of his stomach reminded him how starving he was. So he left his shellshocked classmates behind and hurried over to the food table, to eat a little bit of everything there. He was a growing boy afterall!

Keegan never really much cared for the idea of starting his new school, but if he had to go... A festival seemed like a good enough day to start on. He walked around nonchalantly at all of the little events and spotted something that had actually piqued his interest: a tiger. But, he knew better than to just put all of his fun into one thing and run right over. If he planned on not ditching halfway through the day, he would have to find something else to keep him entertained. He saw a dunk tank that seemed as though it could be fun, but that would have to go to someone with a much better arm. There was no way that he'd embarrass himself in front of his peers on the first day of class. So, he continued walking aimlessly about and looking at whatever happened to be around. He had even momentarily thought of getting his face painted, but he had no idea what he would ask for.

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Lunesca was pretty happy to be doing something that felt so close to work, yet so far from work at the same time. She assumed that throwing knives would qualify her for running a dart booth at this lovely little festival. Maybe she could even offer some pointers, since they basically had the same weight. She was sure that she could figure out something that could make her booth a popular stop for kids as they walked by. Unfortunately, she didn't quite know what she could do to entice people to come to her booth, so she sat up on the little table part and started blowing up some balloons to keep around just as extra. There weren't all that many kids around just yet, so there was still time to be hopeful! She smiled at the ones she did see, and when she caught their glance: she would give them a thumbs up. Unfortunately, all of this blowing out had started getting to her and she had to take a break to just watch people pass her by.

☆xAh, a celebration of youth and vitality..! Finnian had been in an uproar of pure excitement around the circus leading up to the days of this festival - it was all too exciting, after all! Especially since he had an underage apprentice, though he wasn't entirely sure if she had been accepted into the school yet or not - or if she even knew to arrive! Ah, the personal life of a superhero was so hard to manage when he was busy saving the world. He was sure Alette would understand. In any case, the man was standing in full costumed uniform by the CUP KNOCK OUT game! He had just finished arranging the plastic cups into a perfect pyramid, which was more difficult a task than he had first assumed it to be! His super ability granted by his magical KUIPER BELT wasn't going to help him with this ordeal as teleportation wasn't as practical an ability as he had thought it would be that morning. Oh, well, it was better than a prehensile tongue at least! He was going to stand there majestically as he waited for the starry-eyed youths to come try his game, but then he heard a shout. Some woman was trying to upstage him! Ah! Two could play at that game! He cupped his hands around his mouth and boomed, "NO, COME KNOCK OVER THE TINY CUPS FOR PRIZES, CHILDREN! IT'S WHAT SUPER KUIPER WOULD DO!"x☆



☼xAh, school festivals. Theresa was actually pretty happy to hear that they were doing one - back when she had first moved to the island, she remembered the schoolhouse being largely neglected outside of some weird scandals. So, she had felt a little bad to send her kid to this one, even if it felt safer than any school in the city. In any case, if they had some cute stuff like this going on, she had to say the school couldn't be that bad. They even had a tiger. How cool was that? She was stroking Archibald, a calm Friesian she had adopted awhile ago. He was pretty good with beginners, but he seemed to be behaving a little skittish with the tiger standing right there. Ah, well, he'd survive - 'sides, she didn't want to say anything and ruin it for the kids. Teenagers or not, she would have killed to ride a tiger. Still would have, actually, but she was a bit old and had a responsibility with the ANIMAL RIDES. She could live vicariously through Brian though! So, she scanned the kids to where her own ran off to and waved one hand at him, motioning to the tiger and mouthing out, 'THIS IS COOL. COME DO THE COOL THING, BRIAN.'x☼



☽xAh, his first event that he was running. By himself. His shoulders sagged with the weight of the world as he knew everyone was going to judge this event and use it as a way to determine how capable he was as a leader. He wasn't. Junior was going to be voted out of the school forever in a secret school meeting that would consist of everyone except him because they hated him that much. He was making a face between pain and resignation as he stood by the DUNK BOOTH because that was a staff thing, wasn't it? He should probably just put himself in there now because popular demand would want to drown him. Junior maaaaaay have been feeling a bit overwhelmed by the surplus of people at the festival to where that ugly, negative side had taken over to where he was nothing but a meek little man in the corner. Junior was the nobody principal right then using all of his willpower to fade away into the background because not-existing would mean he wouldn't be considered a failure, at least.x☽



✌xNo. Brian was not going to do the cool thing. If only because his mother was so determined to have him do the cool thing. Brian rolled his eyes at his mother and shook his head, mouthing back a big SORRY. He was busy, after all! Brian knew it was mostly adults setting this thing up, but he had volunteered to do something so classic and awesome that no one could say no. At least, the principal was too timid to really fight it, which was about the same thing. Brian was standing behind a poorly made KISSING BOOTH, leaning forward on the male side to stare at the people passing by. It was all for school funding, after all, and he was more than happy to try to coax Chun Fei or Jian over. He was waving at them with a cheeky grin, though he was pretty sure they couldn't see it since they were focused on everything else. Did they not get the memo? Oh, well, he'd be happy to fill them in if they just came over!x✌



✉xA FESTIVAL! Not like the town-wide festivals, but a super-duper festival only for people her own age and maybe people who were older too but had some kind of relation to people her own age which was weird because some of the people here just didn't have any connections to those her own age whatsoever! She had to wonder if maybe Elliot, Finnian, Mitsukai, Usagi, and that weird guy with the hair that was so cool had all suddenly had kids! Oh, she would be so happy to meet some of those kids! But she was also a little sad too because her mama and papa were too busy to come to the festival and meet the teachers, but she would just have to meet them in their place and tell everyone all about them!

Mimi had gasped loudly as she reached the schoolyard, bouncing on the heels of her feet and simply being overwhelmed with all the cool things to do! First thing was first, though! She dashed down to where she saw Jeremy and grabbed his arm, "Jeremy! Jeremy, hi, hello, I'm so happy you're here! I'm going to go get my face painted - O-M-G, is that a new teacher?" She indicated the brunette man she simply didn't recognize at all! What happened to the fellow ginger?x✉