Meirou

[Imperial Princess Rika]

Meirou, growth from Child II to Youth I



Renka resides in a small apartment very close to the experimental school at which he teaches. Though it is quite comfortable for a single bachelor and could perhaps accomodate a married couple as well, it will unfortunately prove a little bit crowded with four people sharing it -- small as two of those residents may be. Still, its location close to the marketplace means that it is easy to reach the shops and restaurants, and the nearby school entails a constant tide of children -- older children and younger youths -- and the senior and junior teachers.

Upon Meirou's insistence that the normal curriculum for an eight-year-old will be insufficient, Renka considers thoughtfully and enrolls her in an assortment of classes, some for children her age and others -- mostly mathematics, astronomy, and logic courses -- targeted at the youths who are preparing for the Naming Ceremony. Though he warns her that the classes may be very difficult at first because, no matter how intelligent the young woman is, they assume prior knowledge of material she would not have studied in schools at home, he is also willing to help her catch up.



Meirou is in the Capital City of the Silver World; it is Fruition of Toutei 1007. She is staying at the apartment of Renka, a schoolteacher at an experimental mixed-sex school. This is supposed to be one of the more challenging and avant-garde institutions in the city -- good for Meirou, or perhaps liable to attract the spoiled and cliqueish children of nobles...?

Meirou can return home after one year, '07-08 (age 8,) though she may choose to stay for another two years, '08-09 (age 9) and '09-10 (age 10.)  

[Imperial Princess Rika]

Toutei 1007



Fruition

Although the excitement of entering a new school may buoy Meirou along for a while, she will eventually be hit with the true difficulty of entering upper-level classes without having had the preparatory introduction. The frustration of sitting in a classroom and not understanding any of the teacher's lecture is a new experience to Meirou, especially bitter because it is not because she is not intelligent enough but because she hasn't had the background education leading up to this. ... Right? ... She's not stupid, is she?

But Renka patiently encourages her not to give up too easily; the adjustment will probably be hard, but she will settle into the rhythm of things soon.

Submission

Renka, observing Meirou's continuing struggles, suggests she drop back to her age-level in a few of the subjects that are less interesting to her while sticking with the more difficult but more rewarding courses.

Whether she does so or not, things will gradually start to get better. Meirou might notice that the teachers tend not to harp on her failures or to praise her successes, but merely to continue sweeping the children forward through the material at a brisk pace. At least this way Meirou does not stand out from the others.

Redress

The other students, who for the most part had been quietly ignoring Meirou, begin to act a little friendlier towards her, helping her if she drops something or giving her directions to the toilets. Only one of them seems to be especially kind towards her, though; a calm and gentle young woman named Hia, only a few years from her Naming Ceremony, who shares some of Meirou's classes and offers herself as a contact and guide.

Extinction

In this month, Meirou begins a huge growth spurt, accompanied by a tremendous increase in her appetite. Renka, at least, thinks this is a cause for celebration, and tells Meirou to let him know when he should buy red flowers.

Descent

By the time the school breaks for the New-Year festival, Meirou has mostly caught up to the other students in her classes. In the more difficult ones, she will still have to focus as she had never needed to in Far Shoals -- but in the easier ones, she has time to daydream, doodle, read other books, and perhaps socialize with the more intellectual of her peers...?



Toutei 1008



Gestation

The occasion for Renka to display the red flowers comes.

Parturition

Meirou receives three anonymous Red Festival letters and a few bunches of flowers. Of course, this might just annoy her, as it seems to her that the boys at the school tend to learn slower and hold the class back while wasting time playing games in the street or mooning over girls when they could be doing something useful, like learning or working.

Ascent

The head geometer of the school, Kichiyo, stops by Renka's to praise Meirou in particular for her promising performance so far, and to give her a large and fancily engraved drafting compass. Though several other students also received this sort of gift from Kichiyo, Meirou is the youngest, so it is still a special honor.

Celebration

A group of young men, slightly older than Meirou, stalk her about the school for a few weeks before they send one representative forward to ask her if she wants to play music for them when they dance at the Mid-Year Festival.

Caesura

The Mid-Year Festival here is much bigger and noisier than the one in Far Shoals... which may mean an opportunity for Meirou to explore and enjoy or a nuisance from which she'll want to hide in a nice, quiet library.




All Year

It seems that the school is generally very fast-paced, and the teachers do not, in the upper levels, pay much attention to the students' behavior. They are, however, required to hand in much of their work, which is not typical for Porcelain schools -- it appears that the teachers then evaluate this privately to track individual progress.

On the one hand, this means that Meirou is not punished for failing to pay attention, but she also does not get recognized -- other than on special occasions such as the visit of Kichiyo -- for her achievements.

 

[Imperial Princess Rika]

Toutei 1008



Submission

Hia undergoes her Naming Ceremony, being declared Lucid of Water. She invites Meirou to the festivities, at which she may learn that Hia's mother is Hiko, a courtier rather interested in this strange land of Gaia at which Meirou has stayed. Hiko asks if she knows Jilan and, jokingly, if he has the items she requested yet.

Shortly afterwards, Hia becomes sort of an apprentice to Renka; she is studying to become a teacher as well, though her interest is in literature rather than dialectic.

Redress

Kichiyo visits Renka briefly at his house, an unusual occurance, in order to discuss something privately. Although he does not socialize with the children much -- a cool and lofty Lucid noble, it seems -- he does greet Meirou politely and compliment her on 'her good work so far.'

Extinction

Meirou suffers a bad bout of flu, keeping her out of school for over a week. She doesn't have enough time before the next geometry examination to catch up on the material, and she feels as if she did badly on the test. Though the students at this school rarely know how they are being scored, it still smarts, as Meirou felt she had been doing very well this past year.



Toutei 1009



Quiescence

Just before school resumes, Meirou overhears some small seven-year-old students struggling tearfully with a set of mathematical problems. Though they try to speak privately, they haven't yet mastered the skill, and Meirou hears one suggest that they ask Meirou for help, as she's a 'really smart girl' -- but the other squashes the suggestion, saying that Meirou is 'impatient and unfriendly.'

Gestation

On her birthday Renka treats Meirou to some extra pocket money, and Meirou goes to the bookstore on her own one day to buy herself her own copies of some texts that she heard Kichiyo recommend to an older student. But when she goes to pay for the great pile of books she picked out, she realizes that she forgot her purse...

Parturition

Meirou receives two anonymous letters this year; though one is generic and uninteresting, the other is personalized, bordering on improper, and really quite creepy and embarrassing. How strange...

Ascent

Meirou catches one of her teachers in a lecture on the history of art committing a logical fallacy. Though she is initially proud of her ability and dismisses the teacher's annoyance as defensiveness, the other students don't seem to have appreciated her interruption...

Sovereignty

Meirou starts finding dried and pressed flowers in her books and bags, even when she was only away from them for a few moments.

Celebration

Setsushi and Rika arrive from Gaia to conduct some investigations. They visit Renka; Setsushi brought candy for Xiao Huo and ice cream for Meirou, but realizes that at her age Meirou may not be able to eat dairy anymore.

... Though if she ventures to try it, she won't have any difficulty with it. In fact, it seems as if Meirou has the unusual trait of lactose tolerance.

Caesura

The nine-year-old students all go down to the beach together during the Mid-Year Festival. Whether Meirou wishes to participate or to read on her own, the other girls pressure her into taking off her outer robes and going swimming in the ocean with them. It may at first seem to be a logical and enjoyable choice for a hot day, but then a group of boys steal the girls' outer robes while they are in the water, and it's not until an adult intervenes that they are able to get them back.




All Year

Aside from Hia, Meirou finds it hard to make more close friends, even when she goes out of her way to treat others nicely -- maybe it's not her fault but rather that girls her age start to treat each other badly and boys start to act really weird. At least the serious bullies don't single her out.

On the other hand, many of the teachers come to know Meirou by name and seem to notice her when she makes an appearance, treating her respectfully, rather like an adult.