1344/Bully for Prom

Bully for Prom
Date of Scene:	25 March 2024
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Iona confronts Ryoko as she's leaving the sports pavillion after her kendo club meeting. She offers an ultimatum: either Ryoko lets Hime gracefully walk away from her mistake, or Iona will report Ryoko for bullying. That threat does not have the desired effect.
Cast of Characters:	Ryoko Gushiken, Iona Hikawa

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Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Between classes, clubs, and her job, Ryoko Gushiken was always busy. This meant that her days were also always planned. She had a schedule and she kept to it, and an attentive person could use that to their advantage if they wanted to find her. Today, at this very moment, that schedule had her leaving leaving the sports pavillion after kendo club.

She departed the sports pavilion wearing her school uniform, with her fancing bag slung over her shoulder and held to her back. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck. Her brows were slightly furrowed and the corners of her mouth turned down.

She was not in a good mood. Prom was in just a little over a week, and she didn't have a date. She hadn't even been planning to attend, but her annoying, twee roommate had decided to volunteer her for one of the committees, so now she had to. But she barely had any friends, let alone someone to take as a date. She mostly just knew the folks in the fencing and kendo clubs and they were all either paired off or unacceptable.

She didn't have time to find a date, though, and that's why she set Hime to the task. That girl put her into this predicament, and she was going to help her out of it, one way or another. If only Ryoko had any confidence that Hime could deliver.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
When Iona had first heard about Ryoko bullying Hime, the two of them had been keeping up a friendly relationship for a while now, even if they didn't start the best of ways due to Iona blaming Hime for the abduction of her sister.

It's just as much due to that that Iona wants to make sure that Hime could rely on her for problems that she couldn't deal with by herself. And the matter with her roommate is clearly one of there situations, given they had started in negative terms, and so Iona had already wishes to step up then.

But the situation had only gotten more complex after Hime's tentative to defuse the situation in her own say, so now the purple-haired girl has to find a solution Ryoko would accept instead of calmly making it clear what Iona's position was with regards to the bullying. But she is not intent on letting this behaviour continue, Prom or no Prom, even without Hime revealing her crush on Iona.

As a result Iona has decided to approach Ryoko as soon as her fencing clubs were over. She is waiting just outside, and when she sees Hime's roommate approach, the purple-haired girl approaches her and politely introduces herself with a bow. "Hello, Gushiken-san. I am Hikawa Iona, and I was hoping you could spare a few minutes to talk about Hime-chan."

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Not only does Ryoko have to put up with Hime, but she has to deal with Hime's friends now, too? How utterly exhausting. She didn't have time for this. She lets out a beleaguered sigh and rolls her eyes as she pauses to consider the purple haired girl.

"I have to be at work soon, so this better be quick," she says, already sounding annoyed. Then she shifts the bag on her shoulder a little, keeping her elbow back to hold it in place. "So let's just get right to it, shall we?"

She unfortunately knows her roommate well enough to be sure she went crying to someone. It can't possibly be a coincidence that some girl she doesn't know wants to talk to her now. "She meant well. I'm being cruel and heartless. I'm mean and a bully and I should treat her better. Does that about sum it up?"

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Iona takes a few seconds to scrutinise the other girl when she demonstrates very little patience. She certainly wasn't hoping to start on such a bad way, and the fact she is being urged on by work certainly doesn't offer a favourable environment for a talk.

When Iona begins talking, her tone is just slightly annoyed by how much the situation is stacked against her, especially with how there is no use denying what the other girl has just said. "I have been told that you haven't really been kind with Hime-chan, and I certainly came here with you asking to avoid your usual behaviour, but it has also come to my attention what Hime has done in a misguided effort to patch things up with you."

She slightly flips back her hair just then. "That really isn't fair to you, Gushiken-san, and so, I have also wanted to address what Hime-chan did. I would be willing to intercede with the student council on your behalf, and make them issue a public apology about how they are over capacity and you kindly agreed to do them a favour by stepping back from your position."

That's what Ryouko wants, isn't it? To defend their image of being strong and in charge like many bullies, Iona assumes. "So, you would end up not being tied to your duty anymore and moreover, you would be the one who gets to walk away as the one in a strong position. How does that sound to you?"

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ryoko Gushiken stands there and listens as Iona speaks. Her fingers curl tightly around the strap of her fencing bag as she tries to keep a lid on her rage. This whole situation is so annoying, and it keeps getting moreso by the minute.

When Iona finishes speaking Ryoko simply says, "No."

She lets that complete sentence linger for a moment before she goes on. "Hime lives in some kind of fantasy land in her mind. I have not been unkind to her, I have just not been friendly. She wanted a roommate who was her best friend, but she had some bad luck and got me. That's life sometimes, and she just needs to learn to live with it."

She glances toward the direction she was walking for a moment and then back to Iona. "She's fourteen. It's about time she learn that her actions have consequences. She needs to learn to respect people's boundaries and ask their consent, and she's not going to learn that if you clean up her mess for her."

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Oh, so that's how she wants to do this, Iona sees that. Well, Ryoko got her easy way out and she didn't take it. So she will have to make not bowing out as unfavourable for her as possible. "I am sorry, Gushiken-san", Iona says, with a tone that is all but sorry, "but you know nothing of what is going on in Hime-chan's life, so refrain from stepping into such matters."

She looks up at Ryoko straight in the face. "That is the alternative that works out well for everyone. The other alternative is I report you for bullying and you spend lots of your precious time dealing with that accusation. And I am certain the Student Council and the School Faculty alike will be very interested in getting to the bottom of it. Here they take such matters quite seriously. So, which will it be?"

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ryoko Gushiken laughs. She tosses her head back and she lets out a cackle. "Are you trying to intimidate me?"

She brings her eyes back down to fix on Iona's and smiles. It's a thin smile filled with malice. She's well aware of the school's stance on bullying, and she goes to great lengths to at most skirt up against it. She hates it, but it's important. Because then she can say things like this. "If you think you have a case for bullying, absolutely report me. They do take that seriously, as they should. I'm sure they would love to hear about how Hime volunteered me for this committee without my consent."

She takes a step forward and looks down at the purple-haired girl. "If you really want to make this go away for Hime, then you can be my date."

Iona Hikawa has posed:
At seeing that cruel smile, Iona's already frigid opinion of Ryoko plummets down to temperatures absolutely devoid of even the slightest trace of heat. There really is bargain that would work here.

"I don't think you can compare the stressful conditions Hime has lived in due to you to a mistake made in good faith that everyone except you is doing their best to solve. Is that something you really want to say to the school? That you have been pushing back against the people trying to solve the mistake Hime herself is sorry for?"

A decidedly unkind frown is given back to Ryoko. "When it comes to both facts being weighted against each other, I already know what the school will give more importance for. So unless you actually want to waste your time trying to convince them you are innocent against Hime's own words and my own testimony of your behaviour, leave Hime alone and accept my accept my offer. It's just you and me here, so nobody else will know of this if you accept. You have my word."

And with a tone that makes it clear she is welcome to raise a ruckus with the school if she disagrees, "Neither Hime nor I are going to be your date."

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ryoko Gushiken does not seem fazed at all by Iona's bluster. She just smiles that thin smile. She knows she'll come out on top if the girls take this to the school. Until this incident with the prom committee, she'd barely said three words to the girl, and a single incident of unkindness in response to her boundaries being violated--no matter how well-intentioned--was not going to cause her any trouble.

"You should consider just how reliable your information is," she says, her voice calm and confident. She's not worried about this at all. "All I have wanted since I got here was for Hime to leave me alone. It is a reasonable boundary for me to set. It is not my fault that she won't respect my boundaries. It is not my fault that she can't handle that her roommate does not want to be friends with her."

She adjusts the strap on her shoulder. "But go ahead and report me for bullying. I'm sure it'll work out well for you. They love false reports, I'm sure."

Then she turns and starts to walk away.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Well, Iona has said her piece, and Ryoko now knows that if she tries forcing Hime to be her date, the bluenette has someone at her side that won't take it lying down.

And the results of today's encounter will certainly be interesting to anyone who might want to look into exactly how trustworthy Ryoko's word even is versus that of Hime, she thinks, committing everything to memory.

Turning away from the other student, Iona goes back to her dorm. And she is certainly going to suggest Hime to request a transfer to her dorm room if it needs be.