276/EVERY sport

EVERY sport
Date of Scene:	21 August 2023
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Reika meets with Niji to discuss conflicting schedules with all of her clubs... unfortunately, she falls prey to Niji's dastardly plot to make her *relax*.
Cast of Characters:	143, Niji Dasshu

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Reika Aoki (143) has posed:
Reika Aoki sighed. As the new year was starting soon, it only meant they were getting more and more busy. Because the student council NEVER rested. Okay, some of them didn't, but she did not. Reika headed out to the fields to talk with a few of the upcoming coaches and members of different clubs, getting some forms signed... But it wasn't long before she found the primary focus on her goal.

Niji. The girl who had signed up for EVERY single sports club. Surely it had been a mistake, correct? If not... she was going to have to work through the schedules with the girl, as THIS was... fairly unprecedented. And there were conflicts. So while Niji had likely heard that someone from the student council had come, one of the vice presidents, it wasn't until quite a bit after her arrival she walked over to the sidelines. "Dasshu-san? Could I have a moment of your times?" she asked the rainbow-haired student.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    "Just a sec you guys!" Niji calls to the rest of the team, kicking the soccer ball back to them. "Student Council again." She says, grabbing a towel and throwing it around her neck, Niji is wiping sweat off her brow with one of the ends as she walks over.

    "Yeah, I'm Dasshu. Niji Dasshu, good to meet you. I guess I'm going to get a visit from every single one of you, huh?" She asks, pointing to her hair. "I know, I know, but if you'll check the rules unlike every other school in Japan there's no rules against me having hair like this here, nothing says hair colors must be natural, and I feel like that might be hard to enforce around here anyways, so..." she says, shrugging.

Reika Aoki (143) has posed:
Reika Aoki looked, to her credit, surprised. After a moment, she shook her head. "No, actually. Here at Radiant Heart Academy, the faculty seem delighted to allow students a multitude of ways to express themselves, both in uniform and in hair styles. There are no rules limited ones hair color in any manner. I'm sorry if someone tried to tell you otherwise. Personally, I think it is a very passionate choice and I am happy to see the students of this school being able to express themselves in such a manner. What I'm here for is actually this," she said before holding up a thick pile of papers. All the remaining ones.

"According to our records, you have signed up for..." She paused, intending to read them off. She then quickly flipped through them. "Every single team-sport club in the school. I've come to confirm that... well. This is accurate. And, if so, we need to fill out some more forms and ensure proper scheduling is in place, as quite a few of the clubs have conflicting events."

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji blinks. It's *not* about her hair? Reika's speech is a little stuffy, almost rehearsed, but it says - as near as Niji can tell - that Reika's not going to give her hell about the hair. "Oh, you're actually pretty cool for a student council member." she says. "Sorry!" she adds, after realizing how that sounds. "It's just I guess most of them are from other schools first so they think those rules apply here..." she says, gesticulating with her hands, shifting them left to right as she talks about here and there. She is very animated, when she talks."I guess they don't actually like, read the handbook, first."

    "Anyways, yeah that sounds right. All of em'." She says, crossing her arms. Like this is a normal thing people do. "I mean, they don't all overlap, right? And it's not like people don't join mutliple clubs." Maybe one or two but not all of these. "I mean, I was kind of thinking whenever there was a conflict I'd just go with whichever one needed me more? But I can't know that ahead of time. Like, what if volleyball and soccer is on the same day, but I already told you that I'd go to volleyball, but then someone on the soccer team gets hurt - they would need me more, right?" she says. "It's so hard to think about putting one team over another in the future."

Reika Aoki (143) has posed:
Reika Aoki blinked before giving a small smile. "I understand why you'd have that impression. But please understand when on the student council, it is our duty to put the student body first and foremost. While some members of the council can, at times, get a bit... over zealous in our duties, our intentions are always to ensure that the students have the most fulfilling experience within Radiant Heart Academy. But none of us should ever strive to enforce rules that, frankly, do not exist."

Niji did make a valid argument, unfortunately... "While that is certainly a noble methodology, the fact of the matter is that there are quite a few events that require a lot of logistics. Ensuring that we have enough seats, equipment, all of that. Not to mention fund raisers, etc. While events outside of everyone's control may take place, those would need to be dealt with on a per-event basis. Having a 'floating position' for every one of these clubs, for every conflicting event, could lead to a logistical nightmare."

She then flipped through the papers before... holding out a small stack of papers? "And in the event that you DO need to alter from your set events, these forms would prove useful." ... She... was efficient. "Now, do you have a bit of time to finish all of these so I can ensure that the logistics departments know what to prepare?" she asked.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji just sort of looked more and more confused as Reika went on about logistics and events and... "But... oh." she says, pausing. Some of it made sense, anyways. "Wow, it was never this big a deal at my old school." she says, completely disregarding her comment from just a moment ago about people being stuck in the ways of other places.

    "F...forms?" she asks as Reika hands over a stack of papers and Niji takes it like it's a trash bag or nuclear waste or something similarly untouchable, pinching the stack and holding it away from her at arm's length. "But I already filled out so many forms for all of these clubs..." she whined. She slowly took her other hand forward and started to look through the stack of forms. "Schedules? Tables? Oh mannnn, my head hurts already." She says. "And I gotta fill these out to be in all of these clubs?!" When Reika nods yes, Niji sighs. "Okay, but you gotta help me. Student council's gotta help the students, right? And there's no way I can work this all out on my own. I don't... do... paperwork."

Reika Aoki (143) has posed:
Reika Aoki nodded. "It's generally not at many schools, however Radiant Heart Academy has a rather large body and a plethora of different clubs. As such, the logistics is far more unwieldy and requires a lot of organization to stay on top of. Not to mention a rather sizeable amount of partnerships with outside organizations." How did she say all this and NOT have glasses? She sounded like she should have glasses.

She gave a small, comforting smile to the other girl. "Indeed. However, there is no need to despair. I already figured it would take a while to sort all of this out. If you'd like to come with me over to the shaded area, we can begin. As that is while we are here."

She'd start to walk towards the tented off area, kneeling at a small table, to get to work. It was clear she intended to help her fully. She had calenders, paperwork, charts, the current rosters and was more than happy to help Niji navigate through all of the red tape as required...

Although, there would be a few... hiccups along the way. As it wouldn't be long before Niji learned she wasn't the only one who leaned on Reika for aid. As every so often another student would walk over to ask the council vice-president for help with another matter, which she would quickly direct them towards the proper resource before focusing on Niji once again.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    "You keep yourself pretty busy, huh Aoki-san?" Niji asks, noting the near consistency of interruptions. "Is that why I've never seen you around?" she asks. "I mean, I think I've seen you with the Student Council but I've never seen you anywhere else. Not out shopping, or at the Khorma, or anything like that."

    Niji kind of tilts her head and looks at the girl. "I'm pretty sure I'd remember, because you have a really... polite... way of talking about things. Like it's almost stuck up, but it's also not stuck up at all." She pauses. "Sorry, I mean that to be a compliment! I'm just not sure what the right words are for it. You sound very sure of yourself and straightforward, I guess? Oh, and thanks for helping me with all this. It means a lot." Niji says, leaning down to scribble on another form, her tongue poking just slightly outside of her mouth as she intensely concentrates on reading it lest she make a mistake.

Reika Aoki (143) has posed:
Reika Aoki just stared at Niji in confusion. "I do? I suppose. It's a heavy responsibility, being chosen as vice president. Every other student is depending on me and trusting me to perform to the best of my abilities, for their sake. After the trust has been placed in me, I cannot allow myself to let them down," she said firmly.

"but no, I do not go out very often, aside from student council events. I attend most of the festivals, however." Usually as a representative of the school.

"I... sound stuck up?" she asked, actually looking... disheartened at that. "I'm sorry." Well, now she looked a little unsure of herself, even with the 'compliment'. "I... endeavor to be straight forward to avoid any uncertainty that my fellow students may face. Many of the students in our school are new and are already confused and disheartened in a new environment. It's a difficult path for many, and I wish to be there to support all of them so they can allow their passions to flourish."

She gave a small, kind smile to Niji. "And of course. I think your passion for all of these sports is a truly beautiful thing and I would hate to see you unable to perform to your best ability due to some minor paperwork." 'Minor' she called it.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji grimaced. "I'd hate to see what you call major paperwork then." she says, looking at what they had already done and the little they still had to get to. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say stuck up. I think I was trying to say... noble? You speak like a noblewoman. But not the obnoxious 'oh ho ho' type." Niji says, indulging in the excuse to do the stereotypical laugh (poorly). "But like, refined, I think they call it?" She says. "Think of it more like the good princess in a fairytale than the evil queen." she adds.

    "It's very nice and polite, but it's just not very... casual. Different from how most people talk. That's what I mean." She pauses, and then adds on... "So have you ever been to the Khorma Chameleon?" Niji asks, laying a bit of a trap there. One way or another Reika was going to have been soon.

Reika Aoki (143) has posed:
Reika Aoki gives a light chuckle. "Oh, don't worry. That's just end of the school term things and it's often a full council time."

Though, the more Niji seemed to try and recover, the more Reika looked... torn. "I... see. My apologies if it makes me seem difficult to depend on," she said. Judging by how many people harassed her during their work, it really, really didn't. At least once people got used to her. "I'd hope it doesn't make me seem... unapproachable. I'll ende..." She stopped herself. "I will try and sound more casual."

However, when she asked if she'd been the khorma chameleon, she shook her head. "No. I've seen a flier once or twice, but I've never had the time to attend myself. Perhaps in the future I'll try and visit, once things calm down. Is it popular?"

School wasn't even HERE yet and she was already getting so many requests and questions asked of her... when did it ever 'calm down'?

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji blinks and looks at her. "How did ya figure that was what I meant, Aoki-san?" she asks. "I just meant you sounded noble. Don't go putting words in my mouth, I didn't say you were difficult to depend on. You seem very dependable. I mean. I've known you for like ten minutes and I think at least ten people have come up to ask you to explain things or help em. That's pretty clear to me people depend on ya." she says.

    "Calm down?!" Niji asks, flabbergasted. "Girl, you are on the student council. The student council is for school. School is mostly out, and here you are working to help some fool like me? I think if you waited for things to calm down you'd wait for-ev-er."

    "You have to make time for fun things too. Responsibilities are important..." she guesses "... but you also have a responsibility to yourself. To your friends." she says. "You should make time to go out with your friends too, even if there's a ton of stuff to do. Because otherwise you won't connect with them, and if you can't connect with people, how are you gonna live?" she asks.

Reika Aoki (143) has posed:
Reika Aoki looked relieved then. "Oh. That's good to hear. I'm happy you feel you can depend on me," she said, giving a genuinely heart warming smile. At the very least, despite her somewhat cold-ish demeanor, she did seem to mean it when she said she cared.

"Well... yes. But school starts soon and there are quite a few students who need last minute things attended to before school starts. Your position, for example, would be far harder to deal with once school begins and you had to balance all of this on top of school work." So, in summaration... Reika was expending her own off time from school, to help other students... not struggle in the beginning of the year.

And now Reika looked unsure. "I... always attempt to maintain my responsibilities. But... perhaps you are correct. Perhaps I should dedicate more time to my friends." And there was a new thought, making her pause. She really... only had one friend. "Admittedly... I am new to this school this year as well. Perhaps I should set up a social event for all of the new comers..."

For pete's sake SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT ADDING MORE WORK!

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    She had a very warm smile, a smile that seemed at odds with that noble, almost standing apart way of speaking. And then she talked... and kept talking... and only talked about work. Work work work! This poor girl! "Aoki-san." Niji began, her voice gentle but almost corrective, like a parent who had seen one too many incorrect replies from a child about something minor. "There is a reason that there is a student council and it's so large. It's because one person - no matter how hard they work or how much of their own world they ignore - can help everybody. You cannot be the Student Councilwoman for this entire school. And I get the feeling you might be trying."

    Niji knew a girl like her, actually. Back at her old school in Aomori. "You responded to me telling you to take care of yourself with trying to take care of others. It's a noble thing - like your voice - to want to help others, but it's not always the right thing all the time. When was the last time you did something for Reika Aoki, something you enjoyed, not with the thought of someone else at the forefront first?"

Reika Aoki (143) has posed:
Reika Aoki blinked a few times as she was, well... for lack of a better word... shocked to hear this. "Perhaps you are correct. Maybe I should... try and not do quite so much." there was a sentence that made her feel uncomfortable. It was times like this she wished she could return home and speak with her grandfather to ask his opinion. It truly would be helpful here. Instead, she closed her eyes and took a slow, calming breath. Centering herself.

Was her path, the path, she wished to tread... one only of others? Was she neglecting herself? Was that the path she desired to tread? Was her own resolve wavering due to this? When WAS the last time she thought of herself?

Then, she nodded. "Very well. I... suppose... I can try this karma chameleon tomorrow, after I deal with the morning meetings." For herself... perhaps.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    And Niji grins. That big, high energy, hard to not smile back despite yourself grin. "I mean obviously hard work is good, I mean, I wouldn't be as awesome as I am if I didn't work hard. But just like anything else, you work hard and then you rest for a bit. If you overwork, you burn out!" she adds.

    "So, tomorrow is good!" she says, and then nudges Reika's shoulder. "So when are you all done with your morning meetings, so I know when we're going?" she says. Because we're going, not just Reika.

Reika Aoki (143) has posed:
Reika Aoki gave a small nod. "Indeed. That is sound advice." Still, she did look a little troubled. Was... she overdoing it? Others depended on her. Did she make herself... undependable by doing such? Perhaps a break was... okay.

Of course, then Niji caught her in the trap. If Niji was coming as well, even if something came up, there was no way Reika could forsake her duties to arrive. She gave a small nod. "I'll be outside the school primary gates at 11am," she said firmly. That would be plenty of time to do what must be done, she was sure. And she COULD do this. Just a little... break.