57/Interview with a monkey

Interview with a monkey
Date of Scene:	10 July 2023
Location:	Administrative Office
Synopsis:	Cho visits Kyouka for advice. Actual advice. Non-magical advice. This may or may turn out poorly for everyone involved.
Cast of Characters:	Cho Konishi, Kyouka Inai

---

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi had paced outside the office hallway for about... ten minutes before FINALLY working up the urge to walk towards the door and knock, rocking nervously on her feet while she waited. Ah, yes. Cho. She... likely didn't have much of a reputation. Sure, she played a few harmless pranks, could be a bit snarky at times. But she followed all the rules, had good grades, attended meetings and was even on the student council.

Likely not the expected child to come to the counselours office. At least, most would say that. But well, she'd likely seen quite a few kids like her over the years. Ones who... took on too much, had trouble saying no. Struggled to ever actually feel like they... succeeded. Had done enough.

All before they finally snapped and broke apart.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Come in." Kyouka's voice comes from inside, tinged with a hint of curiosity. She didn't have any scheduled appointments at this time that she was aware of, and although technically she has an 'open door' policy, as is required by the school, it's not very often than students take advantage of it.

    When the door is opened, Kyouka can be found sitting behind her desk in her padded office chair, leaning forward onto the desk on her elbows with a slight cant to her head as she observes the student entering the office. Her desk is suspiciously bare of paperwork or... really anything, even a computer, but maybe she just likes to be tidy.

    Her ash-grey eyes settle upon Cho as the girl proceeds into the room, and she offers a lopsided smile. "How can I help you?"

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi slowly opened the door and stepped inside, her cheeks already going a little red. It was still... difficult for her to ask for help. But this felt... right? Or like... okay? It was okay. "I uhhhh... well... errr... I mean..." She coughed and nervously closed the door behind herself before leaning against it for a moment.

Deep breath... "So, ummm, anything said here is... confidential, right?" she asked. "Nobody else knows?" she sounded deathly serious, as if she was going to discuss something very... bad.

The reality was considerably... softer. "I ummm, just need a little... advice," she said before making her way to sit in the chair across from the desk, assuming there was one.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka was, of course, not actually here to be a normal guidance counselor. She was here to train mahous. However, for the school to keep up appearances, she has to actually do guidance counselory things, so it's not weird for Cho to assume this is in her wheelhouse. For her part, however, Kyouka is focusing on the magic she can sense around Cho. This is one of her Arbiter abilities, letting her know when someone is of the magic sort, if not what type precisely. As such, she makes the logical conclusion that Cho is here, like many of her previous visitors, for something to do with magic.

    "Within reason," She agrees to the comment about confidentiality. "I mean if you said somethin' about going to commit a crime or harm yourself or someone else, I'm going to tattle immediately." She grins, her expression friendly. "But outside of that, yeah. Don't worry, what's said in here is just between me and my students."

    As Cho settles into one of the chairs facing her desk, Kyouka quirks a brow. "Well, advice is what I'm here for, Miss..?" She makes it a question, requesting Cho to introduce herself.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi gulped and took a slow, deep breath. Her eyes lowered. "It's... not a crime," she said softly. "And nobody is going to get hurt. So, errr. There's a... ummm..."

Slow, deep breath. Mega, super slowly. "Konishi," she finally said. She was almost sweating in nervousness, squirming in her seat. You'd think she was going to talk about seeing the mafia doing something. "So I ummm..."

A hand was lifted to her chest, taking a deep, calming breath. She was herself. She was Cho. "There's a... dance coming up. I've never done anything like that. In my last school, we didn't really... have things like that. And ummm... I've never... really done it before. And I'm not sure how to... go about it. Am I uhhh... supposed to...? Ask them? Or is someone supposed to ask me? Is there... some rules for it? I uhhhh..." Oh. Ohhhhh. She was asking for information on the 'unwritten social construct' rules...

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Then you don't have anything to worry about," Kyouka says, still smiling, to Cho's assurances that there was no crime or injury in the offing. This look does take on an air of curiosity as she observes just how nervous Cho appears to be. Of course, Kyouka still assumes this visit has something to do with Cho's magic, and so perhaps she assumes this is nervousness related to revealing a secret like that, which does make some amount of sense.

    So when Cho comes out with asking for advice about how to approach the school dance instead, Kyouka has to blink several times, trying to re-align her thoughts to deal with this new reality. "Um.. well.." She says, slowly, tilting her head to one side as she tries to formulate a response. "I gotta be honest with you, kid, that's not exactly my speciality. Y'know, I wasn't too big on that sorta thing when I was in school myself but.. I'm /pretty/ sure there aren't actually any rules about asking people to go. In fact I'm pretty sure you can just turn up, if you want to. Dates are not required."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi gave a soft little whine when the woman said she didn't really... have advice for her. "W-what? But... but you're the guidance counselor. It's not exactly the kind of thing I can just..." She trailed off before sighing again.

"I... wasn't either until recently. It's just... I don't..." She trailed off. "I don't want to be the... loser who goes alone, you know? In a lot of ways this is my chance to be a... new me, as it was," she said. "I don't want to ruin it. And I know there aren't specifically... rules. But there's always 'rules' to these kinds of things, right? I've seen TV. There's always the hidden things, like. You don't... ask... some guys. Or some girls. Or... you know? So like... is it okay for me to ask someone? Is it weird for the girl to ask the guy? Should I split the difference, ask a girl? Is there like... some... hidden thing I need to do? Am I supposed to like... wear a scarf on my arm and that means I'm okay to ask out?"

... She really, really had no idea what she was doing. Or how it was done. And what in the world HAD she been watching?

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Well, look hon," Kyouka says, feeling perhaps a bit flustered herself by this response. It's not like she was hired for her ability to deal with teenage romance problems! In fact her experience in that regard is fairly limited, herself. "It's not that I don't wanna help you, it's just that I'm not sure there's a particular answer to solve your problems. Like I said, you can just /go/, hang out with your friends and have a good time. You don't need a date to attend.."

    But when Cho explains that she doesn't want to be the 'loser' who goes alone, Kyouka gives a little sigh. She understands, to some degree, even if this wasn't a thing she herself wrestled with in particular. "Pretty sure", She goes on after a moment of deliberation, "That you're supposed to ask someone that you like. You know, that you /want/ to go with. Whether that means a girl or a guy, well that's up to you, ain't it? But take this piece of advice from me, at least. Don't ask someone just because you want to ask /someone/. That's going to get you in trouble. Not like, rule-breaking trouble. Just general trouble. I think it's fine for you to ask anybody you want, as long as it's someone you actually want to ask, and not just because you need anybody at all."

    A shrug. "And just be aware they might say no? I mean, it happens. But you can always ask someone else if they do. Assuming there's someone else you like enough to go with. Even if its just as friends, y'know... doesn't need to be all romantic. Just have a good time."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi nodded. "Want to go with? Uhhhh... I don't know. I've never done this kind of thing before. I don't even know if I can like anybody like that. I'm doubtful anyone would ever want a girl like me, anyway," she muttered before tugging at a strand of barely-maintained hair. One problem with attending a school with so many magical girls, there were quite a few beautiful, breathtaking gals for her to compare herself with. And that was before considering the normal ones.

"And yeah, trying to avoid the... just 'asking' someone. Bad enough I'm not really... worth asking. Even worse if I have to ask half a dozen people and get a reputation as being an idiot or..." And trails off there, shaking her head.

"Ughhhh... why does being a girl have to be so hard?" she muttered bitterly. "There needs to be like... a guide book. An actual guide book. Not one of those over priced help books that don't do anything but waste your money."

Of course, finally something clicked and she was on her feet, palms on the desk. Leaning forward, almost *sparkling.* Okay, THAT was sudden. And likely a bit... startling. "Wait, I can DO that? It doesn't have to be romantic? It's okay to go with a friend and like, NOT have to be romantic?!" she was almost yelling. "Wait, this isn't like. The advice an adult gives a kid because they're like 'Oh, no, you'll be fine, it's totally normal for you to do this thing' when in reality you're thinking 'Don't tell the girl she's pathetic and that nobody ACTUALLY does this', right? You're not allowed to lie as a... counselor, are you? This is my first and possibly only dance and I do NOT want to create a memory where everyone thinks I'm some weirdo outcast!" She was VERY adamant about this. Also, apparently VERY scared of this.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka almost rolls her eyes- not because Cho's muttered concerns are silly, but just because she's like, being such a teenager, and Kyouka is so over this kind of stuff, she just wants to train people how to fight? But she also doesn't want to make Cho feel bad, and /technically/ this kind of advice is part of her job too, so she manages to avoid actually rolling her eyes. "Well if you don't even know if you like anybody, then why are you-" She starts to ask, when Cho suddenly has a revelation and leaps to her feet, her trepidation suddenly replaced by /sparkles/.

    "Uh.. yah, that's what I said." Kyouka replies, wide-eyed and leaning back in her chair as if afraid Cho might suddenly try to hug her or something. "It's totally okay to just go with a friend as your 'date' and not have it be romantic." Relaxing after a moment of realizing Cho is not going to leap the desk, she shakes her head, giving a rueful chuckle as she looks at the girl across from her. "Look, I highly doubt that /most/ of the people there are going to have romantic dates. Maybe some of the older kids, like the 12th graders and stuff? But this is open to anybody, and I have a feeling that a lot of kids your age are having very similar feelings. I guarantee you that a lot of the pairs and groups you see there are just friends who didn't want to go alone, and not on any sort of romantic date. And it's totally cool for you to do that too. I can't promise you it'll be the best time of your life, but I can promise you nobody will care if you go with a friend."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi looked so relieved before she fell back onto her chair. "Oh, thank goodness. That is SUCH a relief. I thought I was going to have to find someone who actually wanted to spend an evening with me. Ha! Oh wow. I mean, we're not all like Hotori-kun, we don't have confession letters spilling out of our locker," she said before giving a relaxed sigh.

"And I know EXACTLY who to bribe, too. It shouldn't be that hard. She's nice enough, ish. Hasn't tried to stab me since the first time, err, it was an accident," she said quickly. "And is enough of a delinquent I doubt she has a date already. Heck, she might not even know there's a dance. Perfect! Thank you, Inai-senpai," she said before getting to her feet again and bowing.

"You've really helped me a lot, I feel soooo much better now. Thank you!" she said before she turned to start walking towards the door.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Well, theoretically your friends should want to spend the evening with you, even if it's not romantically.." Kyouka points out dubiously, but hopefully Cho doesn't feel that to be some kind of denouncement. Cho goes on to talk about bribing someone to go with her (the talk of stabbing is curiously not commented upon) and now Kyouka /does/ roll her eyes, wondering if perhaps she's done any helping at all or just made the situation worse without meaning to, when Cho gets up and starts to leave.

    "Whoa hey, hold on." Kyouka says abruptly, opening one of her desk drawers and rummaging. She pulls out a business card, hastily scribbled on the back, and then holds it out. "Take one of these. You should consider coming to my self-defense class. Because of the magic and everything." She says, as if its an afterthought. Which, given the situation, it kind of is. "I mean, that's my actual job, anyway. I might not be able to tell you how to ask someone on a date, but I sure can tell you how to avoid getting punched over it."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi paused at that, though. "My... friends? Oh... I don't... really... have any. Yet. I mean... I think... some people are... okay with me?" she said softly. But I ummmm... I've just never... I'm not... I don't..." she trailed off before sighing. "I-I'm sure I'll make some eventually. Probably. Right? That's what... that's what school is for. Making... friends? Eh... heh heh... I can... even be likeable. Maybe. I-I'm sure," she said sheepishly. She uhhhh... probably did have friends. But didn't realize it. "I-I'm just new, that's all."

She took the card and blinked. "Self defense? I don't think--" And then the words died in her throat. And she stared at her. Blink blink. Blink. BLINK. The card fell out of her hand. And she internally SCREAMED.

"M-magic? What magic? Err, yes, school is very magical, ha ha ha ha yes that, what? I don't... what?"

"O-oh! Yes, right. Dating. It's like magic. Al. Yes. Dating is magical. Ah... ha ha. Ha. And, err. Yes. You shouldn't... flirt... with people who... punch... you... I uhhh... I'll... carry... a... stick?" she said, giving a light squeak.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka sighs and gets to her feet, walking around the desk. She reaches down and picks up the card, bringing it back up and placed it in Cho's hand again, closing her fingers around it. "Trust me kid, you're gonna want to hang onto this." She tells her, regarding the girl with more seriousness in her face than she has shown so far about anything. "And consider coming to the class, alright?" She gives a wink of one ash-colored eye.

    Then she turns back around and retreats to her chair, flopping into it so that the swivel tilts back and she's left reclining at an angle as the seat rotates slowly to the left. "Good luck." She offers, with another smile, giving the girl permission to flee now, if she chooses.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi gave another light squeak when the card was given to her. The... the other girl didn't know, did she? DID adults know? Could they? Did members of the school? But she hid it so well!

But she looked at the card and gave a small, somber, nervous nod. "O-okay. I'll... I'll try to make time for it," she said sheepishly.

Before fleeing from the room. And definitely fleeing. Wondering if the other girl DID know. Cho had certainly hid it well, right? But... but had something given her away? Perhaps... perhaps not. She hoped not.

Either way, though, the card was slid into her wallet and she fled to her next class. Her mind already considering what had happened... And if she COULD bribe Kyouko enough...