372/Respect your elders

Respect your elders
Date of Scene:	05 September 2023
Location:	Administrative Office
Synopsis:	Chrono heads to RHA and meets with the headmistress to discuss... his enrollment. She seems nice. They work out his stay there, even.
Cast of Characters:	Chrono Harlaown, 6

---

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown sighed, eying the paperwork from RHA. He... didn't like this. He was NOT good at undercover work. Of all his failings, it was one of the most glaring.

Because where in the world would be go undercover? Who's going to get a henchman that's four and a half feet tall? Nobody, that's who. That and he was supposed to be hunting Lost Logia. Not THIS.

Still, he supposed this was the best idea. And so it was that he walked onto the academy grounds. Button up t-shirt, pants, undershirt... okay, seriously, was this kid fourteen or forty?

It took a little bit for him to find the administrative office and he uhhh... was a little tense. Having been told he could meet with the headmistress as soon as she had time. So now, he was preparing to wait for hours if need be, heading to one of the seats. Careful. A bit slow. Trying to not agitate the wounds. Even with all of the care and his healing magic... he was still pretty slashed up and it *hurt*.

Mochi (6) has posed:
    The Headmistress doesn't make Chrono wait too long. The woman who steps into the door and makes her way to sit behind the desk moves just a little bit faster than she should for her age, something the observant Chrono will pick up on. In fact it seems like she's not slowed down at all.

    "Hmmm." She muses, otherwise being a normal, quite old, grandmotherly Japanese woman. "I suggest when you get your uniform you go with the normal school colors. Your posture and stride are so formal - they'll already make you stand out." She notes.

    "Would you like some tea? Am I correct to assume you arrived here in Japan by way of a very special ship?" She asks, without giving anything away. Just smiling like any other kindly old grandmother.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown slowly got to his feet, wincing slightly. Yes, that hurt. Just a bit, but it hurt. He rested an arm on the back of the chair when he got up. Anyone might have thought he was the old one here with the way he moved. Or that he was mocking her.

"My apologies," he said. However, once they were in the room, the door shut, he didn't sit. He moved behind the chair and stared at her. For quite a while. "A very special..." then he gave a soft sigh. He held out his right hand. "I take it you know, then? I was informed by one of your students that this school was quite special." The hologram of his ID appeared in his hand, which was holding the card form of his device.

"I am Time Space Administrator Bureau Enforcer, Chrono Harlaown. Age 14," he said. Just going to nip that misunderstanding in the bud. "Am I to take it that you are familiar with the TSAB? Or... is this something else?" the way he said 'something else' reallllllly didn't make him look like a fourteen year old. It was more akin to a middle aged soldier who was just... so tired of this and yet had learned to accept it because what else could he do?

"And tea would be delightful. No sugar, please."

Mochi (6) has posed:
    Kaoruko smiled a bit. She leaned back and made no indication tea was ordered or similar. "I'm not, really... It's my understanding we're a bit out of your usual jurisdiction as it were." She replied.

    "But I don't know much about all of that. I can barely know what I need to know." She says, a twinkle in her eye. "The older you get, the harder it is to keep track of all of this. The more things I know, the more things I forget." She added, cryptically. "So it's better for me to focus only on the broad strokes, so I can help as many as I can. I don't have specifics for you, unfortunately."

    "But I can tell you that you're here for a reason. Same with many of our students who found their way from their own unique modes of transportation or merely grew up here. Nobody gets an invitation like the one you received for their academic performance alone!" She grins.

    And then the door opens again and a tall man, maybe in his early 20s, wearing glasses and formal Japanese clothes, backs in holding a tray of tea. He puts one on the table next to Chrono's chair, one in front of the Headmistress, and then leaves, all without saying a word.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown couldn't help but agree. "Yeah. That is... one way of putting it. In fact, were the situation not as... worrisome as it is, we likely would have come nowhere near here. Unfortunately, being a part of the TSAB means..." He paused for a moment. "One of my officers used to say 'You have to go out. But you don't have to come back.' When there's danger, we can't ignore it. Even still, we maybe should have made an exception." As powerful and dangerous as he thought the jewel seeds were... no. KNEW they were... he was beginning to think there miiiiiight be worse things here. He hadn't seen them, but well...

He nodded along with her. She definitely seemed to have... some know. And it matched up with what he'd heard before. The memory faded. Some remembered, a little. Some couldn't at all. Mother, please be safe. He did chuckle at the comment on academic performance. Well, he uhhh... admittedly was not looking forward to going back to school. But there were worse fates. One had almost bisected him, in fact. He took the tea and, gingerly, drank from it. Still not sitting, standing behind the seat. He waited until the other man left to continue.

"Here for a reason... that makes sense. I... have to continue looking. I won't go into details that will harm your memory, I think. But there are people here, ones who won't be ready for this... country. I have to find them. It may require me to fail to attend class at times, or even disappear for extended periods at other times. But, so long as that is acceptable, I would be honored to attend this academy and see what I can learn from your... learn here. And follow the rules and restrictions as set forth as a student of this academy." Yeah, it was likely fairly apparent that something was up, with how rigid he was standing. If she didn't already know.

Mochi (6) has posed:
    Kaoruko nodded. "Everybody who is involved in this situation gives up something. Time. Energy. Peace. Naiveity. The ability to sleep at night without knowing the monsters are real." She says, before sipping from her cup. "Or, in my case, remembering how to make my own tea." She adds between sips. And smiles - still a kind smile, without really any hint of sadness.

    "But if we didn't participate, it would be quite hard for anyone to have any tea, whether they were local or from very far abroad, like yourself." She continues, stopping to slowly sip from the teacup. "Things which seem simple or silly here really aren't. If it was easy to leave, a lot of things would leave for a lot of places that it's better that they don't reach." She adds. "But that same system sometimes strands people here." She notes.

    "It's very reasonable for you to want to return from where you came, and to have the world work the way you're used to. But when you or others who came with you do leave, make sure you're only sending what you intend to send where it's going." She states.

    "If you can agree to do that, I'll help ensure your time here is spent primarily on things like learning and helping rather than paperwork and explaining. As best I can, anyways... Age 14, Grade 9, that's correct, isn't it, Mister Chrono Harlaown?" She asks.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown gave a small nod. "I understand," he said before taking a small sip of the tea. "I wouldn't worry too much about it, ma'am. My mother never knew how to make tea either." He loved her, truly. And she would never know he said that. He would deny it. But no. This tea was far, far better.

"You are correct, of course. This world... there are certainly things here. Things more dangerous and deadly than I would have expected." Especially considering so many of his people were... frankly... missing. "When the time comes, when I get my people away from here, I'll make sure that nothing else goes with them. The things here..." Well, there it was again. That wonder. That... curiousity. Was this place a prison? Designed to contain these threats? How did it tie into his world? What role would he play?

"That seems more than fair, headmistress. I am happy to know I will be working with such reasonable and respected faculty. That sounds exactly correct, ma'am," he said politely. Fortunately, Rashmi was able to explain the age to grade ratio to him. And now... "Would... it be okay if I checked in with the nurse before I left back to my current residence?"

Mochi (6) has posed:
    Kaoruko smiles again. "It was easy to give up. My partner always made far better tea than I did. Not everything was quite so easy." She admits. "But, you didn't come here to hear my story. You came here because your story is just getting started, yes." She says.

    "And it seems like you've already discovered a major advantage we have in packing everything into this small space. Namely, working together. We are better at it. You understand that sort of thing I think. I will help where I can. Not as much as I would like to but where I can."

    "Oh please do. She's such a delightful young lady. Tell her we should have tea again sometime. Not an order though. I know she has important things she's attending to."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown couldn't deny it. A part of him... wanted to know more about her story. To sit here and just hear it. But... But a part of him was worried if she shared it, she might lose something else. The magic here was weird. It wasn't right. And why? He didn't know.

He just hoped he could make good on his words. That he would be able to fight to get everyone away from here. That he could save them from this fate...

But there was something else to her words, something that made him tense. An advantage. Working together. From what he'd heard there were a LOT of magical people... Many on his side. On their side. And if they worked well? Who knew. Maybe it wasn't so much a prison, as containment. He really had no idea. And he wanted to ask her more, but... she wasn't the person to talk with it. "Thank you, I will make sure to deliver you message, honored elder. I hope you won't take my lack of bowing as disrespest, but I currently... can't," he said with a small smile before finishing his tea, very gently putting the cup back on the plate and then slowly walking from the room.

Oh, yes, seeing the nurse... ow.

Mochi (6) has posed:
    As the off world agent turned to leave, the silent man walked by, nodding at Chrono. He began to close the door, but Chrono could hear the Headmistress speak to the man before it shut.r
    "I think he's been fighting longer than many of ours. He'll do fine as long as he doesn't close himself..." And then the door shut.