It was rather nice to stop and take in the quiet summer atmosphere of the campus; thanks to her sisters' influences, she had become accustom to stopping and the smelling the roses, figuratively and literally on a few occasions. Not that she didn't notice small nuances of her own accord, but still, she probably wouldn't have bothered to pause and admire the solace in the much-less-crowded space of the gardens surrounding the schools. Not when she was on her way to the Lulim section to visit Sayuri about a linked sociology project & lecture - apparently she needed some documents and equipment that were in the classroom, hence why they didn't just meet at the convent like usual.

Oh well, a little exercise never hurt.

It was unusual for Sayuri to do this though; then again, Izanami (thank the little gossip inside of her) had mentioned that she'd been in a different mood after their joint project and subsequent stumbling upon a rather stunning woman whom their sister-in-common seemed to be gravitating towards. Noriko couldn't help but grin at the thought of their flirty Riri finally being hit by the hammer of love. Especially when her own field of romance seemed to be getting mowed over every time. Perhaps she'd been a bit strong with the reclusive azure-haired counsellor? Oh well.

Turning on her heel, she spun around, her ballet flats crunching across the grass a little loudly, but who would hear, really? Best not to run things too late - even if it was her own sister, she'd be miffed if the Miatorian sensei didn't get a move on. Her brisk pace was bringing her close to the school building but she'd have to detour at the end to go around and back towards the actual path, considering she was a little of the track. The lack of students meant it was dead silent for the most part, making the distinct 'thump' noise even more apparent, despite her slightly distracted awareness.

"What on earth...?" Brows furrowing a little, the brunette followed the sound, happening upon the source, and quite quickly setting into a frantic state - a girl was collapsed on the ground, things scattered around her. Before she could actively think about it, Noriko set into motion, kneeling beside the girl. Gentle nudging and words didn't seem to gather any response - she must've been unconscious, a really bad sign. Her eyes flickered to the nearby building; the schools all had infirmaries, and as far as she was aware, the nurses were still working through the summer. If they weren't there...she'd have to just call an ambulance, but the infirmary was still a better bet right now.

Scrambling around, she gathered up the girl's things - pencils and a book, and placed them in a pile out of the way; no one was likely to take them that way and she could come back after to pick them up and return them to the ailing student. Noriko's movement was panicked, but still driven, though her mind was breifly distracted again by a sudden glint of light in the corner of her eye. Blinking, she inspected the spot more closely and realized it was a pair of glasses - the girl's? They were more valuable, and in the event that the girl needed them to see...best to take them with her. Easy enough, since she could just slip them into the pocket of her dress (she was a practical woman after all, even in her refinement). Turning her attention back to the larger priority, she bent and carefully lifted the girl, who's frame was quite small now that she thought about it. Fortunate, in some regards.

Carrying her cautiously, but walking as quickly as she deemed safe, she made haste for the infirmary, hoping to a God she didn't really believe in that the nurse would be in and not busy. Obviously someone up there was listening because when she arrived, there was a nurse in the main room, checking the beds. One look, from her and the nurse pointed to one of the closest beds, on which, Noriko placed the girl very gently, trying not to aggravate things.

Several strained minutes went by as the Miatorian sensei was forced to simply watch and answer a few simple questions about the girl's condition upon finding her, while the nurse attempted to gather her wits about the situation and give her verdict on whether more serious action needed to be taken. Resisting the urge to bite her nails, Noriko waited it out until the nurse finally spoke again. A fever, fairly serious but should ease given time. Restricted to bed rest and regular checking of her condition.

It was better than it could've been, she supposed. Actually, now that there was someone else looking after her, it was probably time she headed back to find Sayuri and got back on track with her earlier plan of events. Except...that was right, the girl's things were still outside. One more trip wouldn't hurt - she was already late, it wouldn't matter that much if she was late by a bit more. Excusing herself, she hurried back, retracing her path back to where she had come across the collapsed girl.

It took her a little while to find the books again - her memory of the process of trying to fix the situation was quite blurry thanks to her panicked state of mind, but she eventually found the pile again. Collecting the girl's things, she made her way to the infirmary a second time, albeit a bit less rushed. Placing those things down on a table near the girl's bed, she gave the girl another look, wondering how she was faring; the nurse had disappeared for the moment, most likely to fetch something as well. "Well, let's hope you'll be alright..."

She'd taken a seat nearby the bed, having resolved to keep an eye on the girl in tandem with the nurse whilst the latter consulted medical records. Sayuri would understand, and they did have plenty of days left to figure out their joint venture as it was, anyway.

Perhaps it was somewhat creepy to be watching over a student she had only just met, with rapt attention, but Noriko couldn't shake the feelings of anxiety that had erupted upon seeing the collapsed girl. The least she could do, professionally and even just of her own compassionate nature, would be to wait until the girl awoke, and got her bearings again. Although, in the mean time, there was a nagging desire to take a peek at the girl's belongings, which she had recovered afterwards and were now sitting on the bedside table. The sketch book caught her eye again and the sudden burst of curiosity got the better of her as she carefully took a look at it. Browns orbs widened in delight as they beheld the phantasmagoria of fantasy-themed drawings across the page. Dear God-that-she-didn't-really-believe-in this was amazing! The girl had real talent for this, and a creative eye to boot. It was sorely tempting to keep looking, but Noriko caught herself up and neatly placed the sketch book back with the girl's other belongings.

Curbing her curiosity, the Miatorian sensei returned her gaze to the ailing girl, noting that she appeared rather peaceful, if only due to the state of rest she was in. "Hopefully the fever will wear off aswe-!" A sharp, sudden noise made her cut herself short, as the girl snapped into motion with a terror-filled cry, followed by sounds of pain. The poor dear's body was writhing even as she'd laid back down, and Noriko could do nothing for fear of aggravating things. She was just starting to still when the sensei stood, about to drag the nurse in here if she wasn't already on her way. Of course, she didn't make it very far before the student managed a question.

Turning on the spot to inspect the other's condition, she took quick note of her voice becoming stable, but paused to see if the girl recognized her bearings first. Her latter statement proved otherwise however, and the inflection of uncertainty made her wonder if the girl could actually see much at all. Speaking of...

Her hand dipped into her pocket, where she retrieved the glasses she'd picked up and promptly forgotten about in her panic. Cautiously, in case sudden movement incited anything else, Noriko held the glasses out in her palm. "The former, although I am fairly sure the nurse is about to reappear any moment now. I have your glasses here, if you want them." Pausing, the sensei frowned a little as she realized she was unaware of what to do now that the girl had awoken, even though that was what she had been waiting for.

"I fathom that asking if you're alright would be pointless, but how are you faring? Is there anything we need to know, any pre-existing conditions or injuries?" Since she had no other course of action to follow, she became professional again, at least until the nurse came back out to see what all the noise was about.

Apparently the guess was spot on; it took a couple of tries for the girl to grab hold of her glasses from Noriko's palm, though the latter did not move away or make a comment as she did so - she knew what it was like to have to rely on aids to see, considering she was wearing contacts right there and then. Heck, her own glasses were in their case in her pocket right now as well. Unfortunately, this meant she also knew that the watering of the girl's eyes meant that it wasn't helping enough. Poor girl.

She removed them anyway, as she answered the Miatorian sensei's questions. She was quite right though. "I'm sure she would have them. My apologies, I'm a little out of my depth here." Honesty generally worked when someone made a faux pas, under normal circumstances at least. Not that that train of thought went very far when the girl's words properly registered in her mind. Nothing out of the ordinary? Then that would mean... Poor girl indeed. No need to exacerbate things though - pointing it out would probably cause more annoyance than anything else; attention when you felt like crap didn't help anyone.

"Is there anything you wou-" Sudden movement cut her off this time, as Noriko's eyes followed the girl's jerking motion and subsequently putting the glasses back on. Whatever it was that had come to her attention was serious then, if it meant putting up with watering eyes. Look? What would she....oh, of course. Well, that curiosity, whilst short-lived, could prove a nasty problem here. Obviously the book and its drawings were important to her; she'd committed yet another faux pas in a handful of minutes. Great progress for a teacher of sociology and cultural norms. At least there was something positive she could add.

"I did. Admittedly, my curiosity got the better of me, for a page anyway. I must say, your work is...incredible. Attention to detail and creativity far beyond the normal scope. Perhaps even on par with the passion my sister has for dancing, or more. I apologize for violating your privacy, but I am not sorry for having seen such a piece of art." And that was why making a faux pas only ever got worse - honesty brought on by guilt led to rambling, which could cause more problems even if it was sincere. At this point, she probably couldn't make it much worse though. "A beautiful phantasmagoria of fantasy, to say the least."

Well this was going swimmingly; she could see the anger flaring up as soon as she started speaking, as expected. Except...it disappeared. Quickly. She hadn't expected any real sort of forgiveness, though she aimed to perhaps lessen the blow with the sincere complimenting of the work. Yet it seemed to do much more than that; Noriko stood silently, and a touch awkwardly, whilst the girl stumbled in her thought process, trying to find the right words or some such. That being said, the rising flush didn't escape her gaze, nor did the movement of her huddling up beneath the sheets. If not for the seriousness of the situation, she probably would have noted the cuteness of such an action.

Despite all that, the Miatorian sensei kept a smile on her face - out of habit, and kindness. She hadn't meant to antagonize the girl, she'd simply been a bit too honest. Thankfully, the nurse hadn't come in yet, though she could vaguely recognize the tapping of keys coming from the office - perhaps she was looking up the student's medical records. She didn't seem to be in a panic or anything (considering she hadn't raced back out to check up on the girl), meaning there was a good chance things were going to be fine. Or normal, anyway. Speaking of which, the comment about normality evoked a quiet giggle, muffled behind her hand.

"Perhaps I'm just not normal then. Or, as I would like to think, weird means it's different, maybe hard to understand, but still beautiful. Even if I were to use such a thing to appease you, it would still be true nonetheless." Reigning in her mirth, Noriko took a seat again, on the chair she'd shifted over beside the bed. Obviously she was not use to her work being complimented, if it caused this much embarrassment - enough to resort to pulling her sheets even further in an attempt to hide herself. "People have different perspectives though, even if there is some form of common experience across them. I might not fully understand it as you do, but to me..." Tilting her gaze back to where the book was laying, closed mind you, she smiled anew and turned back to the girl. "I find it quite wondrous. I wish I could draw such things, but alas, I was not gifted in the creativity department to that extent."

Well, even with her rambling, it seemed things were calming down, albeit slowly. Surely a good sign, no? She'd have to hope so at any rate, though she had to admit, this girl was beginning to intrigue her. Not creative...well, if she wasn't creative, she was certainly something else. "Perhaps not so much creative then but talented. Many could not transpose such concepts into artwork as well as you have." Surely they could agree on that at the very least - she didn't strike Noriko as the type to be awfully modest about their work, but she'd been wrong before.

Her mocha orbs sharpened a little at her particular phrasing though - obviously this girl had problems with the human condition, which, given the apparent situation, she couldn't much blame her for. What she hadn't expected was the continued explanation, which grew increasingly worrisome. This girl had misanthropy in spades by the sounds of things, though there were parts that the Miatorian sensei couldn't help but agree with, at least to some degree.

On a good note, she was letting the sheets draw back a little - hopefully that meant she felt somewhat more comfortable. Of course, now Noriko was the one flushing just a bit as the girl spoke of the full scope of what the intrusion meant to her. "Indeed, it was mean of me. I shall endeavour to not do so again." She didn't promise never to do it again, because a gut feeling was telling her that such promises might mean very little in these circumstances. That being said, the little mishap had let to a very interesting discussion, which just so happened to touch upon one of her own, self-recognized, quirks.

"I...think I understand. I don't fully empathize, but I believe I understand what you're getting at. The world can be a very disgusting place." She knew she'd been lucky with her home life - compassionate, caring siblings and parents, few to no real transgressions with either. She was, however, quite aware of what life was like across the board; her current career path somewhat demanded knowledge on a variety of societal standards. "As for God, well eheh..." A small chuckle left her as she paused briefly to gather herself. "I'm not a hardcore believer to be perfectly honest. I'm imagine that this universe was created without the hand of some higher being, but not quite as described in any of the major religious scriptures." A better word for her faith would be something akin to theistic agnosticism, but that was another matter altogether.

"A world of fantasy would be very much exciting and wondrous, much like your artwork, but there are some good things in our current world. I wouldn't trade my relationships with my sisters, for instance, in any circumstance. It's a form of love, familial love, really. I'm lucky, that much I can't deny; I was exposed to it from an early age. Perhaps you just haven't had the chance to experience things of that calibre." Noriko hesitated a bit - this was a peculiar conversation to be having with a student, especially one she didn't really know. Then again, this was anything but a normal situation.

"I guess I just hope for a way to move towards something like the world of fantasy. It's a near impossible task, I know, but I hope for it anyway. People might do things for their own benefit, but sometimes not just their own benefit; you might help someone because it looks good for you, or you feel better for having helped them, yet ultimately, they still receive some benefit, even though it was not a fully selfless act." Debating morality, the human condition, society as a whole....this was why she took on her profession in such an area. It was so intriguing, especially with all the different perspectives and ideas. Hopefully her sterner, more passionate side wasn't leaking into her argument too much, lest she agitate the poor girl further.

"Sorry for getting away from things a bit. I do understand why love seems so hard to find though...if not for my sisters, and my parents, I would be much worse for wear. My unsuccessful lovelife seems to attest to as much." Another chuckle and a warm smile soon encompassed her face, thanks to the rather ironic prospect of sharing personal details and beliefs with a stranger, so to speak.

Noriko blinked. And blinked again. And a third time. The girl had suddenly slipped into another language, in a spout of virtual verbal nonsense (to her anyway) that sounded rather annoyed. Well that was definitely not a good sign - this whole situation was utterly bizarre though. Now it was her turn to listen in silence, trying to weigh up her options and explain her side of things more clearly, should that be the case, considering miscommunication appeared to be quite prominent between them.

Cynicism would have been putting things lightly. At least they had one thing they could agree in, in part at least. "Politics is an inevitable by-product when discussing any societal matter, though. Too intertwined to completely ignore. I do agree that it won't be any time soon that this broken world gets fixed, but that doesn't mean there's not a possibility of it happening in the future. Oh, and reincarnation may seem laughable in terms of practicality, but there are some aspects that seem desirable. Speaking for myself, anyway." Clearing her throat lightly, the Miatorian sensei paused and furrowed her brows to consider their conversation thus far before she spoke again. This girl obviously had a harsher experience than most, considering her outlook, but remarkably intelligent; a force to be reckoned with when trying to reason things out. Not to mention that there was something underlying her family in there - it kept coming up in general terms, but she'd only spoken of her mother specifically.

"I didn't misunderstand that you were speaking of it in general, though our views on romantic love seem to differ drastically. I was trying to use some specific examples to explain my thoughts though, which was a bad idea. That being said, romantic love can encompass more than aiming for sexual procreation - homosexual relationships for instance. Although, I suppose you could argue that lust plays a significant role in most, still..." Tapping her finger against her chin, having already started beating up her own argument, Noriko chuckled and shook her head before continuing anyway. "I find it to be more of a form of attachment, sometimes of dependency, sometimes of desire of not being alone. Maybe even simply admiration of the other person, or a combination of all such aspects. It's a complex notion - a singular reason would seem inadequate would it not? Speculation on my part, but still." She would never claim to know exactly what love was - all she had was her opinions and self experience. "Parental love...no, I can't really talk about that since I only know the other side of it. I have to admit, I find it somewhat hard to believe that it's simply the act of moulding a creature to their desires, considering my parents interfered with my life path in a relatively bare manner." The looks her parents had given her sometimes, when they'd steered her away from some rather precarious pathways - for her own safety she liked to think, though it could have been something more akin to what the student beside her was speaking of.

Idling for a few moments as she pondered and sorted through her thoughts, Noriko looked over at the ailing girl, checking to see if there were any signs of another bout of aggravation; she was meant to be keeping an eye on the girl after all. "Dependence is always a part of social life. We wouldn't have society if it wasn't for the fact that people depended upon others to secure their property and rights. It doesn't mean that some genuine emotion couldn't spring from it though. Not that that happens in every relationship unfortunately. I'm guessing you know that first-hand." Pity would likely only anger this one, so she didn't elaborate too much just yet.

She was already playing with fire - she'd stoked the flames, and now it was time to see if things crackled and burned outside of safe zone.

Geez she really didn't look too well when she closed her eyes. If this was really a normal occurrence, then this girl must have gone through hell and back in the past. She was very much intelligent though; this had proven to be a very intriguing conversation, considering the circumstances. The notions they'd covered were actually all quite big concepts, if she were to be frank, especially the concept of natural human values, which was effectively what they'd stumbled along onto.

"It might not be as desirable, but the idealistic notion of being able to depend solely upon oneself effectively defeats the idea that man is a social creature. If we were utterly self-reliant, the likelihood of isolation would be high, and warring between individuals might be even more prominent. Relationships could still form but much less likely, since the stepping stone would be gone - I'll agree with you in that all relationships form initially from some kind of dependency, but that can then grow into something else; love. For me anyway." Might as well clarify exactly what she meant, since that seemed to be the best course of action with this girl, and vice versa.

That in mind, she couldn't help but agree with the girl's statement about positions, views and subsequent forcing of them on others, with a small nod. "Though, I will admit, not all the Sisters are pushy about their beliefs. I wouldn't be allowed to remain as a sensei here, I think, if they were." Unlike many other religious institutions that heavily barred themselves against any who weren't strictly of their own faith, which was why she perfectly understood the preconceived assumption.

A smile broke out on her lips after that, and held even when she raised her eyebrow slightly at being called 'woman', wondering what exactly the denotation behind it was, for this girl anyway, since it normally wound up being derogatory - something she didn't really expect right now from the student. They had been conversing rather courteously after all. Sure enough, she was rewarded with further clarification soon after. A very peculiar name, for a very peculiar girl, of course, and certainly not Japanese, as she had pointed out to the Miatorian sensei.

Well then, what was she most comfortable with? Reinard was...a little bit too foreign on her tongue, but calling by her first name was a little too personal. Which of course, left Lillianne...which she could rather easily stomach, so to speak. "Well Lillianne, so you have something other than woman to call me by, should you wish to do so, I am Noriko Tsuchikami. Presumably you know the protocol for appropriate honorifics, so I'll leave it at that." Chuckling quietly, she stood and took a moment to stretch her limbs that were starting to stiffen a bit too much for her liking.

"It has been rather pleasant, to be honest, and there's always observations, plus any new material or experiences that come about between now and a future talk. And perhaps, if ever deemed worthy of it, I might get to see some more of your beautiful artwork. However, I should be off - I have an appointment to catch up on, and likely a somewhat angry sibling to deal with. I'll let the nurse take over the watch now." With a half-wave, she stepped towards the office to do just that, letting the staff member know she was taking her leave, before coming back to the main room.

"Until the next we meet, Lillianne."