Vivid, lovingly-worn images adorning tattered pages slipped meaninglessly by uninterested pallid irises. A face would stand out among the swirls of color; sometimes two, yet others, none, but each only earned a fraction of a second under the pink gaze, no matter how long they happened to linger. Names never caught the magnificent probing gaze; they never needed to. What were names, after all, but faint murmurs of the past? A vast majority of these girls had probably graduated; left behind their memories of this forsaken feminine hill and the false romances and treacherous friendships that might have blossomed in the crown of their memories. She no connection nor pity to them. Why would she? Memories were memories, and the past was the past.


Himei severed her bleary gaze from the large hard-bound book before her. She brought an ashen hand to a corner of each stinging eye and rubbed the blur away. Seconds; minutes; hours ; she had spent avoiding class to escape to isolation in the secluded library. Dubbed “The Secret Garden”, just the name alone drew her to this quite eerie location. It hadn't taken long to confirm the origin of its perplexing name; fueled by dangerous curiosity as she constantly was; but even then, she utilized stark ignorance to brush the finding away. It wasn't like she would be dragged into any of the rendezvous anyways; eavesdropping and spying when appropriate was all the more entertaining. As for the exact reason why she had doomed the place with her undesired presence, she had sought secrets. Secrets on the most influential and reverend of all; the Etoiles. Past or present; it hadn't mattered at the moment. As long as she could pull something – anything – from observation of the ancient book, the trip wouldn't have been in vain.


Having absorbed her capacity of information, the pinkette dog-eared the page against library rules and pushed the book aside, leaning back in her chair to stretch. Curse her sore limbs. She contemplated headed back to Maiden Park to rest, dashing the idea almost as quickly as the proceeding consideration of the courtyard, before finally deciding on the dorms. Yes, that would be sufficient. She shoved the small page of notes she had scrawled from the book into a pocket of her cat-eared jacket and rose from the creaky old chair to depart, the crumbled page slipping from her pocket and drifting onto the smooth floor behind her.

There was more than one curious pair of eyes searching the shelves of the Secret Garden.  Makoto had mixed results with libraries.  The last time she ventured into one, she did find anything worth while.  Not from the books inside, at the very least.  The girl she had met was of particular interest.  She could see the use of having a girl like her around.  But, today she had to try and take care of some business.

One of the items on her agenda, was to dig up some dirt on her esteemed cousins.  Not that there was bound to be much available, but still it didn't hurt to poke around and see what kinds of things those Suzumi girls tended to get up to.  One of those relatives of her's had won the Etoile election.  Another was Etoile a few short years ago.  And the list of names could go on and on.  From what she could gather, that was the family name that was held in high regard.

The Ishii name?  Not so much.  Not that she was looking to make any kind of drastic changes.  It was just the idea of seeing them brought down a peg or two that made Makoto smirk a little bit.  She leafed through an old year book, but didn't see much of interest.  At least getting a few names to put together with a few faces was something.  Little tidbits of information could come in handy later on.  As she walked around, another student got up and was walking away.  As she did, a scrap of paper fell from her pocket.

When life hands you opportunities like this, Makoto had learned never to let them pass up.  She walked over and picked the paper and restored it, as close to it's original shape as she could manage.

"Now I would hate to do all this sort of work and let someone else wander by and scoop it up." she said, glancing up from the page.

The pinkette didn't have to turn around to confirm what the sudden voice had acknowledged. It was clear her notes had slipped from her pocket. And whoever this other girl happened to be, it was evident that she possibly she bore some knowledge of its malicious intent. Not that it really mattered to her anyways; private snooping affairs dealt with none other than those involved in it. Whether or not someone else happened upon the evidence, it was entirely up to chance. A chance that seemed to have hand-selected her ill-fated card. Of course, she could always claim falsehood and pass the notes off as someone else’s she had pocketed to deliver to them, but what was the fun in that? So she plastered a pleasant face, ghosted a smirk, and cleared her throat that was parched from the impending social activity.


“Quite.” She mused. She spun sharply on her heel to face the girl as she enunciated the almost acidic word. There was a hint of relief bordering the infliction of her monotonous tone. Whether it would be caught by the other girl was entirely up to observation, but such an undesired leak of emotion would be at a dismay to the pinkette. Steely pale eyes scrutinized the icy-haired Spica girl before her. As all the other diversities of profiles she had observed gliding past her on the school grounds, hers protruded as nothing more than another in the crowd. But there was something about this girl that seemed to stand out from the rest that compelled her to consider otherwise. She wasn't sure what at the moment; or at least, couldn't draw to a satisfactory conclusion; but kept her options open. Perhaps she had stumbled upon another trouble-maker as herself?


Her attention soon shifted back to the matter at hand; or rather, what was in the girl’s hand. She figured she’d better retrieve it lest the other was playing her and planned to run off with it when she got close. She dismissed the thought, however, and in her poisonous youthful grace, approached the girl, stretching out a pale hand in permission to be handed the page back. She rarely offered gratitude in advance, but decided this as an exception, all the while keeping her gaze on the page of notes. “Thank you for retrieving this, miss.” The rising intonation on the last word was meant to inquire her name, in all hopes she caught it. Her pale pink gaze met the other student’s for a fraction of a moment, much to her discontent, and she forced it back on the notes as she awaited them and the girl’s answer.

The strange girl turned and addressed her.  She had a monotone voice, but something else was peeking out from behind the facade she had put up.  There were only a few pieces that needed to be put together, but chances were this girl was not going to do much good with the work she was doing.  And this was fine with Makoto.  She was never one to spoil anybody else's fun.  Besides, it was always useful to find a few potential cohorts.  And since she was new to the campus, a little networking certainly couldn't hurt.

"Ishii." she supplied the requested name and held the paper out, but brought it back before she would deposit it in the girl's awaiting hand.

"Of course, I do have one small request." she said, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth, "I really must know what you're looking to do with this."

There was a casual tone to her voice.  Blue eyes drifted back to the scrap of paper and glanced over the contents, before returning to the pinkette.  And in that brief moment, she connected with the other girl's eyes.  Pale and pink and diverting back to the paper in question.

"Because you strike me as a schemer.  And I do like a good scheme."

The girl’s name was presented, to the pinkette’s content. It was quick and simple; easy to remember if it proved its worth. Names were meaningless nothings to Himei unless proven otherwise. If this girl could pique her peculiar interest, then perhaps she’d scrawl it in the recesses of her mind. If not, it would drift among the foggy haze of thousands of others that meant nothing to her. What was the countenance, after all, if a name had no impact?



“Kako.” She murmured in a sort of acrid tone. To others, introducing oneself was nothing more than an infantile pre-mastered art, but to her, it was an unfamiliar blank canvas she had yet, if not begrudgingly, to learn to master. The student before her, now satisfyingly sporting a label; a name; soon offered the page of notes to her. Pale pink eyes stalked it into her waiting outstretched hand. But before she could achieve the satisfactory relief of seizing it back, it was withdrawn without warning. A soft blight of irritation coursed through the pinkette’s acidic veins. Was this girl playing her? The girl next required confirmation about her intentions regarding the notes, and Himei quickly dashed the foreboding idea. An eerie smirk mirroring the girl’s own managed to crack her monotonous mask, and she uplifted it a slight angle as to veil the fading irritation.



“Depends on who’s asking, miss Ishii-san.” She started, fiery gaze blazing across the captive page. It was really not of anyone else’s business what her own intentions were, but what the bluentte mentioned next proved intriguing. It seemed she had underestimated her. A fellow schemer, perhaps? She was not one to share her schemes with others; she was so used to campaigning solo as a lone wolf, after all, and kept the explanation vague. “I’m merely doing a little…digging into the past, shall we say? Everyone has a little dark secret to be unearthed here and there, no matter how long ago they reigned. Someone’s bound to know something about one of these girls; good or bad.”

"I see." she said, with a slight nod of her head.  Two words, that came out with more of that casual ease.  Everything about the girl's body language said she was intent on getting that page back.  Not even the body language, but just how she stared at it.  It was a very interesting and illuminating reaction.  Makoto had to remind herself to NOT tease the other girl too much.  That could grate on people's nerves, after a while.  But, she seemed to be just the sort of person that she could use.  Not like that Kanzaki girl. She was useful in an entirely different sense.

The paper finally met the other girl's outstretched hand, before Makoto wrapped her fingers around in a handshake.  "Kako-san, I think we could get along quite well.  Why, we have such similar interests!  And I just so happen to be on a bit of a hunt, myself.  So, here's the deal.  I share what I learn on my little hunt and you share what you learn on you're own."

She didn't spell out exactly what she was looking for.  At least she wasn't about to, just yet.  Perhaps she would later, but for now this seemed like the best way to go about it.  Find out what this girl could do and let her go on her merry way.  The details of this kind of arrangement could be worked out later.  Right now, she had to make sure she could secure the Kako girl's interest.

No sooner had the desired paper made contact with her hand had the bluentte’s fingers draped over hers in initiation of a handshake. Himei, startled by the unfamiliar physical contact, would have pulled away, but decided that to be impolite, and returned it with a masked twitch of discontent. It was nothing against the girl herself; it was the pinkette’s lack of experience with and instilled dislike of physical contact that propelled the consideration of the discourteous response.


She found herself next in the position of listener once more, and courteously took the girl’s offer into account. It appeared they did in fact share mutual interests; she couldn’t argue against the fact; and that the girl was a schemer. And now she was requesting a swap of information. Had the pinkette been less guarded, she would have let an almost well-meaning grimace slip past her self-inflicted barrier. She was not good with working with others. Not just working with them, but just being in the presence of someone. Comprising was something she rarely did, but being a fresh face at Astrea and lacking knowledge of the students populating it, she figured she’d might have to take a risk and cross over the ominous line of her comfort zone. At least with this opportune exception. She’d put up with it for now. Who knows? Maybe this girl could surprise her.


“I’ll accept, Ishii-san. That is, you have piqued my interest for now.” There was a fragment of danger in her monotonous voice as it trailed off; mirrored by a flash of monotony that shimmered across her pale orbs.

The handshake was awkward, as if the girl never attempted the greeting before.  She was an odd one, but Makoto had met share of eccentrics, before.  Dealing with another one would be no big hindrance.  Just so long as she performed well.  And Mako always prided herself on being a good judge of character.  Whether or not the traits she sought were "good", of course, was a matter of perspective.  But, this girl was into information and that meant she could stumble across some very interesting tidbits.

Trading those tidbits could be very profitable.  So, that hint of danger was met with a broad smirk and an icy calm gaze.  Yes, Kako-san (as Makoto knew here) seemed very interested in keeping up an air of indifference.  She let go and left the paper in the pinkette's hand.

"Excellent!" she said, "I knew I had a good feeling about you.  I'm looking forward to seeing what we can get done around here."

A smirk once again graced the bluenette’s face, and Himei couldn’t help but mirror the smirk that once again graced the other’s face. She wasn’t accustomed to permitting much facial expression to slip through her mask, though when it did, it failed to go unnoticed. It irked yet; sapped more energy than necessary out of her. But it was refreshing, at least, she guessed, knowing that her monotony had not yet saturated her icy core.


The paper was soon sanctioned in the palm of Himei’s hand, and had she lacked more of a guarded front, she would have allowed a ghost of a contented smile contort her twisted lips. “I, too, am looking forward to our productivity.” She enunciated her words carefully, slithering back to her original monotonous tone. There was a pause, a furtive glance down at the paper clutched in her pale hand, then the return of a subtle smirk to her lips. “Now that we have come to mutual terms, Ishii-san, might I inquire the reason of your presence in the secret garden?” The verbal stream was a bit longer than she was used to, rendering her almost winded by the inquiry’s sharp termination. Curiosity wasn’t a very good thing for the pinkette to attain; however, in this rare case, it was administered in a genuine amiable manner. Had Ishii-san come with the intent of snooping around the secretive garden as well?


(I apologize for the delayed reply!!) 

While she had no proof to back up her assumptions, Makoto felt pretty confident in this arrangement.  The girl had a decent poker face, although there were a few cracks here and there.  The wall she maintained seemed pretty sturdy, however, and Makoto felt that she could prove a reliable source of information.  Now came the tricky part of explaining her own purposes for wandering the shelves of the Secret Garden.  It still remained prudent not to give too much away.

She wondered how many people were familiar with her connections to the Suzumis.  Was it widely known that they were cousins of her's?  She knew that very few of those oh so honorable women were loath to admit such a relation.  And yet, as fun as it would be to flaunt that around, Makoto knew she would have to wait for the right time.  She needed to make sure she had all her ducks in a neat little row.

"Quite similar to your own reasons." she said, "Digging around this little garden and seeing what treasures have been stashed away."

Although one girl's "treasure" might count as another's "skeleton in the closet", but why split hairs at this point?  Makoto had found something far more valuable.  An ally in her little operation.  One more piece to the puzzle of making life a lot more interesting on Astraea Hill.

(OOC: No worries!  Sorry for my own delays)

The response was vague and short; unsatisfying to her briefly piqued curiosity. It’s not like she expected a novel or a plethora of information up front, however. An elite schemer never administered a heavy dosage of information to anyone but themselves, let alone someone they had just met.

“Is that so?” She mused, her blazing monotone gaze taking a moment to scrutinize the bluenette’s face an additional time. If they were to label each other as allies in arms, she figured Ishii-san’s face was one she would have to come to be familiar with. Coincidently or just by occasional meetings to exchange unearthed information like the other had compromised. Something about the thought of being able to label another as an “ally” made her flesh crawl. The many a shady scheme she had unearthed with her venomous fingers prior to enrolling in Astrea had been commanded by herself and only herself. Others would have merely served as deadweights in her corrupt dwellings. Or at least that is what she had convinced herself to believe. But now that the opportunity had professionally presented itself, why not cooperate against her solitary clockwork beliefs for once? After all, if all went as accorded to plan in the end, what was the risk of taking an experimental bite out against that imaginary poison apple that was her twisted mind?

“Well, Ishii-san, shall we take a little look around?” She gestured a slender arm to the shelves among them in one graceful sweeping motion, her pale pink orbs never leaving the other girl. There were still multitudes of shrouded jewels, “treasures” as Ishii-san had referred to them as, to be quarried from excavating the precarious shelves. And though a majority of the hollowed out contents of the hardbound sources she had drained of information had done little to quench her ravenous thirst for secretive information, there still remained the possibility of unearthing that one elusive gem; the one single informational source or discovery that would surmount the others. But such a gem would be quite a satisfying feat to discover, as if one desired to conceal it from prying eyes, one would have had to conceal it far well than the others.

The two did appear to have some things in common.  But, their difference seemed to lie in how they viewed the people around them.  While one sought to maintain isolation, the other was far more willing to keep some people around her.  After all, it seemed to be of great benefit to keep a close network together.  The more eyes and ears she had around a place like Astraea Hill the more information she could gobble up.

And when it came time to make use of that information, she had people ready to mobilize when everything was set into motion.  This was that tricky period in the beginning, however, when Makoto needed to branch out and find out just who she could rely on.  There were some promising candidates, it was just a matter of time before she could weed out the useless ones from the fine collection of girls who attended the school.

"My dear Kako-san, that sounds like a marvelous idea." blue eyes did not stray away from Himei's close inspection.  Nothing but the calm blue stared back, as she offered an arm to the other girl, "Let's see just what these refined ladies have had stashed away."

Pale orbs intervened with placid blue ones for a microsecond then darted to a random point on the other’s face almost instantly; like a shadow driven into the furthest reaches of a room once a light flickered on. Ishii-san was an interesting character, she decided. A smooth talker and undeniably one that was skilled in the art of conversation. Much unlike herself. But, like the repetitive popular saying went, opposites attract, did they not?

“Yes, let’s see, Ishii-san.” The monotonous words apprehended her blazing gaze and coaxed it in its blank lethargy to the arm that the other girl had so generously offered to her. Two stiff digits on a pale hand twitched once in the inquisitiveness her impassive facial mask failed to show. While she stressed avoidance of physical contact in most if not all situations due to lack of experience with it, she convinced herself to accept with a bit of a search within herself. What was a little blight of uncomfortability? In an almost robotic motion, the pinkette took Makoto’s arm as gently as she could, her rigid fingers tensing at the foreign contact as if she had just touched a burning flame before settling into a seemingly more pacified state.

The search commenced as a fruitless wandering at the dawn of its modest onset. A random student would encroach every now and then from dismal giggling groups in random areas about the shelved haven, leaving a window of interest to materialize but little to be desired or procured. While the current fruitlessness came as a burning frustration to Himei, she remained invested in the search. That hidden gem; that treasure; had to be somewhere, and with two elite schemers on its desolate course, it was bound to be located. One way or another.

The girl took the offered arm after what appeared to be quite a bit of debate.  It was all internal, of course, but it did result in a stiff motion to link up with the blue haired Spican.  The girl seemed more comfortable interacting with things that didn't interact in return.  These kinds of quirks were fine with Makoto.  So long as she had partnered up with someone who could get results, any quirk or eccentricities were fine with her.  The pair made their way further in, in order to commence their search.

It was about as slow moving as she was expecting.  When they gathered a few books and took a seat at a table, they would occasionally be interrupted by another student.  Sometimes, a few of the other patrons of the library would break the silence of the library.  Not that a little bending (or breaking) of the rules ever bothered Makoto.  So long as they didn't prove a nuisance while she was working, of course.

She leaned back on the rear feet of the chair and flipped through the pages of the current book.  One on some of the past Etoiles.  Photos and a few anecdotes, mostly.  But, nothing of any note.  A boring little advertisement for the whole position.

"With as much as they write about these girls, you'd think they'd remember something a little more...fun." she quipped, dropping the book in her "Done" pile and reaching for one of the other books they had grabbed.