Teach Meet [OPEN to staff!]

Kathinja

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Kida wasn’t the only one taking long looks in Leeroy’s direction.

So, there was a handsome southern gym teacher at the school…how did she not know about this?! It was a thrill for her to find someone who likely came from a similar ranch-lifestyle background just like her—and for him to be a handsome man? Oh swoon~ She was definitely interested in getting to know Leeroy better after this meeting.

She had to admit, she found Jacob and Ha Long handsome too—but nothing could top that thick accent of Leeroy’s. Ahh, how she wanted to date a southern boy so bad…

Then the harsh reality of their meeting came up, and Lydia forgot about Leeroy…for now. No amount of pretty men could distract her from the knowledge that a student was found dead on academy ground.

“O-oh god…” Lydia whispered softly to herself as she covered her mouth with her hands. She had not known Leticia, but that did not stop her from having an emotional reaction. To think such things were happening at the academy…she really had no idea. She wanted to cry for the poor girl, but tried to retain her composure as best she could as to not interrupt the meeting.

She soon noticed Ha Long having a poor reaction to the news, and quickly jumped from her seat when he went over to the wall. When he mentioned that no one should get near him, however, she made herself sit back down. She knew full well if someone with supernatural abilities told you to stay back—you damn well stayed back.

So, she remained in her seat, and soon spoke up after Jacob and Ha Long: “I…um…yes, I think the announcement should be school-wide, too. If you just inform her grade, word will probably spread ‘round real fast regardless.”

She was starting to feel physically ill just thinking about the whole situation. She wrapped her arms around herself and stared down at the table as she tried to suppress that feeling of nausea. Despite not knowing the young girl, she wished there was something she could do, but…she wasn’t even aware of any ‘problem students’—especially not any that could kill someone. It had never even crossed her mind that such things could happen at Starlight Academy.
 

Batty

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<div align=center>Problem students. Dear lord, did he have a list. He still hadn’t caught the kid who consistently threw paper balls at the back of his head, or the girls and boys that got a little too close for comfort. Still, he had a long sense of patience. Kids will be kids, just as long as they behave well with each other. And that they are safe and completely out of harm’s way.

Except…

Killed. A student was dead. Leeroy rose to sit straight back up again and looked mortified, previously blind to the look he received from the others. But, unfortunately, he couldn’t think this never happens. All he could say in his mind was not another one. Over the years here he had seen many students pass as a result of a terrible accident, be it through abilities or misfortune. And no one ever became desensitized, as far as he knew. He traced back in his memory to see if she was in any of his classes. God, why was his memory fuzzy now? He tried to jog his memory but to no avail. But in the end what truly mattered was that some poor child was dead. And he didn’t do anything to save her.
He looked around to see that the other staff members were taking it hard. In morbid honesty, it sort of comforted him that they were. At least they cared. He remembered being a student here and an accident killing off a good friend of his, and his history teacher didn’t even bat an eye. He felt great sympathy for the counselor, who seemed to be supernaturally impacted by this news. And then there was that pretty cowgirl, who seemed to feel the same way. He sighed. This meeting took a rather dark turn rather fast.

While it was too late to do anything for the victim, at least they could try to seek justice. After the suggestions were made, he nodded in agreement. It seemed the decision was mutual, and he too believed alerting everyone was best. [color=743C0E]”I agree with Jacob n’ Miss Lydia here. It’s best that everyone be on tha same page, and for tha students to take the news seriously ‘fore it becomes this week’s big rumor.”[/color] Not only would that be disrespectful towards the dead student, but inappropriate in general. He’d hate for a tragedy to become a tabloid rather than a mournful issue. [color=743C0E]”I jist hope someone gits to tha bottom of this…”[/color]

He looked back to see that both the counselor and horseback rider were still upset. Though usually stoic, there was something softer in his expression. [color=743C0E]”Y’all alright?”[/color] Yeah, stupid question. But he was still concerned, for it was pretty hard news to take in when you’re relatively new. </div>
 

Emy

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Wong Ha Jung

So some people agreed with him after all, not that it was that much of an achievement. There weren't too many angles to see the problem from, Wong Ha Jung thought before the faint worry dissipated back into the emotional void. His head was bowed a little, concentrating on a bare patch of ground as strands of navy hair fell over his face.

”Y’all alright?” He glanced up slightly to see that Leeroy was looking from him to Lydia and back in concern. Wong Ha Jung hadn't even noticed any of his colleagues' reactions. He would have if Vermillion Summer had been active. But that was fine. It was all numbed now anyways. He didn't even feel particularly like responding to the other man's concern. It was so easy just to give in and do absolutely nothing.

Just like in that last year of high school.

Hey, Mei Mui... That name would always be painful no matter which of his powers were active. I should do something at least, right? White Autumn shifted by hairs, only enough to give him back a shred of caring.

"It's nothing new to me," Wong Ha Jung said quietly to Leeroy. He didn't say anything like I'm fine because he wasn't and he didn't say anything like No, of course not, because it seemed so useless.

He let himself sink back under White Autumn's blanket, then. In a while, he'd come back out, maybe. But thinking of Mei Mui imposed over Leticia just kept reopening old wounds. One of them, he could probably handle at a time. But both?

Murder, suicide. Yes, Wong Ha Jung had considered both but the former was the one that had jumped to the front of his mind. Such a selfish reaction.

He sighed softly. Just let me have some time, okay...?
 

Thirteen

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So far, not much had transpired, Aurora was soundly eating away at her cupcake, keeping quiet on the day to day activities of her peers. Frankly, the director didn't have many problem students personally with her class. Of course she would look out for the others, but when she had designed the course, it was done so with the intent to be an elective that offered almost no credit. The kids that took her courses did so with the full knowledge that they wanted to be there and learn, not having been forced. She had a firm rule of keeping anything bothering the kids out of the auditorium...when you went to sing or play, you did just that. No distractions. So far, the system had been working. Her class was a safe place to stay, and she was going to keep it that way.

Aurora's head however perked up on the mention that a student had been found dead. A shame, quite really. The mage's face remained near expressionless as given the details that were as mentioned, not quite adding up. As Wong mentioned it wasn't a good idea to be around, she wheeled herself well away and kept up with her thoughts.

"I must admit a death this far into term is rather surprising. At a school like ours, it's a miracle we didn't have one per month or more. I suggest everyone use this experience to get used to it. If so much as a stray fireball hits someone, it could very well be another death beyond our control. It can happen. And it will happen."

It wasn't meant as a shot towards the school or its staff whatsoever, and she made it known in her voice. The school was both blessed and cursed with a variety of people and creatures that could very well cause extensive damage to the school, its inhabitants and the surrounding area, if not large parts of the world. It was sad that a single person had had their wheel stopped suddenly, but their avatar would be reborn in someone else...it wasn't a great loss.

"But you're right, the circumstances behind her termination are doubtful, even at best. Although I agree that foul play may be in order, I'm highly hesitant to preemptively blame a group of students because of sheer coincidence that the shapeshifters just happen to make their club meetings there. It's not uncommon, nor have they been blamed for any other trouble in the past. I wouldn't rule it out, but I'd be careful with where you take those conclusions."

An entropic or temporal scan of the area would probably reveal what actually happened, but Aurora was not going to be privy to a possible criminal case. They would have to solve it on their own. That was to say, a wolf attack? Unlikely unless her ability simply had no combative purpose. And even then, her body would have much more damage than apparently found.

"And as long as we don't lie to the students about what happened, they deserve to know immediately. That said, I do have something else to bring up."

There had been a few students that had asked about so called "uncontrollable" abilities. And until just recently, she hadn't thought about it much. Aurora was a music teacher, not an abilities professor or anything of the sort. Still, if she could prevent meaningless death and rebirth, then the subject was still worth bringing up.

"What's the school's formal policy on counter magic? I haven't had a problem with anyone using their abilities out of proper supervision...but if it does happen, a lot of students have exceptionally dangerous and uncontrolled manifestations of their powers. I'd rather someone not die because we didn't have a method of confronting it. Accidents happen, but should be able to prevent most of them, yeah?
 

Knox!

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<div align=center>Of course there was going to be problem students, Kida shrugged, wasn't that normal for a school? Especially of this size. He didn't doubt that they weren't the only ones that needed help either, though he didn't say anything about it. His attention drifted out for a moment, until something mentioned snatched it back again and made him raise his head. A student was killed? Why haven't I been told that? He supposed the case had been dealt with by doctors who worked at the hospital, naturally, that made Kida scowl. Nothing they can't do that I can. Though when a wolf attack was mentioned the scowl faded- sounded messy, he didn't particularly want to deal with that.

Of course there was shapeshifters on campus, but would any of the students here be so malicious as to kill someone? Kida wasn't sure, then again he wasn't all that familiar with many of the students at the school. They came and went out of his infirmary, but he never really spent enough time with anyone to get to know them well. Unless you count that one boy. A little voice, somewhere in the back of his head retorted. He's in and out there so much he might as well live in there... And that cute white-haired boy... His thoughts snapped back to reality a moment later, realizing that he should perhaps remain focused in a situation such as this one. "Has there been an autopsy?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow. If it was a wolf attack it'd be easily decipherable by any bite marks.

What kind of student walks into that place alone? Or at all, in any case. He asked himself, brow furrowing slightly. It seemed stupid, either she'd done it on purpose or she was so naive and foolish as to not follow the warnings. It was interesting to see everyone else's reactions to the sudden dark news, his own was on par with the woman who'd introduced herself as Aurora, she was right, it could perhaps he called a miracle that people didn't die more often. It was a terribly sad situation, especially for those that knew the poor girl, but at least they should all be thankful that more students hadn't died over the school's history. At least, that's what he thought, Kida wasn't all that familiar with the history of Starlight Academy, but this had been the only death since his time working there.

It wasn't fair to lie to the rest of the students about what happened, especially if someone knew something about it. The poor girl at least deserved a proper burial and some people attending it, even if they hadn't known her all that well. The sentiment was nice at least, wasn't it? Kida thought he'd appreciate people coming to his funeral, even if he hadn't known any of them, at least they'd taken the time out of their day to come to it, that was respect enough. He pushed his glasses up his nose a little, and cleared his throat.

"She's right", he gestured to Aurora, "a lot of students here can't control their abilities." He stated plainly, glancing around the group lining the edges of the table. Perhaps this was a case of manslaughter rather than an intentional murder. Kida didn't really like to think of either happening around here, but what had happened had happened, you couldn't change the past, not without severe consequences, at least. He glanced over to the Councillor, who appeared to have taken the news rather badly. Then again, why wouldn't you? Perhaps this situation could have been prevented, Kida didn't know, then again we give the students enough warnings, don't we?

"However, it might be wise to register anyone who has the ability to shift." He continued, if they had a list of names at least they might be able to get to the bottom of this- at some point, anyhow. "As well as a list of students who have pets that could do that kind of damage." Many of the students had pets, some of them not necessarily safe in nature. "I'm counting lycans as shapeshifters, by the way..." He paused, eyes flicking up to look at Laverna, "since they can be just as- or even more dangerous. They don't often know what they're doing in animal form..."</div>
 

Lalilulelo

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So everyone was in agreement for an announcement to the school, concerning the real details of Leticia's death. The autopsy report should have been done today, but she heard no word of it so far, nor a general report on any clues or forensic evidence left on the scene.

Laverna did her best to ignore Elijah's supernatural grief. It was naïve to think these things would not happen, even within a month of his service here. Then again, Laverna was still very much removed from the idea of death. When you survived your afterlife in Hell, nothing on Earth really surprised one very much. She awaited for his composure to return after his coworkers expressed their concerns.

Aurora was the one to shed some of her own light on the situation. Laverna nodded.

"No accusation was made to the shapeshifter's club, since their primary focus is to bring their powers into the open and control them. I understand it's unlikely, but we can't rule out options now, in case this is more than what it seems. They might know something better than we do about Leticia, since they do meet in the same area where the Police found the body." A witness of something that happened, even if it was a shred of knowledge, was vital to uncovering what truly happened.

The second point was counter-magic. She looked through the handbook that was issued to every student and teacher. It had the basic rules, regulations, dress code and opening hours of the school. There was a brief statement on using powers and weapons. Weapons, pets and powers were not to be used or brought or used in classes outside of Power Classes, at risk of confiscation and possible suspension.

"No current policy on counter-magic is enforced." Laverna stated. "It seems this kind of decision to use counter-magic on a specific student would have to go through to the Headmistress first." There were problems already inherent with that kind of rule. Laverna's mouth twitched slightly. She was not happy.

"Unfortunately, counter-magic is damage control in response to a crisis that already happened. We could save future accidents this way, but nothing to truly prevent it unless there happens to be some other way. I would like to hear all of your thoughts on this, if there is some kind of plan of action you would like to suggest."

Laverna's laptop informed her of a new email with a small 'ping'. It was from the Head of the Forensics Team of Manta Carlos Police Department, with two files attached.

"Well hello. Kida, the autopsy just arrived. As did the report on the crime scene. I'll get the summary."

Laverna's reading speed must have been well over 1000 words per minute. She read like a... demon. She skimmed through the obvious and searched out for anything new.

"... Trace human hair other than Leticia's was discovered approximately 30 metres away from her body, but its not enough to gather Nuclear DNA identification. There's some trace of cloth fibre with Leticia's blood on it. Wolf tracks stopped near the base of the mountain just a few metres away from a popular footpath that leads from the school's own forest to the forest out of the grounds."

"A list of shapeshifters and pets are definitely needed for this. Seems like you are all in favour the idea of transparency for students, and I understand that perfectly."

"This new development is sensitive, however. We will contact her parents to inform the new information and ask if its within their wishes to be able to share that with the school. I suggest we leave out the details of her murder. Her friends will be able to know what truly happened. The last thing we want to do as staff is to cause panic with singling out a specific group."

Shapeshifters made up a significant portion of the student body. They did not need to be further ostracized for their transformations, and their abilties being linked to a student being killed.

"Any further questions regarding this? We'll move away from the heavy stuff soon. Just... One more thing to tackle."
 

Critical

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Jacob kept it to himself, but he felt some kind of counter-magic policy would probably have been a good idea. The issue was not so much one of trust, as it was a precaution to guard against mishaps, mistakes, and lapses in control of a student's own powers. The Academy was in place ostensibly to train those young men and women how to control and tame their own inherent abilities. There were bound to be slip-ups in the course of practice, and some kind of... campus-wide aura (or whatever) would mitigate those few moments, probably without hurting the actual necessary usages of their powers.

Then again, he could quickly imagine the complaints against it. It was a sledgehammer approach to one that needed a scalpel, and it enforced control on the students without necessarily their input. Plus, and he had to admit it, such a policy would probably do little in circumventing a purposeful misuse of powers. AND Laverna was showing her skills by reminding the group that the policy would be reactionary, not proactive.

He personally felt the details of autopsy weren't really theirs to hear. A girl was killed and evidence pointed to a wolf, an animal, or possibly a shapeshifter. Knowing distances and the inconclusiveness of the DNA samples was not exactly going to help them figure anything out. Then again, maybe there was someone on the staff who had something to offer.

Perhaps Jacob himself. A thought popped into his head.

"Perhaps we should consider those students or local with animal connections? I met a girl in the woods previously who had large, VERY large wolf companion that she was on speaking terms with it, even called it... Murtagh. The thing was big enough to carry her."

The name of the girl eluded him, but he could never forget Murtagh.

"I dunno it's something worth considerin', and I don't to look like I'm just accusin' the girl and Murtagh. But I'd rather exhaust a possibility than miss it completely."
 

Kathinja

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Lydia was baffled at how calm some of the staff managed to be. A student was dead and they were just…did they feel anything?! Lydia didn’t even know this girl and she was on the verge of tears—which she was desperately trying to keep back.

The mild reactions of a few of the staff reminded her of Yura. She loved Yura as a friend dearly, but sometimes she would get really frustrated with her and people like her who could just be so calm, if not down right apathetic, in such a tragic situation. Lydia was just so emotional that it was hard to understand any reaction that just wasn’t.

But she bit her tongue. She was not going to say anything about it. At least she wasn’t the only one. Ha Long was obviously having trouble with his emotions as well. At least there was someone she felt she could relate to at that moment.

Just to know that another student could have been behind the murder just made her feel even worse. This was a school—it should be a safe space for children and young adults. Sure, it was a school for supernaturally-inclined students, but still…

Lydia was trying her best to keep her tears and emotions at bay, and as a result she was struggling to even keep up with the conversation. Something about the wolf being a student…shapeshifters…counter magic? She couldn’t even look at any of the staff—she just stared down at the table.

Y’all alright?

The sweet southern drawl of Leeroy’s voice caused Lydia’s head to dart up. In that moment she felt a little bit more grounded in the reality in front of her—as opposed to being completely taken over by her emotions.

“S-sorry, I’m alright…” she murmured, squeezing one of her long red braids in both of her hands. Even though she had snapped out of her own thoughts for a bit, she still felt kind of lost.

She wasn’t sure if she was expected to speak up anymore, because she really had no idea what to say. She didn’t know how to deal with such a situation. Hell, her own parents were murdered and she basically dealt with that situation by not dealing with it at all. She ran away and hid in a whole new identity—two of them, even.

All she really wanted to do was shed some tears for the poor girl.

But for now, she held them back while she was surrounded by her fellow staff.
 

Batty

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<div align=center>With continuing grief and unexpected heaviness, the conversation on the girl continued with mixed reactions. When Aurora began to speak her mind about the situation however it seemed like Laverna was in a sort of agreement. To that, Leeroy secretly was of alliance to. It was the cold, sad truth that stated how susceptible this school was to tragic occurrences. But it was hard to prevent accidents. Nobody would intentionally have a reason to brutally murder her, right? So that's what it had to be. An accident. With the mention of the shapeshifters club however the forlorn sympathy he had turned into complete and utter guilt. Oh god... He could have prevented this... Being a gym teacher and a powers instructor, that was his sworn duty. Everyone was to master their abilities in his class, and somebody must have not.... Oh god.

With a glean of hope he needed to know whether or not it was a graduated student of his class or current. Though what he taught was optional, it was a somewhat popular choice for those who needed a confidence booster. He got to thinking, all the while listening to his colleagues upon what they believed. He smiled a bit at the two, particularly Lydia, who were taking the news a bit more heavily than the others. She was a cute girl, though what he believed about her appearance usually didn't account for this. Stupid inhuman genes. She seemed pleasant and nice, and looked to know a thing or two about the southwest. He would have talked to her, but this meeting was far more important as of now. He turned back to listen seriously.

What could he do to help the situation? Well, he didn't want to metaphorically frisk anyone for suspicious activity or what could be linked to the murder of this girl. But he couldn't just let somewhat more likely people to not at least be monitored a bit. But the last thing he wanted was for some sort of paranoia trials to occur within the school, or the outright need to block out abilities. "I'll keep better tabs on alla ma students... 'Specially the shapeshifters..." He offered in a mumble, at the moment still calculating his thoughts. No doubt he would try to be a little less loose in his methods, as to prevent this sort of thing from happening. "But so far I haven't seen much that concerns me activity wise..." Besides his occasional decapitation, spontaneous combustion, and brutal assault from some of his more passionate students nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Still, he had to at least take his part in preventing these sort of things from happening. He'd have to take their advice and make a list... Though some were obvious to rule out. Shapeshifters like that kid who turned into dinosaurs wouldn't have much to do with fur or wolf marks... Besides, he'd probably eat her whole if anything. But for the most part those who freely transformed were going to possess less lax than the others. But it wasn't his choice. It was for the greater good.

"I don't have any... But if there's somethin' that I can do, I'll definitely do it." He offered in response to Laverna asking for further questions. As selfish as he knew the thought was, he hoped they moved from the heavy stuff soon. God, he really needed a drink after all of this... </div>
 

Emy

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Since this is kind of dead ish and I don't like dead threads. If we revive it, though, I'll just bring him back.

Wong Ha Jung

He couldn't do it. It was deeply and awfully selfish of him but the counselor just couldn't stick around there and listen to the other staff members keep talking about the girl's death. Intellectually, he knew that they were right to be so logical and cool minded about it. But it still didn't sit right with him. Maybe it had been because the newness of the Academy, and how the news had taken him so badly off guard. He would just have to learn to not react so badly... Eventually.

But probably not that day. It wasn't like Wong Ha Jung had much to offer to the discussion anyways. He hadn't been around nearly long enough to know how the place worked. Probably, he would have been more inclined to stay and listen despite that fact if Azure Spring hadn't been in effect. As it was, right then, there was enough of a dampener on his priorities that the man simply found himself becoming increasingly apathetic. It was a pretty clear sign that he was keeping White Autumn up for too long. Just a little more and he might start to have problems caring about suppressing the power again.

He looked around the room once more. I'll just be out for a minute or two, Wong Ha Jung told himself. Or five, or ten. Maybe he wouldn't come back at all. The others would just have to excuse him for it. I won't be missed at all.

The man fled quietly.
 
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