Juniper was really starting to get under Anne's skin. Her flippant responses and cheerfulness was just so out of place and she couldn't help but think that there was so much more that she didn't know here. She had a distinct feeling she was being used and as the teacher was granted a happy, carefree wave she was certain of it. Not deliberately, but this student was unbelievably quick of wit and was more than happy at taking advantage of any adversity. Once again it made her wonder what was in that case.

Other questions formed in her mind. Just how she was so well versed in the commissary trends. Her comments about financial opportunism were also fascinating. There was so much just under the surface, a hidden mystery that she needed to get her teeth into.

It brought to mind a set of rumours she had heard since becoming a Prefect, but that paled beside the feeling of frustration about her complete disregard for any authority. How do you help someone that was so intent in breaking the rules?

"And who might you think would be so interested in western teas?" A smile crossing her face. "There aren't too many Brits here. But, I really am curious to know just how well versed you are in so many things."

While Juniper might be getting right under her skin she saw no need to be impolite, or show that in any way. It wouldn't be surprising in the least to learn that irritating a prefect would be marked as a victory in her book. Not a satisfaction that she wanted to give.

Of course, that was the very purpose of Juniper's cheer. She'd never admit it, of course, but Anne had her pinned down pretty good, caught with her hand in the cookie jar as she had been. The initial posturing and circuitous dialogue managed to blunt the Prefect's advantage from surprise, the time she'd spent shredding Juniper's ablative levels of bullshit giving the freshman enough time to rebound from the other woman's unexpected presence. Now, while she was essentially doing what the Prefect wanted, she'd managed to make the whole thing seem like her own idea keeping the balance of power fluid in its own way.

Really, giving Anne a night to recover was a bit of a risk. She had no doubt that, given a good night's sleep, the Prefect would be fully entrenched in her authority once again. It would only get worse if she decided to corroborate with her Head Girl, but Juniper was banking on Anne's need to prove herself to insulate her from that particular nightmare scenario. So far, Vera had seemed content to pretend their little tête-à-tête had never happened, but if she caught the "spy" poking around in her zone of influence a second time there was no guarantee she'd get off so lightly again.

"Tea is actually a surprisingly common hobby on the island." she said smoothly, "While it's true that there aren't many Englishwomen on the campus compared to other nationalities, it's important to remember that due to certain imperial habits, British sensibilities are a widespread watermark for high culture, and we do have a high percentage of society girls among our ranks. And, of course, social circles being what they are, the less fortunate tend to pick up on and imitate the habits of the more successful." she mused aloud.

"Besides, it's one of the few ways a gal can play good hostess when they have company over in the dorms." she glanced over with a coy smile, "I've noticed it's a fairly common denunciation technique around here also, employed by everyone from the Headgirls up in the tower to some of the correctional specialists down in the basement. The cordial atmosphere goes against expectations and gets the accused to lose their equilibrium, particularly if they don't know the proper etiquette, leaving them vulnerable to more probing questions. Queue then a frank discussion of precisely where the accused had misstepped while maintaining the illusion of being aloof and above such petty matters, undermine their self confidence, and then deliver judgement."

"You work with Ms. Matsumoto, don't you? I'm sure you've seen the method before." she said, pointedly not meeting Anne's eyes at that moment. It was a subtle jab, Vera gets the title of respect, but Anne gets the overly familiar treatment of being called by her first name. Still, with the way Anne had fixated on "Ms. Modnar", June was certain she'd notice.

She nodded approvingly when Anne asked her about her apparently vast store of trivia,,

"Now there's a sensible question." she said, letting the pause drag on just long enough to bring question to whether or not she intended to answer, "Well, it is a school after all, is it any surprise I might find the time to study such a thing?" she asked.

"Well, I don't want to get into too many details before breakfast, but since you asked I suppose I can share a little. I originally enrolled here at Shokushu because I wanted to be a journalist ... but within the first few months I realized that that career path was closed to me." she shrugged a bit, "So, I dropped some of my classes so that I wouldn't disqualify myself from my scholarship. I've been sitting in on some other courses, planning to take some placement tests next year so that I can jump back into things, but for the moment I have a fair amount of free time to pursue my own own little projects. Deciphering little patterns like this and mapping out trends and political affiliations is just one of my longer running experiments." she chuckled self consciously, "I might be showing off, just a little."

"Very droll Miss Modnar. You twist the good that teachers and other members of the faculty do into interesting little mind games. I'm sure if you put your mind to it you would be able to come up with conspiracy theories with your research into different trends in the commisary and from there i'm sure you will decide that aliens are infecting us with drugs laden into the coffee."

In actuality, Anne was well aware of both the methods and the effectiveness behind them. She saw them more as way to relax the students mind which normally let them open up, removing the "threat" element from her own sash. You could do a lot when someone trusted you, although she couldn't deny that Juniper was right - throwing someone off balance certain did have its uses and, if she were playing devils advocate "being nice" often had the same effect. But that was neither here or there.

Of course she caught the barb, but Juniper was complete ignorant of the fact that Miss Matsumoto was not just the woman she loved, but also the woman that she called Mistress and thus terming her "above" Anne was actually a rather amusing sign of respect. Thus as her lips turned upwards there was no frustration there at all.

"But" She continued "Why is journalism closed to you? You certainly have a quick mind although I can't help think you are wasting it on silly things like said conspiracy theories and breaking rules. Perhaps you should be taking those placement tests sooner rather than later? Its obvious you would do well at them. Perhaps I might be of assistance there."

Anne's mandate was always to help others, and if she could, she would. However, she was wary. Having already been lied to, and Junipers words about her Mistress made her considerably more sceptical about what was being spoken about, on top of already being rather irritated. It was good that they were almost at her room.

"I try not to make value judgements." Juniper said, shrugging her shoulders with a smirk, "It's more a matter of observing trends, and then deciphering the reason they came to pass. For the sake of example, the commonality of the denouncement over tea is in part because of its effectiveness in defusing the openly rebellious, true. Its root, however, is more a matter of establishing commonality. You and I, for example, are both students, part of the same community. Generally, the framing of these little meetings is less about punishing the guilty and more about correcting troublesome behavior before it impacts the community as a hole. At least, such is the rhetoric."

"Establishing this kind of data is actually the foundation of a fairly lucrative field of careers. A little sociology, some micro-economics, perhaps a bit of group psychology and such data becomes the basis for social engineering of all stripes." she let her eyes glance up at the cieling, "Though you are right, it takes practice to do well. The human mind is engineered to try and make order from chaos, falsely identifying correlating data can bring you to some very strange places. Like alien coffee beans." she closed her eyes and chuckled to herself.

"Hhn ... that's ... not a topic I'm comfortable pursuing." she said, turning introspective for a few long moments, the smile slipping from her lips as she regarded the cieling tiles with sad eyes. She took a deep breath and shrugged, letting it out again slowly. She shifted her grip on the case and brought it around in front of her, shifting her eyes downwards towards the floor now, "Suffice it to say, I've crossed some troublesome people, and they're ill inclined to forgive and forget." she gave a short, bitter chuckle, "And I try so hard to be likable."

"I appreciate the offer, but it's been made abundantly clear to me lately that there are simply no spare seats available in those classes this semester, necessitating a bit of independent study before I can reliably pass such a test. There's no rush, all things come in the fullness of time." she offered a somewhat more wane smile, shrugging her shoulders. Looking up, she noticed the numbers on the wall and turned her head. Sure enough, there was the Prefect's unassuming dorm room door up ahead.

"Besides, I'm enjoying the opportunity to reevaluate my life and my goals." she raised an eyebrow slightly, "... There is one thing you might help me with, but I'm hesitant to ask for your intercession under the circumstances." She drew herself up straight, standing to one side of the door and waiting for her to open it, "Perhaps in the morning, after we're both rested, fed, and understanding one another a little better."

Now.. who could Juniper have upset to that level? It would have to be a head of staff... It was unlikely to be just a teacher... unless she REALLY was annoyed... Unless she was being lied to. It was rare for a teacher to hold a grudge (although it did happen unfortunately). Gods, she wished she had more than a single night to do some prep work before tommorrow morning. She still wasn't certain if it was entirely worth contacting the Head of sciences directly to check on this box!

"Perhaps" Anne replied. unlocking the door. As it opened up to Anne's room. It was immaculate as always. The living room hoovered and spotless, the desk in the corner having a little stack of files and even the kitchen having everything put away. Two plush, comfy-looking armchairs stood across from her white furred rug, both facing the balcony window. As ever, the faint smell of flowers lingered in the room, as evidenced by a vase full of sweet pea in the centre. There was none of the additional technology allowed as a Prefect aside from a powered down computer sat on the desk.

"So Miss Modnar. What do you need exactly?" She said, keeping Juniper focused. She didn't like other people in her room, it being more a sanctuary for her than a public forum, aside for when discretion was required of course. It was one of the main aspects where she differed from Vera in that Vera maintained an open door policy. Anne did in name only and normally met with anyone that needed her away, unless discretion was required.

Thus, Anne was distinctly uncomfortable as foreign eyes roamed around her room, taking in details incredibly rapidly, that "honest" smile glued to her features.

"Sorry to impose." Juniper said with a faint smile and a nod of her head, swinging the case around in front of her and gripping the handle with both hands, playing the part of a proper guest. She strode casually forward into the Prefect's room, not at all hiding as she took in the state of her quarters. If her time as an amateur journalist had taught her anything, it was that you could learn a lot about a person from the way they kept their personal space.

Pausing in the entryway, Juniper knelt down and untied her shoes, setting them off to the side so as not to track dirt in unnecessarily. Order and cleanliness were, of course, the first things that struck her. Even with an unexpected visit, nothing had been left out to be attended to later. There was a certain austere charm to the place, not at all what June would've expected from someone of Ms. Deas's income bracket, neutral colors, a sweet floral scent. Quiet. Yes, unless she missed her guess, this was a private place to decompress after a taxing day. June had originally gotten the impression of Anne as a shy, retiring sort from her file, this helped reinforce that a bit in her mind. The work might have brought her out of her shell, but comfortable moments were solitary ones. Only two chairs, but the arrangement caught her eye, the unspoken promise of a shared sunrise. Interesting.

"Hmn?" she responded distractedly for a moment, making her way towards the kitchen area, "Oh, for this?" she asked, raising the case above the counter top, "Nothing too outlandish. A set of electrical screwdrivers, some latex gloves, a bucket of ice, the backup battery for the case ... signal jammer." she muttered the last bit as she ducked below the counter, opening Anne's refrigerator and taking a look inside before rearranging the contents to make room for the bulky case. "There's some other stuff that'd be a boon, but I wouldn't know exactly what I needed until after I neutralized the thing anyway. Like I said though, so long as you don't open the case and keep it cold it'll be fine." she turned the temperature control on the small cooler all the way down as cool as it would manage before she stood up again.

"Or did you mean something else?" she asked, taking a moment to sift through the kitchen, openning cabinets and taking mental stock of Anne's cookware so she'd know what she could borrow and what she'd need to bring in the morning.

"Ice is the in the fridge, top compartment. You'll find a toolkit in the same place which should also contain the gloves you require. You'll find a bucket in the same place."

She was most definitely regretting inviting Juniper in. The way she was going through her cupboards was that of an inspector. She didn't mind in so far what she found but it was the sheer invasion, the way she seemed to be cataloguing every little thing there, storing it away for future use.

If it was down to her she would throw her right out then and there, box and all. But, she had a job to do. At least she had everything that this student needed - and as it was all in the same place she could distract her from rummaging by getting her to do the retrieval without looking out of place. It gave her chance to think aswell. With the quietness of her own room the words 'signal jammer' while muttered were clear enough and she wondered once again what was just in the box. She made one more mental note on her tally, that of paying a visit to this students room at a later point. She suspected what she would find there would be most interesting indeed.

"No. that is what I meant Miss Modnar. I don't suppose you would mind me present for when you properly open this case, assuming we have no further problems?"

Of course, that was ultimately the trick. Anne had originally told her to follow the Prefect to where the case could be made safe until morning, it had been the young investigator who'd suggested her room as an ideal place to store the case. Her rummaging was innocuous enough, but the fact was that she knew the layout of the room now. The balcony, the bedroom, the kitchen, the desk where she left official looking files piled up for delivery in the morning. Ms. Deas was a solitary woman, and prone to walk the grounds at night ... how could Juniper not consider the implications?

"Mind? I'd presumed you would insist." she said cheerfully, closing the cabinet door gently as the Prefect informed her of where she could find some of the tools she'd need. "Everything should keep until morning now." she said, nodding a bit. In point of fact, it would have to wait a few hours, she needed to keep the contents on ice long enough for the emergency battery to wear itself down before she could properly get to work, not that she had any intention of advertising fact. Information control was the name of the game at the moment.

"So," she started, running her fingertips along the counter top and stepping around it back into the living area to face Anne directly for the first time since the two of them had moved from the window, "If you would be so kind as to return my unconfiscated cap, and perhaps write me that hall pass you are so concerned with, I'll be pleasantly on my way to allow you to get some much needed rest." a few mischievous sparkles still lit her eyes as she regarded the Prefect and the sash that was her badge of office.

She held her hand, palm up to receive her cap from the prefect. There was one last swerve she had in store, however, as Anne proffered her property, Juniper would reach up to take her hand as well, bowing her head to kiss the back of her hand in a smooth and practiced motion.

"Spokoinoi nochi, daragaya." she'd intone warmly, releasing her hand to flip the cap over and place it back gently upon her head, "In the morning, I will provide for you a small taste of home. Do look forward to it."

“My thanks Miss Modnar”

She didn’t understand what was said, although unless Juniper was being particularly offensive she guessed it to be some sort of goodbye/goodnight. Perhaps Russian by the way the vowels rolled into the word. The thought was gone as she regarded the Juniper, the back of her hand tingling most pleasantly. How long had she wished that Vera would do that sort of thing to her?

Ah well. She knew her place and was happy for it, despite certain things being missing that she would have enjoyed. Her smile was as warm as the kiss was as she walked across to her door, opening it for Juniper.

“However, no hall pass for you I’m afraid. I believe I promised to escort you back to your room? We can’t have you getting lost now can we? Especially not with such a promise on the table. I would hate to miss out on exactly what you have in mind.”

It was a little upsetting in a couple of ways. Between simply wanting her bed, knowing she had more work to do to track down the origins of the case and being a little puzzled by the ‘making safe’ that Juniper had done (While being no electronics major, she knew enough to know that what Juniper had done felt more like preserving battery life and shielding as opposed to anything permanent.) In addition there was no evasion on her looking as the device was properly opened up – which flew directly in the face of her gut feeling on this matter.

Her smile didn’t flicker as she quickly mapped in her mind what she needed to check, emails to be sent and how long it would likely to take once she got back. The answer of how long she was going to be up was a little depressing.

"Is that a measure of distrust I detect?" she asked with mock incredulity, pressing her splayed fingers to her heart, "Prudent, though you wound me all the same. I suppose I'll simply have to take solace in extending our time together." she mused aloud, taking a moment to tug the cap down snugly onto her head again. Seeing as the Prefect was so kind as to hold the door for her, Juniper stepped back into her shoes and slipped out into the hallway, kneeling to retie her laces as Anne followed her out.

Unburdened from her case, Juniper took a moment to loop the cable around her waist about itself a time or two and then clip it securely like a kind of impromptu belt. When she stood up again, she took a moment to smooth her skirts before gesturing down the hall in unspoken invitation.

"Tell me, Anne, how is being a Prefect treating you?" she asked easily, tilting her head to the side as she fell in step, "Is it everything you'd hoped it would be?"

With a shake of her head she locked the door behind her and set off down the corridor. Distrust? Of course there was. She wished she had any time to properly look into this Juniper and ask some questions but there was none. She would barely have time to just check on the case and paperwork, unless she wanted to stay up the entire night which was unacceptable, as she had a busy day (as always) tomorrow.

"Very well Miss Modnar. I will admit I didn't quite know what being a Prefect entailed but I found I couldn't say no when the sash was offered. Its a lot of work but the job comes with a set of perks which really outweigh any extra work."

She couldn't prevent a slightly dreamy smile which drifted across her face as she thought of the very specific perk that she was think of. Catching herself quickly though she continued.

"How about yourself? How do you find the school?" she asked.

And, of course, so long as Anne insisted on accompanying the suspect back to her room, Juniper found herself with an opportunity to bleed even more precious time from the other girl's night. Unlike before, Anne didn't know their destination, which allowed June to set a more liesurely pace through the halls than she'd used to cross the distance to the Prefect's room. So long as she didn't actively drag her feet and kept the conversation going, she thought she could get away with taking the scenic route.

"Oh?" Juniper asked, keeping the sly smirk off of her face as she watched the Prefect become distracted for just a moment, "Somehow I don't think you mean the private room or the authority to move as you like." she said, that faint smile creeping onto her lips as she glanced away. "Though, the way I heard it, you'd requested the position before it was ever offered to you. I remember because it struck me as odd at the time, that someone that had previously maintained a rather middling gradepoint average and seemed to stay on the outskirts of the social scene would suddenly grab for power like that." she tilted her head to the side and glanced over at Anne through her lashes.

"Of course, you wear it all well now." she said with a bit of a warm smile, "You've been exceedingly diligent in cultivating your image as an authority since then, and in setting a high standard for yourself. Some might even go so far as to say that you've finally awakened to your potential with a bit of guidance." she chuckled softly, "Though, for myself, I'd say you're still developing in some ways. I do wonder though ... have you managed any progress in what originally set you upon this course?" she shrugged her shoulders slightly, as if to say that she didn't really know. She was speaking in vagaries, of course, her information was hardly complete, but if she wasn't too far off the mark she could pretend that she knew more than she did.

"Hmn." June took a moment to stroke her chin as she considered Anne's question. How, exactly, could she sum up her experiences at Shokushu up to this point? The heady mix of terror and wonder, beauty and horror, rigid authority and reckless abandon?

"I guess, if I'm honest, lonesome." she finally said, though her smile suggested that the answer was absurd, "I don't mean to under represent the positives, of course. The island is beautiful, my courses are fulfilling, and I've learned a great many things divorced from scholastic achievement as well. I suppose I don't lack for social activity either, but ..." she shrugged her shoulders, "Ultimately, my only value to those people is in what I can do for them, and then I use them in turn. It's not exactly the firmament of lasting friendships. So, it feels like the greatest achievements, the most beautiful moments, the most poignant lessons go unshared." she chuckled softly, lifting her arms in a broad shrug.

"Perhaps, in that light, my behavior makes a bit more sense?" she offered.

It had taken a fair bit of effort but Anne had developed an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the school and its layout. It was really required, as with the workload she had being able to get from A to B as quickly as possible was invaluable. This meant that Anne was highly suspect of the route that they were taking. However, she had no way of knowing if it was simply that Juniper was trying to find her bearings (Which somehow didn't seem likely) or that she was wasting time (but what reason could she have for wasting more time?).

Briefly, she contemplated asking her room and setting a more direct route (wishing again that she had had time to check on Miss Modnar, including her room location) but her curiosity got the better of her and instead she answered the question, not answering her commentary about how she had changed. She had changed an enormous amount, this was entirely true. She was also not interested in authority or anything. Juniper was slightly wrong though in that she hadn’t requested this position - far from it. It had been given as an extension of her own duties, as she already worked so hard for Vera and it was simply the next logical step, another way of helping, and being closer to Vera.

Rather than reply to any of her questions though she kept her own answers firmly on Juniper.

"So, you spend time outside curfew in the hope of meeting new friends? I'm not entirely certain teachers, prefects and any Head Girls you might run across would qualify." She said with a smile. "There are infinitely better ways to meet people that you share interests with. I am wondering what would you look for in a friend though? Perhaps if you stop using them and accept people more you would find better firmament for those few friends that would stay with you forever? Ones that you could share those victories with.”

Anne felt rather unqualified to issue any advice here. Tired, still a little on edge by her space being invaded and the way Juniper danced around mentally she was already distracted far more than she should have been with Junipers speculation. It didn’t leave her on best form to begin with and that coupled with her complete lack of experience where it came to making friends? She wasn’t exactly qualified given her own lack of any. Not that she minded as she had her Mistress and that was enough. She knew what is was to be used by others and she honestly thought that friends were overrated, especially when they used you for their own purposes, like Juniper did - like all did in her experience.

Still, she knew loneliness, and knew it well. She had been alone for such a long time, before finding Vera that is was close to an old friend - something to be treasured instead of commiserated. Briefly, she wondered what it would be like to have friends, people simply to share things to like she saw gaggles of girls gossiping about their latest crush, or what they had eaten last. A dim bit of her wondered what it would be like if she had people that she trusted so and could simply natter about her work, about things she had heard and the latest things she had done with Vera.

But such things were not for her. Life had proven that to her so well already, and Juniper was stating quite clearly what she had seen over and over again.

“I suppose that does answer some of your behaviour though. Still, I would ask what you would regard as the right ground for lasting friendships actually was.”