Vanessa didn't feel as poignant when the head girl mentioned the contradiction. She had been around the head girl long enough to know that she was somewhat mechanical in that nature, such as when she issued a warning to Vanessa earlier about her uniform, only to resume talking like normal. It did make the redhead curious, though, if Vera was always like this or if she developed this seriousness over the years. "Oh, I don't accuse you of being as dirty as me. It may be unrealistic..." The crimson-haired girl bit her lower lip. She didn't even like to call herself 'dirty', so the words rolled off her tongue roughly. "But I just meant that I hope to get reciprocated feelings some time. It might be wishful thinking." The girl shrugged her shoulders like it didn't bother her. She frowned, allowing her dampened hair to cover her eyes for a moment. Vanessa ran her hands through her hair and flipped it to reveal her forehead.

The knight would finish showering shortly after. The girl stepped out the shower with a towel wrapped around her hair, and another one wrapped around her body. She made sure to wrap it tightly around her body to make sure it didn't fall. She avoided eye contact with Vera when the silver-haired woman mentioned failing her promise months ago. "Yeah, I can do that." She said softly. Once she was completely dry, the knight slipped on her school uniform and walked beside the head girl. "Just give me the list and I'll take a look at what I can do." Vanessa seemed more serious, though more so to avoid saying something unruly around Vera again.

The Head Girl knew very much what Vanessa wanted. She did not even need to read the student's aura to get that information. But it was hard to ignore the mix of emotions coming from the love sick woman. The student was used and abused by her Mistress. The pet felt such wondrous pleasures that she never could have imagined she could feel from another human being. But, Vanessa still lacked the one thing she desired most from the Head Girl. She desired the woman's heart, love, and affection. Vera knew this but such things were not easy to gain from the silver haired woman. But being denied and tempted over and over again only drove the student to obediently follow her Mistress in hopes of reaching that precious moment.

"You say you can do it then say you will look at what you can do..." Vera stated calmly, "Which is it? Are you going to do my task or are you just going to try? Both are very different things, Ms. Crowell."

Vera led Vanessa out of the building and headed for the tower. The walk was long and soon they were riding an elevator together up to the floor where all the Head Girls stayed in their respective suites. She let Vanessa follow her inside and headed straight for her desk. There, she opened a folder and flicked through a few pages before closing it. She offered it to the student.

"Here are the students," Vera said, "Do not return until you have finished your task, all of them. Are there any questions?"

"I'll do it." Vanessa said simply, choosing not to play too much into Vera's game. It wasn't a sign of rebellion, but rather one of defeatism. The redhead knew of Vera's matter-of-fact attitude, and the pointlessness in arguing it. What was important was the redhead's belief in herself; not trying to fix any contradictions the head girl pointed out.

The girl continued behind Vera to the tower. She didn't mind the silence, though. Interestingly enough, Vanessa hadn't run into any of the other head girls. She wondered if all head girls were like Vera, or if they each had their own different personalities. Perhaps Vera's seriousness stemmed from stress? The knight glanced over at the head girl. She had an urge to stretch her hand out, to hold onto Vera's shoulder, as if to tell her that whatever burden the head girl had, that it was going to be alright. But, she knew better than that. The crimson-haired girl kept her hands to herself and waited for the elevator doors to open.

Vanessa entered into the familiar room. A lot of... strange memories came to mind, including the month of confinement. Just thinking about remaining in the small, dark room gave her a headache. A way of loneliness washed over the redhead, causing her heart to sink a bit. She grabbed a hold of the documents, briefly flipping through them to familiarize herself with some of the troubled students. "I'll see what I can do." She closed the folder and looked up at Vera. "Just a quick question... Do these students expect my help? Do I have any sort of authority over them? Or am I supposed to be a 'casual, friendly' stranger who's trying to help them?" Vanessa asked. After she'd receive her answer, the redhead would dismiss herself and head out to find the first girl on the list.

Vera always maintained composure. She was the highest student position in the school. She was a leader and represented the high expectation of the school's headmasters. There were several students who look up at her for inspiration and even more that look up looking for any dirt or flaw they could grasp to lower the silver haired woman back down to their level. That did not even include her duties and work she did daily. That was the burden Vera carried without losing a step. She held her head high and showed no signs of weakness to all who look upon her.

"They are aware of their lack of growth, nothing more," Vera stated, "Do as you wish. I only expect results and a thorough report when you finish."

Vanessa was given free reign of how to approach each of these students and how she would bring them back into the fold. Looking over the files on her own time, it was a varied list. Some were rather quiet girls who suddenly not paying much attention in school. A few were those who sought to fight the system, raging against the school and its rules. The last two were students who have shown symptoms similar to her own, hallucinations that are sexual in nature.

"Sure." Vanessa nodded, collecting the document and heading out. She would meet with the girls casually, as if she was just being friendly. The document told her where the girls would probably be located, like on the track field or in their dorms after classes. She would start it off initially very slowly, building a bond with them. It was then that she began to help the girls out, one by one, and gaining their respect. It was when she got to the last two girls which seemed to bother her. She didn't know if they were agents of Vera or not, so she pretended to be one of the girls that was completely oblivious to monsters. Instead, she told them that they should focus on school, and to prevent getting 'off track', they had to head indoors very early. It was Vanessa's way of telling the girls not to head out alone at night, when monsters liked to attack. One of the girls grew insisted on the existence of monsters, which the knight had to faithfully deny. It took a while, but once the list was all complete, Vanessa decided that it was time to report back to Vera.

She entered into the all too familiar building and rode the elevator up, before knocking on the door gently. "It's Vanessa. Can I come in?" She whispered in a soft voice, yet loud enough for the head girl to hear her from the other side. "I finished the task you asked me for. It wasn't easy, but it was done."

While some students were fine with a stranger approaching them and assisting them with their problems, others took far more work to crack into their respective shells. Did Vera have to go through all this for her work? Vera was a Head Girl so she did have some level of authority to back her up. But then again, how much effort and time was put into Vanessa when she proved to be unruly? Just how much time did the Head Girl put into shaping up the student body? It took so long to handle this many students and yet there were countless more that no doubt have problems, issues, or demerits.

"Come in," that familiar voice commanded. Like so many times before, the doors were unlocked and Vanessa found herself approaching and standing before Vera's desk. It was late and the woman was putting away some files. Did she ever stop working? Vanessa did see her swim in the pool so there is that at least.

"So you claim," Vera began, "You have spoke to a small sample of the student population and interacted with them. You have been with them for several weeks and away from your Mistress an equal amount of time. What have learned? How difficult was it convincing each and every student to change their ways and continue on the straight and narrow? How many do you think have lost focus already? Each person took time and time you take with one is time not spent with those you spoke with. Did you consider any of this during your task, Ms. Crowell? And what of your... urges? How did you endure those undying needs of yours?"

Vanessa entered and sat at the seat across from Vera. No longer did she take the head girl's barrage of questions as any malice, but instead something typical of her character. "I guess... I learned that it's easier to convince people when they're in a good mood. It's about bringing forth that good attitude and getting students to agree with whatever I needed them to do, whether it was to stay focused on their classes or obey the dress code. It's usually really hard at first but once you crack that shell it's pretty easy to go in and convince them." The redhead crossed her arms. "Some might have lost their focus, but they're doing better than they were before, and now they're conscious of their behavior, so I think that's pretty important." The crimson-haired girl crossed one leg over the other and gently shook her upper leg. "Urges? I mean... I've had a hallucination here or there of monsters... feasting on me again..." A shiver went down the knight's spine, before she recovered and looked at the head girl in the eye. "It's left me in a curious position, but I've held back from delving into my urges whenever I was focused on the task at hand." She said.

"I see," Vera replied, "And what if I told you to do this task but with five times as many students? Would you really be able to crack that many shells within a reasonable amount of time?" She lets that thought sit for moment before continuing. "Would you really try and become friends with each and every one of them knowing that you have several more students waiting on your plate? What if you were given authority over them? Would you still try to become their friend or would you use your position to better align their behavior?"

Vanessa pursed her lips at the comment. "Well, it would take me longer." She said simply, not really knowing what sort of answer the silver-haired woman wanted from her. The redhead sighed, trying to clear her mind before continuing to speak. "I've done just as you've asked, mistress. It sounds like to me that you have a few ideas about this... hypothetical dilemma." The girl crossed her arms and leaned forward, as if interested in what the head girl had to say. She liked helping Vera, and all the other students. But, there were times were she felt dissatisfied. This woman had never smiled, nor acknowledged the knight's success. Sure, the work she had done was minimal to what the silver-haired woman does on a daily basis, but there was a difference between the two: that of a young student and a head girl. Vanessa was too young to take on any herculean responsibilities. "You're such a bright woman, mistress. So surely, you have a few suggestions?" She said, trying her best to not sound offensive, because that was truly not her intention.

"Answering only one part of my question and brushing off the rest is certainly not what I asked, slave," Vera replied firmly, "Did you have this attitude when speaking with those students? I hope not else you wasted everyone's time. Yes, it would take longer. But what does that mean for the students you were working with? Time spent with one means the problems of several others continue to fester and grow out of control. This becomes much worse when certain students become unreasonable and your words no longer reach them. Being able to analyze your situation is as important as being able to read my needs and respond to them accordingly. But, you do not do that. You wait for an order, do it, then expect some sort of reward soon after."

"Imagine if every student on that list is Vanessa Crowell. Now remember how speaking with you went when you came to my office so long ago. If you were in my position, what would you have done if said student suddenly became aggressive and confrontational, knowing that there were several more students in similar need that require my attention? And instead of throwing the question back at your Mistress, how about you actually use your head of yours and think. Every task, every question that comes from my lips should be the most important thing in your life. Treat it as such."

Vanessa was sure that none of her comments seemed too offensive, but it felt like the head girl was dissatisfied. She looked up with concerned eyes. The redhead began to nervously play with her thumbs underneath the table once the questions came. "I...I tried my best, mistress." She said meekly, "As much as I'd like to bring them all together and help them out at once, each student had a different problem which needed to be addressed by themselves. I... I don't have the same authority as a head girl." She tried to explain herself.

The comment about imagining that every student was the knight seemed to dishearten her for a moment. The girl got the impression that the head girl wasn't one to let go of previous ventures, even though she so easily shrugged off Vanessa's swimsuit violation earlier. "I don't... I don't think I understand, mistress." She said, hoping that Vera wouldn't get too mad at her. "Are you saying I should... punish them?" Vanessa squeezed her hands tighter together.

"And what would you have done differently if you had such authority, Ms. Crowell?" Vera replied, "I am not telling you to do anything beyond answer my questions. Are you saying you would punish them? Why?"

It was so difficult to tell what Vera was thinking right now. All Vanessa had to go off of was previous experiences and the subtle changes in the tone of the Head Girl's replies and questions. The student was not being punished it seemed so there was that. Was this all a test? An interview? There must be something important about these questions if Vera was expecting answers for each and every one of them.

Vanessa had thought that she answered the question correctly. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. She frowned and avoided eye contact with the head girl. When she had the few seconds to collect her thoughts, the redhead looked back up at Vera. "I... don't know if I'm capable of punishing anyone, but I thought that was what you wanted me to say. It seems like that's how you deal with students. If I had your authority... it would allow me to become a role model. I'd hope that students would listen to me more. If they didn't, then I'd have to resort to punishment." She shrugged her shoulders. If this was an interview, the redhead could only assume that it was going badly.

"Habits." She said, "The ultimate goal would, I guess, be to replace bad habits with good. Once a good habit is developed, then we most likely don't have to worry about bad habits."

"The only thing I want you to say are YOUR answers," Vera replied, "Saying what you do not believe is no better than lying and you already know how I feel about lying. I have no use for pretenders, Ms. Crowell. If you are going to give an answer, you best mean every word you say. Everything I say to you or another student, do you sense a single bit of doubt in my words? I believe in everything I say as I would be no better than the troubled student if I cannot follow my own advice."

"I do not really understand your answer about habits and if you do not believe in punishing students, then provide an alternative for my scenario," Vera added, "Do not just shrug your shoulders. How do you ever hope to represent me if you show such bad posture? It seems your laziness still remains despite my correction. I do hope you prove that observation wrong, Ms. Crowell."

Vanessa was hard-pressed. It was unnerving when speaking with Vera alone, as if the woman wanted to pick apart every single trait the redhead had. The head girl demanded complete attention, and she tried her best not to shy away from it. The Knight focused on those crystal blue eyes, finding herself with an urge to pull away from them. Yet the moment she felt herself tug away, she forced herself to look back at the head girl's eyes once more. It felt like pure torture for the girl.

Still, she was expected to give an answer. With each exhale, the girl tried to rid herself of the discouraging thoughts. She rearranged herself in her seat, kept her shoulders down, her chin upwards, and spoke. "I don't quite have the ability to punish others. The more I think about it, the more I see punishment as a necessary tool to correct students. But, personally, I would want to avoid punishing students. Students have bad habits because it benefits them in some way. If I had power, I would show them that good habits can actually be more rewarding than bad habits. And what that is, well, that depends on the situation."