"Rest for a moment," Vera said, letting the student rest those aching arms, "So you wish to be a good student then? If that is truly how you feel, I shall ensure you leave this chamber. Your feelings are very relevant, Ms. Barker. Getting in trouble is never a good feeling and lashing out only makes it worse. But, accepting your mistakes and recognizing your flaws is not something you should belittle."

The Head Girl approached and gently brushed Kirsty's hair behind her shoulders. "Lift your arms," she ordered. Vera lowered a hook from above which easily went around the chain. She then proceeded to pull the hook upwards, forcing Kirsty to be fully upright and standing on her toes.

"Tell me, why do you wish to be a more appealing student for this school? Is it in hopes of being free of this room and away from me?" Vera's fingers traces the woman's sore arm all the way down Kirsty's side.

The brief rest was a relief and for a moment she was hopeful that she had finally done enough to get the hell out of here. Her feelings changed when Vera closed the distance between them to brush her hair back from her neck. She suddenly remembered why Vera wasn't to be trusted. Sure enough, the other woman made her lift her arms up again and then hooked her shackles to a hook hanging from the ceiling. It eased her burden, momentarily lifting her arms up enough to support them for her but they didn't stop there.

She hissed in pain as the chain lifted her past the point of comfort, almost dangerously so, as it forced her up onto her tip toes. Tears of pain welled in the corners of her eyes and she closed them to try and shut it out. It didn't help though. She tried to control her breathing at least. Vera was speaking again and touching her arching arm and side. She was too sore to be aroused by the touch.

Vera had asked her something and she honestly couldn't think to lie to her this time. She answered through the pain and clenched teeth. "In part... I don't want to be here... to be punished like this anymore." She forced herself to breathe and unclench her jaw. "Good students don't need correction... So I want to be a... good student so I don't wind up here again."

"Any student who violates a rule or fails to excel, whether intentional or not, requires correction," Vera replied, "Good or bad merely decides a starting point if that. And I already stated this once, Ms. Barker, we do not punish. This is correction. The only person punishing anyone is you to yourself. Your choices, your actions led to this. If I must keep repeating myself that only proves that you are still not listening or learning."

The Head Girl stepped away. The chain was lowered and the hook removed. It seemed Kirsty's body was at the limit so she allowed the woman fall to the floor if necessary. "The pain you feel is because of your actions, not mine. I have yet to give you any command beyond drinking that water and telling you to stop harming yourself. But... The fact you were willing to hurt yourself in order to keep stating your violations and your means of correction was brought to my attention."

"You say I am acting but everything I say has always been the truth. I told you exactly what was expected of you and how to leave this chamber. You refused to believe me. You also implied that you are an actor which requires me to further analyze whether or not you are truly corrected or merely 'acting'. Faking till you make it is not acceptable in this school, Ms. Barker. It is very easy to notice when someone is merely trying to avoid notice. With your desire to be an actor, being unnoticed is not possible for you. You want to be in the spotlight and here you are, alone in your spotlight."

"What do you expect me to do, Ms. Barker? Say 'that's good enough' and turn a blind eye to your behavior? What do you think will happen if I do? Which lie would come to surface first? No matter if the student is a saint or a criminal, all have the same expectations here. You are not getting any special treatment nor am I."

Was Vera implying she had been corrected before or that she would be corrected if she failed to correct Kirsty? It was difficult to say. But, at least her arms were no longer above her head, allowing the student some much needed rest.

Kirsty collapsed to her knees on the floor, arms dangling limply in front of her. She was done. She couldn't lift her arms again if she wanted to. She listened to Vera's speech without comment until the woman stopped to allow her to speak. She looked up wearily, "I can't do what you are asking me to do. You want me to change my insides, to be someone I'm not. I am sorry but I can't do that. That's not stubbornness either. It has taken me 20 plus years to become this person, I can't undo that in a matter of days."

She gave an exhausted sigh and looked away from the distant face of the Head Girl to stare at the floor. "You say my feelings matter but if that's true then they apparently only matter because they are painting me a liar. If saying I want to be a good student and demonstrating a willingness to follow directions, even belatedly, are not sufficient then I don't know what else I can do. Demanding loyalty and respect is all well and good but those are things you earn. All this school has earned from me is distrust and hatred. If acting like I have not been betrayed and treated unjusticely isn't enough then I don't know what else to do." Her voice wavered, she knew that this was not the sort of sentiment Vera wanted to hear but it was true. Frustrated tears welled behind her eyes as she waited for her punishment to commence. Vera could call it what she wished. It was punishment.

"I'm done..." She said at last. Not caring how Vera took it. Would the woman leave her again. Abandon her to the cold dungeon? Continue to insist she had given her the key to her freedom and that it was her own stubbornness keeping her chained? She was beyond caring. Maybe in a few weeks or months, after they had truly broken her she would be able to see what Vera believed was so obvious but right now she couldn't see her way out of this situation so she gave up on trying.

"You are not the first to come down here and certainly not the last, Ms. Barker. Every student who left here became better one way or another. Some despise me to this day while others do not. You say its impossible to change but we both know that is not true. The Kirsty Barker I met back in the common room would not have pushed her body to the very limit in hopes to better herself enough to warrant my attention."

"For a moment, a brief moment, you decided to try. That is why I came back. But, it seems you just gave up again. I am trying to learn more about you and your intentions. I could care less if you hate me or this school. That is irrelevant. What matters is what you see yourself as coming out of that door. It is those thoughts, those feelings that will decide your future. If you leave as a Shokushu student, you will grow far beyond what you could alone. But, if you decide that this school is not worth your time, you will fall behind and become forgotten."

"Your demerits will remain, Ms. Barker. If you desire to clear your record, you know where to go. Until they are cleared, you will be unable to attend any extra curricular activities. That includes the drama club or any other faction activities," Vera stated as she walked to the door and unlocked it, "If you desire to lash out against me so badly, you merely have to cause more trouble. That will reflect poorly on my decision here today and I shall be corrected for it. The choice is yours. Leave as a student or leave as a liar. Either way, do close the door behind you when you leave."

Kirsty's uniform flew out from the darkness, landing before the defeated and exhausted student. Vera did not look back as she opened the door and stepped out. The open door allowed some of the light from the hallway to come through, allowing the student to find her way out. The Head Girl did not wait for a response. One way or another, Kirsty would have to walk out of here which meant finding her way through this maze of hallways beneath the school. She should be fine and find the exit... eventually.

Kirsty was too depressed at the moment to respond to Vera's baiting. Had she been in a better frame of mind then she might have scoffed at the other woman's claim that she was trying to "learn more about her" or her implications that she knew the kind of girl she was before she entered this place. She knew nothing about Kirsty except that she was stubborn and maybe a bit prone to behaving childishly at times. She didn't have enough information on her to assume that the Kirsty before this ordeal she wasn't the type to hurt herself to prove a point. No, she had evaluated her all wrong if she thought that.

Kirsty didn't attempt to disillusion her though. Vera's impressions of her were set and she wasn't much up to proving her wrong just now. Later she would have to though. She wasn't going to let this school bar her from the only thing that she truly loved. She waited for Vera to leave and for the feeling to return to her arms before pulling herself up off the floor and putting her uniform back on. Once dressed she found her way back out of the basement. It might have been tricky for someone else but she had a good memory. She headed back to her dorm to shower and sleep and then start in on her studies again. She had a lot of classwork to get caught up on. And one more thing too, now she had to bone up on the school rules. When she eventually went to face Vera again and get her demerits removed she was determined not to give the woman any more weapons to use against her.