Suiran Academy

Suiran Academy is a prestigious private school that was said to be the pinnacle of schools for rich people. [c1]

## School Location and Information

Suiran Academy is a located in the middle of the city. The thick vegetation around it made the school well known for all the greenery it had, earning it the nickname Suiran Forest.

Its exterior looked like a European cathedral, with beautiful stained glass glittering at the entrance.

Inside the academy, everything is completely new. Every classroom has aircon, humidifier, water dispenser, and floor heating. Its facilities include a dome shaped greenhouse, a tennis court, both a soccer field and a baseball field, a heated swimming pool, a concert hall, a mini theatre, a planetarium, and a tea room. Its cafeteria boasts a luxurious menu made by chefs and has full time waitresses. [c2][c122]

Although the school's address is not stated in the novel, it was once mentioned that it is not located in Kyoto, Japan. [c4]

Suiran Academy is a co-educational school. It offers houses four sections: Primary School Section, Middle School Section, High School Section, and University. The school is an escalator school,[c12] however, it allows new students to enroll in the Middle School Section and in the High School Section. [c1] It also offers scholarship to the deserving students. Scholarship students are exempted from school fees. Furthermore, those that perform above a certain level in the national mock exams are even given scholarship money that doesn’t need to be returned. [c43]

## Uniforms

Suiran Academy is famous for its uniform. Designed by a famous designer, the blazer type uniform ranks as the first place among uniforms people want to wear the most. [c2]

The primary school uniform is comprised of a navy blue blazer. Light blue ribbons must be worn by the girls and and neckties are worn by the boys. [c2]

The uniform of the middle school section consists of a white blazer with embroidered lines. Girl wear burgundy / wine coloured striped ribbons and boys wear the same color ties. [c2][c43]

The uniform of the high school section consists of a white blazer with embroidered lines, the same as in the middle school section. Girls and boys now wear dark blue ribbons and ties, respectively. [c2]

## Uncategorized

Image is a huge deal in this Academy. As such, school
regulations on personal appearance are strict. Dyed hair is basically banned. [c63]
Even working part-time is forbidden at Suiran Academy. [c167] Just going to
this school is a better status symbol. [c1]

Working part-time is
forbidden at Suiran Academy. [c167]

## Sections

### Primary School Section

The Suiran Academy’s Primary School Section is comprised of six grades with four classes each grade. [c26]

 The Primary School Building is located inside the premises of the Academy, and is surrounded by a brick wall. [c1] School lunches are provided for the students. [c2]

Most of the girls who attend the Academy from the primary section tend to enter a political marriage after graduating from university, or find work through their parents’ connections, or go looking for somebody to marry, so basically none of them will really give it their all studying. [c5]

Some of the school policies are as follows:

* Primary school students should be living somewhere less than an hour commute away, else, they would not be allowed to enroll in the Academy. [c14]
* Student rankings and test results are not published. [c5]
* Report cards do not show relative evaluation. [c5]
* It does not have dull holiday homework. [c6]
* They only change classes in the 3rd grade and 5th grade. [c12]

#### Known Events

* Opening Ceremony

* School Excursion
	+ The school excursion happens every May starting Year 5 and continues through Middle School to High School, except for the graduating classes.
	+ Year 5 Animal Farm
		- The group travels by bus to reach the farm. Activities include milking cows, feeding goats, rafting, hiking and horseback riding.

* Learning Excursion
	+ The Class Trip, formally called the Learning Excursion, is a school event for the graduating classes where the students go culturally rich places relatively farther than the places chosen for the School Excursions. For the primary school students, the usual destination of the trip is to Kyoto and Nara. The class trip is usually scheduled in June.
	+ Year 6 – Kyoto and Nara, Japan [c38]
		- Students stay at a high class and very old Japanese style ryokan inn. Activities include visiting shrines and temples, and feeding deers in Nara Park. The students also shop for souvenirs, and visit the matchmaking shrine and the Kasuga Grand Shrine.

* School Anniversary
	+ Suiran Academy’s founding anniversary is a non school holiday.

* Athletics Meet / Sports Festival
	+ The athletics meet, commonly called the sports festival, occurs in the 2nd term of the school year during autumn.
	+ In Year 5, students are nominated to serve as the Athletics Festival Executive Committee.
	+ Known events:
		- Obstacle Relay [c33]
		- Borrowing Race [c33]
			* Fast Running Friend (Kisshouin Reika brought Akizawa Takumi)
			* A girl with a ribbon in her head (An unnamed boy from another class brought Kisshouin Reika)
			* A person you like (An unnamed girl tried to bring Kaburagi Masaya, but failed)
		- Baton Relay [c33]
		- Cavalry Battle (limited to boys in Year 5 and 6) [c33]
		- Sadly, there are no bread eating competitions. [c33]

* Learning Presentation
	+ The Suiran Presentation Day, more commonly known as the Learning Presentation, is a cultural festival alternative for the Primary Section. This school event happens in autumn.
	+ Instead of a school festival, the primary section has a learning presentation where the students display their talents. The activities include a choir contest and a bazaar.
	+ During the Presentation Day, the Primary Section will be decorated with artwork created by the students. The class artwork starts pretty simple during the early years of elementary school, but as the students go up a grade, the difficulty rises. The upper years of the primary section is known to create dioramas and other similar stuff.

* Graduation Ceremony (Year 6)

### Middle School Section

The Suiran Academy’s Middle School Section is comprised of three grades.

Although Suiran Academy is an escalator school, the middle school section allows new students through rigorous examinations. Around 30% of the students in the 1st year are new students. These new students are informally called the Externals. [c43] There are around 10 externals per class.

Major differences between the primary section and the middle school section includes:

* The existence of clubs. Club participation, however, is optional. [c43]
* The establishment of the Student Council.
* Students may choose to bring their own lunch or eat in the cafeteria. [c2] The cafeteria seems like

your normal fancy restaurant. Pretty much everything on the menu is over 2000 Yen. [c43]

* The middle school section now publishes the top 200 ranking of students for each subject and for over all. [c5]

#### Known Events:

First Term

* School Excursion
	+ The school excursion happens every May starting Year 5 in Primary School and continues through Middle School to High School, except for the graduating classes.
	+ The purpose is to help the Internals (Suiran Academy Students who started in the primary school section) and Externals bond through agonising physical activity, thus, the excursion always involved some sort of hiking. [c44]
		- Year 1 – Mountain Climbing [c44]
		- First years go somewhere reachable by bus to go mountain climbing.
		- Year 2 – Mountain Temple [c58]
		- Second years go farther via the bullet train to a mountain temple featured in a famous haiku by Matsuo Bashou. They go up a long staircase, and go boat-riding in the Five Coloured Swamps. [c58]
* Mid Semester Exams
	+ The Mid Semester Exams, also known as the Midterms, is a 2 day test period where students are tested in their academic subjects. The top 200 students of each grade are posted.

* End of Term Tests

* Summer Remedials
	+ Summer classes are available for underperforming students. There is only one class per grade.

* Summer Camp [c60]
	+ The Suiran Summer Camp is a yearly event open for all middle school students. It is usually held at a health resort linked to Suiran Academy, and lasts for three days and two nights. Although the camp seems so fun, apparently not many people participate.
	+ The students appreciate the outdoors by having barbeque outside. They then go to a short ceramics course using manual potter’s wheel. After dinner, they play with fireworks. In the morning, they eat breakfast after the morning exercise. They then go hiking for two hours and after dinner, they go stargazing.

Second Term

* Athletics Festival
	+ The athletics meet or the sports festival occurs in the 2nd term of the school year during autumn. The students are encouraged to join at least one event.
	+ There are more relays in the middle school athletic festival than in the primary school one.
	+ Known events:
		- Cavalry Battle
		- Spoon Relay
		- Tug of War
		- Ball Toss
		- Quadrille Dance (for the less athletically inclined)
		- Great Skipping Rope [c52]
		- Three Legged Race [c52]
		- Club-vs-Club Costumed Relay [c52]
		- 100m Sprint
		- Baton Relay
		- Obstacle Relay
		- Borrowing Race

* Mid Semester Exams

* School Festival [c62]
	+ Participation in the Suiran School Festival is optional for each class.
	+ Clubs often participate. Cultural clubs usually put up exhibitions, and sports clubs usually put up refreshment booths.
	+ To prevent crime, Suiran Academy’s guests are carefully selected, so most of the people who came were relatives and the like.
	+ Year 2
		- Handmade candle store
		- Cafe with high class french tea

* End of Term Exams
* Student Council Elections
	+ The Student Council Officials officially step down at the end of the 2nd term of their 3rd year in middle school. The students vote for the Student Council Presidency, and the President chooses other officials.

Third Term

* Valentine's Day
* Class Trip / Learning Excursion (Year 3)
	+ The Learning Excursion, more commonly known as the Class Trip, is a special school excursion for middle school students in their 3rd year.
	+ Middle school students go to Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. They go to Chinese Theater and Beverly Hills, and then do some shopping at Rodeo Drive. They even drop by Tiffany’s. The students stay at a first class hotel.
	+ To keep up the cover of being an educational trip, the students also go to field trip to a protestant school.
	+ Finally, the students enjoy themselves in Disneyland.
* Graduation Ceremony (Year 3)

### High School Section

The Suiran Academy’s High School Section is comprised of three grades. The students change classes every year.

Although Suiran Academy is an escalator school, the high school section allows new students through rigorous examinations.

Students may choose to bring their own lunch or eat in the cafeteria. [c2] Since there are more students in the high school section than in the middle school section, the facilities are larger, but most of these turned out to be the same. [c74]

#### Elective Classes

In Suiran Academy’s high school section, it is necessary to attend one special elective class once a week. The students may choose from flower arrangement, tea ceremony, calligraphy, kendo, or kyudo. [164] The main reason this system was in place was for the sake of the External Students joining the high school section from normal households.

Most girls pick flower arrangement or tea ceremony.

* Flower Arrangement [c164]
	+ The students are allowed to bring home the flowers they used.
	+ Takamichi Wakaba took this class in her first year in high school.
* Tea Ceremony [c164]
* During the first year, the student will practice the basics such as using the fukusa cloth, up to making usucha with the Bonryaku Temae procedure.
* During the second year, students will learn the Furo Temae procedure, which is more difficult than the Bonryaku Temae procedure. As this procedure is not something a student could succeed in after skipping the basics even by memorizing all the steps from a book, actually performing it right is a different story. It is therefore recommended to take the first year classes first before signing up for the second year classes.
* Kisshouin Reika takes this class instead of the flower arrangement class because the school of flower arrangement that she attended followed a different style to Suiran’s. It is also her artistic decision that she would only ever use warabi-grip shears, hence, she could not participate in Suiran’s flower arrangement classes.
* Takamichi Wakaba took this elective in her second year of high school in an attempt to experience everything Suiran has to offer.

#### Known Events

First Term

* Entrance Ceremony
* School Excursion
	+ The school excursion is a yealy event that occurs every May.
	+ The purpose is to help the Internals and Externals bond through agonising physical activity, thus, the excursion always involved some sort of hiking. [c44]
	+ Year 1 – Kamakura Excursion [c78]
		- First years go hiking in Kamakura and is treated at a reserved banquet hall with seafood.
		- Traditionally, the high school externals prepare skits during lunch. [c78] Usually, students will form choirs and perform concerts. Some dance or perform magic tricks. Others recite poetry, sing, play instruments, or perform a mini opera.
	+ Year 2 – Nikkou City, Tochigi [c116]
		- Second years go to Nikkou City in Tochigi. It has a popular hiking course near Kegon Falls.
* Mid Semester Exams – 2 days
* End of Term Tests
* Summer Remedials
	+ Remedials and special classes for those willing to study more. [c141]
* Summer Camp

Second Term

* Student Council Election
	+ The Student Council Officials officially step down at the end of the 1st term after the summer break of their 3rd year in high school. The students vote for the Student Council Presidency and the President chooses other officials.
* Athletics Festival
	+ The athletics meet or the sports festival occurs in the 2nd term of the school year during autumn. The students are encouraged to join at least one event.
	+ Some of the events in the athletics meet include:
		- Spoon Relay
		- Tug of War
		- Ball Toss
		- Quadrille Dance (for the less athletically inclined)
		- Three Legged Race
		- Costume Race Relay
		- 100m Sprint
		- Baton Relay
		- Obstacle Relay
		- Borrowing Race
		- Great Skipping Rope
		- Club-vs-Club Costumed Relay
		- Cavalry Battle
		- Unfortunately, there is no bread eating competitions.
* Mid Semester Exams
* School Festival
	+ On the second day, the School Festival was open to anybody with a ticket.
		- None of the attractions were taking real money. It was a system where we instead purchased coupons to use in advance. As a form of contribution to the school, each year the Pivoine would buy these coupons in bulk and then distribute them to its members.
	+ Year 1 - Cafe Sheep Dolly
		- The Café Sheep Dolly is a cross dressing café operated by Kisshouin Reika’s class in their first year of high school.
		- It showcases goth loli maids wearing bonnets with sausage curl wigs and butlers with sheep ears.
		- The café was the sort where you could ask for a specific maid to serve you. According to the café management, although the name of the store came from sheep butlers and doll-like maids, they do not use, and has never used, Genetically Modified Food.
	+ Year 2
		- Chinese Tea Cafe, Xu Fu
			* The setting of Kisshouin Reika’s class’ café was that students of the class were the disciples of the Court Magician Xu Fu, who came to Japan in the Qin dynasty. With such backstory, the tea offered was advertised as elixir of immortality.
		- Audio Haunted House
			* Kaburagi Masaya’s class presented a sound based haunted house with 3-dimensional, state of the art audio equipment. They presented the story of Hoichi the Earless.
			* Before you enter the haunted house, a guide in white clothing put a heart sutra seal over your face. After that they led you into this room with will o wisps and wooden grave markers.
			* After taking a seat, you put on the headphones provided. That was when hell began. The gloomy sound of a biwa played. Along with it was an eerie singing voice. Since it was 3-dimensional, it supposedly felt like the spirits of the Heike were chanting right by your ear and chills ran down your spine. It was like they were standing right behind you. When the spirits came to claim you after you had the heart sutra written all over you, apparently some of the more timid customers took off their headphones to escape back to reality. The only heart sutra actually on them was the one plastered on their face after all. As the climax when your ears were torn off, apparently some of the guests actually ran screaming down the hallway.
		- Normal Café
			* Enjou Shuusuke’s class managed a normal café during their 2nd year in high school. It had a numbered ticketing system for people who wanted to enjoy the students’ latte art, particularly those created by Shuusuke.
		- The Golden Dawn
			* The Golden Dawn is the fortune telling shop that Okishima Fuyuko’s class was doing.
		- Soccer Club’s Refreshment Booth
			* Located on the school grounds, the refreshment booth ran by the Soccer Club was pretty successful. It also featured a dart machine.
* End of Term Exams

Third Term

* Valentine's Day
* Class Trip / Learning Excursion (Year 3)
	+ The Learning Excursion (aka Class Trip) is a special school excursion for high school students in their 3rd year.
* Graduation Ceremony (Year 3)

### Factions

During middle school, there were two prominent factions of girls in Kisshouin Reika’s grade in Suiran Academy. Kisshouin Reika leads the bigger and the more powerful group. Tsuruhana Maki leads the other faction comprised of the more athletic girls.

In high school, a new faction was formed, comprised of high school externals.

#### Reika Pose

Kisshouin Reika leads the largest and most powerful group of girls in Suiran Academy.

Known Members are:

* Kisshouin Reika
* Kazami Serika
* Iwamura Kikuno
* Oomiya Ayame
* Shirasagi Ru'ne
* Nouzen Sarara

#### Gyaru Group

The gyaru group is a group of students of Suiran Academy. It started forming since the beginning of middle school and is filled with athletic girls. [c44] Led by Tsuruhana Maki, they comprise the 2nd largest faction of girls in their grade, following Kisshouin Reika’s faction.

A majority of this group is a fan of Kaburagi Masaya. They often caused disturbance in Masaya’ 3rd year middle school class. Although they were reprimanded both by the class representative and by the student council president, they continued the ruckus around Masaya. This all ended in a showdown between the two leaders, where Maki was defeated by Reika’s fan.

The gyaru group is still active in high school.

Known Members are:

* Tsuruhana Maki

#### Peony Society

> *‘If you know what’s best for you, don’t get involved with the Pivoine.’ [c2]*
>
>

The Peony Society is an organization of students that is said to be the face of Suiran Academy. In flower language, peony means the bearing of a ruler. It is more commonly known as the Pivoine. [c2]

The Pivoine is an elitist [c83] group that believes that they are the 'real' Suiran Academy students. [c1] It comprises students who not only entered during the primary section, but who passed strict requirements for lineage, parentage, and monetary assets. [c2] There are roughly 10 pivoines in each grade. [c13]

The members pin a peony badge under the Suiran crest on their uniforms. Made from real gems, this badge is more like a school wide pass or exemption for the rules. Pivoine members also receive various special treatments from the school. [c2]

As Pivoine, other students look at you in half admiration, and half fear [c2] They were like the ultimate predators, after all, the one group that you shouldn’t ever offend. [c115]

##### Petite Pivoine

The Pivoine actually starts from middle school and high school. [c2] However, there is a special section for the primary students called the Petite Pivoine. They have their own salon in the primary school section.

##### Salon

They have their own salon inside the school grounds. [c3] It is luxurious room more like the living room in a royal suite in some first class hotel, and has its own exclusive concierge. [c3] The furniture inside is known for its beautiful curves, as well as flower arrangements of moth orchids and other spring flowers, grand piano by the window, one person sofa by the wall, with this cute art noveau style lamp next to it. [c43] In here, they are allowed to eat sweets in school. [c10] Nobody but Pivoine members are allowed to go in here. They also have exclusive tables and seats in the cafeteria, cordoned off and out of reach of normal students.

##### Relationship with the Student Council

The Pivoine think of themselves as the true embodiment of Suiran Academy, and because of that, they think that the Student Council is an arrogant and loathesome group of outsiders. On the other hand, the Pivoine’s power doesn’t come from their members as individuals, so the Student Council thinks of them as a harmful group that only knows how to abuse their power. Although the traditionalist Pivoine and the meritocratic Student Council don’t butt heads on the surface, friction between them goes back a long time. [c43]

##### Events

The Pivoine has a customary summer party near the end of the summer vacations. It is an affair for the main section of the Pivoine, although the Petite Pivoine is sometimes invited to this event.

The party usually begins in the evening, at the first floor in a hotel in the middle of the city, in a room facing a private garden with a terrace and a pretty rose arch. The food is served in a stand up buffet, with cuisine from a high class restaurant but with chairs and tables. [c7] They dance the waltz to the tune of a live orchestra. [c8]

##### Organization

The President of the Pivoine did basically nothing. That was why the role wasn’t passed on until December, despite the exams. [c172] On the day of the tea party, the 2nd and 3rd year Pivoine members discuss the next president. [c175] It is a discussion mostly in name of course; usually the candidate was already chosen in advance, meaning that the President simply had to announce who it was.

Known Members are:

* Enjou Shuusuke
* Enjou Yukino
* Fukakusa Kasumi
* Haginokouji Fuyuko
* Kaburagi Masaya
* Kisshouin Reika
* Kisshouin Takateru
* Maika
* Minadzuki Aira
* Momozono Imari
* Nouzen Sarara
* Okishima Fuyuko
* Sawarabi Mao
* Suzushino Yurie
* Unnamed Pivoine President
* Youko
* Yuuri-kun

#### Internals

The Internals are the students of Suiran Academy who entered the Primary School Section.

#### Externals

The Externals are the students of Suiran Academy who entered the Middle or High School Sections.

##### Middle School Externals

* Kotou Ririna
* Mizusaki Arima
* Tomoe Senju

##### High School Externals

* Afrodite
* Takamichi Wakaba

### Clubs

Suiran Academy has a large variation of extra curricular activities called Clubs. They are generally classified into two types, the cultural clubs and the sports clubs.

#### Cultural Clubs

Known clubs:

* Student Council
	+ The Student Council is an egalitarian and meritocratic organization formed from good students. [c43]
	+ Inside the Student Council Room were desks, shelves and lockers, as well as a sofa and table in the middle. Quite a simple room compared to the Pivoine salon. [c48]
	+ There is no student council in the primary section. In the middle school section, the officers serve until the 2nd term of their 3rd year. [c83] In high school, they serve until the end of the 1st term of their 3rd year.
	+ Elections occur after the summer break. Once the new Student Council President and Vice President are elected they nominate the other members. The students they nominate are told in advance though.
	+ Due to the opposing natures of their organizations, the Student Council and the Pivoine have a rocky relationship. No Pivoine has ever served in the Student Council.
		- Tomoe Senju invited Kisshouin Reika to the Council based on her experience as a Class Representative and various roles in committees, and to serve as a bridge between the Pivoine and the Council. However, Reika declined the position.
		- Tomoe Senju (a student council president) and Fukakusa Kasumi (a member of the Pivoine) hid their romantic relationship from the school due to the friction between the two groups. They only revealed their relationship after graduating from Suiran Academy.
	+ Known Members
		- Tomoe Senju (served as the Student Council President in Middle School and High School)
		- Mizusaki Arima (succeeded Senju as the Student Council President in Middle School and High School)
* PhotographyClub
* Literature Club
	+ Class Rep is a member of this club [c62] and became the club president in his 2nd year in high school.
	+ They have an exhibit during the school festival displaying book reports, student written novels, haikus, and poems. [c62]
* Biology Club
* Go Club
* Shougi Club
* Art Club
* Calligraphy Club
* Handicrafts Club
	+ It is a plain club. [c114] There are only a few members, and all of them are the quiet types.
	+ They have an exhibit during the school festival displaying members’ submission  and a wedding dress that all of the members help made.
	+ There is a club tradition where all members go to have tea on the last day of club activities. [c101]
	+ Known Members
		- Kisshouin Reika
			* She became a provisional member during the first two terms of her 1st year in high school and was invited to be a formal member after a deliberation of members during the year end tea party.
			* She became the club president in the 2nd term of her 2nd year in high school. As the club president, she was very enthusiastic on recruiting new members, even trying to lure new students using sweets and tea from the Pivoine salon. However, the previous Club President told her that her title as a Pivoine member was scaring away some of the newer students, and was advised to make herself scarce just for the duration of the recruitment period. [c115] She was forbidden to interact with propected members directly.
		- Minami Raita
	+ Activities and Projects
		- Needle Felting [c119]
		- Knit haramaki belly warmer [c171]

* Cooking Club
* Tea Ceremony Club
	+ The tea ceremony club is one of the go-to clubs of Pivoine members, should they elect to join one.
* Flower Arrangement Club
	+ The flower arrangement club is one of the go to clubs of Pivoine members should they elect to join one.

#### Sports Clubs

Suiran Academy’s sports club lean towards the intense side. [c77]

* Soccer Club
	+ They were rumored to have drunken party to celebrate their victory.
* Baseball Club
	+ They were rumored to be hazing new members.
* Basketball Club
	+ The president was rumored to have stolen his senpai's girlfriend.
* Tennis Club
* Tenni-pong Club
* Tennis de table (Ping pong) Club
* Badminton Club
* Horse Riding Club