Yurigaoka Girls' Academy

Yurigaoka Girls' Academy (百合ヶ丘女学院), also known in early sources as Yurigaoka Private Girls' Academy (私立百合ケ丘女学院), is a Garden in Kamakura, Japan.

Location & History
In Assault Lily: Bouquet, Yurigaoka Girls' Academy is located in the Yukinoshita neighborhood in the city of Kamakura proper, possibly on the site of what is currently the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine. Much of the surrounding city appears to have been destroyed and reclaimed by greenery, with only small pockets of Kamakura remaining.

Yurigaoka was originally established (as a normal girls' school) during the Taisho era. It has been operating as a Garden long enough that several currently active Lilies have mothers who also attended and graduated from it.

Yurigaoka's national defense area is quite large, covering both Yuigahama Beach on the south coast and Utsukushigaoka in the northern part of modern-day Yokohama, 35 kilometers away.

Student Council
Yurigaoka's student council plays a major role in actions taken by the Garden.

The most powerful individuals in the council are the student council presidents, of which there are three, each named after a valkyrie and chosen via a separate process.


 * The Brynhildr serves as overall commander of all of Yurigaoka's legions, including her personal elite legion, Brynhildr Line. She is voted upon by an electorate consisting of the captains and vice-captains of all legions at Yurigaoka, as well as the heads of athletic clubs. Lilies residing in the special dormitory are ineligible. The current Brynhildr is Izue Shinobu.
 * The Sigrún is in charge of maintaining the discipline of Yurigaoka's students. Yurigaoka does not have written school rules, so she essentially holds all authority in this matter. To limit the Sigrún's power, she is not allowed to be captain of a legion. The current Sigrún is Uchida Mayuri.
 * The Ortlinde oversees the general duties of the student council, including managing committees and taking reports from class representatives. Her personal legion is Legion Vingólf. She is elected by the entire student body. The current Ortlinde is Yamazaki Meika, but as she is injured, Hata Matsuri is performing her duties.



Every legion at Yurigaoka with a rank of S or higher is entitled to send their captain as a representative to the student council. These representatives vote on major decisions to be made by the Garden (such as whether to launch expeditions), as well as any decisions which the student council presidents cannot come to a consensus on. The Sigrún and vice-captains are expected to attend these meetings and take part in discussion, but do not have voting power.

The 13 legions currently represented on the student council are:


 * Legion Álfheimr
 * Legion Brynhildr Line
 * Legion Eir
 * Legion Geiravör
 * Legion Herfjötur
 * Legion Lohengrin
 * Legion Reginleif
 * Legion Rossweisse
 * Legion Sanngriðr
 * Legion Schwarz Grail
 * Legion Schwertleite
 * Legion Sigrdrífa
 * Legion Vingólf

Schutzengel System
Yurigaoka's high school division has an officially recognized tradition where an older student will make a pledge of sisterhood with a younger student, in which the two vow to support and protect each other. The older student is known as the Schutzengel (German for guardian angel), and the younger student is known as the Schild (German for shield.) The pledge itself is known as the Schutzengel's Oath.

Any student in Yurigaoka's high school division can make this pledge, even with students in other courses (e.g. a Lily can be an Arsenal's Schutzengel, or vice versa) and other legions. However, one cannot take the Schutzengel's Oath with a student at another school, or a Yurigaoka student who is in the same school year. Each student can have only one Schutzengel and one Schild.

On rare occasions, a Schutzengel's Oath can or must be annulled. This occurs when one of the Lilies has to repeat a school year, making the oath invalid under Yurigaoka's rules, as was the case with Yamazaki Meika and her ex-Schild, Izue Shinobu. Yamanashi Hibari also had an ex-Schutzengel who was an unknown member of Legion Svanhvít; the reason why their oath was annulled is also unknown.

If two Lilies in the same school year wish to be Schutzengels, one of them can repeat a school year in order to become the other's Schild. However, most don't do this and simply request to share a room instead. While it holds no official recognition as such, at Yurigaoka, being someone's roommate by mutual request is considered the equivalent of pledging a oath of sisterhood with them. It's also said that even Lilies who are assigned to share a room will grow as close as sisters.

Trivia

 * Yurigaoka literally means "hill that abounds with lilies."
 * There appears to be a naming theme among Yurigaoka's Lilies; the majority of them share their surnames with notable real-world architects, or people who work in architecture-related fields.