Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM): In the Shadows of the City - [FIC] Kaori Aoyama Meets Ken Ani (FIN)

[Kaori Aoyama]

Slowly Kaori Aoyama walked down the hall of Kiyamori Academy. Her shoes tapped lightly on the perfectly pristine waxed floors and with her books clutched tight to chest she continued on to the door at the end of the corridor.

What had she done? Her assignments were in order, her grades were not perfect but she was easily passing her classes. Why had she been called to the Director's office?

Hesitantly she reached out, opened the door and entered. He was just inside, standing near his assistant going over some files that required transcribing when he noticed her approach to the counter.

"Ah, Ms. Aoyama." He politely said, greeting her with a friendly smile that every student knew foretold some punishment ahead for them.

"Yes, Director. Forgive my tardiness, I arrived as hastily as I was able." She bowed respectfully failing to mention that she'd never dream of moving quickly in a pleated skirt as impossibly short as the one this school called 'dress code'.

He motioned for her to come around the cuonter and follow him into his office. "It's quite alright, Kaori. Please, step into my office."

Just moments before she crossed the threshold of his office she noticed the young man, a fellow student, already within and waiting patiently. Without speaking she entered and took a seat next to the student, resting her books upon her lap she waited patiently for the Director to explain what was going on.

Nervously she took in a deep a breath to relax herself displaying for her younger neighbor a blouse whose buttons, for a brief moment, threatened to burst.

[Adrian Moss]

Ken turned as the two entered the room then froze, mouth almost agape.

Oh merciful ancestors!!! Not her.

Kaori was the Iron Maiden of her class. Born without a sense of humor and immune to the advances of both sexes, she was a legendary Ice Princess. Or, a Snow Maiden. What had Kinobi Ani done to deserve such a fate?

He remembered were he was and stood up. He bowed deeply to his Principal and only slightly less so to his Tutor.

"Director, Sempai."

He had to find a place to look that didn't involve her testosterone jamming body. Looking at her might give her the wrong impression he was interested in her. That way laid pain and suffering for him and he knew it. This girl is crazy.

The Director walked behind his desk before beginning his talk.

"Kinobi Ani here is in need of a tutor. His grades are ... acceptable, but not up to his potential. What he needs, and his father has requested, is a sense of dedication and deterimination that only a senior student can provide."

He looked at Kaori and gave her that smile.

[Kaori Aoyama]

Her jaw dropped and the world around her seemed to slow to a crawl. "M-Me? Director, I do graciously thank you for this honor, but I'm extremely busy with my own academic endeavors. I'm afraid I must respectfully decline," she swallowed hard. She couldn't believe what she was doing! Telling the Director 'no'? But it was necessary, the last thing she needed in her life right now was this lower classman spending more time drooling on his papers that writing on them. "Thank you however, for granting me the opportunity."

"Ms. Aoyama." The Diretor didn't look pleased, and had it been any other student but Kaori Aoyama he'd have assumed they were trying to be funny. "I'm not asking. Now, you're excused from your Kendo class next period to begin helping your fellow classman. Try to get along, and take a moment to get to know each other on the way to the library."

Excused from Kendo?!? Time stood still as the shock what the Director said drilled it's way into mind. Is such a thing possible?!? Can he do that?!? Skip my Kendo classes!?! No... this can't be right... this isn't happening. She suddenly realized that she and Ken had already been escorted out of the office and were standing in the hall.

Like a zombie in a horror flick she slowly turned her head towards to Ken, her complexion turning a deep red of rage. Skip... my... Kendo... class...

She caught herself and took in a deep breath, thankfully letting her years of discipline and meditations to relax her spirit and save the poor student next to her from a violent thrashing.

With her books clutched tightly to her chest she started walking. "We should get started. Follow me."

[Adrian Moss]

"Hai Sempai!" Ken all but shouted. He fell in behind her and followed, trying to match her step for step.

Damn she was tall ... and was that skirt regulation? I can almost see her ...

At least he was getting her out of Kendo class. That had to count for something. Maybe he should bring that up? Maybe not. Maybe he should forget even the concept of talking to her.

That skirt couldn't be regulation.

They came to the library and apparently she wanted to say something to him before they went in for she came to an abrupt stop. Lost in thought, Ken walked right into her. Bouncing off her firm backside, he fell down to the floor. As she turned quickly like a fluid leopardess to face him, her skirt flared and Ken felt a nose bleed coming on.

[Kaori Aoyama]

When Kaori quickly turned her skirt flared upward and she noticed that he sat, in a stupor, on the floor behind her looking up. While the blue and gray patterns on her pervert designed uniform skirt were certainly regulation, the dark blueish-black of her satin undergarments were certainly up for debate.

Taken unawares she dropped her books to the floor and dropped to her knees quickly concealing the impromptu peep show. She was more embarrassed that angry and her cheeks flushed to express it.

Before he could apologize her hand was at his collar pulling him close. Her tone was calm, almost polite in spite of the undertones it carried. Her voice was melodic, almost seductive in a psychotic sort of way. "The only reason you still draw breath is because the Director knows I was last person seen with you. If you so much as touch me, I will shatter you body. If you speak to me, for any other reason than to ask me about our studies, I will crush your mind, and if you so much as look at me with that perverted stare and lustful expression upon your face once more I will obliterate your soul. Am I clear Kinobi Ani?"

[Adrian Moss]

Ken wasn't sure wether he should shout out his response ... in the affirmative, or just nod. Shouting might draw people to witness his distruction. Nodding didn't seem like enough. A middle ground came to him.

"Hai, Sempai Aoyama," he whispered, looking down. He choked down the urge to tell he hadn't looked, or that he hadn't meant to look, but then he kept coming back to her promise to kill him. His hand rubbed up against the amulet his mother had given him and he rubbed it for warmth.

This is going to work out great. I have to study under a tutor I can't even look at. Just wonderful.

"Umm, Sempai Aoyama, what will we be studying first?" he asked quietly and respectfully. It was a harmless question, he hoped, and one he wanted to get out of the way before they got into the library. If she 'shushed' him she might just hit him too.

[Kaori Aoyama]

It wasn't long before they found themselves at one of the tables poring over academic texts. She promised to start him out with something simple, so obviously Trigonometry was the logical choice.

When she wasn't threatening his life, or looking at him with daggers sprouting from her eyes, she appeared quite calm and enchantingly beautiful. She didn't watch him like a hawk, and as he worked on impossibly hard problems he was able to steal a few moments of staring.

Calmly she read her books, gracefully and ever so delicately she wrote out her responses to her assignments. She looked up from her own assignments after several moments. "You are finished I take it? Here, let me see."

[Adrian Moss]

While she examined his work, he stole another look at her and hated himself for it. She was actually being civil to him, were as he had expected threats and other such punishments. The problem was she was too beautiful. He could see that now.

She had to be somewhat touched, but at least she was not showing interest in him. That was a blessing on many levels. His dad would be happy with better grades, which would translate into more freedom outside of school, which was really good.

No, it was a pity she didn't have a boyfriend. It would save her so much trouble really. Ken wondered how he could get around to telling her that. Maybe something would come up in a week or two. Maybe a month.

[Kaori Aoyama]

Reviewing his work made a decent disguise for all the thinking she was doing. Swiftly her pen moved across his paper, gliding gently over each portion of the assignment.

Having spent her entire scholastic career being gawked at, tricked, and even harassed by her male classmates had left her irritable and distrustful of all of them. In her mind all they were good for was acting like foolish children trying to get a look at what color the female students panties were that day. Whether or not her assumption was the truth or not didn't matter, it's what she believed and it would be difficult to change her mind.

But Ken... Ken seemed different. Not special in anyway, but he honestly didn't seem smart enough to plot against her, and certainly he knew her by reputation as being the one woman in the academy who could deliver him quite the thrashing.

She looked up at him and sighed as he quickly averted his eyes and dropped them to the table. He seemed so... pathetic. Quiet, frightened, timid... what was wrong with him?

"I must apologize," Her voice broke the eerie silence of the library but he noticed how she kept it politely under volume as to not disturb any others working. "I was rude. I've had very little sleep lately and I have my own stress to deal with what with my own assignments and personal pursuits. It has left me temperamental and on edge."

She slid the paper back over to him with not so much a single mark on its surface. "Therefore I am willing to begin anew with you Kinobi Ani. I shall forgive you for looking up my skirt," He could detect the near shutter in her voice as she mentioned his wandering eyes. "If you forgive me for my lack of civility."

She treated her assignments like she did her Kendo and took a ver disciplined approach to ensuring her assignments were as perfect as they could be. Her tutoring was no different. "You had two incorrect. Do them all over. I'll explain the process again before you begin." She wouldn't tell him which were wrong, only the process to follow to ensure they'd all be correct when Kinobi finally finally understood the process he would have little difficulty mastering the techniques required to come to the proper solutions.

She didn't smile. The entire time her expression seemed emotionless and deadpan but he could see how serious she was being. "Hello, Kinobi Ani. I am Kaori Aoyama and I'll be tutoring you this semester."

It wasn't much, but it was a start.