While she expected a number of things to happen, being cornered against the wall really wasn’t one of them. She wasn’t among the girls at this school who were entirely innocent. She knew of a number of things, even if she hadn’t tried them. Rocco was far too close for her comfort but shoving him away would surely hurt their lie about being together so she simply glared up at him. He knew she had trouble merely holding hands and yet they were standing far closer than she’d ever been to anyone in her entire life, “If he wasn’t a problem I needed your help with..." Kaori began, but the sentence caught in her throat halfway through. Upon feeling his fingers brush bare skin, a soft gasp left her lips before she could stop herself, her eyes closing tight. Even though his hand was going downward instead of up, thank god, she could feel her heart pounding. She could feel herself shivering. One of her hands pressed at his chest trying to put some space between them in her embarrassment, but she refrained from pushing too hard as the senior was close by, "I’d introduce you to my other knee...” she warned him under her breath, finishing her threat after she managed to grasp onto some of her nerves. She wasn't completely all talk. She used to practice gymnastics, her kick might have meant some serious pain at one point, but it wasn't so terrifying anymore. She spoke all the words in English, something she could speak rather fluently even though she never quite managed to learn to read or write in it. Her father was a businessman so it helped to at least learn how to speak in it during their travels. Rocco's name was certainly not Japanese, but even if he wasn’t a native English speaker, at least she was able to vent her frustrations aloud if he didn't understand it would simply be a bonus, but she wasn't counting on it. She was simply betting on the senior being unable to read her lips. It was hard to do when the language being spoken was not one’s first language and she assumed the senior creep was at least as much of a slacker as she was if he had time for his lame antics. She knew her cheeks were extremely red. She could feel it. Making matters worse, there were plenty of people around. This was only her first year at this school. What if this makes it online too? Her heart immediately sank in panic. She didn’t want to be a laughing stock and seen as a cheap tramp for the entire world to criticize.
“You can use me to hide your face but behave.”
When they parted, it felt like the tears had either fallen to the ground or fluttered away between bats of her lashes, either way, if there was any evidence behind, it was little more than glossy eyes and flushed cheeks. As they made their way to class, Kaori simply pulled a thin notebook from her bag and swatted at his shoulder, "This isn't some lewd teen manga. We could both get in trouble for that." she hissed quietly, but otherwise dropped the issue with an annoyed sigh. It was a pointless and laughable reprimand, but at least there was one in her opinion. As much as she wanted to hate him, he was a temporary necessity, at least until she learned to breathe again. The bell rang and a momentary reprieve for one of the 'new kids' that weren't 'meshing well'. they needed to go to their seats. Her fake 'boyfriend' aside, Kaori now had to deal with class. While English was an interesting subject and her favorite as far as books were concerned, she was dreadfully behind in her studies. Kaori's father was a successful investor with his own company, Kaori realized she couldn't completely neglect her brain. She would have to use it in the future if she was to lead the company. She couldn't slack off much longer. Time to make a change where I actually have some control. This part of me I can fix.. Kaori reminded herself, even though she knew it wouldn't be easy. Speaking a language was one thing, reading and writing in it was a totally different story. One fraction of her life at a time. Building a new story for herself wasn't going to be easy, but she was finally ready to put in the work. She wanted to get back to standing on her own two feet. Even if she couldn't do that now in the halls, inside the classroom it was a totally different game and the stakes were not as serious, and to think, this used to be the scariest part of her life at one point yet here she was ready to face it head on instead of the part of her life that used to come as natural to her as breathing. It was funny how a few months could change everything. If it could change for the worse so dramatically, she would just have to work hard to do the same, but in her favor As she claimed the seat behind the one Yuuki chose, Kaori pulled out pen and paper and exhaled nervously. This was going to be a long day. All she had to do was channel her anger, her helplessness, and all her negative emotions into this one positive goal for what...an hour? Any sign of improvement was progress with her past grades.