Post by hotarokaori on Feb 11, 2009 10:03:36 GMT -6
Before becoming the oddity amongst Scots, Kaori had been the Hotaro child. The title had not been intended as an insult, but the only reason she was anything was because of who her father was. Of course, her mother's identity hadn't been unknown. On the contrary, she had been coveted by many who would never have been able to afford to compensate her okiya for her removal. But Kaori had not been a son. She was merely the Hotaro child.
Growing up, Kaori had at least been useful. Dangerous games had been played with her life, aye, but in the end? Oh, she had become a very useful little girl with a very unique talent. And despite the fact she was more her father's tool than his daughter, he recognized the fact that he needed her, and as his child, she would make an excellent bargaining chip. She had been blessed with a close resemblance to her mother, and that only sweetened the child's position as a prospective bride.
In that case, she had been given excellent tutors. She was taught to read and write, and then she was taught foreign languages. Kaori's favorites had been Spanish, Latin and English. She had detested French and Italian, but didn't get to pick her lessons. Basically, her father didn't know how useful she would be in what areas, so he had made her multi-faceted. And throughout all of her lessons, and while gaining so much knowledge, never once had Kaori considered herself a scholar.
Now that Kaori's student base had increased by two, she had been able to secure a room to take care of lessons in. For the time being the room was rather droll, only decorated by a single map on the wall, only a few books on shelves and a single globe on a desk, though Kaori was planning on changing that over the coming weeks. There were already a few crates in the corner filled with items she would be putting away in the days to come.
Roric and Kylie, Kendrew and Liliana Campbell's charges, were sweet children. Roric smiled more easily than his sister, but he was her senior by 4 years, and sometimes those four years were all it took to gain confidence and become outgoing. Kylie, at only 5 years, was a fair child, but shy. Kay wasn't bothered by it. The children had been through an ordeal, and certainly there would be more to come.
Alas, Kaori was quickly capable of identifying Roric as the class clown. Older than Aodhan, he had quickly set to work impressing the lad. Kaori was tolerant of the behaviour, but quickly put a stop to it as soon as the attempts at impressing Aodhan turned to teasing Kylie.
Kaori had put the two side by side with vocabulary lessons as she sat down to work on letters with Kylie. She was surprised, as the child already knew almost her entire alphabet, though needed to become more steady writing.
As Kaori quietly guided her, having Kylie write her name, she heard snickering behind her. Every time she turned her head, however, the children would quickly look down at their paper, forcing back laughter and pretending to concentrate on their writing.
Finally having enough, Kaori remained quite still, though her eyes slid to the window and saw what it was she needed to know. "When little boys pull at their eyes, they just look ugly. And you do not want to keep testing the eyes on the back of my head." Kaori turned to give both of them a pointed look, and was glad to see Roric looked stunned and Aodhan embarrassed.
Glancing from one to the other, Kay inclined her head toward Aodhan. "Looks like he's beating you." Roric gasped and looked at Aodhan's page in horror to see that the younger student had indeed gotten farther on his assignment, which indicated to Kaori who had started the silliness. That was good, though. She would rather he learn his boundaries now than start testing them after things became comfortable. And not wanting to get beaten by a child that was younger than him, Roric quickly set to work, concentrating so hard his tongue was poking out the corner of his mouth.
Turning back to Kylie, Kay smiled broadly, giving the little girl a small hug. "Look at what you've done! You finished your name while I was distracted!"
Kaori had never considered herself a scholar, and certainly not a mentor. Had she not been groomed to be a dancer? A simple subservient wife to a silly politician? It was so often that people missed their calling. Kaori was only too happy to discover that she had at least found hers.
Growing up, Kaori had at least been useful. Dangerous games had been played with her life, aye, but in the end? Oh, she had become a very useful little girl with a very unique talent. And despite the fact she was more her father's tool than his daughter, he recognized the fact that he needed her, and as his child, she would make an excellent bargaining chip. She had been blessed with a close resemblance to her mother, and that only sweetened the child's position as a prospective bride.
In that case, she had been given excellent tutors. She was taught to read and write, and then she was taught foreign languages. Kaori's favorites had been Spanish, Latin and English. She had detested French and Italian, but didn't get to pick her lessons. Basically, her father didn't know how useful she would be in what areas, so he had made her multi-faceted. And throughout all of her lessons, and while gaining so much knowledge, never once had Kaori considered herself a scholar.
Now that Kaori's student base had increased by two, she had been able to secure a room to take care of lessons in. For the time being the room was rather droll, only decorated by a single map on the wall, only a few books on shelves and a single globe on a desk, though Kaori was planning on changing that over the coming weeks. There were already a few crates in the corner filled with items she would be putting away in the days to come.
Roric and Kylie, Kendrew and Liliana Campbell's charges, were sweet children. Roric smiled more easily than his sister, but he was her senior by 4 years, and sometimes those four years were all it took to gain confidence and become outgoing. Kylie, at only 5 years, was a fair child, but shy. Kay wasn't bothered by it. The children had been through an ordeal, and certainly there would be more to come.
Alas, Kaori was quickly capable of identifying Roric as the class clown. Older than Aodhan, he had quickly set to work impressing the lad. Kaori was tolerant of the behaviour, but quickly put a stop to it as soon as the attempts at impressing Aodhan turned to teasing Kylie.
Kaori had put the two side by side with vocabulary lessons as she sat down to work on letters with Kylie. She was surprised, as the child already knew almost her entire alphabet, though needed to become more steady writing.
As Kaori quietly guided her, having Kylie write her name, she heard snickering behind her. Every time she turned her head, however, the children would quickly look down at their paper, forcing back laughter and pretending to concentrate on their writing.
Finally having enough, Kaori remained quite still, though her eyes slid to the window and saw what it was she needed to know. "When little boys pull at their eyes, they just look ugly. And you do not want to keep testing the eyes on the back of my head." Kaori turned to give both of them a pointed look, and was glad to see Roric looked stunned and Aodhan embarrassed.
Glancing from one to the other, Kay inclined her head toward Aodhan. "Looks like he's beating you." Roric gasped and looked at Aodhan's page in horror to see that the younger student had indeed gotten farther on his assignment, which indicated to Kaori who had started the silliness. That was good, though. She would rather he learn his boundaries now than start testing them after things became comfortable. And not wanting to get beaten by a child that was younger than him, Roric quickly set to work, concentrating so hard his tongue was poking out the corner of his mouth.
Turning back to Kylie, Kay smiled broadly, giving the little girl a small hug. "Look at what you've done! You finished your name while I was distracted!"
Kaori had never considered herself a scholar, and certainly not a mentor. Had she not been groomed to be a dancer? A simple subservient wife to a silly politician? It was so often that people missed their calling. Kaori was only too happy to discover that she had at least found hers.