Note: The latter part of this chapter takes place in June, after the Intruder arc.


Meet the New Class – Student Number 02 – Yamamoto Kimi


After the funeral, Kimi went into a sort of daze, mechanically answering questions and speaking to strangers about her mother's luckily meager debts. For two weeks she ran on auto pilot, going through the motions of living while her mind retreated to a dark, safe place in order to allow her to avoid the insanity of a world in which her mother was dead. She knew in a detached, logical sort of way that it was all true; her mother wouldn't be lying in her futon in her sickroom, no matter how many times Kimi brought in a bowl of her favorite ramen. Her mother would no longer wake her up in the night with her coughing, her mother would no longer need to be helped down the hall to the bathroom.

Yamamoto Kimi's mother was dead.

Her long sickness had finally caught up with her, and she had gone on ahead, leaving Kimi behind. Her last words to Kimi hadn't been the sort of thing Kimi had hoped they would be, either. Her mother had simply coughed up blood, mumbled something about how her chest hurt, and had gone back to sleep. That had been it. She had died some time in the night, and Kimi had woken up the next morning to a dreadful silence. She knew as soon as she had woken up what had happened, but even though tears began to fall immediately, she hadn't had the nerve to look into her mother's sickroom to verify what she already knew. In the end, she had knocked on the door of the apartment next to hers. When a pleasant, somewhat fat older woman answered the door, Kimi had managed perhaps two words before bursting into tears. Ultimate, the neighbor's husband had gone over to check, and he had confirmed the truth. After that, everything had become a blur to her. The police came and asked some questions she couldn't recall answering, and then some people came and took the body away. Kimi couldn't bear to stay in the apartment, but she didn't have any relatives either; her father had died before she was born, and she didn't even know if she had any aunts or uncles. She stayed with the neighbors until the funeral, but she knew she couldn't stay there forever. The apartment had been paid off until the end of the year, so she reluctantly moved back in.

Her mother's possessions went to pay off the debt collectors, all but her mother's swords. Her mother had possessed several blades of exquisite workmanship, blades that would have easily fetched thousands, perhaps as much as a quarter million US dollars in the proper market, but Kimi couldn't bear to part with them. They were of varying styles and lengths, thought the best was by far the oversized katana that had been her mother's treasure.


Perhaps three weeks after the funeral, a strange man showed up, claiming to have known her mother. She had been understandably wary; she had been warned that 'relatives' might arrive, claiming to be the proper owner of her mother's valuable swords. This man, however, had shown little interest in the old blades beyond a quick glance. He introduced himself as Konoe Eishun, and said he had known her mother, that she had worked for him at one time until an incident had forced her to go into hiding; 'something about the yakuza, probably,' Kimi had thought bitterly at the time. She had politely pretended to listen to him while her mind drifted back into its protective hole, until a young woman poked her head into the room and looked around. The woman was very pretty; long shiny hair framed a pleasantly smiling face, and even Kimi, at her young age, could tell she had a nice body. The man had sighed and rolled his eyes, then introduced her as his daughter. She, too, claimed to have known Kimi's mother in her childhood, and even to have been protected by her at one point. It wasn't long before the woman spotted her mother's swords and grew very quiet. After a moment, she sat down beside Kimi, brushed her hair out of her face, and hugged her.

For the first time since her mother's death, someone showed true compassion and worry for her; sure, her neighbors had been concerned, but what they had shown was similar to the emotion one shows to an abandoned kitten or some other pitiful creature. This was different, more real. The woman sent her father away and simply sat there with her in the silence of her apartment.

For the first time since waking up to find her mother dead, Kimi had cried. She had cried and cried and cried, and somehow, when it was all over and she woke up with her head in the woman's lap while she hummed a simple tune, she felt as if, just maybe, everything might turn out all right.


They stayed with her for a short time, doing more to help her recover from her loss than anyone else could have, until the man, Konoe Eishun, had suggested a boarding school for her to attend. Kimi had wanted to refuse of course; how could she take money from these kind people? But the man's daughter, Konoka, had pouted fiercely at her until she relented. They had packed her up and sent her off, and that had been that.


And now, after two years, Kimi was going to pay a visit to the headmaster. Time had passed, she had healed. She was ready.

The headmaster asked if she was sure, and she said she was. He had given her a long, hard look, noting the fire in her eyes, the confidence with which she carried herself, and how very much she resembled her mother. He snorted in amusement and removed a huge key ring from his desk. He unlocked a door at the side of the room and pulled it open, and motioned for her to follow.

Inside, Kimi had been shocked to find a long hallway lined with massive safes built into the walls. He led her halfway down before pausing in front of a safe bearing a small plaque with 'Yamamoto' etched into it. He removed a key from the keyring and passed it to her, and Kimi stood for a moment before the safe, key in hand. Opening that safe would fix her path in place. She glanced up at the headmaster, who nodded to her, then back at the key in her hand. She grinned slightly and unlocked the safe.


Kimi returned to the dorm room she shared with Abe Aiko.

"Hey, where were you earlier?" Aiko said as she sat up on her bunk. "You skipped out on training!"

"I had something more important to do," Kimi said as she knelt down on the floor and untied the wrapped bundle she carried. Aiko leaned forward to look, and Kimi let her. This was important, after all. She unrolled the cloth, revealing several sheathed blades of varying length and style.

"Whoa, where did you get those?"

"They belonged to my mother," Kimi said, smiling as she carefully picked up the largest, an oversized katana with a grayish-white sheath with a dragon motif worked in what looked like silver. "It's mine, now."

Aiko looked at the intricately worked sheath. "Wow, that's pretty...can you pull it out? It's not cursed to kill someone whenever it's pulled from it's sheath or anything like that, right?"

"I don't think so," Kimi said seriously as she drew the sword.


Yamamoto Kimi

Born - 8/2/1994

Height - 5'

Library Club

Likes – cats, peace and quiet

Dislikes – noisy, irritating people

Roommate – Abe Aiko, Aisaka Sayo

Little Known Facts – She has low blood pressure and takes forever to wake up in the mornings.

Close Friends: Abe Aiko

Enemies: None

Titles: Student Number 2

Notes: Kimi started out as a character about seven or eight years ago for something else I was working on; she was one of the first characters adapted to this story as the first of the new class's many new students. The time period she was created for may be different, but her serious, quiet personality has barely changed. Physically, she's short, plain, and doesn't stick out in a crowd except for the sword case she often carries. She has brown eyes and very long shiny black hair that she pulls back in a ponytail that, for some people, is reminiscent of a long haired samurai. Kimi herself hasn't seemed to notice.

Appearances: First Appearance- Chapter 8 (Preparations)

Kamo's Negi Love Chart

Motherly - 13

Sisterly - 8

Friendship - 4

Crush - 5

Love - 1

H - 8

Kamo's Comments: "Wow, this one's got a real mother complex about you, aniki. Too bad. Then again, she's surprisingly pervy..."

Haruna's Stat Chart

Friendliness - 15

Courage - 20

Attractiveness – 4

Intelligence - 12

Athleticism - 12

Instincts - 18

Anger – 2

Loner - 19

Outgoing - 4

Popularity – 8

Attributes – Samurai girl, distant, tragic past, independent, flat chested, long hair

Haruna's Comments: "Looks like she'd be a strong ally, but she's no fun at all. She's friendly enough if you talk to her I guess, but distant."

Comments from the Rest

Sakurazaki Setsuna: "She's a good girl; she's skilled with a blade, too. She will make a fine warrior some day."

Kagurazaka Asuna: "She's a good kid. If I ever catch you trying to make a move on her..." *glare*

Konoe Konoka: "I knew her mother when I was younger. I have high hopes for Kimi-chan!" *happy smile*