Normally on mornings she woke up with Korra, Asami would find herself happily entangled in a pair of tanned legs with strong arms wrapped around her waist. But not this morning… instead she found herself lying on her back staring up at the ceiling with only the sound of the curtains blowing in the wind through the slightly opened window breaking the silence in the room. You said it… you actually said it. I mean it was in French, but still… she's your student for fuck's sake… what's wrong with you? She ran her fingers through her hair as she turned to the sleeping body next to her, Korra's chestnut hair was splayed about the pillow, mouth hanging open with the tiniest bit of drool threatening to escape. How can she be so cute even semi-comatose… she let out a long breath before looking back up to the ceiling, god you're fucked. The sound of the soft vibrations her phone against her nightstand pulled her from her thoughts, she quickly reached over to stop the noise, as if she'd hear it anyways. 6:30 was the time displayed as she hit the home button to silence her alarm, better get up.
Unlike Korra, Asami never had much trouble getting up early in the morning, it's when she was the most productive. She quietly made her way across the room to her dresser, slowly pulling the drawers open and sifting through the mass of clothing in search of today's outfit. She had just pulled on her pants when she heard the sheets shifting on the bed couple along with soft groans. She couldn't help but smile as she watched her half asleep student extend her arm to the opposite side of the bed as if searching for something.
"Mmm...Asami?"
She didn't answer right away, instead just made her way back to the bed and clasped the wandering hand beneath the sheets. "Someone's up early," she smiled.
"I thought...you left." The girl mumbled as she turned to face her, blue eyes barely open.
"Not just yet," she leaned in and kissed her forehead, "soon though."
Apparently her student still wasn't able to make full sentences, "so...early."
She tucked the loose strands of her behind Korra's ear, "I've got a busy day, need to get a head start."
The girl's fingers hooked in the hem of her pants, "no."
Asami's smile only got bigger, "I don't have much of a choice Avatar, I've got lectures to prepare. You have to be up soon anyways."
"Says who."
Asami smirked, "Says Mrs. Izumi's pre-prepared detention slips."
"Mean." The girl groaned.
"Prove me wrong then. I'll see you at school okay?" She tried to remove her fingers from her student's hand, but the grip on them only got tighter.
The other tan arm came across the bed and wrapped itself around her thigh. "No."
"I've got to go Korra." The slight laugh in her voice taking away all her credibility.
The girl squeezed closer. "Ten more minutes."
"Is it just me or does the number of minutes always get bigger?"
Korra shifted her head up, eyes now fully open, looking directly into hers, "please?"
Ugh...I can't say no to that face. "Two more minutes."
"Seven." The grip on her thigh loosened slightly.
"Two." She was determined to stand her ground.
"Nine?"
She was already getting back into bed, "you really don't know how this negotiation thing works eh?"
"Give me a break," the arm shifted from her thigh to her waist, "it's early."
She caught the girl's chin between her thumb and forefinger, tilting her head up so she could press her lips against the ones in front of her, "two."
"Fine." The girl gave in before getting another quick peck and felling back to the pillow, pulling her close. "I had fun last night, even though half of it was in French."
"I did too, it was probably one of the best dates I've ever been on."
Her student quickly propped herself up on an elbow, cocked brow on her face, "one of?!"
Asami couldn't hold back the laughter this time, "Okay fine, the best."
"That's what I thought." The girl asserted before positioning herself back on the bed.
"So much for being flustered." Asami teased.
"It's too early, it hasn't had time to kick in yet."
"Oh I see." Asami smiled as she once again placed a kiss on the girl's forehead and let out a sigh of contentedness. If she makes you this happy what does it matter if she's your student? Less than two weeks… then if she still wants this maybe we can try it for real… less than two weeks.
As much as she tried to stay true to her word, Asami ended up staying in bed for more than two minutes, unable to pull herself away from the girl who had found a way so deep into her heart in such a short amount of time. It is for this reason that she now found herself speeding towards school, it wasn't a far distance to begin with, but this morning it would be ever shorter.
The parking lot was still mostly empty when she pulled in, still plenty of time to get a head start. She parked her car and strode through the main doors of the building, walking down the empty hallways, past the wall of lockers and classroom doors towards her office at a good pace. She was a couple doors down when someone collided with her, causing her to lose her balance and sending her arm full of papers flying about the hall. What in the hell…
"Miss Sato, what on earth are you doing here this early?" A somewhat shocked voice asked. "There's never anyone here at this hour."
She looked up to find Mr. Tarrlok frantically closing his office door before offering his hand in assistance. Instead of accepting, she turned her attention to her papers and began collecting them, "lectures to prepare," she answered with a partial annoyance in her voice.
"No, no," he crouched down and stopped her hand as she reached for some of the further sheets, "those are mine." He kept his hand on hers until he finished collecting the stray papers, pulling her up until she was standing. "Such soft hands."
A shiver went up her spine, prompting her to quickly remove her hand from his as she offered him the her best attempt at a fake smile.
"You know Miss Sato," he motioned for her to walk down the hall before following along side her, "I really must commend you."
"On?"
"I have here in my hands the students' results from their practice test, and although not as promising as you boasted, Korra's improvements were well...almost notable." A sly grin formed on his face, "and here I thought she couldn't be taught."
Asami had to hold back the real words she wanted to use in exchange for something a little more civil. "Well, Tarrlok, perhaps it's just your methods."
The sound of the door to Tarrlok's office latching caught her attention, but her efforts to turn around and see how the door somehow opened were halted by Tarrlok draping his arm around her shoulders and gently forcing her to remain looking forward. "You see this is why we need to bring our efforts together, I could focus my attention on the capable portion of the student body, while you focus on the more...difficult cases, like Korra and some of her constituents."
What is this guy's problem? "Well," she removed his arm from her shoulders, "I have lectures to review and we've reached my office." She tried not to look too eager to get away as she stepped through the threshold into her office, "enjoy your day Mr. Tarrlok."
The tall man quickly put his hand up and grabbed the door before it latched closed, "think about it, you and I are a cut above the rest of the people who call themselves teachers here, it's only logical."
She pressed the door closed a little further, "It would be logical for me to review my lectures before the day starts."
After a brief pause, he let go of the door and Asami was finally able to close it fully, allowing her to escape into her own space.
Korra walking to the boys' apartment in the morning was becoming a regular occurrence, even Mako had stopped asking questions and accepted it as their new thing, which she was thankful for.
"Hey guys!" She greeted them as they met her on their stoop.
Mako was the first one out as usual, "morning Kor, you're awfully chipper this morning."
"Leave her alone bro," Bolin patted him on the shoulder as he walked by him. "Did you have a good night last night bestie?" He asked a her picked her up in a tight hug.
"Uh… am I missing something?" Mako asked confused.
Korra's eyes widened, shit. "Nope!" She was quick to respond as she gave Bolin a punch in the arm, "Bo is just being polite, you know, asking regular questions about my regular night on a regular Tuesday."
The older brother didn't seem convinced. "Regular eh?"
"So regular, the most regular." Korra assured, pulling at the collar of her shirt. "Uh, shall we?" She gestured towards the street with a nod.
"Yes," Bolin agreed as he linked his arm around hers and pulled her in the direction of their school, "we shall."
The main part of the campus was packed when they got there, the closer they got to the end of term the more and more people stayed outside until the last possible second when the bell would ring. This obviously suited Korra well, the more people who rushed in at the last second, the less likely she was to be the only one late for classes. Pre-prepared yellow slips for everyone. Today, however, she did manage to get to homeroom on time, a feat which earned her congratulations and an 'almost' smile from Mrs. Izumi. Someone mark that down on the calendar.
First class went by just as smoothly and quickly as homeroom, no major mess ups and no being called out by the teacher for not paying attention, even if she wasn't for about half of it.
She couldn't help but notice that there was a little more excitement than usual among the mass of students today, conversations were a little louder, and talk about matching colours appeared to be a common topic among the couples leaned up against their lockers.
As she maneuvered her way through one last bunch of students, she could finally see her locker with a familiar face standing next to it.
She raised her hand and gave him a wave as she approached her best friend, "Hey Boli-"
"GREEN!"
Before she could turn her head to see who was yelling behind her, the girl sprinted by her and jumped into the arms of the boy Korra was waving at and pressed her lips to his.
"Absolutely green!" Bolin smiled back at the girl once their lips parted.
Korra couldn't hide the confusion on her face as she looked back and forth between the pair of green eyes looking back at her. "Can someone explain to me why colours are such a hot topic today? I must have missed the memo."
"Ugh." The short black haired girl rolled her eyes and reached into her back only to pull out a folded piece of hot pink paper and handed it to Korra.
Korra unfolded it and read the top line, 'Carnival Day.' "O, I almost blinded myself reading this last week."
"Clearly you didn't read it well enough." The girl stated as she put a hand on her hip. "Sometimes I wonder why the student union even bothers putting out these flyers if people don't even take the time to read them!"
"Give her a break babe, it was a whole page to read after all. Korra's attention span doesn't run that long."
"Shut up Bo." Korra grumbled. "Jerk."
The boy put his hands up defensively, "Hey, I'm only being honest bro!"
Opal walked over and pointed to a box at the bottom of the page, "The last line cap."
Korra scanned down the sheet, 'GET PROM READY.'
You have got to be kidding me...
"Missed that bit eh bud?" Bolin asked with a slight chuckle.
"Shit…" Korra exasperated.
"And then we also put out this one today." The girl explained as she peeled a piece of bright green paper with a similar reminder off one of the lockers.
Korra jokingly shielded her eyes, "Again with the colour selection."
"Not my decision." Opal crossed her arms, clearly displeased with Korra's attitude.
"Well, whose decision was it to stick prom and graduation in the same weekend?"
"It was the only time that worked!" Opal exclaimed.
"Okay, okay. Simmer down O, I was only joking. I'm sure it's gonna work out great."
Her teammate took a deep breath and seemed to regain her composure. "I know, I'm sorry. We've just been really stressed out planning it."
"It's gonna be great babe." Bolin reassured, giving his girlfriend a peck on the cheek.
"I hope so," Opal smiled, turning back to Korra. "We need to find you a date Kor, since ya know, the Ila thing kinda fizzled out the other day."
"Fizzled?!" Bolin asked surprised at Opal choice of wording. "More like exploded."
"I'm with Bo on that one O!" Korra laughed.
"Yeah, yeah…" Opal brushed them off. "Point of the matter is, you still need a date."
Bolin leaned in closer to her. "One you can actually take." He whispered with a wink.
"What was that hun?"
Korra's eyes couldn't open any wider, she quickly turned to Opal. "Nothing! Nothing! He said nothing!" She put on a smile in an attempt to sway her friend, which clearly wasn't working.
Calm down you fool. "Besides," she cleared her throat, "it's not like I have time to worry about that anyways, biggest game yet coming up this weekend right?"
"I suppose that's true…" Korra could see that Opal didn't seem convinced, the slight crinkle forming between the girl's eyebrows giving her away.
Finally, after her teammate shifted her gaze between herself and Bolin a couple more times, her face softened. "You don't even have to worry about that anyways."
"Yeah bud! You're great, the team's great, and the RCHS fans are great! Namely, this guy." Bolin explained as he pointed back at himself with his thumbs, a big smile plastered on his face.
Opal laughed and ruffled the boy's hair before stealing a quick kiss. "Goof."
On some level, Korra was kind of jealous of their relationship. Sure, they were a little over the top and borderline annoying at times, but the freedom of it all was appealing. She only got a small taste of it at the restaurant last night, being able to intertwine her fingers with Asami's in public, but she desperately wanted more. Her thoughts drifted back to their evening together, the subtle touches at dinner, that damn dress, cuddling on the blanket in the park, Asami's smile that even the stars couldn't outshine that night.
"Dude!"
Her eyes focused back on the boy before her. "Wha...what?"
"I don't quite know where ya were just now, but the bell just rang in the real world, better get to class! Knowing Tarrlok, you'll get more than just a yellow slip for being late." He warned as he draped his arm over his girlfriend's shoulder and walked away.
"Fuck, you're right. See ya at lunch guys!" She turned just as quickly and headed down the hall.
"Let me know what you get on your practice quiz cap!" Opal yelled over the crowd of students all trying to get to their classes.
Shit! She had forgotten that they'd be getting their results back today. She subconsciously quickened her pace as she made her way through the swarm of students, anxious to get her results after her...unique...tutoring session with Miss Sato. A smile formed on her face as she thought back, even if I didn't do well...it was still worth it.
"Miss Korra," Tarrlok greeted her, "it's rare to see you enter any classroom with happiness upon your face, let alone mine."
Dammit. Her smile quickly disappeared, walking by her teacher without saying a word. Instead she found her seat and allowed her mind to return to happier thoughts while she waited for the rest of the class to file in.
"I suppose you'll all be too distracted to focus until I return your practices quizzes." Their teacher began after the bell rang to start class.
Korra guessed the question was rhetorical since he began to hand out their work before anyone responded. There were many ways which teachers could hand back student work, the usual way where the teacher would call off the name of the person whose work found itself on top of the pile and hand to them as they came up to the front, or to pile the documents on a desk at the front of the class and let students come up themselves and sift through the pile until they found their own, or they could stand by the door and hand students their work as they left the classroom. But none of these ways suited Mr. Tarrlok, those weren't nearly degrading enough. It's like the man got some sort of pleasure out of going around the classroom, stopping at each student's desk, filtering through the pile of documents until he found the one of the student in question, and making some sort of comment on the student's result out loud. Of course the comments would vary from student to student, depending on how well you did or how much he liked you. It didn't take a genius to figure out where Korra stood on either of those scales. Thankfully she always sat at the back of the classroom, which meant that she'd be one of the last ones together results back, and by that time everyone would be too preoccupied with going over their own test that they wouldn't pay attention to the less than positive critique she would receive.
Judging by the reactions of her fellow students, the class average wouldn't be a record setter. This only made Korra more nervous, she needed to ace the final on Friday to solidify her scholarship opportunity. That and playing well on Saturday, of course. She got more and more antsy the closer it got to her turn, you can only distract yourself from worry with so many things after all.
"And finally Miss Korra," he paused next to her desk and flipped through the remaining papers in his hands. "Hmmm, strange."
Great, here it comes. "Just give it to me." She put her hand out and waited to receive her quiz.
"It would seem," he began, continuing to search the stack in his hands.
She was getting impatient. "It would seem that what?"
"This is just so strange."
Korra could swear he was stretching this out as much as he could, she guessed it was to ensure that as many heads turned back as possible so he could get the most satisfaction possible out of embarrassing her. Sicko.
"What? Did I beat your low expectations of me?" Korra's tone was getting more and more harsh.
His eyes shifted up from the documents in his hands to meet her gaze, she could swear she saw the slightest grin on his lips. "It would seem that I have misplaced your quiz."
"You're joking."
"I'm afraid not. I just don't know where I could have left it."
Her nerves turned to anger. She shot up to a standing position, the legs of her chair screeching against the floor as she pushed it back. "You expect me to believe that out of all the quizzes, the only one you misplaced is mine. No one else's. Just mine."
He turned back to walk towards the front of the class. "It would appear so. I'll have to check my office during lunch, hopefully I'll be able to return it to you before the day ends."
Korra was done playing his games. "This is fucking bullshit!"
He stopped dead in his tracks. "Excuse me?" he asked as he turned back around to face her.
The rest of her classmates stopped what they were doing, she could feel their eyes shifting back and forth between her and their teacher, silently waiting to see what would happen next.
"You heard me! I'm done putting up with this!"
"I will not tolerate that language in my classroom." He piled the remaining quizzes on Eska's desk. "Hand the rest of these out please Eska." He ordered before returning to his desk. The tall man opened the top drawer and pulled out a stack of yellow slips, not wasting any time before beginning to fill one out.
"Okay now you're really joking. How am I supposed to review if I'm in the office?!"
The sound of the slip being torn from the rest of the pad could be heard perfectly through the silence in the room, as could Mr. Tarrlok's footsteps as he made his way back down the aisle of desks towards Korra.
"I suppose you should have thought of that before you used such profanity in my classroom." He toyed as he handed her the yellow paper.
And there it was again, that same sly grin from earlier. This was his plan all along. She allowed her fists to unball only to pick up her bag before grabbing the slip from his hand. "Total. Bull. Shit."
She walked out of without waiting for his response, sure he wasn't even going to give her one. He had won this round, but she'd find a way to even the score.
The sound of the door to the classroom latching behind her echoed through the empty hallway. The sound ricocheted off the metal lockers and the bare walls, ringing in her ears for at least a few seconds as she made her way down the hall to the principal's office. Stupid Tarrlok and his stupid little grin. Her hand gripped tighter into fists, I swear if I could I would-
"You should probably hide a little better if you're skipping class, in my opinion, anyways."
He hands instantly released, that voice could change her mood no matter what was going on in her day. She turned to find Miss Sato walking down the hall towards her, heels clicking against the floor.
"Hey." It was all Korra could get out from behind the smile occupying the better part of her face. She couldn't get over how the woman could cause her to melt completely, no matter where they were or what she wore. Today's outfit featured black heels, a dark skirt, a royal blue blouse and her glasses on her head holding her hair back from her face, even that one strand that always manages to escape her ponytail every time the woman ties her hair up.
The only reaction she got from the woman was a cocked brow followed by a quick look over her shoulder.
Shit right. Idiot. "I mean, Hello Miss Sato."
Her teacher strode up next to her and crossed her arms, careful to leave ample space between them should anyone come into the hallway. The slight smile on her face the only telling factor about their connection. "Now, what would you be doing wandering the hallways during class time?"
Korra handed her the slip, "class was boring so I decided to take a vacation to the principal's office."
The woman pulled her glasses down to her eyes, freeing her hair to cascade around her face and releasing a burst of fragrance from her shampoo into the air. Fuckk meeee.
"And what inappropriate word did you happen to choose for this stunt?"
"Uh…."
The woman crossed her arms again, "Korra."
"Maybe bullshit once or twice… with a 'fuck' thrown in there."
"You realize how stupid that is right?" Miss Sato handed her back the slip. "You can't afford to be pulling these stunts so close to the end of the year Korra."
"Yeah but-"
"Especially not with what you have on the line."
"It's not my fault!" She exclaimed.
"No?" The woman asked in disbelief.
"Well, I mean it kind of is… I guess I could have been more selective with my choice of words…"
"There you go."
"But I swear he did it on purpose! He's got it out for me!"
"Did what on purpose?" Asami asked with a cocked brow.
"Lose my quiz! Now I don't even know what I got AND I can't review for our final on Friday."
"He lost it?"
"That's what he said."
"Just yours?"
"Yes!"
"Hmm." the woman rested her finger on her chin. "Let me see what I can do, for now just go see Principal Tenzin okay?"
"What are you going to do? It's not like you can magically make my quiz appear."
"Don't be so sure Korra," she flipped her hair and turned down the hall, "I'm a woman of many talents."
No argument there...
After an awkward second period spent negotiating with Principal Tenzin about not giving her detention through lunch hour, Korra was finally free. The bell hand only rang for lunch about 15 minutes ago which meant the crew would most likely still be gathered in the cafeteria finishing up their lunch.
She could hear the noise from inside trying to squeeze out the cafeteria doors as she approached, judging by the lack of people in the halls, most of the students were either still there or outside enjoying the sun. Wherever her friends were, she wouldn't complain, anything was better than being stuck in detention.
It didn't take her long to find them when she pushed through the large doors, they were all there, sitting at their usual table off to one side of the room.
"Hey guys!" She yelled as she approached.
"Hey Kor! Where ya been?" Mako asked.
"Stupid Tarrlok sent me to the stupid principal's office." She grumbled as she took her seat.
Her comment was enough to get Jinora to pry her lips from Kai's and give her a confused look. "No offence Jin."
"Meh," the younger girl shrugged, "none taken, it is a pretty stupid office. The actual principal, on the other hand, now that's debatable."
"Agreed." Korra laughed.
"I take it your quiz results didn't go over so well then?" Mako inquired.
"I didn't even get them! Tarrlok 'lost' my quiz!" She explained, using her fingers to make air quotations.
Bolin had a perplexed look on his face, "And you got sent to the principal's office because…?"
"I uh… may or may not have uh... blown up at him."
Mako facepalmed, "Korra! You can't-"
"Woohoo! Way to stand up to him bud!" Bolin yelled as he reached over for a high five.
"Bolin!" Mako scolded, "don't encourage her."
"Oh come on big bro, you know he deserves it."
"Maybe, but she still shouldn't be taking that risk!" He turned his attention back to her, "think of your scholarship Kor!"
God he's such a mom. "Trust me, I just got that lecture, I know."
It was Opal's turn to ask questions. "So when are you going to get your quiz results then?"
"He said he'd look through his stuff and try and get them to me before the end of the day. But knowing Mr. Tarrlok I probably won't get them before Friday."
"You're right, that is bullshit." Kai cut in.
"Okay well if you don't have them by tomorrow morning we'll do something about it." Opal rationalized, "But in the meantime…"
What now…
"What about your prom date!?" Her teammate continued.
Korra looked around the table, Kai and Jinora were practically glued to each other, then there was Opal and Bolin who already talking about which shades of green went best together, which only left herself and Mako dateless.
"What about Mako?!" Korra argued pointing to the older brother, "He doesn't have a date either!"
"Hey, don't bring me into this!"
"Dating your textbook doesn't count?" Everyone turned to face Kai grinning at the other end of the table as they erupted into laughter.
"Ha ha." Mako crossed his arms and returned to his normal broody nature, "You guys are so funny…"
Thankfully the joke was enough to distract Opal from prying any more into the prom subject, which Korra was grateful for. She was able to spend the rest of her lunch hour talking about complete nonsense with her friends, a perfect way to unwind from the tension second period caused. Tarrlok may have ruined her morning, but she had her very own secret agent working on the case, and if lunch hour was any indication as to how the rest of her day would go, then she would have no complaints once school was over.
If there's one thing Asami Sato didn't do, it was welch on promises. If she said she'd do something, it would be done to the best of her abilities, if she said she'd be somewhere, she'd be there early. As of late, it was her promises to Korra that were of the utmost priority, and it was her last promise that was causing her anxiety. The bell to start fourth period had just rung which meant she only had one more period left to come through on her word. It's not that she ever doubted herself, time just wasn't on her side for the majority of the day. Now, however, she had a free period, which meant she had 75 minutes to find Korra's test results. No time to waste.
She had to start eliminating possibilities, so his classroom was the first place she decided to look. It wasn't a far walk from her office, in fact, she could see that the door was open after she turned around the only corner on her way there. She peeked inside as she casually walked by to find a full classroom, perfect. This was better than finding an empty classroom, it meant that she would be free to check his office while he was preoccupied teaching his class.
She turned around and head back down the hall in a relaxed manner, trying to appear cool and collected to those she passed by, all while racing against the clock. Her strides were taken at a normal pace, but they didn't lack purpose, she could already see that the door to Mr. Tarrlok's office was closed. She gave a quick look around before attempting to open it, making sure no one saw her. And behind door number 2… She opened the door slightly, peeking inside to find an empty office, dimly light by the little bit of sunlight that was creeping in from the window on the far wall. She snuck in quickly and quietly latched the door shut behind her, letting out a deep breath once it was fully closed. She made her way to the bigger of the two desks in the room, flipping through the piles of paper. If I was Tarrlok, where would I hide a test? Korra's name didn't appear on any of the documents on top of his desk, nor did she find anything in the drawers on either side, or in the book shelves. Why would someone go to such lengths just to hide a test? She double and triple checked every space, the risk of getting caught growing by the minute. Maybe it's in his classroom after all. If that was the case, she didn't know how she was going to get in there while he was teaching, but she knew she had to get out of his office, As she turned to leave, her skirt got caught on something, halting her movements. She looked down and noticed that it was caught on a key sticking out from the middle drawer of the desk. Of course. She pulled open the drawer, a smile instantly forming on her face when it revealed one lonely stapled bunch of paper with Korra's name on it. There you are. She grabbed the quiz and carefully shut the drawer not to make too much noise and headed out of the office. Her ever-active brain caught herself as she grabbed the door handle,halting her movements. I can't just take it or he'll realize it's missing...shit. She had to think fast, she'd have to make a copy and leave the original where she found it or risk getting Korra into more trouble. She looked around the Slimeball's office for a photocopier, but sadly found none. Teacher's lounge it is. She rolled up the quiz and left the office, most of the teachers should be in class… so the lounge must be empty… at least I hope it is…
It's not like she had to hide, teachers came in and out of the lounge all the time to photocopy things. Of course they usually weren't copying other teachers' documents that they had stolen from said teacher's office… but that's just a technicality. He shoulders felt physically lighter when she found the lounge to be empty, a few pulled out chairs and half-empty coffee cups on the table were the only signs that someone had been in here before her. She pulled the staple out from the quiz and placed the papers on the top feeder and hit copy, willing the pages to pass through the machine as fast a they could. Seriously who writes a quiz this long? They were about half way done, the pages being pulled in by the rollers and spinning through the machine before sending the original back and unloading a copy on the output tray. She picked up the warm sheets and started going over them while she waited for the rest to finish, laughing to herself at Korra's chicken scratch left all over the pages.
"Well, Hello Miss Sato."
Shit! Asami stiffened and quickly put the sheet back on the tray, she hadn't even heard the door open.
"I see the end of term is keeping you as busy as the rest of us."
Her shoulders relaxed a bit as she turned, standing awkwardly in front of the photocopier in an attempt to use her body to hide the sheets the machine was spewing out.
"Principal Tenzin," she smiled, "very busy indeed."
The tall bald man poured himself a cup of coffee and began to walk towards her. "You know Miss Sato," he was getting closer.
Hurry up you stupid machine. She was unknowingly tapping her foot impatiently. I swear to God someday I'm gonna make a better version that copies at the speed of light. "Yes Tenzin?"
He was right in front of her now, "don't hesitate to ask for help should you need it."
A soft beeping noise sounded behind her. Finally. "I will." She smiled as she carefully turned around and methodically collected the sheets while using her body to shield the principal's view of them.
"Good," he replied, "we just want you to feel welcome."
She rolled up the sheets once again and turned back to face him before walking towards the door. "I do. You have a wonderful staff here."
"I couldn't agree more." He raised his cup to her as she left, "enjoy the rest of your day."
"Thank you!" She replied quickly, finally being able to breathe as she got into the hallway, that was too close.
"Oh Miss Sato!"
Spoke too soon… She stopped in the middle of the hallway and waited for the man to come meet her.
"I mean to ask you."
"Yes?"
"Pema usually does a lot of the organizing when it comes to the student's prom every year. She'll still be there this year, of course, but I'd rather she took it easy. I mean, Meelo alone is a handful, Ikki has her moments, and now with the little guy on top of everything... I just rather she didn't exert herself too much."
"I had the pleasure of meeting Meelo at carnival last week," she laughed, "he does seem to be quite uh… energetic."
"Yes well, I have Korra to thank for that, she used to spend a lot of time at our place when she was younger and Meelo idolizes her."
"Yes, I noticed his shirt as the carnival as well." She hopped her answers weren't being too short, but she really needed to get back to Tarrlok's office.
"Exactly." He cleared his throat, "So I was wanting to ask you if you'd like to chaperone the prom this year."
"Sure!"
"Oh." He paused, somewhat surprised by the speed of her response. "Well, okay then. Thank you!"
"No problem Principal Tenzin. Now if there isn't anything else, I'm afraid I really must be going." She started to back away, holding the rolled-up papers behind her back. "You know, end of term, papers to correct, lectures to prepare…"
"Of course, or course! Enjoy your day Miss Sato!" He made his way back to the lounge, "And thanks again!"
She didn't respond this time, she really needed to go, their conversation had cost her enough time already. She couldn't afford any more stops, time was running out.
Tarrlok's office was empty once again when she got there the second time. Thankfully there was no searching to do now, just sneak the original back in the drawer and get out. The key was still in the lock, and everything else seemed to be in the same place it was when she came in the first time, which meant Tarrlok hadn't come back while she was in the teacher's lounge. She promptly put the original back and headed out, eager to get out of this room.
She let out a long breath as she opened the door, only to have it catch in her throat when she saw who was waiting for her on the other side of it. "M-Mr. Tarrlok."
"Miss Sato." He responded flatly.
"I was...just…"
"Yes, do explain what you were doing in my office."
Come on Asami, don't let this jerk get to you, think dammit. She regained her composure. "I was looking for you." She rolled up Korra's quiz and tucked into the hem of her skirt behind her back.
The man moved closer, squeezing his way through the doorway Asami was still standing in, bringing them uncomfortably close together. "Gave more thought to my proposition have you?"
"Actually I wanted to ask you if you had seen the outline for the essay assignment I'm giving my seniors. I thought maybe you might of picked it up by accident after our run in this morning."
He studied her face for a moment. Asami took this time to back away slowly, unable to stomach being in such close proximity to the man she despised.
"I see." He pushed the door open further, "come in while I take a look."
She definitely didn't want to go back in, being stuck in a small space with Tarrlok was not her ideal way to spend any of her time. "On second thought, it's more likely I left it in my car, I was in such a rush this morning as you saw. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."
"I assure you Miss Sato," he walked towards her, "time with you is wasted."
Yuck. "Have a good day."
She walked away, careful not to expose her back to him. It wasn't until the door latched at last that she pulled the documents from her skirt and finally released that stress relieve breath she had been holding all period, thank god.
By the time the end of fourth period rolled around, Korra could not wait for anything more than to get on the ice. After spending more than a day or so without playing some puck, she began to go a little stir crazy, craving to feel the ice crush beneath her blades and she moved up and down the rink.
She pulled her phone from her pocket as she got to her locker, hoping to see messages from a certain someone, but her lock screen didn't have anything to show her. It's not like that was unusual, they rarely texted during school hours. But their amount of interaction today was at a low, I'll need to fix that.
She quickly put in her locker combination and pulled the small metal door open, shoving her school books in in a less than careful manner, eager to spend what little time she had before practice doing better things than reviewing notes as Mako suggested. Before she could shut the door again, a manilla envelope fell out. Korra picked it up and flipped it over to reveal an orange post-it stuck to the front of it with the word 'Abracadabra' written on it, followed by a familiar signature of sorts. That woman. It couldn't have taken her more than a couple seconds to tear open the envelop, she never thought she'd be so happy to get a quiz back, regardless of the results.
No fucking way! "Yes!" She yelled aloud.
Without waiting a second longer, she took off down the hall at a full sprint, envelop in hand. Since the nice weather had persisted all day, most of the students were eager to leave and enjoy the sunshine, which meant the halls emptied rather quickly this time of year. This was perfect for Korra, meant she wouldn't have to worry about someone seeing her, seeing them. She slowed her pace as she rounded the last corner, to both not draw attention to herself with her rapid footsteps, and to settle her breathing down before she saw her teacher. Her breathing was hard enough to control around the woman without having just sprinted across the building.
She took one more second to compose herself before knocking on the door, taking one last breath to get back to a regular heart rate. Okay.
"Yes?" Her teacher answered as soon as she finished knocking.
Korra opened the door a crack and snuck in, flashing the manilla envelope. "Well hello there Houdini."
The woman seemed to relax as soon as she walked in, leaning back in her chair rather than stay focused on the assortment of papers before her. Maybe I have the same effect on her too…
"Does that make you my lovely assistant?" Her teacher replied with a smirk.
"Hmm," she shook her head, "I don't think so. Those frilly dresses aren't really my style."
The black haired woman put on a fake pout.
"But," she walked closer, "I would be willing to be your volunteer...to do with as you please."
She set the envelope on the woman's lap and rested her hands on the armrests of the chair, leaning in real close to the crimson lips she desperately wanted.
"Whatever I want?" The woman replied, edging closer herself.
Korra could feel her breath on her lips, "Anything."
She closed her eyes and pressed forward, waiting for the soft touch of her teacher's kiss. To her surprise, however, instead of warmth she felt a stiff, flat surface pressed against her lips. What the…
She opened her eyes to see nothing but the stupid manilla covered envelope millimeters away from her face, only to have it pulled away to reveal her teacher reclined back in her chair. "Of course, I'd only pick you depending on what mark you got on your quiz."
A cocky smile formed on Korra's face, not this time. "Well lucky for you I got a B." She hopped up on the woman's desk, "but you already knew that, didn't you?"
"I did." Her teacher handed her back the envelope. "I never doubted the effectiveness of my methods."
How could strip math with you not be effective. Fuckkk. "Or my skill."
"No," Asami smiled, "that neither. You just needed the proper motivation." The older woman leaned forward to grab something from the desk. Korra couldn't remember what it was, she was far too distracted by the way the woman's blouse fell open, how those perfectly shaped breast sat perfectly in that perfect bra, begging to be touched. Probably her intention all along. Damn woman.
"How did you manage to get this anyways?" Korra asked, gesturing to the envelope. "And why is it photocopied?"
"Well I couldn't very well take the original or Tarrlok would have known someone was in his office."
Korra couldn't believe it. "Wait, wait, wait. You snuck into his lair?"
"Yup." Her teacher leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, proud of her achievement.
"And you lived to tell the tale?!"
The green eyed woman couldn't hold back her laughter. "Apparently."
"You even survived the toxic air!"
"Don't forget about the booby traps."
Korra couldn't stop the grin from forming on her face. "I thought you were the one with the booby-"
"Don't." Her teacher put her hand up as she cut her off, "just don't."
"Ah come on, you set me up for that one perfectly!"
"Yeah, yeah." The woman waved her off as she stood up, moving to her desk to start collecting her documents. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" She asked jokingly.
"Trying to get rid of me are ya?"
The woman edged closer to her, just close enough so that her leg was touching Korra's thigh, the smell of her perfume becoming more and more potent every time she moved.
"Maybe…" her teacher toyed as she reached across Korra for something on the other side of the desk, "maybe not."
Asami's cheek was right before her now, inches away, jasmine scent stronger than ever, her exposed neck begging to be kissed. She fucking does this on purpose… She gripped the edge of the desk tighter in an effort to hold back from reaching out and grabbing the woman before her and pressing her lips to her pale neck. Pull it together Korra, she's baiting you. As much as she tried to rationalize, her body wouldn't follow. She was subconsciously leaning forward, getting closer and closer to the tantalizing flesh that was now mere centimeters away. Fuckkkk. She couldn't help but bite her lip, her last line of defense to stop the moan threatening to escape her mouth.
Suddenly the woman turned, green eyes locking with her blue, "Is everything okay Korra?" Her teacher asked in a breathy tone, closing the distance further.
Don't fall for it! You're losing! She was so close to tasting her lips. Fuck fuck fuck! Somehow Korra managed to pull back, shaking her head in order to regain command of her body. "I should uh," she cleared her throat, "hit the gym before practice, I guess."
Her teacher smiled knowingly, she had clearly won this round. "Mhmm," she held their proximity a while longer, never breaking eye contact as if to test Korra's resolve, "that sounds like a good idea."
We need some points here champ. "Yeah, it's been a while," she paused and looked down at her stomach, pulling up her shirt ever so slightly, just enough to reveal the lower section of her abs, "wouldn't you say Miss Sato?"
It took the woman a moment to pry her green eyes away from the sight and to release the lip she had caught between her teeth. "Unff…"
Korra dropped her shirt, "excuse me, what was that?"
Her teacher finally blinked and returned her gaze to Korra's eyes, "I mean yes, you should probably go to the gym. See your teammates, talk hockey, get ready for the big game on the weekend. You know? That kind of stuff."
"Unh hunh." Korra hopped off the desk, "I'll get right to that."
She picked up her bag and walked towards the door. "Can't wait for Opal to grill me about prom some more."
"Oh right, about prom."
Korra turned before grabbing the door handle, "Yeah?"
"Principal Tenzin asked me to chaperone."
She gave her teacher a confused look. "Well that won't work."
"Why?" The woman replied just as confused.
"How are you supposed to be my date if you're a chaperone?"
"Korra," her teacher gave her a soft smile as she walked towards her, "you know we can't actually go together, right?"
"But there's no one else I want to take!" She protested.
"Korra…"
"I know I know, it could never happen." She wasn't lying, logically she did know that there was no possible way for them to go together, or else they'd be found out in a second. She'd lose her scholarship opportunity and Asami would lose her job. But a pang of sadness still stung in her stomach, just because she knew it couldn't work, didn't mean she didn't wish it would.
She sighed, "can we still match? Discretely somehow?"
"Is that what everyone is all riled up about today? Matching? I couldn't get anyone to concentrate in class, all they wanted to talk about was what colours went better with one another."
"Yup, apparently that's what couples do." Do you realize what you just said?! Shit! "I mean, not that we're a couple, but you know, we could still match, as friends or whatever, casual like." Nice.
Her teacher clearly wasn't falling for it. "You're a dork you know that?"
God you're the furthest thing from smooth… "So I've heard...but it could work! Blue is usually my go to colour, but I'd consider wearing red for you."
"Really?" Her teacher asked with fake astonishment, "you'd do that for me?"
"Only for you babe." Korra replied cockily with a wink.
Pale fingers interlaced with hers, pulling her closer until their bodies were flush against each other. "I'll see what I can do."
The woman smiled, finally giving in and pressing her lips to Korra's cheek. "Now get going before you're late," she continued, "I'm sure Coach Lin's wrath is much worse than Mrs. Izumi's."
"Oh heck yes, nothing compares to Coach's wrath."
"Exactly." Her teacher took off her glasses as she walked back to her desk.
"So um…" She reached up behind her head and ran her fingers through her hair nervously, "I kinda promised my Dad I'd go over game film tonight, but... could I come over tomorrow night, after practice?"
"I'd like that." The older woman smiled.
"Cool. I'll see you tomorrow then?" Korra reconfirmed as she opened the door.
"You'll see me tomorrow then."
"Have a good night, Miss Sato."
"You too, Korra."
Click.
After a quick peek down both directions of the hallway, Korra left her teacher's office and headed towards the main hall. Their after school meetings always put her in the best moods and a permanent smile on her face. Guess I have to go buy something red.
"Miss Sato?" Her lips stretched into a grin. "Since when are you two so formal."
Everyone else might wonder why you smile like that Korra, but they'll find out soon enough.
She slipped her phone in her back pocket as she stood, getting out from the corner she was hiding behind, just you wait.
