~You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.~

-Clay P. Bedford

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The Shikoku Fundamental Scholarship, or SFS is prestigious and esteemed, possibly the most esteemed in all Japan.
SFS was the most difficult scholarship to obtain. With a full-scholarship to any university in Tokyo and able to apply to all subjects the student desired, you had a lot of competition and work ahead of you. Anna already had a University picked out, picked for her by her biological parents. The National STEM University of Shikoku, on the outskirts of Takamatsu city very far south of Tokyo. The point is, not just any old mook can study a little hard and get in. It was a place that only accepted the most elite of intellectuals, academics and scholars. The kind that Anna itched to get herself in lieu with. On sluggish afternoons like these, a French class in the late day sun, there's nothing Anna Takeyama wanted to do LESS than speak a romance language. She stared desperately at the clock, her knee bouncing up and down on the ball of her foot as she waited for the time to pass by. Of course, she had completed the few exercises Mr. Ahiru had given. It was only half an hour until the day ended at quarter past four, then of course there'd be one more miserable hour of Internship with Mr. Ahiru's paper filing. An hour of doing all his work for him, more like.

Speaking of which, Mr. Ahiru taught French in a most miserable way. Sit down, textbook open, finish the page, no speaking. Ahiru, on the other hand, sits reading trash magazines in the front corner of the class. Anna rubbed her eyes sleepily below her glasses.
'How can you expect students to learn a language whilst NOT SPEAKING, god damn it?'
Just when the day felt like it couldn't roll by any slower, the silence of the room was broken as the sound of a phone ringing echoed across the room - Originating from inside Anna's bookbag by her feet! She yelped, jumped up and raced from her seat towards the front of the class. The other students stirred from their stupours, attentions snapping to her when she sprinted past, fumbling with the zip to her bag as she nodded frantically to Mr. Ahiru and escaped the room.

Out in the hall, she finally pulled out a little silver flip-phone adorned with star-shaped stickers, brushing her hair from her face before clicking it open. The screen showed a name, the phone automatically answering.
Parents (Landline)

Anna groaned in stress and put the handset up to her ear.
"Hello Anna. This is the Takeyama household." A woman announced from the other end. It was sure to be her biological mother, Dr. Kirara Takeyama, who was a highly respected Behavioral Psychologist. That droning voice ripe with the essence of pin-up standard was unmistakable to her. It was like she tried to suppress any behaviour she herself might show at all.
"I'm aware."
"As you know, it is April. The academic year is drawing to a close very soon. I am calling to check up on you. You father would have, but he's at a Symposium as we speak."
"What do you need to know?" Anna asked, hearing the click of a pen and the rustle of papers faintly from the other end, her frown deepening at the mention of her father, Professor Takeyama.

"Firstly, please provide the scores and grades of your last three exams." Kirara asked in a charming tone.
"Uhh, 78 and A-, 89 and A, 92 and A."
"Hm. Right. Okay," Kirara replied in a voice a little less appreciable, "and your Internship with that lout Ahiru?"
"Going strong, Kirara. I'm due to work with him tonight, grading student's papers."
"Interesting, so what are you doing to set yourself apart?"

Anna paused, a little lost for words.
"Set myself apart?"
"Anna Takeyama. You've got to understand how the world works. You're a woman. If you ever hope to be taken seriously academically, you absolutely must have some kind of extra-curricular achievement to set yourself apart."
"Really?"
"You can't expect everything to be handed to you, can you, Anna." The scribbling stopped momentarily, "if you want to get into Shikoku STEM, you can't get in with perfect grades across the board. You need something a little more solid to stand on. A miracle."
Anna Takeyama blushed in shame and frustration, particularly as she noticed Mr. Ahiru's rounded form leaning against the half-open doorway into the classroom, his arms crossed. When she glanced up at him, he was wearing a concerned frown on his chunky face, a rare human emotion from the man.
"I- I'll find something."
"There's no reason to take such a lax attitude, is there Anna Takeyama? Now then, if you don't figure something out soon, you won't have that Scholarship when you leave High School in a few years, which means..?"
Anna remained sullenly silent. Kirara clicked her tongue impatiently over the phone.
"Answer when a question is asked to you."
"It means I won't get into Shikoku.. and that means there'll be no way to study and become a Doctor."
"Good girl." Kirara said bluntly, before hanging up.
Mr. Ahiru gave a gentle shake of his head.
"If you need anything, just ask your old teacher.. Come back in when you're ready. There's not long until the end of the day."

And with that, Mr. Duck ducked back into the classroom and the door clattered shut. Anna was now in the emptied hallways alone, mind rushing like a choppy sea whilst the silence of the halls became deeper. Rays of sunlight filtered through the huge windows across the hall, beyond which Anna could see slowly swaying treetops leading away towards the ominous Tokyo skyscrapers filling the distance. The sunlight glinted off of lockers lined up further down the hallway.
'It's fine. Everything's fine. I just need a miracle'
Anna took a sharp, deep breath before forcing herself to march right back into the classroom again. All the students' eyes shifted from their dreadful work and met with hers. Browns, blacks and one pair deep, inquisitive red. She felt a lump in her throat and a flutter in her stomach as she forced her gaze downward and returned to her seat somewhere in the middle of the class.
"Welcome back, Miss Takeyama." Mr. Ahiru announced loudly, as if she had not already earned enough of the class' attention.

The remainder of the day dragged willfully onwards. Soon enough, before Anna could fall asleep just like Baki, the bell began to rang. The students, excited to spend their Thursday nights with time wasting crap like TV and videogames, shot up to their feet and marched with loud chattering out the door like a drain had been suddenly pulled, loudly and roughly, causing all the water to immediately vacate this classroom. The familiar, jolly, round face Anna had come to love had plodded in front of her desk, bookbag in hand as he tried to courteously redo a few popped open buttons on his uniform jacket.
"Me n' Yoshi are going home. See you there, Anna!" Hyousuke announced hurriedly, still fiddling with the jacket.
"Alright, tell Mama and Papa I said hi and I'm working tonight for me."
"Have fun!" And with that, Yuudai Jr. turned around and ambled from the room alongside the last of the students. I swore I saw a flash of ginger hair before the room was completely emptied and the door was slammed shut.
It was strange how so many details became clear once the class was emptied. Fact sheets hung on the walls. Bulletins beside the teacher's board at the front. little stickers on the skirting boards and flags of different countries adorned the walls besides examples of students' work.

"Now," Mr. Ahiru began with a heavy breath, "your shift begins. We have a whole wave of papers to mark!"
Anna heaved herself from her desk and marched to the front of the class. It was going to be a loong, long night.

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And it was. A long, arduous night of marking one paper after the other after the other whilst Mr. Ahiru deigned to laze around behind his own desk. She couldn't stop thinking about the phone call with her mother, and in her deep worry of what kind of miracle she could possibly conjure up for her scholarship, she may have graded a few algebra sheets incorrectly. She brushed past them, doubt thundering in my head. Oh dear. Getting sloppy are we, Anna Takeyama? How unbecoming of you. She quickly flipped through the last few papers she looked back over them frantically, unfortunately having to change the grade of another delinquent in the class, lanky and angry Kitazawa, down from a C+ to a D+. A drastic mistake, Anna cursed at herself internally and almost collapsed into her hands on the desk. A few papers were taken up by the movement and floated embarrassingly down to the floor at her feet.
"You're meant to grade, not drop them on the floor, Miss Takeyama." Mr. Ahiru quipped. Anna ignored this inflaming comment as she stretched out to reach the sheets from her chair. Kozue Matsumoto, Hiro Ito and...

'Well, deja-vu,' she thought, her eyes widening at the paper in her hands.

Baki Hanma was scribbled at the top of the page. None of the questions had been answered whatsoever.

Anna frowned at the paper with chagrin. 'Why would he do this? He seemed like a decent guy.. Maybe I misjudged him.. Maybe he is a reckless troublemaker who doesn't care.. Not a single question answered on the whole sheet..'

Anna stole a glance Mr. Ahiru from the corner of her right eye. He was buried once again in his raunchy looking convenience store magazines, chewing his tongue within his tubby cheeks. In the failing light of the day, his.. eccentric.. fashion choices were at question. His multicoloured art deco dress shirt bulged in all the wrong places and his tie was entirely too small and it looked like it was choking him.
She suddenly sat straight back up, attention back at Hanma's paper as he looked up to sip his coffee before turning a page and diving into the magazine again. What an exemplary teacher.

Then, as she stared at the clock that read quarter to five, a loud and firm knock came to the door of the class room. Mr. Ahiru looked up from his magazine, then as he was folding it away, he began to invite the guest inside. The guest didn't wait for the sentence to even formulate before barging right on in.
The stranger was a middle-aged man, short in stature he was, standing only about four feet and eleven inches in height. But he still made the room his, marching right up to Ahiru's desk who frantically slammed his magazines into a drawer at his desk.
The strange man was dressed incredibly sharply, scarlet tie and grey suit. His eyes were hidden behind chunky, square-framed sunglasses and his expression was muted. He wore his healthy head of black hair swept over to the side and a few wayward strands fell over his lined forehead. Anna craned her head to try and catch more details, but the man had already turned away from her as he bowed slightly to Mr. Ahiru.

"Hello. My humblest apologies for interrupting your.. hard work.. But this is an important matter and I'm sure it won't take too much of your time."
"Who are you?" Mr. Ahiru asked. Anna was also waiting to hear the answer.
"My name is Kuriyagawa, Hitoshi. Baki Hanma's guardian and chief secretary of the Akezawa Group.

Anna stared at Mr. Kuriyagawa's back in perplexion. 'Baki's guardian? Is this why he didn't want to talk about his parents to me..?' She thought the worst, coming to the educated conclusion that his parents had died some time ago, maybe by tragic accident. She glanced down at Hanma's paper she clutched in her hands, still empty. She felt all kinds of pain for the boy.
'What kind of thirteen year old has to live without any parents?'

Ahiru stood from his desk and greeted Kuriyagawa with a hand shake. "Welcome, I'm Mr. Ahiru. Please take a seat."

Ahiru offered one of student's desk but Kuriyagawa had walked passed him and taken his previous seat, laying his briefcase on the desk and over Anna's work, only leaving her with Baki's paper in her hands.

Anna wanted to laugh on how Ahiru looked so confused and defeated at the man's confidence. Most teachers liked to think they had much authority over the parents as they do their children. Apparently, Mr. Kuriyagawa had a different opinion.

"Umm, anyway," Ahiru stuttered, "I had thought from our conversation on the phone earlier today that Mrs. Akezawa would be visiting in person." He waddled back to Anna's intern desk, shooing her back to the middle of the room and taking her seat. Anna grit her teeth and sat in her usual seat in the middle of the room.

'THE Akezawa?' The thought dawned on her. Yes, Emi Akezawa, the heir of the Akezawa group's fortune and the richest woman in Japan.

Kuriyagawa nodded simply to Mr. Ahiru,
"Yes, well she changed her mind. She sent me in her stead." Kuriyagawa said, shuffling in what used to be my little office chair.

"I understand." Ahiru muttered with a careless voice, as he flipped through the papers on the desk thoughtlessly, "well, Baki is having problems with his work. He just won't do the assignments in class or at home, he's always late and he constantly falls asleep in my class. The only thing it seems he's not failing is Gym class, and it also seems he's always at the middle of conflict among certain other problem students. He's practically uncontrollable and doesn't try to fit into the academic environment whatsoever."

Anna looked down, grinding her teeth together so she wouldn't say anything; the edges of the paper she was holding were creasing in her grip.

It was absolute garbage when the teachers try to make the children the bad guys and themselves the innocent victims. A teacher held all responsibilities of a student's education, whether it be failing or excelling. Except herself, she did that on her own and then some. A good portion of Mr. Ahiru's paycheck should be in her name, especially after all the work she does for him.

"I see," Mr. Kuriyagawa said, frowning, "could I perhaps see some of Baki's work?"
Anna's heart stopped. Baki's work? Like, the work she was currently holding right that second?

"Of course." Ahiru said, sliding the papers from under Kuriyagawa's briefcase and looking through them. "Umm, I can't seem to find it. He may have already thrown the assignment away.. Typical."

"There's no need for that. I have it." Anna said, already standing next to Ahiru and handing the paper over to Kuriyagawa.

"Thank you. Oh," His eyes scanned the paper, slight disappointment on his face. "This can hardly be called work, there's nothing here." He finished handing the paper to Ahiru, allowing him to see it for the first time with an angry glare as if Hanma was in the very room.

"Yes, this is the result of every assignment Hanma is given, without fail," Mr. Ahiru slapped the papers down and sighed, "Look, Mr. Kuriyagawa ."

It was odd to Anna that Kuriyagawa was completely calm after Ahiru said that. "Is there any way we can extend his work completion to a certain date? Or receive credit for a late grade? A tutor, possibly."

Ahiru shook his head. "No, he's exceeded his special privileges. There's nothing more he can do or we can offer him. It'd be nothing short of a total miracle for Hanma to remain enrolled in Kito High School at the rate he's failing."

'A MIRACLE'

"I can tutor him." Anna offered immediately without thinking.

Both turned around and stared deeply at her, causing her to shift nervously from one foot to the other.

"You will?" Kuriyagawa asked with a small smile.

Anna nodded sheepishly.

"She can't," Both stared at Ahiru like he was an irrational man, which he tended to be, "We gave Hanma many tutors and he hardly went to any of his sessions and when he did, the tutors quit the next day. This will be too difficult for just an intern."

Just. An. Intern!? That crossed the line for her.

"Mr. Ahiru, I'm more than capable to teach Baki. I could teach his present Algorithm chapter to him and he will pass next week's test with flying colors." She challenged, then continued. "The reason for Baki's lack in participation in class is because you have yet to grasp his intelligence, not the other way around - and the same goes for his previous tutors. In other words, Mr. Ahiru, this isn't a tutoring challenge, this is a challenge for Baki. And you were not a sufficient challenge for him." She said hotly, crossing her arms and looking away from the men before her, a stormy scowl on her face.

Absolute silence. Anna felt she could cut the air with a butter knife as she glanced toward Ahiru, challenging him. Ahiru seemed between anger and astonishment at hearing his honored and respectable pupil talk to him that way while gasping like a fish trying to find his words.

Disrespect to her teacher at such a level? 'Good-bye internship and good-bye scholarship.' Anna panicked internally.

What was probably worse was where her outburst came off as if she had been his best friend for years and would easily defend him, when she only ever talked to him for five minutes in her thirteen years of existence.

"You're hired."

Both teacher and student broke their staring contest to watch Mr. Kuriyagawa stand up and brush his tie and suit off, his face to its original lack of expression.
"When can you start?" he asked.

Anna was unsure how it got to this point but answered.
"I guess tonight, but I'll need to ask Mr. Ahiru first, since I'm interning with him right now."

"Mr. Ahiru?" Kuriyagawa questioned, almost daring the confused teacher to disagree.

Mr. Ahiru groaned, flapping his hand towards the door.
"Consider this part of your internship, Anna, a magic show. Go ahead and make the impossible happen. Baki must pass algebra next Wednesday."

Anna guessed the 'or else' was that Baki would fail to expulsion, no more tutors, no more exceptions and no more school.

"Excellent... Now, Miss?" he asked, holding a firm hand out to her.

Anna briefly shook his hand with a smile. "Anna, Anna Takeyama."

Kuriyagawa nodded like that was his way of taking special notes for later references.
"Miss Takeyama, if you would please follow me and I'll explain everything." he said heading for the door.

"Everything?" she thought. Anna quickly grabbed her book bag before catching up with him.
The two broke out into the hallway, Kuriyagawa building a healthy walking speed which Anna struggled to keep up with despite him being somewhat shorter than even she was. She huffed quietly as she finally reached his side.
"First off, Miss Takeyama, you will find tutoring Baki difficult. So do keep it simple and focus on getting him a passing grade."
Anna nodded.
"Yes, Mr. Kiriyagawa."

After sometime just quietly walking beside him the halls, they reached a set of stairs leading towards the main foyer. A nagging question filled Anna's mind. She just had to ask.

"Mr. Kuriyagawa, how old was Baki when his parents died?" She asked, turning her head to look down at him

The air completely changed. Hitoshi Kuriyagawa adjusted his sunglasses a little, and a cold frown ghosted the features of his stone-like face. He continued walking, but a stern gait took over his stature as if he were stomping in rage in the most polite way possible.

Anna looked down, "I'm sorry- I."

"Don't be." Anna jerked her head back towards him, he gently shook his head. "I'm quite glad you were so forward and confidant to ask such a question, which is why I've hired you to tutor Baki. He needs someone who can stand up to his potential. Your declaration to your superior intellect was a perfect example of determination that usually cannot be even found in adults these days. You have my respect."

Anna laughed. "Verbally over-powering Mr. Ahiru is no feat, Mr. Kuriyagawa."

Kuriyagawa laughed, too.
"I believe you. But please, call me 'Hitoshi.'"

Anna nodded, secretly somewhere delighted at the invitation to a first name basis.
"Thank you, Hitoshi. Now, about Baki's parents?" She asked, again, with a teasing and determined smile.

"First, you should tell me how you are planning for Baki to work on his studies."

Anna looked forward blankly, her mind empty of any thoughts. How was she going to do it? It was a thought she hadn't brought to attention yet.

"Well," She began, looking up as if to find an answer from the spirits in the sky, "The best way for a student who ordinarily doesn't care, is to combine something they're interested in with what they need to learn. I can tutor him at his house but the only interest I've notice is that he likes physical fitness. Does Baki have any other interests?"

"Oh, I don't think you need anything else. I'd say you hit the nail right on the head. If you can manage to combine algebra and fighting somehow." He said as they crossed the empty foyer where several double doors lay at the opposite end of the hall. She bowed her thanks as Kuriyagawa held the door open for her and they both stepped out into the courtyard.

Once entering outside, Anna held in a gasp at seeing a luxurious black limo parked in front of the school, with a smartly dressed chauffer standing next to it.

Jeez, Baki was loaded, too? Limos and valets, just so his guardian can shift his new tutor around town? I wondered what his house would look like, how many rooms it might have.

As Kuriyagawa walked past her, she hastily followed him to the vehicle,"Nayagi is your new driver. He will meet you here after school everyday to take you to Baki's house, but he will also take you anywhere else you need. Study hours and days are in your control but Baki tends to venture out after school for periods at a time, so it's your decision if you stay till he returns or not. Your pay will be discussed when Baki passes algebra next Wednesday. And if he gives you any problems, feel free to contact me or to rough him up a bit. Overall, you should do wonderful." He said all this, introducing the chauffer, giving her his and Nayagi's business cards which she quickly threw in her book bag as Hitoshi opened the door for her.

Anna entered the vehicle and buckled-up, on the suave crème leather seats whilst trying to engrave all this information to memory. As the door closed, she remembered something important. She quickly rolled down the window, looking up at Mr. Kuriyagawa.
"Baki's at home right now, is he?"
Kuriyagawa nodded, his hair blowing gently in the cool breeze.

Anna turned back into the limo and there was the phone along with a mini fridge. Fancy.

Another thing came to mind, "Are you not coming with me?"

"No, please forgive me, but I have other important matters and will be taking another vehicle. As I've said before, you don't need anything else, Miss Takeyama."

"Oh. I understand." Anna was a bit disappointed, feeling her nerves begin to wind as she realised that she would be going all alone on her first tutoring job, for someone as difficult as Baki Hanma, no less.

"Miss Takeyama," Anna looked out the window to Kuriyagawa, who was smiling at her, "Do not back down from Baki, become a challenge. Like you said."

She froze for a moment before giving the most confident smile she had and nodded. "Of course."

As the limo pulled away from the school, Anna rolled up her window before slumping down in her seat with a sigh.

She stared up at the limo's roof, exasperated.
"What have I gotten myself into..? How will I turn that punk into the miracle I need?"

She felt somehow, if she could prove her capability to change such a difficult kid into a successful student in such a short amount of time, it could impress the Universities into considering the scholarship!
But then, there was the problem of proving it to Kirara and Kizuna Takeyama... They would definitely have things to say.
She clutched her bookbag silently and stared out the window as the limousine drew away from the large streets and began to dig into the depths of urban Tokyo..

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Hitoshi's gaze followed the vehicle till it turned onto another street, he was still smiling mutely.

"Takeyama. Like Professor Kizuna Takeyama.." He whispered to himself in wonder and anticipation, "the daughter of a famous physicist like him should be able to work miracles on Baki. I'll be looking forward to great things."

Then his cell phone rang, causing him to frown before he answering it, already knowing who it was that was calling him "Yes, Mrs. Akezawa."

"Have you taken care of that pathetic teacher of Baki's?" A smooth feminine voice came through on the other end.

"Yes, that Ahiru provided us a temporary tutor to take care of it. When he passes next week's algebra test, Miss Anna Takeyama will be his permanent tutor."

"I trust you've made a good choice. Because I want nothing to distract Baki's training." Miss Akezawa replied from the other line, as though she couldn't have a single care in the world about Baki's academic commitments.

"Very well, Mrs. Akezawa.." He finished before hearing the other end go dead and then ending his call.

He stared at the device for some time as if she was still on the other line. Emi Akezawa had ceased to care about her son's actual well-being. Her ways of nurturing were far beyond that of a mother, only using Baki for her own benefits; much like how a Cowbird would lay it's egg in another bird's nest, having it's hatchling to fend for itself and push the competition away.

But Hitoshi knew there was more than what Emi let on. Emi loved her son but she had pushed him to the side for that monstrous being, Yujiro. Chasing after Yujiro's love. As far as she was concerned, Baki was just another aspect of Yujiro himself, not his own person. As the sky darkened and the light of the sun began to surrender to the sparkle of city lights, Kiriyagawa quietly lamented the circumstances. But he knew he couldn't change it. Maybe this new tutoring could help Baki very much.. Help him find some kind of human connection.. Kiriyagawa didn't know how he would feel if Baki grew up to be another monster, like him.

"I want NOTHING to distract my son's training."

Hitoshi looked back to the street where the limo took the young girl away, unstoppably to Baki's house.. "Oh dear."

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Dark shady alleyways, cluttered trash and spray-painted graffiti; either the driver took a wrong turn or Baki was more of an enigma than Anna thought, living in a part of town like this. The sky had darkened and turned grey.

'We're completely on the other side of town where that Kitazawa and his thugs hang out.' She thought in distaste and worry. 'What is Baki doing way out here?'

"Miss," Nayagi, the driver, said catching the girl's attention through the review mirror. "We will be arriving to Baki's house in a moment but I must regrettably inform you that I cannot stop in front because of the narrow roads. Would you like me to escort you?"

Anna shook her head. "No, thank you. You can just leave when I get out."

Nayagi looked back to the road, "Very well, Miss."

It seemed time was slowing down as the driver stopped in front of a pathway in the middle of a cramped looking urban quarter and Anna caught the first glimpse of hateful and threatening slangs across the walls leading all the way down the sides of the alley. Anna's eyes widened as the graffiti all pointed at one person.

You ain't nothin', Hanma!

Suck it, Hanma!

Why don't you go DIE!

Baki the BASTARD kid

"Oh…my…god." She breathed out.

"It's the only way they could get to him." Nayagi simply said. "Do you still not wish for an escort?"

"They?" She then remembered he had asked her a question. "No, thank you, sir."

"Alright, Mr. Hanma's house is just straight down this path." He said as Anna got out of the car.
"Mr. Nayagi, why doesn't anybody who lives around here do something about the horrible messages?"
Nayagi shook his head from behind a partially rolled down window.
"Nobody else lives around here. Just Baki."

Anna looked down the path to see a small, almost un-kept or broken-down house, practically being swallowed by the cemented walls surrounding it. But what made the house eye-popping, was the words "DIE BAKI" written across the roof in bold yellow paint where even a helicopter could see, like an invitation for all those who dared to take up the challenge to see it through. Was Baki that much hated…or was he that intimidating for his enemies to make such a cowardly move? First he was rough, then he seemed rich and now he looked like the lowest of the low. Where was the Akezawa money here?

She barely notice the vehicle pulling away as she closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly.

Anna hastily passed the discriminating walls, fixing her gaze on the shōji of Baki's home, before abruptly halting in front of his front porch, the tips of her shoes just a centimeter away from touching the inch thick concrete.

Though it wasn't there, anyone would stop in front of the unseen strong barrier of the home. A non-existent wall made of the strongest rock of Earth divided two worlds; those of cowards and those of courageous men.

'I'm not a man, so where on Earth would I fit into this?'

Not wanting to back-down and disappoint herself, Anna took that one step and raised her frightened hand towards the shōji ever so slowly..

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Sweat flowed down from his forehead in buckets, curving down his nose before dripping down onto the floor, where it was quickly absorbed with the ground. He could feel his entire body burning up as his muscles rippled, bunched, and relaxed, repeating again and again, with every down and push-up with his arms while keeping his bare back perfectly straight.

"560…561…562…," he counted each rep in his head, clenching his eyes and jaw with each stab of protest from his exhausted body went through. It wasn't discipline. Strength came easy to Baki, and he trained until failure every time.

He had been at this for an hour; as soon as Baki's feet hit home from school, he was on the ground doing pushups. A proud engine drove him onwards.

It was all he knew how to do. But he couldn't bare to admit that he was falling behind in school. It would be nothing more than another sign of weakness.
A bared, malicious grin, arms spread out with muscles that held an impossible power within each fiber. The bats swarmed into the room, giant ones. His back against the cave wall, he watched on in terror..

"581... 582... 583..."

Would he ask for help with his studies? No. It was another sign of weakness to him but the school assigned him older tutors anyway which he really didn't care for and hardly bothered to attend the study groups. And he refused to lower himself to copying other people's work; It was a humiliating thought. But Mr. Kiriyagawa seemed to really want him to pass High School and begin thinking about College some day. He was around for Baki as much as he could afford to be, being his mom's most senior employee after all, and these tutors he hired out was a symbol Baki desperately wanted to be able to show acknowledgement for..

He thought again, suddenly about Anna. Anna Takeyama, the girl whom he'd met on the rooftop of Kita High School earlier that same day. He remembered her kindly, icy eyes, her brown hair naturally long and curled at their ends which fluttered in a gentle wind..
'If someone smart and understanding like her was my tutor, then maybe it'd be okay.'

He then suddenly froze in mid-pushup.

"Where did that come from?" Baki radically shook his head to be rid of the thought or any thoughts of her. He hadn't stopped thinking of her since leaving the school's roof which started his over-workout session, "no, no. I have to focus on getting stronger.. I have to get stronger!"

"615…616…617"

"I cannot think about her. I cannot think about her. I cannot think about her," The chant causing him to do his push-ups faster and pushing his body harder. Until he completely stopped by a small soft knock on his door and his body slumped to the wet floor with a groan.

Baki turned over onto his back, staring at the squared ceiling as his barreled chest rose desperately up and down taking in the air greedily. "Who the hell could that be? If it's Kitizawa and his goons again, I am not in the mood." He said sourly to himself, gritting his teeth and eyeing the shoji door once again.

So Baki just laid there, his breathing stabled and planning to ignore whoever was outside as another knock came to the door, this one a tad louder and more firm. Finally, the person resolved banging onto his door. A gesture which pissed him all the way off.

"Persistent dumbass bastards.." He cursed, jumping to his feet and heading to the door, not caring he was just in his yellow shorts and covered in sweat, "fine if they want their asses whipped, I could use the warmup!"

With a face of fierce irritation upon reaching his door, he harshly slid the door open. He yelled, "Don't you damn knuckleheads understand when there's no answer-!"

His eyes widened...
"No... one's... home...?"

He expected low-life, rebelled, scum-bag teenagers with chains, knives, crowbars and cocky attitudes like they were the toughest shit in Tokyo, all challenging him. Delinquents, just like he was.

Instead on the receiving end of his shout was a familiar, fair skinned face belonging to nobody else other than Anna Takeyama. Baki couldn't help but shrink back inside as her eyes filled with shock and anger.

"Excuse me?" she barked at him.

Baki was really at a loss for words. He'd never expect in a million years that a sweet, generous, goody-two-shoes honor student like her, would step a foot in this part of town, let alone on his doorstep. His body was tenser now than during his personal training, and he tried to throw the shoji close, but it was interrupted by Anna sticking her foot through, which the panel bounced harmlessly against before sliding back open again.

Baki felt all kinds of stupid and was blushing furiously after his failed expulsion of her. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and he then leaned his body on his other hand on the door frame. "Urgh, Anna. Look, I'm-"
She grit her teeth, scowling at him.

"I don't know where you get the idea that you can speak to me that way but you better knock it off!" She interrupted hotly, stalking him to move backwards into his house, "I'm here to help you and just because you have a spat with the guys at school or whoever it is, does not make an excuse for you to be so agitated when somebody...Knocks!...On!...Your! Door!" She finished by emphasizing each word with a poke to his chest as they stood in the main room of Baki's home.

A whirlpool of emotions clogged his mind of rational thoughts. Baki was stunned at her forwardness; she was a girl who had him retreating back by poking him. Then confused on how to handle the situation because he never really got involved with girls and never invited one into his home. And finally, anger because she assumed this was his fault when just now, she was the one who barged into his home uninvited while poking him in his chest like she was totally innocent.

"Well you're the one here who barged into my house and got mad when I didn't know you were coming.." He countered in a serious, calm manner, not wanting to make it any worse by yelling, crossing his arms across his chest.

...

..

.

Anna looked quickly away from Baki to his open front door then at her surroundings and finally, settling back to him, now comprehending the problem of the situation. She began to calm down, taking slow breaths as he stood there looking slightly gormless.

'Oh yeeeaah. I guess I did do that.'
However, if it was taken into a valid point, Baki started it first by yelling threateningly at her, which she felt very offended by. She hardly ever been attacked or threatened like that, but she still would not put up with it. Especially not from him.

"Sure, yeah. I guess you're right..." She said, slowly scanning his house, which could barely be called two rooms connected by a doorway with some mats, weights, punching bag, table, bars and equipment, "look, I'm sorry. Okay? It's just that I'm nervous enough as it is with tutoring you, then it was the walk here past all that bad grafitti and then.. and then you yelled at me—" she listed her grievances off with a pout, looking down at the floor, her fists by her side as she clutched the handle of her book bag with her left hand beside her hip.

"Wait, you're tutoring me? And you walked all the way here from school?" he cut her off, walking past her to check for anyone else before slamming the shoji shut with finality.

"Well, yes... No, I was drove here by someone called Nayagi.." This was happening all so fast, she never thought on how to explain that she assigned herself as his tutor. She shifted from foot to foot and fidgeted with the hem of her skirt, trying to avoid eye contact with Baki at all costs.

When Anna looked at him again about to explain her presence here, Baki was wearing an expression of sympathy, eyebrows raised a touch as he took a slow step towards her.

It was odd to Anna that now her eyes decided to look at Baki's attire or lack of it.

He was only wearing a pair of yellow track shorts that seemed perfect around the waist but spread tight along his thighs and his entire body gleamed with perspiration, Baki was truly a machine in his prime.. Triceps, biceps, abdomens, pecks, thighs, were all lean cuts of solid rock. So strong. Not an overly built monster. It was beautiful.

Heat escalated within her body, running up across her neck. She grit her teeth and hair stood up at the back of her neck as she immediately realised what was happening. She jumped and covered her eyes with her white-sleeved arm..
'How could Baki be so perfectly fine with showing off his physique like this..? Did it not bother him that he was half-naked right in front of a girl? Was he so confident in himself that he was so beautiful and strong that nothing could touch him? What he hell was he thinking?'

That isn't to say, that she didn't think he looked good. She didn't know what to think..
"Anna..? What's wrong?" Baki asked, whipping his head around, looking for something as Anna continued to look bashfully away, "did you see a ghostly spirit?"
"NO!" She waved her bookbag wildly at the boy, "I won't start tutoring you until you get into your school uniform!" She yelled at him, continuing to wave her little turquoise book bag at him like a flag.
Baki nodded and shrugged.

"The table is to your right," He said, Anna hearing his feet padding across the floor into another room, "I'm going now, so calm down okay?" She heard him passing her and going into what she assumed was the kitchen.

"O-Ok." She stuttered, before uncovering her face and shakily dragging the little table from the far edge of the room to the middle, where it clunked asymetrically against a dumbell. Anna attempted to move the dumble, but after a moment of straining, it didn't budge a single bit whatsoever. She stared, dumbfounded at the thing as if it had just slapped her in the face.
"No way he can move that... Wow.." She whispered, before taking her seat at the table.

After five minutes of waiting, Anna retrieve a couple of books from her bag, an Algorithm text and her little sketchbook.

To pass time, the sketchbook was opened for Anna to flip through all her little doodles and sketches from the last year or so. There were landscape drawings of where she's been before; such as the park, Tokyo bay, the view from the peak of Mount Takao and a few objectively terrible drawings of people and characters..
'It'd be the end of the world for me if someone found this sketchbook and read it.. Especially if it were Kirara or Kizuna...'
The art was definitely messy and definitely hers, and as Anna turn to the next page, her mind paused in a moment of deja vu when the picture of Baki came into view.

It viewed from his head to his waist, the details like his uniform and short, messy hairstyle scribbled in, whilst his hands were barely finished and his eyes flat. She brushed her hands against the drawing, resting beside the beauty mark he had above his lip..

Instantly, she reached for her pencil, hand twitching as she thought about.. About drawing him again, but topless. The thought struck her without notice, and she froze there silently chastising herself..

"Hey, what'cha working on?"

Anna gasped and slammed the book closed before stuffing it back into her back, hoping to God that Baki hadn't seen it from behind her or that her embarrassment wasn't that noticeable.
"Its nothing." she said defensively. Baki eyed her awkwardness while setting the tray of tea on the table and taking a seat to her right. It seemed Baki had change clothes while making tea because he sported his uniform, again, which Anna was thankful for...

"I hope you like it." he said handing Anna her cup.

"Thanks," Anna muttered, trying to offer him a smile as she took it and taking a sip before looking very quizzing at it. The tea itself was a rich dark brown in a pale white cup.

"Uh, I know it's not very good but you don't-" Baki said crest-fallen as he took his place opposite her at the table on the floor. He noticed the dumbbell under his knee and rolled it away as if it were barely more than a tin can. Anna watched it roll to a stop about a metre from the wall, before she returned her gaze to Baki.

"Oh..! no, I love it, actually. It's Genmaicha tea," she said appreciatively before taking another sip, seeing into her cup again as if there was more than that. She clicked her tongue, tasting something sweet inside, "with a spoon—no, two teaspoonfuls of sugar, right?"

Baki looked curiously interested. "Yeah but how did you know?"

She giggled before using a bad impression of an old monotone man speaking, "An old wise Sage once said 'One can appreciate good tea but a greater person can learn to understand it.. That 'old Sage', is my Papa. He owns a teashop in Nakano Ward and taught me lots of things."

"Like knowing the kinds of tea and the ingredients? Sounds important and ambitious." Baki teased while quirking an eyebrow.

Anna giggled again, taking one final sip from the teacup, "Yeah, stuff like that. Your tea might even make him jealous."

"Ya think so?"

Both were content for awhile just drinking tea till half of the pot was gone, like their presence their physically was enough but sadly to Anna it couldn't be just that. If they were to get anywhere with the real matter-at-hand, it would be too late until Anna had to go home before dark and it was already starting to turn to dusk. They would never get anywhere like that, and Anna would lose her chance to make Baki become her little miracle.

She firmly placed her tea cup to the table top, the clink! causing Baki's gaze to snap towards her, like a gunshot to signal the beginning of the race.

"Baki," Anna began, stumbling as she tried to find the right words carefully, "the whole point of me being here is that you need a tutor, both Mr. Ahiru and your guardian, Mr. Kuriyagawa, agreed I'm the most dependable person to tutor you." She paused for a moment before adding in concern, "And if you don't pass your Algorithm test next week, you'll be expelled from school, I'll be fired as your tutor after that, too."

There, that was straight to the point.

"So?"

Anna eyes widened as she gripped the edge of the table with a restraining force.

"What do you mean 'So?'!?" she snapped. Did she make a huge mistake in thinking Baki could possibly care in any way?

Baki placed his cup on the table before crossing his forearms on the table and gazing thoughtlessly at a wall ahead of him with some kind of bad boy swag. "That stuff is just not important."
Oh no.

"How exactly is your future not important!?" she argued, receiving a determined look of fire from the boy next to her.

"I have a future, and it's to become even stronger. Look, I get what Kuriyagawa wants for me, but I know what I want for myself." He said, resolutely.

"Oh and you think lifting weights and fighting the next tough guy that walks by is making you stronger?" Feeling her body heat rise up and strangely, feeling Baki's anger rise up against her. His wine red eyes slapped her across the face, filled with a strange kind of passion and fire.

"What makes you think you know anything about becoming stronger?!" He challenged, rising slightly from his kneeling position opposite the table.

It was like two lions refusing the other of personal territory. Whatever it was, neither wanted to give in.

Anna felt so mad. This numbskull dared question her about how one was to become stronger when she's been practicing and studying it in an actually useful way her whole life? Comparing beating people up and lifting a few heavy rocks to everything Anna had sacrificed!?
'Honestly, why am I bothering to help this brainless, careless, hopeless punk in ANYTHING when he won't help himself?'

She was in half-a-mind to simply walk out the door right there and then, never to speak with him again as he was expelled and she moved on to other things to achieve. Her skin prickled.

"Do not back down from Baki, become a challenge."

What Mr. Kuriyagawa said rang through her head like a clear bell. She was going to give up on Baki like Mr. Ahiru and his other tutors; if anything Baki was testing her resolve under pressure! After everything she'd said to Mr. Ahiru, she couldn't show herself up as a hypocrite like this.
This was going to kill her but, she had to find some way to connect algebra to... what he likes to do as a hobby. Which is probably fighting people.

Anna sighed exasperatedly as she turned her heated gaze away from Baki's to grab some paper from the side.
"So you fight a lot right?" She asked suddenly.

"Umm, yeah." He sounded hesitant, like he was figuring out how they changed the subject.

"How many have you fought all at the same time?" she asked while drawing a red stick figure with a red pen on paper before taking a black one.

Baki shrugged his shoulders while he looked across the table at the paper. "Twenty, maybe Twenty-five."

"Ever tried a hundred?" she asked with the most challenging gaze, "And if you did, how did or would you do it?"

"No," he grinned, "but it can't be that hard! a lot of them are wimps and go down with just one punch. I know my fa-" He went to say something, but went silent, disguising the last word as a cough. He cleared his throat, "Yeah!"

She raised her eyebrow and smiled at how naïve he was. One versus a hundred? Stupid!
"It's much harder than you think; you probably wouldn't make it past 15 before being K.O.'d"

Baki was set with a firm frown and his eyebrows scrunched together at the small insult. "Is there a point to this?"

"The odds of 1 vs. 100 can be in your favor .. and this is something most fighters understand when they're beginners, but only because they took the time to hone their brain with simple math and scientific equations. Some were able to break the other fighter's records just by understanding this.."

It was silence between once more, as one thought the idea over and the other waiting for them to take the bait.

"Really? That's a way that fighters can grow stronger... Show me how."

Anna didn't want to ask Baki if he was agreeing to the tutoring, afraid he may change his mind, but simply scooted over while grabbing his arm so he can sit next to her. "Okay, so if you were facing these one hundred men, what would their power be?"

"The leader or whoever is the strongest. Knock them out - Then the rest run away!"

"Hmm. Not nearly correct.. You see using simple math you find out that all together, they only have a power of four men." She finished by drawing four black stick figures surrounding the red stick figure.

"Is that suppose to be me?" Baki teased, pointing at the red person on the paper, "you really captured my face."
Anna scoffed loudly.
"I don't think details are important right now, so don't judge me. Besides, you're changing the subject." She played along by lightly slapping his hand away with the pen.

"Anyway, the reason why that's the case, is that there are four sides to a person. Enemies can only approach from four sides, meaning you only have to fight four people at a time... See?"
Baki's eyes changed. It looked like he really starting to get it. More quickly than Anna had given him credit for.
"So what you're saying is," Baki mused, "that if I faced a hundred guys, they'd only really be as strong as four of em?"
Anna nodded, smiling gently as she pushed her glasses up along her nose somewhat.
"I guess you could say that..."
"Which means..." Gears began to turn in Baki's head. He even started counting up over again on his thick, strong fingers, which Anna found strangely cute, "that I'd only have to fight four guys.. twenty times?"
Anna nodded, nudging him in the elbow. "Twenty five."
He looked back at her and she smiled warmly, returning to her place opposite the table from him.

Eventually, Anna tutored Baki in a couple of lessons from the Algorithm chapter which she found herself surprised that he caught on so quickly. He figured out how to calculate and put values on the letters, without even saying something ridiculous like "Letters? In Maths? You've GOT to be messing with me!" That she had initially expected out of him. She sighed, placing her mechanical pencil atop the table, peering at him over the rim of her glasses.

"Baki.. you're a very bright person but you're holding yourself back.. Why?" she asked cautiously while putting away their books.

Baki seemed to pause for a moment, his finger massaging his lower lip in thought.
"I-" He sighed, shaking his head as his eyes fell down towards the tabletop, "I never intended to slack off in school, you know," He admitted almost guilty, "I have personal responsibilities. Of getting stronger. I know it sounds dumb to someone smart like you, but you just don't understand. I've tried keeping up with this school stuff, but I got overwhelmed by training and studies that eventually - I had to let go of one or the other. Letting go of my strength wasn't an option for me."

He looked up now, up at the lamp above which buzzed alongside a couple tiny flies which orbited it.
"It never will be an option for me."

Even if Anna didn't know everything, the general idea of his story she got.. It was just heartbreaking. She imagined that he might be feeling immense pressure, but she couldn't know who he'd be feeling it from. Certainly not Kuriagawa. Mrs. Akezawa? But why would this rich guardian care so much as to make the child she's looking after feel like this? Like there's no other option?
She wanted so much just to make things better for him.

"Well...I want something from you now." Gaining Baki's eyes that were waiting patiently of her request. "I want you to become an intelligent student by accepting me as your tutor. This way you can learn to become stronger."

Anna held her breath for his answer. It seemed almost ages.

Baki smiled, one with such gratitude, before holding his hand out to her, "Deal."

Anna also smiled brightly and placed her hand in his which was calloused with unhidden strength and swallowed her own soft dainty hand in a firm, gentle grip. Two hands from two different worlds we were forced to delve into.

As much as both wished the memorable moment of friendship could last longer, Anna took one look behind Baki to the hanging wall clock and went bug-eyed in horror.

It was 6:35 p.m.! Her Godparents expected her back at 7, the time her Internship tonight would have ordinarily ended! Their house was a little more than 45 minutes of walking away from Baki's, and there was the mess of back alleys and underpasses to navigate through! How the hell was she going to get home in 25 minutes?! And neither her godparents nor Yoshinori approved of tardiness at all. Yoshi would have lots of choice questions. The idea never even crossed her mind that she should just make up an excuse..

Anna gasped, jerking her hand away from Baki's and quickly, yet, clumsily stood up with bookbag in hand. "I'm so dead! I'm so dead! I'M SO FREAKIN' DEAD!" She blabbered.

Baki quickly stood up in alarm, too, not quite understanding the gravity of the situation, "What is it?"

"I have to get home now!" she said, practically tripping her own feet to get into the hallway.

"I'll call a cab for you." He said while following her to the front door.

"No time. A cab will take a long way hoping I'll dish out more money for the fare." She answered quickly while putting on her shoes, not even thinking about Nayagi or Hitoshi's business cards in her bag at that very moment.

"Then I'm taking you."

That was chapter 3! It's no man's land after this for me. I'll be in charge of the story from here-on out.
Kala-Warrior18, if you somehow find this fanfic one day, I hope I have done you story justice.
Please review!