Doctor Fukuyama
By: Adam Oudjit
Year: 2015
Associations: Sawyer Reed, Marcus Archie
Her Life
The school bell chimed loudly in the hallway. "That's everything for today, does anyone have any questions?" A voice broke out in the chatter of noises. "Professor Amayuku, will there be class on Friday?" Hitomi exclaimed. Professor Amayuku turned to look at Hitomi, a cold nature about him. "Why would there not be? We always have class on Fridays." He calmly replied. Hitomi was shocked, as she had earlier been told that a close friend of Professor Amayuku had died and the funeral was on the coming Friday. "Sorry for asking but, isn't the- "She paused, nervous she would come off the wrong way. "If you are referring to my late friend's funeral, I will not be attending." He said flatly. "Oh, I understand, sorry to hear of your loss." As class dismissed and noise arose all throughout the building, Hitomi rushed to meet her friends in the courtyard. Her high school was a large 3,600 students, built in the heart of Kyoto. As Hitomi walked through the bustling hall towards the stairs, she noticed Professor Amayuku staring at her from behind as he left the class room. She shivered and continued down the staircase. She knew all along that Professor Amayuku was not the most pleasant person in the world, but what worried her recently was his increasingly odd behavior. Not only did he watch her all the time outside of class, but she occasionally found him following her home from a distance. She continued down the stairs, becoming more skeptical of her professor as she though longer and hard of his doings. "Hey, Hitomi!" A warmer voice came too as she was then greeted by her friend, Akio. His unkempt brown-blonde hair and his mischievous smile were unmistakable. He put his hand on her shoulder and cheerfully exclaimed, "What's up? How was your day?" She relaxed and replied, "It was okay I guess, it's the same every day." She smiled and they started to walk outside, into the sunlight courtyard. "Great! So are you coming with the gang later to get something to eat?" He cheerfully hopped around her as they walked. "We're looking to get sushi from a really nice place tonight! And you know it wouldn't be the same unless you came along!" The wind calmly blew about as they continued through the busy courtyard. "Maybe, it is a Wednesday you know, I have to study and stuff." She shrugged and smiled. "But winter just ended and the spring air is so much nicer! We haven't gone out in a while anyways, it'll be fun!" He insisted. "I know, I know Aiko. You're so good at convincing people of doing things, maybe you should be a politician or something." She said sarcastically, tilting her head and rolling her eyes. "Maybe you're right! After all, I am a genius!" He said humorously. They continued to stroll through the courtyard, gradually making their way to the front gate. "Hey, I have to be somewhere later! I'll send you a message or something! See you!" He said grinning as he hurried off down the street. "See you later or something." She said as she turned around the other way to continue on her way home. As she walked she noticed less traffic than usual. "Hmm, that's weird. The weather is nice today, I would have thought more people would be out doing stuff." She crossed a street and proceeded down an alley, the same she always goes through to get to her apartment building. When she was about half way through the alley, she kneeled down to tie her shoe. "Ugh, this always happens. Why here of all places." She slowly peered back to check what was behind her. Her eyes immediately widened as she saw a dark man standing near the entrance. She turned and quickly finished tying her shoe. As soon as she finished, she got up and quickly walked towards the exit. As she walked faster, she could feel his presence close behind her. Just as she exited the alley, she felt an arm grab hold of her shoulder and turn her around. She let out a scream, but when she saw him, a sudden wave of relief came over her. "Hey Hitomi! I'm sorry for scaring you and all, it's just that I need a favor back at the apartment." The man was her next-door neighbor on the same floor as her. "It's okay Takumi! You just scared me there for a second, I thought you were some mugger or something." His face became dismayed. "Me a mugger? I think we both know you would be more willing to beat someone up for money!" They both laughed and sighed in comfort. "What favor did you need?" She asked him kindly. "Oh, it's stupid. I locked myself out of my room again, and I remember leaving my keys on your coffee table last night, when I was over watching a game with your father." She smiled and replied. "It's no problem, you know you could have just called apartment security. They can unlock any door if you have identification." He scratched his head and smiled. "Yeah! I know, but it was just easier since I managed to catch up to you going home." They made their way to the apartment building and stepped into the main elevator, taking them to the 23rd floor. "Hey, so I was really surprised that your father was home last night for the game. I haven't seen him in a while since he was appointed regional manager of KMRC." (Kyoto Medical Research Corporation) She shrugged and replied, "Yeah, he has been really busy since he got that new job." The elevator dinged as it passed each floor. "Say, do you know what they have been researching lately? They always come out with the most interesting stuff!" "He hasn't said much about his job or the company. I do remember the last thing he told me was that they were doing research on people, obviously legal and humane, but that is all I can remember." She closed her eyes and leaned against the elevator wall, the hum and vibrations moving through her. "Is that so, I'm more just interested in what I can talk to him about when I see him next. He is quite an interesting guy to talk with." As the elevator slowed, a loud ding chimed out and a digital voice announced that they had arrived. As the doors opened, both of them quietly stepped out. They walked down the hallway to her apartment, passing by a hallway of windows. Takumi shuddered. "I live up this high and I still don't like heights." "You would think one would have gotten used to it, but no, not me!" He proclaimed. "It's really not that bad. You know, you get a great view of this beautiful city" Hitomi said, as she reached into her bag to find the key. Once they were in her room, she walked over to her living room and put down her backpack. "Here it is! I found my key! Thank you so much Hitomi!" he shouted, as he headed for the door. "Not a problem, knock if you ever need anything!" She shouted in response. "I need to relax, after all the work I've done in the last few days." She turned on the light to the kitchen and filled up her water boiler with water from her sink filter. "Some hot tea will only make me feel better." She said to herself as she prepared herself her favorite, black lemon tea. She glanced at her phone's clock and started to feel culpable. She remembered she was supposed to go out with her friends later, there was even a message from Akio in her notifications. The same sarcastic emoji read across his message and a reminder for her to come, despite whether or not she was busy. She unlocked her phone and started to reply, "Sorry, I'm just not feeling it tonight." She sent the message and proceeded to put her phone on the table, a few feet away from her. "I really should study, but I'm just super tired today." She said to herself as she moved onto the white couch in her living room. She looked out the panoramic window at the vast city around her. The towers scraped the edges of the sky, and the energy-light streets looked almost like veins from her perspective. She softly closed her eyes, and started to fade off into another world, forgetting everything around her.