Makoto sighed contentedly as she picked up a plate of sandwiches sliced diagonally into quarters. It was past lunchtime and that meant it was time to eat; no exceptions for anyone, especially a certain blue haired woman who had a tendency to be a bit forgetful when it came to this.

Makoto walked through the hall and stopped by the door to Ami's study, knocking softly before coming in anyway.

The tall woman immediately found Ami lying on her back, in the middle of the carpeted floor staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression.

Makoto laughed. "Is the floor comfortable?" she asked with a smile.

Ami returned a shy grin.

"Mind if I join you?"

Ami nodded. Makoto placed the sandwiches to rest on top of Ami's desk before she lied on the floor, beside her partner. "I guess even geniuses need a break from their studies."

"Sometimes," Ami replied with a shrug. "I was just thinking actually."

Makoto turned her head towards Ami expectantly, nonverbally asking her to continue.

Ami's hand moved to caress the brunette's and instinctively, their fingers intertwined. "I was thinking back to high school."

Makoto gave her an incredulous look, "High school?"

"Yes, high school. I was thinking about how I'm really fortunate to have met you."

Makoto blushed fiercely and looked away, "We had some good times back then, didn't we?"

"Perhaps even the best of times. Still… I can't help but also think of a time when things weren't as pleasant."

Makoto sat up slightly, reclining on her elbow. "Want to talk about it? I won't force you to."

"It's fine. It will be good to talk about this…"

...

For the majority of Ami's life, she had accepted the fact that she was, to put it frankly, different. On the exterior, she was the exact same as every other girl her age; two eyes, two ears, and functional limbs. However, what went on inside of her brain is what set her apart.

Although Ami was a child of few words, when it came to intelligence, she was truly gifted; she could recall learning how to read when she was just three. One afternoon, her mother, Saeko, a highly accomplished doctor, stumbled upon her daughter reading through her medical journals and being able to comprehend it.

Ami also had an extraordinary retentive memory; anything she read, she could recall it all by heart years later, exactly as it was. Saeko found this remarkably peculiar, but she was also highly intrigued and inspired to further encourage Ami to pursue her strange interests.

It wasn't too long after that that Saeko also discovered that Ami was gifted at mathematics. Ami could remember waking up every morning at precisely 9:45 and having her mother take her on long walks around town, all the while drilling her on difficult equations. Ami answered the questions correctly every single time without fail. Saeko couldn't explain it, but quantitative values seemed to comfort Ami in a way that nothing else could.

Ami was fortunate to have a mother like Saeko in her life to guide her. She was an independent, intelligent, young woman with wisdom beyond her years. With endless amounts of hard work and endurance, she achieved her dreams and continues to inspire people daily to do the same.

Saeko was the one who taught Ami the importance of a good work ethic, discipline, and punctuality. She was also the one who taught Ami that it was okay to laugh and that it was okay to cry. She was her main source of emotional support; everything that Ami seemed to struggle with, Saeko always seemed to understand. Ami had never been more on the same page with someone other than her mother.

Just like Ami had a mother, she of course also had a father.

Ami's father was a self-employed painter very passionate about his craft. Not having the most stable of careers, Saeko was the main source for financial income of the household. Not that she minded, of course.

Ami's father was a carefree man who saw the world in many shades of gray as opposed to just black and white. He and Saeko were opposites in that regard and many others as well. Ami often times wondered what drew the two together in the first place.

At the drop of a hat, Ami could go from almost completely nonverbal to going off on either her mother or father about many of topics she read about relating to maths and sciences. She could speak on the subjects for hours at any time of day, the plethora of knowledge seemingly unending. Saeko always listened, occasionally adding in her own two cents whenever Ami paused to breathe.

For her father, on the other hand, he didn't want to be bothered.

Saeko did her best to never let her husband's opinions and criticisms ever affect Ami. She constantly reassured her daughter that she could do anything, be anything, and that she didn't ever need to change who she was to please others.

For a long time, Ami did believe her mother whenever she said that to her, but as the years passed and as she progressed in school, she began to have her doubts.

...

"Miss Mizuno," she started, "are you aware of why I'm speaking with you today?"

Ami shook her head slowly.

The guidance counselor sighed tiredly, and gestured to the chair in front of her desk. Ami reluctantly sat down, putting her bag down next to her.

"I've asked you here to today because I needed to express my concerns about you," she continued.

Ami raised a blue brow perplexedly.

"I've been speaking with other teachers and we were in agreement. Ami, it's very obvious that you excel remarkably when it comes to academics, however, in regards to your social skills, you seem to be lacking."

Contrary to what Ami had originally thought, all the way back in kindergarten, school was not easy. It wasn't the actual learning part that she struggled with; in fact she was already miles ahead of her peers before she had even enrolled. The most difficult part of it had been the social aspect.

Both at school and at home, Ami was more on the nonverbal side. At home, she managed to communicate with her mother just fine without even having to use words, but at school things were a bit more complicated. Both she and her peers clearly spoke Japanese, but at the same time, it was as if they were speaking a completely foreign language.

The clear difference was that when her classmates spoke, they spoke like the children they were, in fragmented, unthought out sentences that never seemed to have a point. In the few occasions where Ami did have to communicate verbally, she was an adult; she spoke in long, complex sentences with difficult words that sometimes even the teacher couldn't understand.

As a result of her quirks, she felt alienated amongst her classmates. So if Ami could help it, she chose not to engage with her peers. She didn't understand them and they didn't understand her, so she thought the logical solution was to isolate herself. At recess, the other children played games together, and Ami stayed at her desk with a book in her hand or she'd be working on math problems.

Suddenly Ami's flats became very interesting as she looked down at them.

"I have to be completely honest with you; your high marks will only take you so far, especially in the professional world. If you don't know how to communicate, form relationships with your peers, or even function in a group setting, I do not think that you will succeed. Do you understand?"

Ami said nothing and she never met the counselor's eyes.

"You're extremely bright, but communicating with other kids your age will prove to be just as important as your studies," she said. "Where do you see yourself in the future? Say ten years?"

Ami shrugged.

"Ami, you need to have some sort of goal. What is it?"

"I don't know."

"But-"

Before the counselor could finish her sentence, Ami abruptly stood from the chair.

"Thank you," Ami said with a bow.

She took her bag and hurried out of the office without another word.

The news shouldn't have come as much of a surprise as it did to Ami. She was well aware that she struggled in social affairs, but it was still disheartening to hear those concerns voiced out loud. What Ami did not tell her counselor was that her ultimate dream was to become a celebrated doctor, just like her mother. So it especially stung that that dream would probably remain just a dream, all just because of one particular area she fell short in.

Then she began to feel lightheaded. She grew weak in the knees and she could hear her heart beating in her ears. She walked aimlessly through the hallway until her feet pulled her to a nearby window. She desperately opened it and took several deep breaths to calm her nerves. She stood with her head hanging low and her fingers curled on top of the window sill.

"... yeah, I'm not a huge fan of her. She thinks she's all that just because she can nail a few exams."

Ami's ears perked up.

"I wouldn't call that anything to brag about. It sounds like she needs a hobby."

"Anyone else think she's a robot?"

She peered over her shoulder and noticed a group of students, three girls and a boy, across the hall, having an open discussion. It seemed the two redheaded girls of the group were doing most of the talking.

"You guys, that's enough," the girl with blond hair tried to chastise her friends.

Ami didn't realize how long and how intensely she had been staring until she accidentally made eye contact with her. The girl gasped and pretended to laugh at something the boy next to her said as if they hadn't just been gossiping about Ami a moment ago.

Ami sighed dejectedly and clenched her fists on top of the window sill. She was the one who had to learn to communicate with people and yet all they did was reject her and talk about her behind her back. Why were these the cards she had been dealt with? Why couldn't she just be normal for once instead of being the black sheep of the school?

For years now, Ami convinced herself that she was "alone, not lonely" and that she didn't need friends to drag her down. But more and more she began to realize that that was a lie. Ami knew she would never be considered anything close to a social butterfly, but having even just one acquaintance would be fine by her.

She shut her eyes tight and took another deep breath. Ami couldn't let herself dwell on these thoughts any longer; she had more productive things to accomplish now that the school day was over. With one last deep breath, Ami shut the window and quickly left the school building for her apartment.