Lectures in Science and Marriage
Dr. Sakusa is a stone faced man. He's not mean or rude, per say, but he's very straightforward and to the point. The only thing that Natsu actually knows about him is that he's a professor of astronomy and his first name is Kiyoomi. That's it. She supposes she could look at his professor biography page on the university's website, but even then, that will only tell her his education background, published papers, and research interests. (Do students actually pick a professor like Dr. Sakusa to advise them in any capacity? How can you let someone you don't know advise you?)
Oh, and he's married. She can only tell by the way the glint of gold on his ring finger shines in the light every so often while he lectures. He doesn't move his hands much when he talks, so it took a few weeks into term to notice it, but Natsu has to wonder who he's married to. Are they as closed off as him? How would a relationship like that even work? She can imagine Dr. Sakusa sitting in a mahogany office with a soft fire illuminating a room while sitting in a large, leather armchair reading a book. In a matching armchair sat on the opposite side of the fire is a faceless person, also reading. They occasionally share words that Natsu's imagination never fully decides on, but it seems like a rather boring scene.
Despite his rather dry personality, his classes still manage to be incredibly interesting. He's a very knowledgeable man and Natsu is learning a lot without having to force herself to pay attention. Because of this, she's only visited his office one time to discuss the topic of her paper due at the end of the semester. It was pretty similar to the scene she had imagined with a large, mahogany desk situated against one of the walls in the small room. The opposite wall was taken up by a bookshelf, which appeared to be organized in alphabetical order by author. He did have a few pictures on his desk, but they faced him, so Natsu had no idea who was in the frames. Probably his spouse. Maybe he has kids? Or pets? She could imagine a cat, maybe.
"Reminder that the first draft of your paper is due by Sunday at midnight. Have a good weekend," Dr. Sakusa says, pulling Natsu from her thoughts. She closes her notebook and scoops all of her belongings into her backpack.
She only has a few minutes until her meeting with Dr. Miya, but his office isn't far from here. She slips out of the classroom and down the hall, heading for the skywalk between the science classrooms and science offices. She pushes through the doors and down the stairs, through the hallway. Stopping in front of Dr. Miya's office, she pauses to check her phone. 3:59 PM. Perfect.
Knock knock.
"Come in."
Natsu opens the door and then quietly shuts it behind her. "Hello, Dr. Miya," she says, plopping in the seat in front of his desk and dropping her backpack at her side. Glancing around, his office set up is similar to Dr. Sakusa's, though that shouldn't surprise her; they both have offices in the science building. A dark mahogany desk is settled against the wall, though Dr. Miya's is covered in stacks of papers, uncapped pens littered all over. He has identical bookshelves against the other wall, but there doesn't appear to be much organization at all. Books rest lazily against each other or on their sides with picture frames situated on random shelves. She doesn't have the chance to check out the pictures when Dr. Miya starts speaking.
"Natsu," Dr. Miya says, pushing his laptop aside and giving her a smile. "I hope you didn't have to run to get here. I know you have class with Sakusa right before this."
His accent always throws her a little at first, but she nods and smiles, "I do, but it's not a problem. The classroom isn't too far from here."
"Good," he says, "So I looked over the final draft of your research proposal and I think it's great." He pulls a paper out of one of the large stacks and hands it to her. "I marked off the little changes you need to make, but overall, you're ready to hand it in."
Natsu flips through the pages quickly, noting a few markings here and there, but nothing that will require her to make huge changes to her paper. "Really? But we still have nearly half of the semester left before this is due. There's nothing major that I need to improve?"
"I don't think so. We could start working on your research this semester so you're a little ahead for next semester. Only one semester to do these projects is a lot, so the extra time will be helpful. I usually have a handful of students start early each semester," he beams at her.
Dr. Miya is very, very different Dr. Sakusa. He's open and personable, though he's not always the most reliable (they were supposed to have this meeting last week but Dr. Miya had never showed. Turns out he had to pick up one of his kids early from daycare and forgot to send Natsu an email to reschedule). Someone will ask him a question in class and he'll go off on a half hour tangent about it, which almost always results in him talking about something cute his dog and kids did the other day. There was also that time last semester when their midterm scantron was all "B"s save for the one "C" at the very bottom and it turned out the Dr. Miya lets his daughter mark off scantrons at random and that's where the answers will go. (The class did not have a good time during that test, but Dr. Miya was incredibly amused.) He even handed out coupons to his twin brother's onigiri shop that was located a few hours away, but it's the thought that counts.
Natsu opens her mouth to reply, but is cut off by a knock at the door.
"Oh, sorry," Dr. Miya says to her quickly before his eyes focus past her head and on the door, "Come in."
The door opens about halfway and Natsu twists to see who it is. Dr. Sakusa is leaning against the doorframe, his hand resting on the doorknob. "Oh, hello Natsu. Sorry to interrupt."
"It's fine," she says, blinking at him. She still hasn't put two and two together yet; after all, they're professors in the same department so they probably have to talk sometimes, right?
"Atsumu," Dr. Sakusa's attention lands on the other professor, "you never sent me the grocery list. I'm about to head to the store, what do you need tonight for dinner?"
"Oh," Dr. Miya grabs his phone (it was hidden behind one of the paper stacks). "There," he says a few moments later.
Natsu doesn't think she's ever seen Dr. Sakusa with a phone before (she assumed he had one… maybe). But he has his phone out and is scrolling through, what she assumes, is a grocery list. "Got it. Remember you're picking up the kids from daycare before you get home."
"Yeah, yeah, I remember," Dr. Miya says, but Dr. Sakusa's already closed the door.
Natsu glances back over at the pictures on the bookshelf. Actually looking at them, she sees a few pictures of children who obviously belong to Dr. Miya (and Dr. Sakusa?), a very cute shiba inu, and a picture that must be from when Dr. Miya got married. To Dr. Sakusa. What?
"Bit of a shocker, isn't it?" Dr. Miya chuckles, "You're not the first student to have that look on your face."
"You and… but how?" she asks, focusing on Dr. Miya again. "Wait, sorry, that sounded rude-"
"No, I promise that's everyone's reaction. Still shocks me sometimes, too. I think Kiyoomi is probably the most shocked about it, even after all this time. We met in undergrad. I wasn't the most serious student at that point and needed a tutor. I didn't think he would keep teaching me after our first session but. Here we are. Anyways," he states, "review the notes I left on your paper and hand it in. Then we can get started on your research."
"Right," Natsu says, looking at the paper she forgot she was holding. "Thank you, Dr. Miya."