Omake Chapter: Amy, keeper of knowledge.
1800hrs, 2 March 2013, Tokyo, Japan.
"With water as the basis, the spirit becomes like water. Water adopts the shape of its receptacle, it is sometimes a trickle and sometimes a wild sea." Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of the Five Rings.
"Introverts, in contrast, may have strong social skills and enjoy parties and business meetings, but after a while wish they were home in their pajamas. They prefer to devote their social energies to close friends, colleagues, and family. They listen more than they talk, think before they speak, and often feel as if they express themselves better in writing than in conversation. They tend to dislike conflict. Many have a horror of small talk, but enjoy deep discussions." Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.
"Amy…Amy…."
The voice brought her back to reality. Amy couldn't really remember what was going on in the dream, but it had to do something with dungeons and a dungeon keeper and defeating some Zarekos guy…
"Amy, wake up."
That snapped her head off her physics textbook and almost into Serena, who was standing over her.
"Whoa, watch it there!" Serena said with a smile.
"Serena…? Oh, hi." Amy took a second to remember what the hell she was doing again. She had been helping that idiot of a friend Serena out with some of her homework, and then everything had gone black. Amy looked around at her surroundings; she was in her house, which was predominately Western style. She had been studying at the kitchen table, her textbooks spread all about along with Serena's. It wasn't too terribly hard to tell their work apart, since Serena's was the one that was extremely easy.
"You fell asleep there for a second."
"Sorry about that, I'm really tired. It's been a long week, and Mom has been more stressed than usual."
"Anything you want to talk about?"
"Nah, she's been just overworked. Something to do with the Nakanishi Group taking ownership of the hospital or something like that. She really doesn't like that."
Serena leaned back in her chair and looked at the ceiling. "Can't say I blame her, but it hasn't been on the news recently. Like, you mom is one of the best doctors in the country, and that would at least raise some waves…right?"
"Who do you think controls the media here, Serena?" Amy said back, giving her a look.
"Guess you have a point."
"Anyway…was there anything else that you needed help with?"
Serena looked very unhappy that Amy had brought them back onto topic, but that's just how Amy rolled.
"I can't get this problem here. Can you help me with it?"
Amy took Serena's book and read the problem.
"When F(x) = x^2, and g(x) = x – 4, what is f(g(x))? Then, what is g(f(x))?"
Okay, that's pretty easy, Amy thought to herself.
"You see this? When the function "f" of "x" is equivalent to x raised to the fourth power, and when "g" of "x" is x minus four, you put "f" into "g", and you get…?"
She looked at Serena, hoping that explanation would be enough. The blank look told her that it wasn't.
"Let's do this step by step then. So, write out "x^2."
Serena did so.
"What does the equation say about this then?"
"Um…" Serena squinted at the problem; the numbers and letters were all blending together, and it just didn't make any damn sense to her. "I…uh…"
She put down (x^2)(x-4) = x^2-4x^2.
"Serena, we're not multiplying them together," Amy sighed, realizing that this was such an Sisyphean task that it might take them hours just to get through this one problem. "Think of it this way. When you get those pork buns you like so much…"
"Okay." That got Serena's attention.
"What's inside of them?"
"Well, pork, of course. And the sauce, and the other spices and maybe vegetables."
"That's how this equation is going to work. We put "g" into "f". "G" is the pork, and "f" is the bun."
Serena squinted some more…then it finally hit her.
"Oh, I see!" She started writing furiously. After she was done, the output looked like this;
(x-4)^2 = (x-4)(x-4)
"Very good. Now simplify that equation."
More writing.
(x-4)(x-4) = x^2 -4x -4x +16 = x^2 -8x+16.
"See? That wasn't hard at all," Amy said with a slight smile. Even if you are a dumbass, there's still some hope for you after all. Well, that's what friends are for, right?
"I get it! I get it!" Serena clapped her hands together and flashed a bigger smile at Amy. "So the other part of the problem would be…"
g(f(x)) = x^2 -4.
"That was easy!"
"Now do the rest of your homework," Amy chided, trying to keep the very excited Serena back on task.
For once, Serena seemed actually into her homework, mainly because she knew she could finally do it, and that after finishing it, she would get some of those pork buns Amy had been going on about in her analogy. Mmmm…
Ding dong. The doorbell rang. It was probably Lita, coming over to study as well.
"I got it," Amy said.
She got up from the table from she was studying and walked over to the front door.
"Evening, Lita."
"Evening." Lita slipped off her shoes at the door and walked on in.
"Is that…?" She looked surprised to see Serena actually studying for a change.
"What did you do to her?" she whispered to Amy, continuing to stare at the furiously writing Serena.
"I just compared some of the math problems to sticky buns, and she completely got into it."
"I can hear you two over there," Serena said.
Lita and Amy gave each other a look, then giggled at her.
"What did I do?" Serena asked, glaring at the two of them.
"Well, you're studying! And doing actual work for a change."
"I want sticky buns!" she protested back. "I know you have them in your fridge, Amy."
There was no placating this girl, Amy thought to herself. "Alright. You win. Are you finished with your work?"
"I've just got one more problem."
"Okay, I'll start heating up…"
"Don't worry about that, I'll take care of it."
Amy was about to protest, but Lita was so much better at cooking than she was.
"They're on the top shelf. Mom brought them home last night."
"Good."
Lita didn't like to reheat those sticky buns, because they were better off fresh and consumed right away. However, Serena didn't really care, and from the looks of it, Amy didn't either.
"Oh well." Lita went to the fridge and pulled out the sticky buns. They were in an plastic bag, and despite being a day old, they looked pretty fresh.
"Where do you think she got them?" Lita asked Amy, popping them in the microwave on a plate and setting the time. A couple of minutes should do it.
"Probably from one of her work events. They always give out free food and stuff, and since she's one of the more high ranking doctors…"
"I get it. You don't have to spend much on food," Lita joked.
That made Amy smile. "Yeah. I guess so." She wondered where her mother was at this time…probably on the wards again, doing her thing. Amy hoped that she could live up to her reputation.
Back on topic, she though. "Okay, what do you need help with today?"
"Well, it's this history problem...thing."
Lita pulled a folder out of her backpack and took a piece of paper out of it. She handed it to Amy, who took a brief glance at it.
"Write a five paragraph essay concerning the defining characteristics of the Taisho era in Japanese History." The rest of the problem detailed how the essay should be formatted and the types of rare kanji that might crop up in their research.
Beep beep. The microwave stopped, and Lita pulled the sticky buns out of the microwave, bringing them over to the table where Amy and Serena were now sitting. Serena immediately snapped one of the buns up and devoured it, while Amy merely nibbled on hers.
"Well, we've got a couple of things. Let's set up an outline so that we can better organize our thoughts."
Amy brought her new tablet computer out, much to Lita's surprise.
"What is that thing?"
That surprised Amy; the iPad was a very common piece of technology and almost everyone Amy knew had one…everyone except Lita apparently.
"It's an iPad. A portable tablet computer and stuff."
"Like a microcomputer?"
"This isn't the Nineties," Amy chastised, "But something like that." She wasn't going to go in the specifics with Lita.
"Anyway, so, what do you know about the Taisho period?"
"Uh…"
It wasn't looking like a great start for Lita, much to Amy's dismay. Thankfully, she recovered.
"Well…there was that Prime Minister guy…uh…he had that one slogan. Something about being a PM and a commoner at the same time."
"Yes. And his name was?"
"Uh…Hara…Hara…Hara something or the other."
"Hara Takashi."
"Yeah, that's the one!"
"Mmm-hmm." Amy made some notes in the outline and continued on with her questioning. "So, what else was going on the world?"
Lita rocked her chair back and forth for a second before answering. "World War One…I think."
"Yes, and what side were we on?"
"Er…" Even within Japanese textbooks, there was still controversy about certain things. While WWI was not a particular point of contention, war was still avoided and/or downplayed significantly. WWII on the other hand…
"We were on the side of the Allies, or Entente. What else do you know?"
"Um…the earthquake?"
"Yes, the Kanto earthquake of 1923." It seemed like Lita had reached the end of her knowledge, but it seemed a good place to stop anyway. "Well, I think that's enough to start on anyway. The Taisho era started in 1912 and ended in 1926, and we've covered some of the more basic elements of the era. So…"
Amy held up her tablet computer and showed it Lita.
"Start with an outline like this, and fill in the blanks in the events you haven't mentioned. I think the school's library website…"
"I brought some of the books home from the library though…"
"Well then, get to it!"
"Geez, so forceful." Lita took a look at the outline and drew one up of her own on some paper, and within thirty minutes, she had completed the outline and the first two paragraphs.
"Ah, so beautiful," she said, looking up from her handiwork. Amy peered over at her paper, after helping Serena out on some more homework, this time, in biology.
"You've only done two paragraphs," she commented, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, well, I'll get it done tomorrow."
"Uh-huh."
"What, you don't trust me?" Lita mocked.
"Right."
"Hey, you need to not be such a hardass all the time, you know?"
Lita pondered for a second what to do next.
"I've got a great idea. Let's go up to your room and have a look around or something."
Before Amy could protest, Lita had jumped up from her chair and fled up the stairs to Amy's room.
Lita looked around in Amy room for a second. She looked at her Western-style bed, and saw that the usually perfectly made bed was somewhat messed up, including the pillows.
Hehe, I think I know where Amy keeps her secret diary. Peeking under the pillow, there was a little notebook. Curiously, Lita opened up the notebook and read the contents.
All that was written on the page were these words;
"You should really keep your eyes to yourself, Lita."
Lita whipped around and saw Amy standing in the doorway, trying not to laugh.
"Goddammit Amy!"
"You're welcome," she said, still trying to cover her laugh.
"You really gave me a fucking scare there!"
Amy shrugged her shoulders and leaned against the doorframe. "I'm just kidding, jeez."
Lita sighed and plopped the book back onto the bed.
"Thanks for helping me out on my homework today. I don't know what I would have done without you."
Amy shrugged again. "Hey, that's what I'm here for. No problem at all."
"Yeah, thanks!"
Serena appeared behind Amy and flung her arms around her in a big embrace. That certainly took her by surprise, and caused Lita to blush. She didn't know why she was blushing though…
"So, you got any movies or video games or something like that up here? Or do you just study all the goddamn time?"
"Well, I do study a lot…"
"You're such a killjoy, Amy," Serena joked. "Of course, I wouldn't think a studious girl like you would have that Transformers movie over there on your desk."
Lita turned her head at the desk, and sure enough, there was the movie in a DVD case. The "newest" one wouldn't come out for another year, but in the meanwhile, they could still enjoy copious amounts of violence and action that the film provided.
"I didn't know you liked Transformers. Or any of that stuff, for that matter."
Amy really didn't want to admit that, and ended up stuttering an answer. "I…uh…"
"It's okay," Serena said with a smile. "You're just like everyone else then!"
Lita joined in persuading her. "Come on, let's watch it."
"Guys…" Amy tried to protest, but it was kind of a futile gesture. Within a minute, Serena had popped the movie into her laptop computer on her desk, and all of them flopped down on Amy's bed to watch the horrifyingly bad, but enjoyable, film. At least there were good explosions and all, and that seemed to be the standard cure-all for bad acting and plot.
Amy smiled, glad that she had friends like these.