Chapter two:
I find myself having trouble sleeping as I toss and turn. I keep on thinking about the offer that was brought to me. I look over my shoulder as Hikaru groans.
"Kaoru?" Hikaru rolls over putting his arm over my body. "What's wrong?"
I turn away to look straight ahead. I should have known that even in his tired state he would have realized that something was wrong. "I had an encounter with someone today." I tell him and he hums in interest so I continue. "This person found out that I am secretly smart. I was offered to do special studies to help me excel towards the future. I just am worried about it. I like the sound of it, but I am worried about stopping my current studies."
"Ah." Hikaru tiredly hums. "Well I think you should do what you think is best. I mean I am inheriting our family business. Does it really matter what you do?"
"I suppose not." I smile softly not fully sure that Hikaru fully realizes what this would mean in his tired state. I'll leave it alone as I don't want to cause Hikaru to be left awake all night. "Thanks Hikaru."
"No problem. Now go to sleep." Hikaru grumbles getting a slight chuckle from me.
"Alright." I agree closing my eyes feeling a bit more relaxed and soon enough we are both asleep.
The next day…
Hikaru went to study with Haruhi for an upcoming test. He agreed since she doesn't know that I am smart as well so Hikaru usually studies with me.
Tamaki tends to push all of us to try to connect with Haruhi as she is a new friend and a part of our club.
I decide that this is the moment so I send a message to Professor Jamie and we get an agreed spot to meet.
It is just afterschool, and after club activities, so it isn't like it is late or anything.
I make it to the building and I blink as it looks really cool.
It's design is brickwork laid out on the bottom making it look like a huge school, an upper part which is a mix of what looks like wood and windows, and even some outdoor patio like areas on what looks like balconies in some spots.
I take a breath before walking up the stairs noticing that to my right is a ramp in case someone can't make it up the stairs. I step inside and I do notice that in the lobby there is large circular art piece hanging from the ceiling looking like some kind of steampunk style globe.
There is a reception desk with two people sitting behind working on computers as they wait for anyone to come over, some signs to help guide people around the building, some doors seem to have a special keycard only access while others look to be unlocked for anyone to go through, some chairs including a couch to lounge in while over here, and there is also the schools steampunk robot with some areas of exposed cogs mascot designed on the floor giving the thumbs up saying 'You've got this!'.
"Ah. Kaoru!" Professor Jamie approaches and we shake hands. "So glad you agreed to my tour. My students are still here in fact so you can get a chance to meet them. Though they'll probably head home soon, unless they really get into their work, which is alright as long as they take care of themselves." He clears his throat. "Forgive me for rambling. Come. I will show you the classroom first."
I nod in agreement and we head through one of the special keycard doors to the left of the receptionist desk.
"We only give keycards to students and only a very special janitor. To preserve my students work and to keep them from being disturbed by outsiders." Jamie explains as we head down the hallway which is like a cat walk with school gardens on either side seen through windows. "The schools gardening classes take care of these areas using other doors to reach them. Some of my students find it relaxing to stand and watch them work from time to time. You're always free to hang out in here and look out to the wonderful garden that has been made."
We reach the end and head through another door. We step into an area with a few different doors all labeled.
Lab/Classroom.
Professor Jamie's Office.
Sleeping Quarters.
All in that order from left to right.
The area looks like a cozy reception area with only couches, chairs and a few tables and no desks in sight.
"Any of my students are always welcome in my office at anytime." Jamie informs me as I turn to blink at him. "We have sleeping quarters for students late nights working on projects so they can get some sleep. I always look out for my students and if I feel like you are not taking care of yourself then I will insist on what you need." He nods for me to come along leading me into the lab slash classroom.
As soon as we step into the room it a huge open area that is well lit and along the walls and windows is privacy screens that one black haired student turns off then folds back into place, showing that it can make an area dark as needed, the room seems to be divided among the students with work stations in areas that give each student room to work. There is plenty of tools all around with anything a student may need in order to do their work. There is also a lot of evidence of projects going on with some work areas being cleaner than others.
I can count seven student work stations with space for maybe ten students total.
"This is where you will do most of your own learning. The privacy screens can even make it quiet for you. A student made them for his fellow students to use for darkness, privacy or quiet. Come." Jamie heads further into the room as I follow after him. He stops at one of the work stations kind of close to the door on the right side.
The student looks to be working on some electrical things inside of a skateboard without wheels. He has brown hair that is styled with long curly top and shorter sides, dark brown eyes very focused on what he is doing, and he is wearing a lab coat buttoned up with black tight jeans and black runners.
"This is Kenji." Jamie introduces me as Kenji gives a sound of acknowledgement not looking up. "He likes to create things seen in movies, just with his own look to them."
"Yup. And currently I am trying to get this hoverboard quieter. It kind of works in that it'll hover but the motors are way too noisy. I will get it to be like Back to Future soon. I just know it." Kenji mentions carefully shifting things around inside of the hoverboard he is making that looks more like a teenagers skateboard in style. He works hard with the board not shifting as he has it securely attached with metal straps.
"Good luck." I nod then follow Jamie as we head to the next work station.
This work station is a female who is working on a slightly weird metal bicycle suspended in the air by hooks on chains. She has medium length black hair tied back into a ponytail, light blue eyes and a slight frown on her face. She is wearing a black t-shirt, black leather jacket with silver metal buttons along the blazer like collar, black leggings, and black converse shoes. She seems to be making some kind of bike with either metallic wheels with some sort of light design or projected wheels.
"This is Kari." Jamie introduces the girl who turns to look to me and Jamie with a look that makes me think of Kyouya.
"New kid?" Kari hums as Jamie nods his head. "Welcome." She turns back to her bike. "If you're curious I am currently working on a way to make tires so they can't be stolen or slashed. That'll stop bad things happening because some bad guy deflated your tires." She keeps working. "Trying metal tires but I am hoping to have hologram like tires one day. It just needs some more research."
"Wow." I am a bit impressed by this because it truly is for a good cause.
Kari hums in agreement and just continues to work on her bike.
I am lead away to the next work station as we are going counter clockwise.
This one belongs to another male who has an up-bangs hairstyle for his black hair, eyes that almost look black and are very narrowed in a very heavy Asian style, he has on a black t-shirt, a dark blue and green plaid long sleeved shirt left unbuttoned on top, jeans and black cowboy leather boots. He is working on screwing parts onto something that has wheels on the bottom.
"Meet Len." Jamie speaking causes Len to glance up from his work then turn back to it. "He has a fascination with robots. He may not talk much but when I asked he said he wanted to make robots that'll move around the house and can help in a number of ways. Just without being able to think for themselves. He's trying to avoid making evil robots."
Len just nods his head before continuing to work.
Jamie leads me away to the next work station.
There is another male who a short perm style haircut for his dark blonde hair, more American than Asian shaped green eyes, wearing a t-shirt with what looks to be a rock band logo on it, grey sweat pants, and black rocks on his feet. He seems to be working on some kind of guitar on a metal and wood desk.
"This is Sako." Jamie introduces the other who doesn't even turn to them. "He likes music though takes breaks to work on other things to not get burnt out."
"It has to be this way." Sako mumbles slightly making sure that he can be heard. "This guitar will have projected strings. It will also always be in tune. No more shit music."
"Please watch your language." Jamie mentions more friendly than stern and Sako nods apologetically. He turns away. "Anyways we have a few more to meet." He leads me away from Sako. "Sako might have a bit of an attitude however do not mind him. He doesn't mean anyone ill intent. He can just be unsure about others at first and keeps his guard up."
I nod in understanding to this. I can understand that very well actually.
We get to the next work station where a girl is looking over blueprints scattered over a very messy looking wooden desk.
Behind the girl there is scarps, parts to what looks like different projects, electric boards with wires nearby, and some tools placed messily yet organized on the floor. She turns to glance to us as we stop just outside of her work area. She has autumn brown hair that looks to be in a long pixie cut hairstyle, light grey eyes just a bit darker than a silver color, wearing a purple long sleeved shirt, red choker around her neck, dark blue sweat pants, and black runners with orange socks poking out of the top. "The name is Mai." She greets to me with a nod before Jamie can say a word. She turns to a drawer to her left which she opens and pulls out what looks like a thin metal rectangular cube. She clicks the top and it opens showing a projected screen like phone that almost seems to hover. "Clear pieces and a lot of light. The phone of the future. Still has some glitches to work on. I want it to work smoothly. Battery drains too fast too." She closes it by pressing on the top letting it slide shut. "The best way to know if something you made is good is to use it yourself. So this is my phone. I don't have any other one." She puts the silver cube away and turns back to the blueprints. "If you come by my work area don't touch anything. I have several projects going on right now. It is how I prefer to work. And disturbing my work space can make me fall behind on my work so I can fix things positions."
"Okay." I agree actually feeling impressed by the awesome looking phone. I follow Jamie to meet the next student.
Another female who has large round glasses on with dark prink metal frame, golden yellow eyes, rusty red hair shoulder length with waves as her hairstyle, hair tucked back by a space like print hair band that is like headband yet keeps the hair mostly back behind the shoulders, a blue pull over hoodie with white drawstrings, plain jeans, and starry sky looking crocs without any socks in sight. She is sitting in front of a desk that looks more like a metal table, her work area has a bunch of book shelves with liquids in bottles, and other table like desks with other chemistry stuff on them looking organized by what they do.
"Meet Riko. She majors in chemistry." Jamie looks to Riko who gets up from her comfy looking black leather desk chair.
Riko hurries over to me and grins to me. "Nice to meet you!" Riko's voice sounds like something a lot of people would melt in cuteness over almost sounding younger than she clearly is, and she slightly wiggles in excitement. "It is so great to meet someone new! I hope that we will get along really well." She blinks and turns back to her chemistry set. "Oh! I am currently working on a chemical mixture that could be a way to help restore natural areas that have been harmed by human pollution. Of course I am also hoping to find a way to help with our pollution. It kind of comes hand in hand don't you think? Well the way I am hoping to help is by adding chemicals into soil which will help the plants then next will also be the ocean." She turns back to me still smiling widely. "Oh! I haven't even caught your name yet."
"Kaoru."
"Nice to meet you!" Riko practically chirps in greeting to me. "Come join me anytime you want. I am so sorry to depart but you must excuse me." She hurries back to her work as some liquid starts to boil.
"Just tell her you have to go if she talks too much." Jamie informs me quietly. "She can let her mouth get away from herself and talk about anything and everything. She will cut things short and bid you goodbye for now if you say you have to go. Easily getting you out of her rambling. Unless her own work requires her attention. That helps too. Chatty yet a diligent worker."
"Good to know." I whisper back and we make our way to the final work station.
There is a male at this work station who is down on one knee working on one part of his project that looks like some kind of teleportation pod with a laptop hooked up to it by many wires. He peeks at us pausing in his work. He has wavy hair that is longer on the top with bangs covering his forehead, hair color being black with blonde highlights that are definitely dyed into his hair, mahogany eyes, a white t-shirt stained with what looks like black grease stains, a black wolf head carved from a gem around his neck on a black string, black shorts, black cushioned knee pads strapped to his knees, and black socks with black ugg boots off to the side. He turns back to his project. "I know what it looks like. However it isn't a teleportation pod." He tells us as he gets back to work. "This is actually a quick scan device. It will help identify what is wrong with someone by scanning the person inside of the machine. This way there won't be so much guessing and waiting for help with health things. It'll also help identify if like an organ is in trouble much faster. It still has a lot of work to get done before I can truly start testing if it even works. I like to look into medical things. If you get an idea feel free to share with me and I will look into it."
"Toshi here is all about helping out others. He actually is a great medic as well. We do have an infirmary if needed, however sometimes some just come to him for help." Jamie explains to me and I nod as that is kind of cool. "Well that leaves one left."
I glance around in confusion only to be led to an empty work area with only a wooden desk waiting to be used.
"If you decide to study with us then this will be your work station." Jamie informs me. "You will get an allowance in funding for whatever your work needs. If you need anything that is outside of your allowance budget you can feel free to bring the idea to me for approval." Jamie explains as I step into the work area.
I actually feel my heart swell in excitement at the thought of making this my own work station to work on whatever I want to. I look around with my mind racing trying to figure out what I could work on first.
"What do you say? More of a tour or are you ready to join our classroom?" Jamie inquires. "You are always free to say no. I will not stop you if you do not wish to study here."