I'm happy

As expected, the conference was full of students who wanted to kick down the person imparting it. It was annoying. He had planned on finishing the thing quickly, but the students were like piranhas wanting to draw blood and eat flesh.

'If you had been studying properly, you should know this is basic.'

'You can go ahead and try that combination of elements if you want to die; let the world be rid of your stupidity.'

'Your theory lacks substance, you better not dedicate to science.'

'You were deceived if others called you gifted, there's nothing in that head of yours.'

Yuri had never been one for patience, much less tact when it came to subjects he knew very well. He had actually even been scolded by the vice-principal for attacking the students like that. As if trying to humiliate him was fine and a matter of course.

The gifted science teachers for the gifted students scowled at him whenever they tried to support the students' ideas but he easily shot them down.

By the third day of conferences, the staff hated him, and probably half the student population, too.

It was only…

"Doctor Yajima." Someone called out. "I… can you… may you look at this?!" It was a girl followed by another girl and a boy. He looked down a the folder n her hands; he hesitated before taking it.

The group waited anxiously by the side as he read what seemed to be a report on some project they had been working on.

"You haven't gone in depth; many details are missing. One of the elements may react badly, so you need a stabilizer..." The more errors he pointed out the more miserable the faces of the students became. He paused. "For your level, it's good. If you work on it and don't give it up, it can become viable."

"Huh?" The four let out confused sounds in unison.

"Anything else?" He impatiently asked, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Ah, no, thank you very much!" They exclaimed and ran to the exit.

"We did it, professor Alonso!"

"You were right!"

"Thanks for giving us this chance!"

"Yes, yes, now run to your next class." Mariam, who had been waiting on the other side of the double doors shooed them away. Putting all his material in his bag, he also exited the place. She was waiting for him to get out to close the door and lock it. "I'll take you to the staff office. Though I think they will be happy to kick you out as soon as possible." She joked.

"I never saw you there. At the staff office." He had actually noticed that she didn't have an established class schedule. And not even a dozen of students attended her running in the mornings.

It was as if the P.E class was an optional class.

"Well, it's not as if they consider me their peer. P.E is for people who want to waste their time, they said." Even if she said that, she didn't look sad at all.

"Why did you come here?" Back in their school, there were even coaches for those who wanted to focus on a sport. She could have gone to any other place.

"I've been working here since I graduated. In eighteen years, I've stopped 76 suicide attempts and failed 16 times." The two halted in unison, aware of the severity of the conversation they were about to have. "You must have noticed. The environment in this place is... tense. These kids are under a lot of pressure; the teachers only seek results, but don't actually care who they get it from. They don't even know half of their students' names. Being a 'genius' is a curse."

"However, students need motivation and the pressure to get things done. Otherwise they become conformists." He retorted.

"Nobody is your friend here." She said with a sad smile. Yuri's chest tightened. He had been told once that he needed no friends, that they would just drag him down. At some point he believed it. "Even the group that gave you the project will sooner or later break up due to envy and the need to get all the attention. Students here are all tools rather than people."

She was right. The more the adults feed kids' ego, the more vicious they become to be labeled as special, to be the only one in everybody's eyes, to be on the spotlight, to have it all. His ego had been destroyed by her back then.

[I can't win. I can't beat her. Aren't I a genius? I feel so common, just one more person in this sea of people.]

'You were lonely, weren't you?'

"Yes, I was lonely." He subconsciously replied. "I had convinced myself that my classmates with their average IQ would never understand me; so, I desisted in having friends. I thought I was right. But you..." He looked at her surprised eyes. "You were like me, and yet so different. You had friends. You could socialize with others and camouflage like one of them. I could never do that. That's why… Don't give up!" It felt...

"Huh?"

"Don't give up on them!" It felt amazing. To be able to speak like this with her was like splashing color to his monotonous life. "Even if many will tear each other's throats in the future, give them a place where they can rest before they face the storm again. I… I have always wanted to say this to you. For 20 years I've been meaning to tell you one thing." He placed his hands on her shoulders and stared at her with all the sincerity he could muster. "Thank you!"

It was like finding an oasis in the middle of a desert.

Putting cooling balm on a recent wound.

To breath after being under the water for so long.

"For sharing that burden with me for so many years, I thank you. And because you know what it means to be a genius, you can share the burden with them, too."

The gentle smile was back on her face. And even if he knew little about emotions and expressions, he was sure she was flustered for a moment there. What was she flustered about? All he said was the truth.

"You learned how to speak." She said, laughing.

"I could speak coherently at two." He said matter-of-factly. That only made her laugh even louder. Her expression marks became even more pronounced, but he could see the liveliness she had when she was a teen.

She was shining.

.

.

.

"You're amazing, Doctor." The assistant praised her dull boss. "You just went to give a conference and you return with a girlfriend." Though, seriously, Doctor Yajima was not bad looking; just bad tempered and too absorbed in his things that one doesn't have the chance to take a second look at him.

"She… she's not my girlfriend, just a… childhood friend." He was not sure they were friends back then, but they did know each other.

"Eeh..." She didn't believe that because… "You want her to be your girlfriend."

"Ah, no, uh, I…. That's not... right..." Because he gets flustered whenever the topic is brought up.

It was rare for the Doctor to be like this, and sincerely it was the more human she had seen him. Like, he had life. "Should we ask her?"

"Ask her, you say..." Yuri looked confused at his assistant who deftly took out his phone from her pocket—because he had no time to be checking that thing constantly—and started typing. "Don't tell me..."

For all the genius he could be, Doctor Yajima could be rather dense at some things. "Done."

[Yuri Yajima]: There's something I'd like to ask you.

There were some tense minutes before she finally replied.

[Mariam Alonso]:??

The assistant was surprised this Mariam could use this type of informal chatting style. She had tapped at the picture the older woman had on her profile and saw the she was the type of sunny auntie who could bake cakes for her family and suddenly give you flowers. Sweet and amiable.

How her gloomy boss and this woman became friends was a mystery. He didn't even know what an emote was.

[Yuri Yajima]: Are you married?

That was the more important question. Depending on her answer, the assistant could proceed with the next step. Meanwhile, her boss was tying to get busy and pretend he didn't care about the matter. Coward.

[Mariam Alonso]: Was once. Got divorced.

Chance! Now just one more thing...

[Yuri Yajima]: You had kids with him??

In her enthusiasm, the assistant started typing like she usually did. She could not delete the message as Mariam was already typing her reply.

Anyway, it was more important to know about the possible new family her boss could acquire. He was useless at communicating with people, so it would be painful to see him trying to have a father-kid relationship.

[Mariam Alonso]: None.. that's the reason we got divorced. I didn't want kids

"You have a chance, Doctor!" The assistant cried out in victory, startling the poor 'busy' man. "Here." She passed him the phone for him to read the conversation. He had no idea how to feel about it. "Ask her out! Otherwise, you will die alone!" She insisted, seeing him still delaying the matter.

"What's the problem with dying alone?" He mutinously murmured before shakily tapping the decisive message. Closing his eyes, he pressed send.

[Yuri Yajima]: Dinner on Saturday. 7pm. I'll pick you up.

The assistant was dismayed at his telegram-like message. He should be rejected with such an attitude! Where in there was he asking?

[Mariam Alonso]: Typing...

See! She had been typing for a long time just to accept or reject such an insensible man!

[Mariam Alonso]: No beef or pork.

Huh?

[Mariam Alonso]: And don't make others ask me such important questions.

They were discovered!

But…

"I'm glad, Doctor. You have a date with her." She smiled at him, who had the softest expression she had ever seen on his face.

"Yeah."

I'm happy.