Doctor Mut-Who
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:32 am
by Mut-Who
Alright, quick note before getting on with this: this particular part of the story, a rather short segment I'll admit, is being posted before anything else because I haven't written in years and I'm looking to see how badly my ability might have degraded. I don't want to go too far into this story to find that, to others, my writing is akin to a live skull-fucking. So, with the promise that future updates to this will be much longer, I'd like to ask for some feedback and constructive criticism on my style and ability. Anything that I might need/could improve upon, you understand.
Ironically, this could be seen as being just about as long as the first segment of a Doctor Who episode before cutting to commercial break.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first taste! I look forward to whatever advice the other members of this magnificent fandom can offer!
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Spinocerebellar ataxia. To the nurse the term was just an overly long way of telling otherwise healthy people that their lives would be over in a matter of years. The niceties of 'we'll make sure you're comfortable' or 'who knows what sort of advancements might be just around the corner' didn't quite seem to cut it, especially not with the young people who would be afflicted with this condition that he'd have to deal with day in and day out at this school.
After all, what sort of consolation is a comfy bed or a cure if you're struck incapable of doing so much as breathing by yourself without assistance.
Plopping down a folder with the results of a few tests, he watched sullenly as one such student, Saki Enomoto, watched him from a sitting position, a dejected expression on her face. With a lot of other students, he could promise forms of treatments of lifestyle choices that might help keep their condition in line, keep it from enjoying the lives that they had even barely begun to live, without worry.
Judging by Saki's expression and the tightening feeling in the nurse's stomach, neither one of them thought these were acceptable, or at least viable, options. Spinocerebellar ataxia was taking her life away, and there was no cure coming down the pipe or change in her lifestyle that could alter that. It could be slowed down, for a time at least, however the folders in front of him held information that even cast a very cold dose of reality on this assertion.
Strength tests, reflex tests, testing of her fine motor skills: all of them pointed to one conclusion...
“I'm afraid the tests confirm what your recent difficulties hinted at: the degrading of your muscle tissue is beginning to gain momentum.”
The young woman didn't even bother to feign surprise. Over the past week she's been having trouble finding the strength to will herself around. The support her crutch once gave her was no longer able to keep her up as easily, sending her collapsing to the floor and even simple tasks were becoming a hassle.
For most people, this could just be exhaustion or a severe lack of sleep from stress creeping up on them, draining them of strength that would return with a good night's sleep or a pot of hot coffee. For Saki, it meant that her life as an active, functioning person was well on route to it's end.
“I can still get around though.” She speaks up, sounding completely bitter, as she looks over to her crutch. “It can't be that bad.”
The nurse just sighs. “Well it isn't that good either. If you can't keep yourself up on the crutch for extended periods, then we'll have to transition you to a wheel chair. In addition your check ups will need to become more frequent so that I can keep an eye on it's progression-”
As the nurse spoke Saki merely tuned his advice out, having committed the summarized version of it to memory. She'd need a wheel chair, then a full-time assistant... and with that would go any resemblance of a normal life.
After the nurse scheduled another visit for tomorrow Saki retrieved her crutch. After several minutes spent assuring the nurse that she would be fine, she began to walk down the hallway, dusk peering in through the small windows of the door.
Carefully measuring out each step, completely taken in by the effort required to get around and her bitter loathing of it, Saki failed to notice something step out from one of the adjoining hallways.
A few minutes later, while the nurse was setting up to head out for the evening, he heard a sudden echoing clatter coming from down the hall. Quickly stepping outside of his office to check on the noise, concerned that it might be a student having fallen on their way for a last minute check-up, the nurse's eyes went wide at what he saw.
Saki's crutch lay in the middle of the hallway: no sign of Saki, no sign of a struggle, no sign of anything at all.
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“We continue to report live from the campus of the Yamaku High School for disabled children after the sudden disappearance of yet another student from the campus. Last night, after visiting the nurse's office, one Saki Enomoto disappeared quite suddenly, the nurse in during the time of the disappearance reporting to have only found her crutch in the hallway leading out from his office, without nary a sound or sight that might give clues as to what happened to the young woman.
While runaway students and other troubled behavior is hardly unexpected given the poor state of many who attend the high school, this recent spattering of disappearances have baffled local investigators and school security. No trace has been found of any of the six children who have vanished anywhere on campus or within the local vicinity and eye witness reports of possible sightings are varied and often unreliable. With no sign of a struggle or apparent kidnapping of even the physically capable of the vanished student body, investigators and Yamaku staff insist that the disappearances are likely students running away, and will keep the grounds open while-”
A quick press and toss of the remote silenced the small television in the apartment of Akio Mutou, the teacher of the news-focused high school quickly assembling his attire for the day (albeit in his usual, sloppy, lethargic manner). The otherwise dull eyes of the bedraggled professor seemed intently focused on the television screen, even while going about dressing himself.
Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth he quickly prepared a cup of coffee to wake himself up before heading to the high school. While the machine dispensed the drink into a Styrofoam cup that had seen it's fair share of use, Mutou walked over to a desk nearby his front door and began putting together what he'd need for the day. Money for the taxi rides to and back, his ID and his wallet all went into various pockets, he quickly stashed the papers, hastily graded just last night, into a folder along with his lesson plans and quickly grabbed his apartment keys.
While getting together all his mundane items, Mutou's hand lightly grazed the surface of a lone key that sat upon his desk. A rather old, rustic little thing that sat entirely separate from anything else on his desk, even trash that was otherwise thrown without care onto the desk. Mutou's eyes seemed to dart to the key, keenly focusing on it as his hand gingerly picked it up, bringing it in front of his eyes to gaze upon.
A ding from the coffee pot pulled Mutou out of his fascination with the key, setting the item down onto the desk, right back into the spot so separate from everything else, as he ran back into the kitchen. Grabbing his coffee the teacher quickly made for the door in a rush, opening it before grabbing his school folder and shutting it quickly behind him.
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Doctor Mut-Who
Starring:
David Tennant
Hisao Nakai
Emi Ibarazaki
Hanako Ikezawa
Lilly Satou
Rin Tezuka
Shizune Hakamichi
and Shiina “Misha” Mikado
Featuring:
Yamaku Nurse
Saki Enomoto
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Re: Doctor Mut-Who
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 6:23 am
by Mut-Who
His eyes drifted. It'd been a habit picked up over the past few days. Always taking constant glances to the periphery of his vision, always watching for anything that might be there. Taking glances to the door to ensure that nothing sat there, watching him from behind layers of clothes that perfectly hid a face that Hisao always felt behind him. He'd start out the window, carefully scanning the grounds between the classroom and his dorm room for a flowing brown coat, or a wide-brimmed hat... any sign of what might otherwise stop him from a quiet journey to his dorm. Then again, it was probably worse when it was quiet: he couldn't see or hear him, but he knew he was there, watching him, observing him, always there.
'Tomorrow's the day then...'
That was Hisao's only thought as he tapped his pencil against one of Mutou's work sheets, his eyes vacantly drilling holes through the sheet of paper placed before him after his vision was finished drifting. Hisao, usually easily capable of solving the equations set out before him, with a little help from his usually partners Shizune, the deaf president of the Student Council, and Misha, her pink-haired always active translator, found himself at a loss today.
Not out of being incapable of coming up with answers to these problems. Every few seconds when his mind could focus enough to bring attention to the problems on the sheet, an answer would easily be forthcoming. The problem was that his attention would drift over this past week.
He hadn't thought much of the news when he arrived at Yamaku High School, of the six kids who had disappeared mysteriously. Standing at the iron gates, his first impulse was actually to run as far from the school as possible. So he pretty well understood why students might feel like running away, but it did dishearten him another way: it would mean the feeling would never leave.
He was proven very correct: wanting to run away never did leave him. Now, it was just around for very different reasons.
It started off, while not innocently enough, non-threateningly enough. A slight buzzing sound in his ear would make itself known every few hours, distracting Hisao and drawing his attention to the possible source of it. It actually occurred during his first lunch period, sitting down with Shizune, the deaf president of the Student Council, and Misha, her interpreter. Hisao was asking them about various facets of the school: where the library was, what hours were the various dining periods, the location of the nurses' office and so on.
Then, it a small buzzing sound, almost like static over a phone, started to hum in his ears. Misha must've heard it too, as the pink haired girl pressed an index finger into each ear and scratched, as if trying to dig out whatever may have been causing the noise. Hisao, for his part, just looked around to see if he could find the source of the noise. No such luck.
After he awkwardly explained why he and Misha had suddenly ended the conversation with Shizune, who had been completely out of the loop for that time, Hisao was lead on over to the nurse's office. The nurse, a nice enough guy he supposed, seemed rather distracted during their visit, a pale tone to his skin and dark circles underneath his eyes. Hisao would later learn that the most recent 'runaway' had disappeared just down the hall from his office.
The fact actually caused Hisao some discomfort, considering how jovial the nurse was trying to be during his own visit, but it was over soon after the visit concluded.
Afterward, Hisao continued to hear the static, every so often buzzing just loud enough for him to hear it, even as he put himself to bed.
On Tuesday the static continued to be an on and off occurrence, usually in the chaotic mess that was the halls in between classes and lunch or when he was, for the most part, alone. One instance in particular was during a run in with a girl named Lilly Satou, a blind girl who acted as a neighboring class' representative, in the tea room. Hisao continued to be heartened by the fact that he didn't seem to be the only one who heard it. As with Misha the day before, Lilly seemed to be vaguely aware of the noise too.
Perhaps she didn't bring it up because it was only a minor nuisance, something that didn't bother her too much. For Hisao, well, he didn't bring it up because it had quickly become a bother: something that just popped in and out from time to time. Maybe it was because of his hospitalization, maybe it was just something to do with the school.
Whatever the case, after tea he visited the library and ran into a friend of Lilly's, Hanako, a girl with very bad looking burn scars running down the right side of her face and on her hand. The run in was short lived, as the girl ran off after very little was said between the two.
After picking up some books to feed his reading habit, Hisao walked back to his dorm. The grounds had become rather empty by that point, people either still in club meetings or having gone back to their dorms. It was at about the mid-point of his journey back to the dorm room that Hisao's hearing picked up on the static again.
If that were the end of it, Hisao would've brushed it off as he had been. Instead he noticed something, just on the edged of his periphery. Having turned his head to look, Hisao's chest tightened a bit at what he saw.
Standing just to the side of one of the school buildings on campus was a figure standing several inches taller than Hisao, at about a little over six feet tall if he had to wager a guess. The figure was quite masculine, looking immensely strong underneath his clothing.
A thick, brown coat buttoned all the way up to his neck, which itself was covered by a thick, flowing scarf that seemed to wrap about the entirety of the lower have of his face. A wide brim hat cast a thick shadow on the rest of his face, combined with the distance between them to leave Hisao entirely incapable of seeing this man's face. The rest of his body was similarly covered, gloves, boots and dress pants making sure that not an inch of his form was exposed.
The static buzzing in his ear remained as he stared, before long Hisao rubbing his eyes to try to dispel the visage of the man. Indeed, when Hisao opened his eyes again, the man was gone, the static ringing in his ears soon following.
Hisao hoped this would've just been a one-off appearance, or at least could be easily explained away. However, the appearances, and threatening nature, of this figure would only escalate from Wednesday's lunch period, after a run in with another student.
Said student, Emi, a member of the track team with no legs, crashed into him in the hall after class had ended. Hisao, still nervous over the appearance of the man yesterday, had deemed it a good idea to take lunch on his own today, to try and calm down before his worry and stress ended up distressing anyone else. This 'good idea' ended with Hisao in a panic, as Emi's crash into him brought about a painful flutter in his chest.
The incident drew more than a few stares, as Lilly had been coming down the hall to pick up Hanako and Shizune and Misha had noticed Hisao's quick retreat into the hallway. After some deep breaths to calm his heart, to bring the pain down, Hisao assured them he was alright and quickly left, trying not to gather much more attention than he had.
However, after that time and throughout the day, Hisao couldn't help but be brought back to the pain in his chest. Not because it was actively hurting him anymore, but because the man from the day before, this stranger, set about stressing and scaring Hisao to no end. Every now and then Hisao would hear a buzzing in his ear, and a quick glance to look around would bring to his gaze the dressed man as he watched Hisao, as he stalked him.
The tense paranoia of knowing that this person was following him all across the school had sent Hisao's heart into fits throughout the day. His heartbeat had been elevated after his run in with Emi, had only worsened throughout the day. When he met Rin, an armless artist, and noticed that the person was staring at him from the courtyard through the window Hisao's heart threatened another flutter.
When he tried to point the man out to Rin, she turned her head to look. Hisao inwardly cursed, the man had already departed. The act caused Rin to quirk an eyebrow at Hisao, saying something that caused Hisao to shudder.
“Huh, maybe the problem is in your head after all.”
Beyond any shadow of a doubt that was the biggest punch to the gut that Hisao had suffered during his time at Yamaku. The consideration that maybe he was just seeing all of this in hid head, that the stress from his heart, the hospital and coming to a new school was overwhelming him.
It was what scared him from telling anyone about this at all. He knew his numerous drugs had side effects, at best the staff would just pass it off as his drugs and change them around, sending Hisao's body into another fit as he got used to some other combination of pills. At worst, it wasn't the drugs, and Hisao would be sent off to the hospital, or worse, thrown into a padded cell.
Another hit to his stomach came when he exited the art room and ran into Misha and Shizune, both of them taking a step back out of surprise when they saw him, as if they'd seen a ghost.
Four months spent in the hospital choking down various pills and going through several surgeries couldn't have helped build any sort of 'healthy' look to him. Now that he's been at Yamaku he's spent the past day being stalked by some stranger, his near omnipresence a terribly threatening force. The fact that he might be insane, only seeing this man as a figment inspired by four months of crushing loneliness, drugs and surgeries and the loss of what had been his old life...
All that stress and paranoia was wrecking him both inside and out.
He continued to feel on edge throughout the rest of the day, being distracted by his paranoia even while helping Rin with her mural. For Hisao, it was a immense relief to go back to his dorm room and try to relax, immediately going for the shower to try to wash away his stress and tension with a nice hot shower.
It seemed to work for a while, even as he stepped out of the shower. The thick steam obscured his vision, which ordinarily wouldn't have been a problem. As he toweled himself off, however, a rather strong bump into his side brought him out of his calmed state. Figuring it was Kenji, his 'roommate' as it were, Hisao turned to apologize for the bump.
Instead Hisao nearly bit his tongue off as the imposing figure of the man stood before him, his face obscured by mist and shadow as he stood before the arrhythmic student. As Hisao's heart started to pump blood as if there were no tomorrow the man, seemingly with little effort on his own part, pushed his finger tips into the right side of Hisao's chest, sending him flat onto his rear as he bumped up against the wall.
Hisao quickly grabbed at his heart, already feeling the fluttering pain starting to return. He damned his arrhythmia, it was turning what was supposed to be his most basic survival instinct, fight or flight, against him as the panic and instinctual desire to get away was killing him.
Hisao's mind practically shut down at this. He was going to die either way, no matter what. Either he'd stay there and let this man do what he would, or he could run and his heart would explode.
The doctors had said that his heart would be the end of him, but he didn't expect the end to come like this. Hisao closed his eyes and turned his head away from the man.
“Pathetic.”
Hisao shivered at the memory of the tone of that voice. That cold, unfeeling, hollow tone.
“Your form begs you to run, but the flawed, broken construction prevents you from doing so.”
“It is a terrible construct.”
What he said next stuck with Hisao throughout that evening and all of the next day.
“One that can be fixed.”
There, on the floor of his bathroom, as his heart threatened to just blow out of his chest, Hisao opened his eyes in surprise, as he tried to look at this man directly. They sat there and stared at each other, Hisao at a face he couldn't see, and the man into a face that was equal parts horrified and in pain.
“Preparations will be complete Saturday. Be ready to ascend to perfection.”
With that the hulking figure of a man turned stiffly and walked off, heavy footfalls echoing in the room for a time afterward before the sound of his steps disappeared.
Hisao would have tried to pursue, but his heart was still beating rapidly against his chest. By the time it calmed down, the man would be long gone. Taking a few minutes to try to get his heart under control, Hisao slowly stood up, still heavily shaken by the experience.
And this time, as his reflection showed, he had five well placed bruises on the ride side of his chest to confirm that what he had experienced was very much real.
A few knocks at his door came fifteen minutes later, a member of the dorm's security staff had come to check in on him confirmed something he had suspected when the man disappeared. The cameras in the dorm had gone out during the time the man would've been inside, and the staff wanted to make sure none of the students disappeared.
Once again Hisao realized that he had been the only one to see this man. It was getting to become a point of frustration now: before he could have blamed the drugs, or think that he was slightly deranged. Now it seemed that everyone was too busy with the festival to notice or that this stalker had his fingers placed against the pulse of the school that he knew how to manipulate things to work out for him.
Despite being surrounded by people in this school, he was starting to feel just as alone and useless as he had felt back at the hospital.
The next day was spent with Hisao doing everything in his power to surround himself with people. He knew that the man would still have a watchful eye over him, but at least if he was surrounded by people Hisao could be reasonably certain that this man wouldn't swoop in and insult and/or scare him to near death again.
It actually started with his first morning run with Emi, a good enough experience that the nurse had suggested to help strengthen his heart. He was sweating and tired afterward, but he had to admit that running did take his mind off of his stalker.
After a quick shower (ignoring Hisao being scared nearly to death by Kenji having quietly sneaked in to try to bum money off of him, Hisao thinking that the tall-figured man had come back for him sooner than he said), Hisao went to class for the day. The morning class had barely even begun before something happened. Lilly had come around the class early to look for Hanako, said girl having not come to class yet or spoken with her yet that day. Lilly, unfortunately, ended up running into Shizune and Misha.
It was unfortunate because, as Hisao quickly saw in the scene that pieced itself together before him, Lilly and Shizune just did not care for each other at all. Their miniature battle played out before his and Misha's eyes, obviously distressing the both of them (especially Misha, who seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable with translating Shizune's barbs against Lilly).
Course, it was only made all the more distressing when Shizune turned her attention to him. With Shizune pressing him about joining the Student Council again (a concern he had largely forgotten thanks to the stalker business) and about doing things for the festival, Hisao saw not only an excellent opportunity to get surrounded by as many people as possible as often as possible, but to disarm Shizune's and Lilly's fight.
“You know what Shizune, you're absolutely right.”
If Hisao had felt a little less stressed, he might've smiled at the memory of Misha's, Shizune's and Lilly's shocked expressions.
“I haven't been doing enough. If I'm going to figure out what I'm going to want to do around here, I need to buckle down and get involved. I promise to help with the festival: I'll help Lilly and her class out with a few things, I'll pass some stuff around for you and Misha, heck, maybe I'll even stop by Rin's mural to see if I can help out there.”
Of course, had this been any other situation, this would've been complete and utter bull. Hisao really didn't want to get involved in too much, not while he was still so new to the scene and so... lethargic, he supposed the word was. But this was just about the best opportunity he could see to duck his head in amongst as many other people as possible. It was the only way he could even slightly feel safe around here. Maybe that safety could've helped him think about what the man had said to him in his bathroom, but that was another concern entirely.
Right now, he just wanted to have as many people between him and that stalker as possible.
Instead of being met with immediate approval from any of the parties, they all actually looked on at him with concern. His episode with Emi and the heart flutter was well known and, although Lilly couldn't see his physical appearance (although he was sure Hanako could fill her in on the rather details), Shizune and Misha could see that he looked amazingly tired and stressed.
“You sure about that Hicchan? Seems like a lot to put yourself through...”
“I'll be fine, really.”
All three of them probably wanted to press the point of his appearance, but before they could the rest of the class began to pour in. Shizune, Lilly and Misha seemed to accept Hisao's offer, thankfully forgetting about the argument that had occurred not mere minutes ago.
The nearly ever present static would be there throughout the rest of the day, but Hisao was able to take it in some stride by not glancing around for 'him'. Painting with Hanako in Lilly's home room for a time, handing out fliers for Shizune and Misha later and mixing more paint with Rin, and Hisao managed to keep the thoughts of the imposing man at bay. Of course by the end of the day he was absolutely exhausted, but that hardly mattered. It didn't matter if he was exhausted, wearing himself ragged. All that mattered was that he could feign some sense of safety.
One 'very' quick shower later and Hisao collapsed onto his bed for sleep, falling into a deep sleep immediately.
All that brought Hisao's recollection to this morning.
He honestly didn't know what he was thinking when he was on his run with Emi, only his second one since having the heart attack. Maybe Emi's teasing enlivened him to a degree. Maybe the stress had just pushed him forward, as if he could outrun everything that was on his mind.
Maybe, somewhere in the very back corner of his mind, he wanted to prove the man wrong. Prove that his 'broken' body was still capable. That his 'imperfection' wasn't so bad.
Of course, his heart chose that moment to absolutely destroy that notion. He felt a great pain erupt in his chest as he stopped his running, bent over with his hands wrapped around his torso as he tried to calm his heart. Although he was successful in preventing a full on heart attack, Hisao nonetheless ended up being on the receiving end of a very frustrated chat with the nurse and laid up in the cot for a few hours to rest.
If it weren't for the nurse's otherwise jovial, honest nature and the personal touches made to his office, Hisao would've thought the scene a dead ringer for his hospitalization.
Perhaps it was that realization, after the nurse was called out to check on some student's accident somewhere on campus, that finally caused Hisao to break down, crying in the empty office.
He was broken. There was no denying it. His body was flawed and it was flawed to the point where his previous life was no longer within his reach. He couldn't run for much longer than a few dozen seconds without suddenly having to fear for his heart's condition, his health was in shambles from the months spent in the hospital, the surgeries, the drugs and he had to constantly worry about his worrying, which stupidly enough, only made him worry more...
He was a mess. Of course it had everything to do with the stalker, but he was less a cause than the instigator. His presence forced Hisao to come to terms with all this. Maybe if he hadn't stalked Hisao, panicked him to no end, then maybe Hisao could've gone on for a few more months (though even that, at this point, seemed charitable) without realizing just how limiting his body was on him now.
But no. It happened then and there. The realization of the limitations of his form were forced on him not even a week after his 'new' life was supposed to begin.
… But.
At least there seemed to be a way out. The man, for all the fear and paranoia he inspired in Hisao, did seem to be perfectly super human. Able to track Hisao down wherever he went, strong enough to send him on his ass with what looked like little more than a small shove and built like an ox.
Any typical madman could've just killed Hisao and have been done with it. Perhaps it was Hisao's mind just trying to reach for something, anything, that could've prevented him from living out a life where he had to be afraid of his own body.
It was stupid of course, and probably amazingly dangerous to consider. However, for even the briefest of moments, Hisao was ready to accept the man's offer of 'perfection'.
A few minutes later and another talking to from the nurse, and here Hisao was. He had slept straight on through the lunch period and arrived late to class. Mutou noticed this, but a note from the nurse told him what he needed to know. Hisao sighed, knowing that the others were bound to be curious as to what the note was about, but he resigned himself to dealing with it at the end of class...
'Speaking of which...' Hisao thought to himself as the bell for the afternoon class' end suddenly rang, students suddenly popping up out of their chairs to leave. Hisao looked over to Shizune and Misha, each of them noticing his empty work sheet. Neither, even Shizune, seemed particularly upset though: both gave Hisao very concerned looks. Knowing that he was going to have to talk, Hisao took a breath and prepared to explain himself.
“Hisao, can I have a word with you?”
Saved by Mutou.
Hisao turned his head to Mutou, noticing that the man was staring directly at him with an equally worried expression to Misha and Shizune. Likely the combination of him not doing his work and the note had gotten Mutou worried and had him wanting to have his own chat with Hisao.
Misha and Shizune, for their part, just spared another look to Hisao before being chased off by a rather stern look from Mutou, the two waving goodbye to him before getting out of the classroom. Hisao quickly pulled up a desk to Mutou's, figuring that the sooner he and Mutou spoke, the sooner he could leave.
Mutou, however, seemed less than ready to even start this conversation. Mutou's hands seemed to rub nervously up against each other, or across his five o'clock shadow. He seemed nervous and unsure of how to broach the situation.
“Mr. Mutou, I'm sorry for not doing my work.” Hisao said, his own stress-induced impatience causing him to speak first, drawing Mutou out from his thoughts. “I promise I'll make them up for tomorrow.”
“Hisao, that's not what I'm concerned about...” Mutou said, his normal, rather dull tone of voice seemingly crossed with something else. A hint of frustration, maybe? Was he really so unsure of how to talk about this entire thing?
“Is it about the note? I've already talked it over with the nurse, he's already given me the entire thing about my heart and how I should be more careful about it and-”
“This isn't about that either.” Mutou suddenly interrupted with a rather quick word, Hisao finding himself a bit surprised before Mutou pulled back, seemingly going into thought for a moment. “Well, I suppose it sort of is. In that sort of satellite way where what happened with you earlier is more or less circling around the bigger problem. Same thing with this afternoon's work too now that I think about it, so never mind what I said earlier.”
A swift sniff marked the end of Mutou's statement, before the teacher shook his head and reeled himself further back again.
“If this was just about today, then I could pass it off as a bump in the road. But for the past four days... well, it's just been one swing downward as far as I can tell.” Mutou said, leaning back in his chair. “You're obviously getting more and more stressed, you're exhausted, you're pretty much as distant and distracted as any thing I have ever seen in all my days and, sorry to say this, but you don't exactly look good. I mean, you didn't walk in here looking like the picture of prized health, but you've managed to get even below that.”
Hisao actually had to blink as he was observing his teacher. It seemed like every time he opened his mouth his tone started off in the calm, bland droning that he'd gotten used to in Mutou's teaching and general speaking, but now as he spoke it just seemed to devolve into a rapid, energetic sort of rambling. By the end of a statement he'd seem to try to visibly reel himself back into that bored drone, but it didn't seem to hold.
“I guess what I'm saying is that for all these problems you've been having, there has to be something big that's behind them.” Mutou said, his tone sounding careful as he chose his words. “We've already had problems here with the recent disappearances, and I don't want that to end up happening right in front of me.”
Hisao had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.
“Well look, don't worry about it. I'm not going to run away and leave you feeling like you could've consoled me on how I can feel better and not run off, okay? I'm just going through a lot of stuff right now, you know, the arrhythmia and recently being forced to transplant my entire life to a new school for crippled people, and it's kinda getting to me.”
'Admittedly I'm removing the worst thing about this situation, but still.'
“Hisao, those are big problems yeah, but this isn't the sort of thing I'd expect as a reaction to stress. It's stress, sure, but you're also coming off terribly paranoid. I'm trying-”
“I know you're trying, but it's just not something you can really help with.”
He could see that he had pretty well annoyed Mutou with that last bit there, but really, all things considered, this wasn't something that Mutou could help with. The man who was practically hunting Hisao looked like he could tear Mutou in two.
“Look, thanks for trying to help out, but it's nothing. Now if you'll excuse me.” Hisao quickly stood up and turned to walk out the door. Taking a glance over his shoulder, he noticed Mutou staring at the back of his head, looking pensive as he watched Hisao exit. A few moments later Hisao heard Mutou get up out of his chair and start to walk towards the door, but by then Hisao was already halfway down the hall.
“Look, Mr. Mutou, I-”
“What's after you Hisao?”
Hisao's stride came to a complete halt as he heard this, his head snapped over to look at Mutou. His teacher stood at the door to his classroom, still seeming conflicted in his tone and gaze, but it had become noticeably more steeled, more serious. His eyes seemed far more alive and stern than they had this entire week, and it was a bit unnerving for Hisao.
“What are you talking about?” Hisao asked, Mutou slowly walking down the hall.
“I know I look awfully bored most of the time, but that doesn't mean I don't notice things Hisao, doesn't mean I can't pick out odd behavior.” Mutou said in a hushed tone, the harsh edge of his voice keeping it from being what Hisao would consider a whisper. “I didn't see it happening on your first two days in class, you seemed at least somewhat at ease then. An odd twitch here a glance there, but it wasn't out of anything serious. Those were curious gazes to look around for something. But then I began to see it: I saw it in your eyes, the glances to your sides, to your surroundings, the swift twitches of your head to get a good full look behind you.”
“For the past few days when you've marched yourself into my room you glanced out the door to check on what's there, looked out the window to ensure that nothing was sat out there, looked across your shoulders for some invisible sign. Every time you left you did so with one eye right behind your shoulder, carefully watching and keeping a look out for something. Whatever it was, you were afraid of it being there: just behind you, just out of sight, right where it could get you if it wanted to, right where you wouldn't be able to see it keeping it's sights set on you.”
As Mutou spoke the stern gaze in his eyes intensified. No longer bored or glazed over, these eyes were intensely piercing through Hisao himself, the gaze calculating and heavy, as if brought weighed down and informed by decades more experience than Hisao's life up to this point could offer.
His tone was no longer being reeled back, nor was it somewhat lightened by a ramble. It was strict, it was precise and it spoke with an authority that Hisao felt he couldn't dare rebel against.
“Now... what has an eighteen year old who says all of his problems are right here-” Mutou said, poking Hisao in the left side of his chest. “-looking for trouble behind him. What thing had Hisao Nakai making sure, whether he was in a room full of people or headed out to be on his own, that he wasn't being watched...”
“More importantly, what's got you so afraid that you're making painfully inadequate excuses to try to cover up this paranoia.”
Hisao's breaths began to shudder in and out of his body as he stared up at Mutou. He could feel his fear pick up again
“Mr. M-Mutou, I-I ca- there's nothing...” Hisao's voice shook as he glanced about, only forced to face forward when Mutou grasped both of Hisao's shoulders to still his movements, the teacher kneeling down somewhat to get on a good eye level with Hisao.
“Hisao, listen to me. Whatever it is, I promise you it isn't here right now. Whatever is watching you I can guarantee that it isn't right here watching you.” Mutou said sternly, Hisao practically compelled to look this man in the eyes. “Now, I can help you. I've been around this block more than my fair share of times. I can fix all this: whatever is after you and whatever is after the other students, I can stop it but I need you to trust me.” Mutou said, a shake of Hisao's shoulders punctuating the end of his statement.
“How... how can you possibly help?” Hisao asked incredulously. This man was just his teacher, after all, and a sloppy, normally bored one at that. Hisao took a deep breath in as Mutou's expression seemed to shift, a confident, determined grin sprouting on his face.
“Believe me Hisao. Whatever is after you, when it pieces together who I am it'll be infinitely more afraid of me than you are of it. I can guarantee that.”
It was a ludicrous idea of course. That anyone or anything could be afraid of this man, well, on it's face Hisao knew it was garbage. However, there was the way he said it. The utter conviction and confidence that he carried in his tone. The look in his eyes, sincere and knowing...
There was something about it all that came together and made Hisao want to believe it was true.
“There's this man.” Hisao started, a choked breath following the statement as he looked around again. “He's dressed completely head to toe in thick clothes, I can't make out a thing about him. He's been following me since Tuesday, but no one's seen him other than me! Then there's this noise, this static, that's always accompanying him when he's watching, that I always hear first.” Hisao opened up like a flood gate, the stress and paranoia that had been building up over the past several days being let loose.
“He says he wants to fix me, get rid of my flaws and make me 'perfect', and...” Hisao dropped off at the end, shaking his head as he shuddered. Mutou, for his part, just pat Hisao on the shoulder as he listened.
“It's alright Hisao, just let it out.”
Hisao nodded, taking another breath to steady himself as he continued.
“I'm supposed to meet him sometime tomorrow. He said the preparations for me would be complete by then.” As Hisao finished Mutou nodded, his gaze dropping off to the side before he looked back up at Hisao.
“Meet me in the office buildings after class normally begins tomorrow. Get some sleep tonight, you'll need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready for tomorrow.” Mutou said, patting Hisao on the shoulder as he stood up and began walking, Hisao turning to watch Mutou leave.
“Wait, why are we waiting until tomorrow, that's when he's supposed to come looking for me.” Hisao said, Mutou looking over his shoulder with a small grin.
“Three things: I need time to get ready for all this, you need to rest up if you're going to be any good for this and precisely.” Mutou said, clapping his hands together. “If ever there's going to firmly put an identity to what this thing is, it's going to be when it'll be when it's coming for you.”
“So what, I'm bait?” Hisao asked incredulously.
“Oh, no, no... well, yes.” Mutou said with a laugh. “Oh, and be a sport and be sure to tell everyone that class is canceled tomorrow. Or at least tell Misha and Shizune, they'll get word around.” With that Mutou turned a corner and kept right on walking, his footfalls slowly echoing down the hallway till they were gone.
Hisao stood there for a minute, puzzling over his teacher and his behavior, before sighing and running a hand through his hair. Once again, the young man's world had been thrown for a loop, third time in the last four months. Oh well, at least Mutou wasn't as threatening or vaguely terrifying as the heavily dressed stalker.
'Now, to get news to Misha and Shizune...'
------------------------------------
“WAHAHAHA~!”
'Well, should've seen that coming.' Hisao thought as Misha gleefully laughed aloud in her usual, joyous manner.
“Classes are canceled tomorrow? Hicchan, that's amazing!” Misha said, putting her hands at her sides as she continued to bellow out laughter. Shizune, for her part, while looking somewhat annoyed after Misha translated for her, did look oddly relieved too. If anyone could guess, Shizune was just relieved that they'd have more time to finish up things for the festival on Sunday.
Shizune's hands immediately flew into a series of signs, Misha immediately looking over at her deaf friend before nodding.
“So, Hicchan, what're you going to do with class off tomorrow? You... going to keep on helping us out with the festival?” Misha asked, seeming a bit concerned as she signed the conversation to Shizune, her expression also shifting.
Hisao actually felt a little uncomfortable, trying to think of how to dance around this.
“Well... no, I'm going to go to the... office building, nurse's office, tomorrow.” Hisao said, Misha and Shizune raising an eyebrow. “Just feeling really tired and stuff, want to make sure I'm not destroying the old ticker.” Hisao tried to say with some semblance of a grin. Shizune nodded in understanding at this, Misha nodding a bit more vigorously.
“Sounds like a good idea Hicchan, you do look like you'll dro-” Misha's statement was interrupted by a quick pinch from Shizune, the drill-haired girl yelping in pain as Shizune signed at her. “Shut up Misha!... Wait, I'm Misha.” Shizune sighed in exasperation at her friend, signing again as Misha nodded. “Alright Hicchan, no worries. You go to the nurse's office tomorrow. We'll make sure the others know.” Misha said, Shizune's cheeks puffing up at the end of her statement, Misha apparently throwing that bit at the end herself.
“Thanks Misha, Shizune.” Hisao said, nodding in appreciation. “Welp, I'm going to go head back to my room and crash. Enjoy the day off tomorrow you two.” Hisao said with a smile, Misha just grinning.
“WAHAHAHA~! Please Hicchan, the Student Council never takes a day off!” Misha proclaimed with a bombastic pump of her fist, one translation later leading Shizune to pridefully adjust her glasses.
With that Hisao hastily withdrew to the dorms. He heard the static pop in and out a few times on his way, but just hoped that he really wasn't going to be ready for him until tomorrow. Silently sneaking past Kenji's room to avoid a run in with the paranoid anti-feminist, Hisao slipped into his room and quickly readied for bed. Locking the door and then stacking about as many things in his room as possible against it was just another precautionary step.
Fortune seemed to smile on Hisao for the first time since he arrived: the night ended up being surprisingly restful.
Maybe what Mutou had said had helped calm him down.
------------------------------------
Quiet. Very, very quiet.
When Hisao awoke that morning he quickly made his way over to the office buildings. Figuring that he could lay down 'camp' next to the Nurse's office to ensure that his stalker wouldn't get to him before Mutou did. When he did arrive, he found that the Nurse wasn't in his office, or anywhere to be seen for that matter.
In fact, no one was in their offices on the first floor, not a one.
Still, Hisao waited there for Mutou. Although he couldn't be absolutely sure if Mutou would come, the way he spoke, the look in his eyes: Hisao just believed him. Of course, remembering that Mutou basically outright admitted that he was 'bait' did make Hisao quite uncomfortable, it at least told him that Mutou would be around...
Hopefully.
“It is time.”
Looks like that good faith was going to be put to the test.
Hisao slowly turned around, a swallowing a lump in his throat as he saw his stalker behind him. Without the mist obscuring him from Hisao's vision and so up close, Hisao could actually make out a few odd details. The brim of the hat wasn't what was wide, but the cap of the hat itself, as if to fit a head that was larger than the one currently occupying it.
Then there was a glint that he could just barely make out coming from where his eyes should've been, like metal or glass.
“Yeah... about that, I've been having some second thoughts.” Hisao finally said, taking a step back from the imposing man. The man merely stared for a moment, before taking a few heavy steps of his own.
“You will not have such concerns when it is over. There will be nothing to trouble you at all.” The cold, steel-edged voice replied, Hisao just shrugging.
“Well, you know, I'm not exactly supposed to run off with strangers either, I've got a heart condition-”
“Which will be fixed, along with your other flaws, other imperfections, once you come with me.” The man continued to approach, Hisao swallowing a lump in his throat as he realized he was getting pretty dangerously close to having his back against the wall.
Just as he was about to make a break for it, a pair of fingers reached up to tap the man on the shoulder.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I think I've got something for you sir.”
Hisao blinked rapidly at this. The only person he was expecting to be here was Mutou but this man sounded nothing like him. Nothing like anyone Hisao had heard in his entire life. The stalker stopped and turned around to face whoever it was behind him.
Only to be greeted with a fire extinguisher to the head.
Hisao's eyes widened as a surprisingly metal-on-metal sound clanged out through the hallways, the man falling over like a sack of potatoes from the hit. His hat flew off in a random direction, his head now only being obscured by the rest of his body and the scarf.
Hisao then turned his attention to the assailant and had to do a double take.
Mutou was indeed in front of him, but in a state that Hisao hadn't quite seen him before. His face, while still quite angular and worn, was now cleanly shaven; a grin on his face as he looked down at the body of the stalker. His dress was a similar attire, a long coat with a four-button suit, dress shirt and tie, but it was much better put together, much more tidy than he was used to seeing. In addition, a pair of sneakers adorned his feet, clashing with the dress attire, if only slightly.
“Oh, now this takes me back to when I had no hair.” Mutou said, the accent Hisao had heard now clearly coming from him. “Hit a guy over the head with a wine bottle... or was it the serving tray? I know a wine bottle and serving tray were involved somehow. Well, either way, took his head clean off.” Mutou said with a smile, only then noticing Hisao's rather disturbed expression.
“Oh, don't worry, he wasn't actually a person. He was sentient plastic.” Mutou said, as if that by itself was enough to explain.
“Wh... uh... huh? What?” Hisao asked incredulously.
“Come now Hisao, keep up. If you're tripping up over that then I dunno how you're going to be able to handle all this.” Mutou said, nodding towards a stairwell at the end of the hall. “Now come on: I called a staff meeting upstairs to get people away from the basement, keep 'em distracted. Also, we should probably get going before it gets back up.” Mutou said as he began jogging towards the end of the hall, Hisao stumbling to run along with him in his confusion.
“What, how? You just clocked him over the head with a fire extinguisher. How could he get up after that?” Hisao said as they reached the door to the stairwell.
“Same reason it could do this.” Mutou said, lifting the fire extinguisher into Hisao's field of vision: a massive dent in the metal turned the fire extinguisher into a misshapen hunk of metal. Hisao's jaw dropped when he saw this, his eyes immediately darting over to where the man had been knocked flat onto the ground.
It wasn't that the individual was now easily back onto his feet that concerned Hisao the most, as he turned to face the arrhythmic teen and Mutou.
It was this... thing's head.
A metal mockery of a human head, a gray-toned metal casting that had metal bars extending out of two raised sections where ears should've been, the bars connecting with each other just above the top of it's head in an overall square shape. Hisao would've joked that it explained the hat, but he was far too shaken by, what he found to be, the most defining feature of this... machine's head.
Two holes where eyes should've been. Empty, soulless, black holes that still seemed to burrow their way through him.
“Priorities... recalibrating.”
The tenor of it's voice seemed to be slowly changing, from the calm, steel edged tone of voice to something harsh, something more reflective of it's machine appearance.
“New subject identified as... The Doctor!”
The machine began to march after them, raising it's right arm.
“Priorities recalibrated! Integration of human target secondary objective!”
“Primary objective: The Doctor!”
“You will be deleted!”
“Delete!”
“Delete!”
"Delete!"
