Therapeutic ♥ Treatment (Kyoya Ootori)

The Science of Tears (3)

Three missed calls. 2 from my father, and 1 from my mother. The problem with coming from such a well-off family is that you often lose a lot of the bonding time most of society sees as necessary. Growing up with two professors and researchers, it's not surprising anymore that they might miss dinner. It has become such a reoccurring pattern, in fact, that I've grown quite accustomed to having a simple meal made and brought up to my study. A Hungry Ghosts album plays through my sound system, and I surround myself in both personal research and school work.

In the past year, my time has been spent in a medical facility and relaxing with books. I'm not positive that a year off of school was completely necessary, but I had no problem testing back into honors third years, so I'd say I wasn't missing much at all. Something I certainly was missing, though, was the development of this silly host club. I recall vaguely that rumors were circulating about the headmaster's son running a club for beautiful people, but it was quite strange to come back and see that such a thing had truly happened. Kyoya Ootori certainly belonged in such a club.

Whilst I am a purely scientific girl, I can admit to letting myself dabble in such an illogical and recreational thing as a crush. To be completely honest, my chemicals started acting up around Kyoya in middle school. Whilst one theory on attraction states that chemicals react based on our primal need to mate, and we chose people who we believe we'd have beautiful or better children with, I doubt my attraction matches that theory. I think it actually all started in our physical science class, when we had a class competition to see who could best memorize the periodic table. After many failed attempts of students, I held the current title. I had the entire table memorized. I had from birth. Whilst most children were still attempting to read, I was learning how to classify dinosaurs and how elements were discovered.

An academic achievement can do one of two things- make you feel achieved, or make you feel like an outcast. I still wore a proud smirk as the bell rang dismissing everyone from class, but that faded as the sly comments were made by students slipping out of the doors. That was really the only time I had ever experienced anything but praise for my knowledge, I had never really bore witness to anyone expressing jealousy or shame through insults, never mind been a victim of it. The labels they threw at me are meaningless now, but when you're young you let things like that bother you, and as the last few students slipped out of the room with eyes glaring daggers at me, I was certainly taking the judgment to heart. My lacrimal glands produced salty tears that poured down my cheeks.

"There was some research done a while back.." My blurry eyes focused on the small boy in front of me. I recognized him as Kyoya Ootori, he shared much of the same honors classes with me at the time. "They said that emotional tears contain manganese and prolactin, which your brain releases when you experience stress. Your body forces you to release those chemicals so that you can return to a normal chemical balance." The young boy steps up to the white board and uncaps an expo marker, erasing to of the squares in the periodic table and correcting them with proper capital letters. "If you never let your body produce that chemical imbalance, you'll never have a reason for tears." He recaps the marker and gives me a small smile before heading towards the door. "Besides, I don't think geek is that bad of a title."

To anyone else, I'm sure such a small thing wouldn't mean much. But for some reason, on that day, he made another chemical in my brain release, and I experienced a natural high on dopamine every time he even raised his hand in class. Admittedly, he is the reason I chose to go to an Ootori Medical Facility when the time came. If I couldn't have the comfort of seeing him in class, I'd at least have the comfort of hearing his name every now and then. I guess somewhere, in the deepest depths of my heart, I went there wishing he'd come visit me someday... but I knew there was a snowball's chance in hell for that.

Yet still, everyday I sat in that bed, ordered two cups of blueberry tea-- just in case-- and I waited. I daydreamed, I wished, and I thought about him.