BEB |Prolouge| "Ayumu Murata, wake up!"

The sinking sun, painting the town different hues of orange, yellow, and red, the singing of birds and the grass dancing in the wind, summer has come to this old and sleepy town.

The sound of paper slapping a desk, normally it's an endearing sound for Ayumu, but not this time for a stack of papers ready to be graded has found their way to his desk. "Ahhh... this job doesn't even seem worth it.." he let out a heavy sigh, unsure of how long the new task was going to take. Seconds, minutes, hours, it all seemed to tick by slowly for him, but his enduring personality, pessimistic thoughts, and rational train of thought kept him focused long enough to ensure the work was done properly, all in time to get home three hours later than normal. He picked his satchel up, readying himself for the journey home, it wasn't too terribly long, but it was cold and dark, things his young mind didn't too much care for, being only fourteen years old he rarely wanted to stay out past the schools closing time, five o'clock, but this wasn't an option tonight.

"I will catch you later Mr. Ishida, please don't stay up too late coming up with material for your next class!" Ayumu called out as he was heading for the door, pausing only to say "Oh, and please take care going home so late at night, I do worry for you after all." Ayumu turned to Mr. Ishida, long grey hair, combed over into a half-decent hairstyle, a clean shaven face revealing his age a little too well, a deep earthen brown eyes, and a gentle smile, that is who Ayumu knows to be the man named Isamu Ishida. "Don't worry Ayumu, I may be a bit old, possibly senile, but I can still take care of myself." he mind trailed off, but he refocused his attention, catching Ayumu as he closed the door "Please send my wife a text so I know you made it home safely, alright Ayumu?" The impatient youth nodded his head, smiling, "Alright, I will make sure to do so." He closed the door, happy to have broken his teacher and colleagues attention away from his work to get him talking. "Hmmm.. what am I gonna make for dinner tonight..?" putting his satchel over his shoulder, Ayumu makes his way to the schools entrance. 'Kyoto University', how long had he been here now, he often pondered the road he has traveled thus far, and always wonders what more he will there be.

Isamu Ishida, a man with a profound passion for higher education, is Ayumu Murata's benefactor, watching over him for nearly nine years now, he continues to do so by taking Ayumu in as his research assistant as well as having negotiated a deal with the school to allow Ayumu to work on Campus as a 'Teaching Aide' for any alumni that needs a warm body to help with their class. Before having Ayumu in his class, Isamu was simply a teacher in a respectable school who happened to be married, but he wasn't seen as a very nice teacher, no, in fact he was indeed very serious about everything he taught to degree that made him very hard to be around. Isamu's career hardships took a different path near five years and a few weeks shy of the present day when A. Murata first entered into his class 'Physics - I'. Ayumu Murata was nine years old when he entered into Kyoto University, having been guided by his fathers acquaintance, Mr. Ishida, he managed to skip through many grades by proving his intelligence through test scores, as well as some creative story-telling when it came to him and his family, but all in all, he made it with hard work and determination as that is what he was taught by his mentor and benefactor. Not having known what kind of classmate they were getting, the students of 'Physics-I' had to be gently introduced to the idea that intelligence shouldn't be limited by age, and as time went on the class slowly began to accept the small child into their lives, but not without hardships. Another story for later down the line perhaps.

An overdramatic yawn stretched across Ayumu's face, he covered his mouth, closed his eyes and let it all out, "Hwwaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh.." the train lightly gliding along its tracks made time seem to move much faster. The young boy held his satchel in one hand, and a bag of food in the other hand. He knew it wasn't anything extravagant, just some bread and drinks, since he really didn't know how to cook he simply never did, but he enjoys it all the same. Ayumu's stop was approaching, he knew this by the upcoming surroundings, with many different buildings all tightly built around one another; some restaurants, the old library, the clinic, public bath-house, Shizune Matsuo's Girls Private School, Noguchi public Schools, and of course his cozy little corner, a peaceful looking town with very old looking houses. The train stopped, and Ayumu gathered his items, preparing to walk through the cold once more as night began to settle across his home, painting it various shades of purple, blue, and black with odd white and yellow light you see here and there. "Brr, this fall is gonna be cold, huh?" he walked out of the station, going down the same old roads he has always known.

Ayumu Murata, a boy genius so-to-speak, he skipped high school, part of middle school, and went straight into University with the help of an acquaintance of his late father. Mr. Murata was a very strict man, an office worker, perfectionist, and of course disciplinarian, bordering on the line of abuse he taught Ayumu from a tender age of what it meant to fail, and what it meant to succeed, neither left you feeling very fufilled, but Mr. Murata had more invested in Ayumu than Ayumu knew, since he has three children prior to having Ayumu, he simply ignored them once his wife delivered to him a male heir for the family, however, his wife left him shortly after to create a better life for his daughters, leaving Ayumu in his fathers care from that point forward. Ryuu Murata treated Ayumu harshly while he knew him, and Ayumu knew this well, but still cared for his father despite all of it, he didn't truely understand how much he would miss his father until his seventh birthday when the sudden rush of anger he was gonna lash out at Ayumu with ended his life in a massive heart attack. The Doctors said it was "only a matter of time" with how he drank every night, and worked all day every day. Ryuu Murata was a bastard, he made sure that he thoroughly separated Ayumu from his mother, by removing all traces of her around Ayumu, as well as all traces of her having been around or with Ayumu. Nobody knew what to do with a child like this, but only one man took Ayumu in, preventing child protective services from moving him around to different families, Isamu Ishida. Ayumu unlocked the door to the front of his little home, the only thing his father had really left him, following the same routine he normally does, "I'm home!" he shouts through the house taking his shoes off at the door, hanging his bag near the front door, he takes the food to the kitchen. The kitchen is sparsely populated with anything, save a couple sets of cutlery, a few pans, a pot, a refrigerator, and a rice maker, the table is completely wooden, four chairs sit around the table, but only one looks used. He takes the melon bread and water from the bag in front of him and places it onto the tabletop, letting his meal set in, "..will this be enough?" he mumbles to himself as he tears open the breads packaging. It doesn't take him long to finish his meal, leaving him plenty of time to think about his empty house. 'Four bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms, a driveway, a laundry room, a living room, and a guest room. I never will understand why Dad got a house with so much room with no intention of filling it..' his thoughts drifting around his head. "Alright!" he slapped his cheeks, "Time to get ready for bed! I have the weekend off! What am I gonna do!" he walks up the stairs in the main hallway, "I haven't gonna shopping in a while, and I have a good bit saved up now.. oh wait! I owe Big-Sis Aki some food, I guess I will return the favor to her tomorrow." Ayumu opened the door to his room, walking in he sees the same plain walls, wood paneled flooring, and simple light fixture hanging from the ceiling, a long futon laid in the farthest right corner of the room. Ayumu changes into his night clothes, a t-shirt and boxers, and laid down.

The sun paints the town unique shades of green, yellow, and blue, morning has come but Ayumu hasn't yet started his day. A car door opens and a slender figure gets out, "I bet he hasn't even got up yet." A women, looking to be in her late twenties, she has long, silky black hair, a light complexion, and a feminine appearance. Her car is modern but dated, her attire is professional yet relaxed, she wears glasses that fall to the end of her nose while she moves, her name is Akiko Ishida, the head researcher for the 'Streamline' innovative research labs. "This brat.." Akiko is standing at the front door, having rang the bell, to no avail as Ayumu is not answering, "Sleeping in huh, well how about I wake him up by doing something fun.." she ponders her words, leaving no time to waste she walks to the side of the house where the small alley between the neighboring residence and Ayumu's meet, wedging herself into the alley, she makes a slow expedition to the bedroom window. 'Hmmm, he normally leaves his window unlocked, right?' Akiko thinks as she lines herself up beneath his window, with one swift movement she jumps up and grabs the windows ledge, pulling herself up enough to gain a foothold on a misshapen wooden beam.

"Ayumu..! What are you doing! I told you never to step foot in my study, you worthless child!" a young Ayumu is standing in a doorway, frozen in fear, facing away from the voice. "Turn around and answer me, what were you doing Ayumu?" the voice sounds so familiar, but Ayumu knows this is false, for as he turns to face the unnamed voice he is instead turning to face a dark void of emptiness, but this dream always ends the same way 'right?' Ayumu's neck is grabbed, the choking begins, an intense feeling of dread washes over him, "Stupid child! Moronic boy! You should never have existed...you...disappear!" the grip on his throat tightens, the boy stubbornly clings to life, trying to fight off the shadowy beast, but to no avail, his vision begins to fade away from him. "Ayumu..." a voice calls to him in this moment, "Ayumu... up.." the voice was getting more and more clear each time he heard it, "Ayumu, wake... up..", 'Wake up?' he thought, "You lazy brat, waaaaake, up!" a sudden pain rips Ayumu from his nightmare, sweat drenched, the boy locks eyes with his attacker, a deep brown with hints of green thrown into the mix, "Big sis! stop! I heard you! I'm up, I'm up!" Ayumu surrenders under her might, since she is thirteen years older than the boy, as well as appearing to have more muscle mass than him. "Ayumu you lazy brat! You need to wake up earlier on your own! It's the weekend after all, you only get to have so many of them to yourself!" she pulls him from his bed, the sweat on his body covers her hands as she does so, "Ayumu, it wasn't warm at all last night.. are you getting sick?" Akiko says leaning in and feeling his forehead, Ayumu pulls away stating "I am fine Sis, I just had that dream again." she lets his arm go, leaving Ayumu to get up the rest of the way. Akiko, turning away from Ayumu, says "W-Well, it can't be helped since you have h-had these nightmares for a while now, but for now just get cleaned up and dressed, I will borrow your kitchen and make some breakfast for you!" she says walking towards the door, "But don't think for a second I will let you go back to sleep what-so-ever you little shit, now finish waking up!" the smile splayed across her face reminds Ayumu of just how playful she is.

Ayumu decides to take a shower and to change into some casual clothes, a sweater vest with a nice undershirt and some warm pants, and then proceeds downstairs, being met halfway down with the smell of a decent breakfast on the horizon. "What's on the menu today Aki?" Ayumu asks, taking a seat at the dining table, he knows it's gonna be something that she enjoys since she really only cooks for herself or her roommates, "We are gonna be having toast, miso soup, and scrambled eggs!" Akiko responds with a smile, not wanting to take her eyes off of the food. Ayumu smiles, acknowledging how much of a burden he has been on her, and her mother and father. Akiko and Ayumu have known one another for a good bit of time, almost eight years since she is the daughter of Ayumu's mentor and benefactor Isamu, and during the time they have known one another their relationship has slowly turned into that of a older sister, and younger brother. Ayumu has always been physically weak, and not very akin to physical activity, which Akiko knows, but that's why she does her best to break of his habits, and to help bring him out of his world to get up and to move around. There is much more to their relationship than just this, but that is for another time.

"Alright! We're gonna go to the lab today!" Akiko begins talking in the middle of enjoying breakfast, Ayumu, who is now less than enthused, asks "W-Why the lab all of a sudden?", to which Akiko responds "Ever since you helped me that day with my project, I have really wanted to see what you can do in a lab setting.." she says, barely restricting her excitement about the situation. Ayumu on the other hand, knows full and well it never stops with just one thing or the other, if he agrees to go, she will have him working an entire day so he proposes a different plan, "U-Ummm, h-how about I-I take you over to get a parfait, and we can look around the shops they have over in the market close to home..?" he blushes slightly, feeling conscious of himself for having asked Akiko to go shopping with him, and how he stumbled and fumbled through asking her. Akiko's eyes narrow in on Ayumu, "Haaaaah, trying to avoid my lab, huh?" she glares at him, "I will only allow it if you can solve a few of my questions!" she stands up, attempting to act smug in front of Ayumu, and failing to cause him any stress or panic in those words, which in turn annoyed her even more. Ayumu smiles, and says "Alright, Aki, I will play along with you, if you're playing along with me as well." a coy smile on his face, "Hmmm, alright! You have deal then!" Akiko agrees with Ayumu. After a few minutes of simple trivia, Akiko had her competitive spirit stoked, knowing that a handful of questions asked could be answered by some of the newer members of her laboratory. "I get it, I get it!" Akiko stand up, pointing at Ayumu "You are really smart, but why waste it working for my father?!", Ayumu puts on a blank expression then smiles, saying "You know I'm too young to be working in such an environment, plus nobody there would be willing to accept a fourteen year old got hired in leu of someone with more experience." Akiko puffs out her chest in retaliation, her smile now giving way to a look of mixed anger mixing in "I dare anyone to challenge my authority on bringing you over to the lab! They all know how important my father is to the field of work we're in, and when they hear that you were personally taught by him, well they-" Ayumu puts his hands on the table, standing up he says "Please Akiko, I really don't want to cause any strife, I barely get away from it at the university." Akiko looks on as Ayumu takes his dishes to the sink, thinking to herself 'What a waste of talent...', and then asks "Who's giving you a hard time? Is it another teacher? Everyone should know that you aren't just another brat, they should know you are a full fledged teachers aide." Ayumu and Akiko continue their conversations as they lock up and prepare to head out to go shopping.