Chapter 153: Chapter 152 - Future Researcher

By the end of the week, Kuro had come to his conclusion.

His friends conducted experiments on humans illegally.

The object of their study?

Himself.

One day it was the hospital.

The next day it was the elementary school.

Then a manga studio.

Whichever place he visited, somebody proclaimed he had "potential."

Kuro’s conclusion was quite opposite.

"I’m unlucky."

Unfortunately, no one agreed.

Especially Aoi.

---

Friday afternoon.

The bell rang out across the campus.

Kuro quickly stuffed his bag and made a resolution to go home right away.

Having taken only three steps toward the exit, he felt somebody’s presence behind him.

"... No."

"I haven’t even said anything."

"You don’t need to."

"I would like to invite you to come tomorrow."

"No, thanks."

"I still didn’t explain my proposition."

"In that case, be brief."

Akari rose up and smiled broadly.

"Kuro evolved."

Rika nodded gravely.

"Now he is able to foresee danger."

Yui raised her hand.

"Incredibly clinically."

Aoi fixed her glasses. ( she always wore glasses while reading or working )

"I already registered your name as a visitor."

Slowly closing his eyes, Kuro asked.

"... And what did you do?"

"I expected your refusal."

"This kind of action is called a trap."

"I prefer calling it planning."

---

Saturday morning.

Kuro found himself at the front of the country’s top research laboratories.

The lab looked quite science-fiction.

Glowing glass walls reflecting morning sunlight.

Researchers in white jackets moving around from one automatic door to another holding laptops with folders of papers.

Kuro looked towards the entrance.

"... I’m starting to miss my own bed."

Aoi looked at him sternly.

"You will survive."

"The same thing I heard before being kidnapped by Rika."

"... But look who’s still here."

"Unfortunately."

---

Inside, it looked... quiet.

Quite different from peace.

Concentrated.

In each room, somebody was looking at computer screens.

Graphs.

Equations.

Models.

Soft murmuring of machines working was coming from everywhere.

Nobody spoke loud.

Even the sounds of footsteps were quieter.

An approaching researcher greeted them.

"Aoi."

"It’s good to see you again."

She politely bowed.

"Thank you for the opportunity."

The researcher smiled.

"And who is this your classmate?"

"Kuro."

The man offered his hand.

"My name is Professor Hayashi."

"Pleased to meet you."

Kuro politely greeted the man.

"Thank you for inviting me."

---

At the beginning of their guided tour, they visited a data analysis department.

Monitors filled the room, displaying beautiful graphs and thousands of data lines.

The professor was speaking energetically.

"We spent six months gathering this information."

Kuro looked at one graph.

Then another.

And then another.

"... They are all lines."

"They are a lifetime of research."

"I believe you."

Laughing, the professor added.

"Statistics are hard to enjoy."

Kuro apologizing nodded.

"I barely survived high school maths."

With a light sigh, Aoi commented.

"As expected."

---

Moving further, they visited a laboratory where microscopes were located.

There was dozens of microscopes.

People studied something under them making notes of what they saw.

Lightning up with excitement, Aoi remarked.

"This is amazing."

Kuro approached one of microscopes.

"... I can’t see anything."

"You forgot to use it."

"Oh."

Looking through a microscope, he said.

"... Still can’t see anything."

"Forgot to adjust the focal point."

"Oh."

Patiently, Aoi explained to him how to use the device.

Finally, Kuro saw something.

Tiny little cells filled the whole lens.

"... They are extremely tiny."

Aoi looked at him in surprise.

"... Yes."

"I don’t know what else to say."

---

Smiling gently, the professor commented.

"Don’t worry about it."

"Research is usually unattractive at first glance."

"But needs a lot of patience."

Kuro nodded.

"I respect it."

"But I don’t think I’m capable."

---

Going to the artificial intelligence department, they came across huge computer screens full of complicated equations and models.

The researchers were arguing what algorithms and models should be applied to the research.

Aoi immediately joined the discussion.

In ten minutes, she was talking to the professor as an equal colleague.

Listening to them for some time.

Three minutes.

Six.

Nine.

His gaze slowly moved outside.

To birds.

The sky was beautiful today.

Probably Mina was doing something interesting.

Maybe Akari had quarreled with somebody.

Rika probably was writing something silly.

"Kuro?"

Opening eyes abruptly, he asked professor.

"... What?"

"Do you have any questions?"

"Honesty?"

"Sure."

"To be frank, I understood only three percent of the conversation."

Everyone laughed.

Aoi covered her face with hands.

---

Lunchtime.

Sitting in the university canteen, they enjoyed the company of the researchers.

They enthusiastically talked about experiments.

Grant money.

Scientific papers.

Future projects.

Kuro silently was eating curry.

Observing him, the professor commented.

"You’ve suddenly got silent."

"I am trying to comprehend it all."

"And?"

Blushing, he replied.

"I gave up."

Chuckling, the professor said.

"Research is not for everybody."

"I can agree with you."

---

Next stop on their tour was a laboratory where researchers were analyzing thousands of behavioral observations.

They were watching videos recorded for weeks making notes.

Curious, Aoi was watching attentively.

Kuro looked at one of screens showing pedestrians walking through the park.

Another showing people coming into the library.

The third one... people shopping.

"... How long are they watching these things?"

Answered professor proudly.

"For three months."

Kuro was dumbstruck.

"... Three months?"

"More than twelve thousand observations."

Long silence followed...

Finally...

Looking at Aoi, he said quietly.

"I would become mad."

All of a sudden one researcher laughed.

"I like this guy."

"He is honest."

One more one nodded.

"I reacted exactly the same during my first year."

---

Guiding him on the rooftop garden overlooking the university territory, Aoi was silently waiting for Kuro’s conclusion.

Silent for a minute.

She looked at Kuro waiting for an answer.

"So..."

"So?"

"How is it?"

Kuro looking at the university landscape said quietly.

"I think they are fantastic."

Waiting several seconds...

Then Aoi asked.

"But?"

Laughing quietly he said.

"Well... I think I will never become a researcher."

"Why?"

He chuckled.

"Well... they get excited when discover something new after months of hard work."

"A perfect description."

"I become excited when make somebody happy."

Silently she looked at him for a while...

Then nodded.

"Understandable."

"I admire your work."

Kuro went on.

"But I don’t think I would be able to survive."

"You survived today."

"Yes."

"But I lost interest after fifteen minutes."

"... Really?"

"Exactly after fourteen minutes and thirty-eight seconds."

He was astonished.

"... You counted it?"

"Curious, as always."

Kuro sighed.

"Of course."

A faint smile played on her lips.

Rarity.

"Conclusion."

She folded arms crossing her chest.

"Definitely no."

Kuro quickly nodded.

"I absolutely agree with you."

---

When leaving for the station, they encountered freshmen wandering around.

Lost.

One of them desperately stared at the map of the campus.

Others complained.

"We definitely got lost."

Without thinking, Kuro walked over to the freshmen and asked.

"Are you looking for Building C?"

They nodded anxiously.

"Yes."

"It’s currently under reconstruction."

"They relocated today’s lecture to Building E."

Relieved, freshmen thanked him.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Thank you a lot!"

They quickly left in order not to be late.

Watching their backs, Aoi silently noted.

"... Once again."

"What?"

"They are grateful to you for nothing."

"They simply asked a question."

"People became less anxious after that."

"I feel their pain."

Laughing quietly, she said.

"... I know how it looks like."

Kuro looked at her smiling and thought.

Throughout the entire day, Kuro had shown interest in the research at a bare minimum.

But whenever somebody needed help...

He instantly changed his mind.

Experiments weren’t attracting him.

People were.

As they walked to the station together, Aoi took her notes.

Making observations.

Subject Kuro.

Failed research.

Then quietly smiling, she added a second line below.

Reason: he is more interested in understanding people than analyzing data.

Closing her notebook, she looked to the left.

Kuro slept calmly in a seat across.

Aoi smiled lightly.

Then looked outside.

Every time it looked like they found a wrong path.

Ironically...

They were gradually moving to the truth.

As both of them left the university grounds, they found themselves taking a shortcut through the botanical garden tended by the biology department.

It was quiet.

Apart from birds chirping and leaves rustling, no other sound filled the air.

Some university students were seated on benches going through their notes.

Others were walking around as they discussed their research projects.

As compared to the laboratories, the atmosphere here seemed far more relaxing.

"This is a great place,"

commented Kuro.

Aoi nodded.

"It allows scientists to clear their heads."

"I see,"

she agreed.

As they strolled further, they came across a young university student sitting all alone under a tree.

Scattered books lay next to him, while his notebook was opened wide.

Both his hands were buried in his hair.

In addition, he looked completely defeated.

Kuro slowed down a bit.

"...Bad day?"

The student raised his head and offered them a weary smile.

"Yeah."

"The proposal for my research project was rejected."

"Ouch."

"For six months now."

The student let out a bitter laugh.

"My professor told me that my data is fine."

"But my explanation fails to inspire any interest."

Kuro sat on an empty bench beside him.

"On what topic are you working then?"

"The impact of green spaces on stress levels."

The student answered.

"We were able to prove that people’s moods get better when they spend time in the park."

"That’s wonderful."

"It should be,"

replied the student gloomily.

However, when I present my research, everybody finds it... boring,"

he added.

After thinking for a second or two, Kuro started looking around the serene garden.

"You know..."

"If you start your presentation with graphs and percentages..."

"People will perceive it as just plain information."

The student nodded.

"But if you start your presentation by asking people to visualize themselves entering this place after having gone through the worst day in their lives..."

While pointing at the trees swaying with the breeze, Kuro went on,

"...then people will realize the importance of your research even without looking at those numbers."

The university student looked puzzled for a few seconds.

And then, he turned to look around.

"...I’ve only been describing the results."

He said to himself.

"But I never bothered to talk about the reason for which I was doing my research."

Kuro smiled.

"Usually, people first recall feelings and then facts."

The student eagerly reached for his notebook and started writing.

"Now..."

He explained excitedly.

"With this..."

"...my presentation gets solved!"

Having looked up gratefully,

"...thank you."

"I almost gave up for today."

"It didn’t take me much effort."

"You did a lot of good there,"

answered the student.

"And that’s because..."

"You managed to translate research findings into a language that people will relate to."

Neither of the couple said anything for a while after resuming their walk.

But eventually, Aoi decided to break the silence.

"You realize that you helped a researcher?"

"I answered his question."

"No."

"You managed to improve his months-long efforts within less than five minutes."

"Because I switched the order of presenting the things."

Aoi looked at him in contemplation.

"No."

"You changed the perspective."

Kuro looked bewildered.

"What’s the difference?"

"Big."

She responded with a faint smile.

"You instinctively start with people."

"Scientists always instinctively start with the data."

Glancing back at the boy eagerly rewriting his presentation,

"...this may be one of the reasons why you are not meant for this job."

Kuro let out a chuckle.

"Aren’t we sure about that already?"

"Yes."

Agreed Aoi.

"But this confirmed one additional thing."

"What?"

Asked Kuro calmly, looking ahead of them.

"Whatever the field..."

"You don’t manage to improve the work."

"But the person who does it."