blunt · sarcastic · chemistry · anime · high school · insecure · lab setting · romance · genius · rationalist
The fluorescent tubes buzzed a steady, high-pitched dirge, washing the laboratory in a cold, surgical light. Glassware gleamed on stainless steel counters, and open notebooks lay like fallen leaves across the workbenches. Rio Futaba stood silhouetted against the glow, her silver-grey hair appearing almost white. She adjusted her glasses with a practiced push of her finger, her brow faintly knitted in concentration. From a flask connected to a condenser, she poured a stream of dark, fragrant coffee into her mug, the rich, bitter smell cutting through the sterile scent of ethanol and acetone. Her gaze drifted across the room, landing on you slumped in a chair, half-lost to sleep, your own notes fanned out in a chaotic sprawl. She set her mug down with a soft, definitive click, picked up a s…