Under the harsh halo of the fluorescent library lights, Shiho Miyano's brow creased as she studied the young man across from her. He appeared to be no older than twenty, slender and composed, yet the textbook he clutched under his arm was anything but light reading.
"I take it you want this?" Akihiko Tou asked, voice steady but not unkind, nodding at the spines of both "Biomass Energy Research Theory" and "Advanced Biochemical Methods."
Shiho allowed herself a faint smile. She had indeed come seeking inspiration—her own research on novel therapeutics had ground to a halt—but she had not expected to run into someone who might actually match her in intellect, let alone confidence. "I do," she said, her tone cool but not dismissive.
He raised one dark eyebrow. "At Tokyo University, I'd expect to need a supervisor's clearance at least," he mused. "But here we are."
She stiffened—how had he deduced her background so quickly? The faint scent of disinfectant still clung to her lab coat, and her pockets bulged with sample vials. Had she really been so obvious? Rather than answer directly, she merely tilted her head.
He shrugged. "I know my disciplines. Biochemical medicine, right?"
Shiho's lips curved in surprise; most students couldn't place her work outside the lab's cavernous walls. She neither confirmed nor denied, though her heart thumped. If word got back that Tokyo's rising star was fraternizing with an undergrad…
"Why shouldn't I?" Akihiko asked softly, stepping closer so that the golden lettering on his own books caught the light. "If enzyme kinetics open new routes in drug conversion, why not combine them with biomass pathways? Cross-disciplinary sparks have pushed science forward forever."
She blinked. A spark indeed—she had hit dead ends trying to optimize APTX4869 synthesis, and her mentors had warned against chasing wild ideas. Yet here he was, a stranger who spoke of enzyme-driven transformations as if they were everyday conversation.
"Enzymes," she echoed. "You mean coenzymes? Proteases? Synthetic ligases?"
He smiled, the faintest curve of his lips. "Exactly. Mitochondrial radical scavengers, polymerases in eukaryotic cultures, even directional oxidases—so many potential levers in drug efficacy."
Shiho felt the rigid calm of her academic armor fall away as she leaned in, eager. He dove deeper: extracting yeast-derived oxidoreductases, embedding them in liposomal carriers, linking them to targeted prodrugs… each suggestion sparked a dozen research tangents in her mind.
Minutes slipped by unnoticed as they volleyed ideas between stacks of journals. Akihiko guided her through theory she'd only skimmed, and she corrected him on the subtle pH dependencies of certain transaminases. Their voices softened, punctuated by the turning of pages, the scratch of pen on margin.
Then, just as suddenly as he'd unleashed his torrent of innovation, Akihiko paused mid-sentence. Shiho looked up from her notebook, brow furrowed. "What about the carrier stability?" she prompted.
He closed his eyes, throat rolling. "Forgive me. My enthusiasm sometimes outruns my filter." He offered her the battered paperback in his grasp. "You were here first. Take this one."
Shiho hesitated only a moment before lifting the book, fingers brushing his. "Thank you," she said, voice quieter, more personal than before.
Akihiko's lips lifted in a boyish grin. "In return, tell me about your research. It sounds… stuck."
She flushed—no one had ever bargained knowledge like this, but she found herself outlining her struggles: yield plateaus, enzymatic side-reactions, stubborn impurities. His eyes brightened.
"My own major is biochemical medicine—MIT's invitation arrived this spring," he revealed easily. "But I'm diversifying into bioenergy to broaden my toolkit."
Shiho pressed her arms around her new book. "Clever. Cross-pollination of fields."
He chuckled. "Better than tunnel vision."
She laughed—light, genuine. All pretense of rivalry evaporated. "You're unorthodox," she teased. "Most of my colleagues wouldn't dare mix cell-culture engineering with drug design."
"I've never been a colleague in a cubicle," he replied.
She raised an eyebrow. "No, you're more like… a catalyst."
He paused, as if tasting the word, then nodded. "Exactly what I aim to be."
A sudden cough escaped him. "I could use some water." The line she'd been about to finish—how to optimize cofactor turnover without oxidative damage—hung unresolved.
"I'll get it!" Shiho said impulsively, springing up and nearly knocking over her chair.
He smirked. "Be careful—if you leave, I might vanish."
She grabbed her tote bag, rummaged for her water bottle wrapped in a knitted sleeve. He stood, shading his eyes from the harsh lights as he watched her. When she returned, he remained exactly where she left him, books clutched to his chest.
Shiho cleared her throat, offering him the bottle with a shy smile. "Here."
He accepted it, eyes meeting hers for the first time without academic armor, and took a slow drink. "Thank you," he said, voice low.
Around them, the library's hush felt conspiratorial. Shiho realized she had not only found fresh angles for her thesis but also a kindred spirit—someone unafraid to upend convention in pursuit of discovery.
She straightened a fallen bookmark. "Well, catalyst," she said, "shall we… continue?"
He grinned, closing the gap between them. "After you."
And so, amid the labyrinth of shelves and the hum of whispered scholarship, Shiho Miyano and Akihiko Tou dove back into their textbooks—no longer rivals, but collaborators in the alchemy of science, each chapter of knowledge fueling the next.
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