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It's Asagiri Gen's first month of his second year of university when he first encounters the boy in the leaves.
The park near the university is usually empty, save for a few dog owners and the occasional jogger, so it's Gen's favorite place to write. He has his designated bench and everything, right under the trees, so he can watch the leaves fall onto the ground, drifting slowly in the wind.
Of course, there isn't usually someone already laying there, waiting to catch them.
Gen freezes as soon as he catches sight of him, and he debates whether or not to just come back a different day. But he is not going to let some random crazy person stop him from enjoying the nice day. So, without missing a beat, he sits down in his normal seat and starts writing.
He watches out of the corner of his eye, waiting to see how the guy will react. Maybe he'll leave of his own accord, and Gen won't need to do anything. But on the contrary, the guy doesn't even seem to notice he's there! He's so engrossed in his leaves, he doesn't even turn his head.
Gen can't take it anymore. "What are you doing?" he asks, trying to keep his tone light. After all, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
The boy laying on the grass sits up, holding a red leaf in each hand delicately by the stems. His eyes are bright and shining, like he just figured out the meaning of life.
"I'm recording the leaf decay of the season to see if I'm able to slow it using some chemicals in my lab. This particular batch is actually aging 3 days slower than average. Interesting, right?" he says, holding one out to Gen.
He takes it - what else can he do? - and looks it over. It appears to be a completely normal leaf, but maybe he isn't scientific enough to understand it. Everyone always says that social sciences aren't really scientific, and maybe they're right.
Or maybe this guy is just insane. Either one seems rational right about now.
"Right," he says instead, handing it back to the guy. "What are you going to do if your chemicals work?"
"It's one step closer to human immortality, of course." Of course? Who is this guy? There's no way Gen ever saw him before, because if he did, he wouldn't have forgotten about it.
As if reading his mind, the guy continues. "I'm Ishigami Senku. I go to university right there," he says, jabbing a thumb behind him.
"Really? So do I," Gen says, holding out a hand. "Asagiri Gen. Psychology major."
Senku puts his leaf down to shake his hand, then looks down at his beaker with a furrowed brow. "The solution is turning brown, which either means it needs to be refrigerated, or it's about to start combusting, so I have to go. Nice meeting you, Gen."
He's off before Gen can say a word, leaving him alone with his notebook. Interesting indeed.
-
It isn't hard to find Senku again. Everyone in the chemistry department seems to have met him, or at least heard of him.
"Tall white and green hair? Yeah, I have biochemistry with him. He's working on a death ray, I hear," a guy named Ginrou says. "Pretty scary."
"He almost burned down the lab twice in the last month," another guy named Tsukasa sighs. "Plus he always uses up all of the nitric acid."
It seems that most people have the impression that he's a mad scientist, which is about right, but it doesn't help Gen find him. It only convinces him more that he might be the most interesting person in the whole building.
Finally, he finds someone who might be friends with him. "Oh, you're looking for Senku? He's amazing, right?" Chrome says, looking up from his own microscope. "He's my chemistry tutor, but he also lets me help him make stuff sometimes. Did you see his death ray?"
"I did not," Gen says honestly. "Do you know where I can find him?"
"Sure! He's right down the hall, room 109. Make sure you wear the right protective gear when you go, though. His room doubles as his lab."
"Noted."
Armed with protective goggles, gloves, and a lab coat he borrowed from Chrome, Gen knocks on the door of room 109. Almost immediately, the door swings open, revealing Senku dressed in similar attire. He's holding a test tube of something bubbling, and Gen takes a step back.
"Ah, it's you," Senku says, going back into his room and motioning for Gen to follow. "I knew you'd be back soon."
"How did you figure that?" Gen asks. He feels like the one being psychoanalyzed for once, which isn't an entirely pleasant sensation.
"You psychology majors are all obsessed with crazy people. I figured you'd be intrigued and want to see more." Senku doesn't sound offended, but rather smug that he figured it all out.
"You're not crazy," Gen says quickly, although he's not sure how much he believes his own words.
Senku chuckles. "Obviously not. As aware of that as I am, however, others aren't so sure. So which category do you fall into?"
"That depends. What are you working on now?"
Senku leads him to a space that may have originally been designated for a second bed, but now contains a giant chemistry table, complete with a sink, outlets, and a gas apparatus.
"I built it myself," he says, a little bit of pride leaking into his voice. "Right now I'm just trying to refine the chemicals so they stop burning through everything they touch." He sticks out his hand, showing Gen a couple of burn marks along his palm. "I always try to remember to put gloves on, but if I'm in a rush then I forget."
"Those don't look so good." An understatement, but if Gen can't keep his calm, then what kind of a psychiatrist will he make? "Do you have bandages or something?"
"Middle cabinet, top shelf," Senku says, turning to his Bunsen burner. "Are you offering to patch me up?"
"I'd feel guilty if I didn't," Gen responds, pulling out a roll of bandages and some ointment. "Step away from the fire for a second so I can do this."
He wraps up Senku's injured hand, marveling at how coarse it is. Probably from years of working with chemicals without gloves, he figures. Up close, he can also see two thin scars stretching from his eyebrows all the way up his forehead. He asks about them before he can stop himself.
"Oh, these? Just some rogue electricity from when I was younger, back before I was careful. Hurt like hell then, not much anymore," Senku says with a smirk. He's too proud of his nerdy battle scars.
"You don't seem to be very careful now."
"That's harsh, Gen."
When he's finished, he puts the medical supplies back where he got them and watches Senku mix chemicals for a bit. "You sure know a lot about science," he observes.
"Well yeah, it's my passion. I'm going to space one day, just like my old man." The glow in his eye is back, the one that makes Gen want to draw closer and see just where it comes from.
"So all of this is space related?"
"Nah, mostly just a hobby." He turns to Gen, holding out a flask. "If you're just going to stand there, then you can help me out with this."
"I don't know anything about it."
"I'll teach you."
Senku seems to like teaching as much as he likes actually doing the experiment, and he walks Gen through every step of what he has to do. Gen doesn't understand 99% of it, but it's almost as interesting as Senku himself, so he stays.
The longer he's around him, the more he wants to know everything about him. How his hair stands up like that, if his eyes really are red or if it's just a trick of the light. He wants to hear about his dad the astronaut, how he started in science, every last detail about the mad scientist standing in front of him.
Towards the end, as they're rinsing out the test tubes, Gen asks, "Are you free for dinner tonight?"
"As a matter of fact, I am. Why, you heard about my genetically modified rice and want to see if it really is fire-proof?"
Curiouser and curiouser. "No, actually, I just wanted to know if you wanted to go on a date. With me. Like, outside the lab."
Senku pauses, looking at a loss for words for once. Then he says, "Sure, that'll work too. You can pick me up from here at 7. Do you have any place in particular in mind?"
"Anything not related to science," Gen says with a groan, and Senku grins at him.
"You can try, but there's science everywhere. Cooking is science itself. For example, in ramen-"
"Nooooooooooooooo."
-
Senku does end up explaining the science of ramen over ramen in the end. Gen pretends to hate it, but they both know he's listening the whole time, even if he doesn't get all of it. Senku can make even the most mundane of things seem magical (or scientific, as he always corrects).
Fascinating.