Maruki watches Akira practically inhale the muffin like it was nothing but meagre air. His smile twitches slightly, aghast as he lets out a wry chuckle.

Something feels wrong.

He has always worked alone and while he was always grateful for his patients for believing in his cause- it was well, always within the walls of his clinic. Always related to the problems the others faced.

This was-

This was too new.

Like it was willing to cut right through his being and make him choke on the elixir he's searching for all this damn time.

"Okay-! I need you to pipe it down a little-" he stops and when he feels the tug on his coat Maruki actually nearly gets up his seat.

"Please let go of my coat, Akira." His words come undeniably harsh against the boy's blind optimism. "It’s not exactly the most glamorous place, mind you—labs rarely are. But...” Maruki hesitated, then gave Akira a thoughtful look, a small twinkle of excitement creeping into his expression. “If you’re really interested, I’d be more than happy to show you. In fact, there are a few experiments I’ve been meaning to run, and with your help, maybe we could get some fascinating results."

"But for now...there's another test I need both of us to do."