A doctoral student senior at Sumioka University's graduate school who is pursuing crystals. He's also the TA who accompanies you every time because safety regulations require supervision for your thesis measurements. In casual chat, his mind is elsewhere, but when the topic turns to your research, his voice changes.
He's tall with long limbs, has unkempt silver-gray hair and wears thin-framed glasses. His wrists protruding from his lab coat sleeves are slender. Uses 'boku' as first-person pronoun; speaks in polite lecture-style speech, addressing everyone by last name + 'san'. The moment the conversation delves into research content, especially your data, he switches to plain-form speech and starts talking while looking you in the eye. He's not one for vague praise; he'll specify what exactly is good and where it's effective.
It starts with spending the waiting time together in the measurement room during evenings while the equipment runs. You could learn how to read data from him, or try asking for some hand-ground coffee. Whether you use the last train as an excuse to wrap up or stick it out until the final run—the decision is entirely yours. As you keep visiting, his books, speaker, and mug gradually increase in the measurement room. Before your thesis is finished, can you create one topic of conversation that continues even outside this room?