Back at the laboratory, the rest of the members are already back at work. Nakime quickly excused herself and returned to her station. (Y/N) patrolled the workbenches and decided to check on Douma and Akaza's progress with one-half of the dissected flowers. Upon noticing your approach, Douma and Akaza instinctively tidied their work area and gave you a welcoming smile.

You nodded and returned the smile before examing the chemicals the two males were working with. Although Akaza and Douma had a love-hate relationship, they could agree, work silently, and cooperate, which was why they were a lot more productive than usual.

Douma and Akaza were responsible for exploring the physical variable of the flowers. Following (Y/N)'s list of various variables they could work with, Douma and Akaza were able to come up with a presentable table of values to present to their current group leader. From the size of the flowers to the colour to the texture of the petals to the length of the petals, (Y/N)'s list was long and evident in (Y/N)'s thoughtfulness.

Scanning the table of values carefully, (Y/N) found no fault in the values. The values presented to her were akin to the document of values she had seen at the start of the session.

"The values are similar to what you have already collected..." (Y/N) mumbled softly but still audible to the two boys' ears. The female turned to the males and inquired, "Were there any issues when the two of you were conducting this series of experiments?"

"None at all, (Y/N)!" Douma quickly responded. "The results are still expected, huh?"

"Yeah... I'll check on Muzan and Kokushibou and compare their findings to yours," (Y/N) informed before rushing to the bench horizontally across the room. "Excuse me, Muzan and Kokushibou, have the two of you finished the experiments?"

"We've finished them already, take a look," Muzan said, presenting a similar table that Douma and Akaza had produced. "Take your time to look through them," Muzan added hastily.

(Y/N) nodded as Muzan handed the document to her, his fingers lightly brushing hers. Was it on purpose or an accident? We'll never know.

Scanning the document with much attention, (Y/N) could not find any value that stood out. It was expected, yet it came as a disappointment to (Y/N) for she had taken into account everything that could affect the results.

"Our efforts seem to be in vain after all..." Muzan commented upon seeing (Y/N)'s strict expression slowly morphing into one of utmost disappointment.

'Why...' (Y/N) was frozen in place, her eyes still frantically searching the two documents in her hands. 'Why is it that the values are the same... I've already taken into account nearly everything... Perhaps there was an error in my instructions or lists... Think. What else could affect the-'

Before (Y/N)'s mind could start working once more, Muzan broke (Y/N)'s train of thought.

"There's no need for you to be so worked up over this. We've faced failure as such many times..." Muzan's attempt to console the girl did not work.

"However, I'm always able to find the problem after numerous reviews... So why not now..." (Y/N spoke her thoughts out.

"This is unlike knowledge you find in your textbook. You're working with real-world issues which may or may not have answers awaiting you after many reviews. To overcome these problems, you may need to continuously do research for years before arriving at a reasonable conclusion. Yet, even after that, your hypothesis may still be looked into by future scientists for further improvements. Perhaps in this era, we may not be able to find the answers we look for so frantically, but our future generations might be able to. With these results, future generations can continue their research and work from there to minimize unnecessary experiments. The work we do today will still be beneficial to society despite not having answers to offer because it will aid in future research." Muzan said, slapping the cruel reality into the genius kid.

'I know what I said sounds harsh but...' Muzan thoughts, looking down at the girl who seemed stunned by his words. 'It will help her. As a genius who may not have experienced many defeats, she probably won't be able to take this lightly. This may also be a lesson for her, for her to learn to expect and accept failures.'

That was true. (Y/N)'s prideful heart could not handle it. However, after hearing Muzan's words, (Y/N) had to admit that he was right and that she should learn to handle mistakes.

After Muzan finished speaking, the rest of the Twelve Kizuki rushed over, dumping their work to check on (Y/N). The members did not say anything as they shot Muzan looks that said "That Was Too Cruel! At Least Phrase It Nicely".

The Twelve Kizuki's care and consideration had warmed (Y/N)'s, hurt heart. Muzan was right, why be down over one failure? Many scientists faced hardships and failures far worse than hers. The unsatisfied look on (Y/N)'s face slowly vanished and was replaced with a weak smile.

"Thank you, Muzan. I needed to hear that."

𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬シ︎

•𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 (𝒀/𝑵) 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒚𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓.
•𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝑲𝒊𝒛𝒖𝒌𝒊 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 (𝒀/𝑵) 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕.
•𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕, 𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝑨1 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕.

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 883