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After an indulgent bath, introductions and numerous (and sometimes embarrassing) questions about Senku were answered, night fell. The soft pink that floated off the horizon brought a hint of worry in your gut as you were led into the village. Ruri and Kohaku offered you a place to stay among the villagers. You thought about declining but couldn’t bring yourself to. They set up a place and brought you a pillow and blanket. You couldn’t say no. So, there you were; laying on your back just outside a hut and tracing over made-up constellations with your eyes. Ganko was snuggled up on your stomach, snoring softly. You stroked his wiry fur as you struggled against sleep.
The first time you fell asleep after breaking out of stone was tough. Memories flashed in your mind, one after another, as if your life were coming to an end. The scenes you had experienced during brief moments of consciousness while encased in stone raced through your head. The winds of a storm would toss you carelessly in your dream, and you were too rigid to move against it. Swat after swat, a strong breeze threw you into the air. Then, the storm would fall silent. No more rain or wind. You would even float for a while, peacefully looking around, inspecting the land beneath you, savoring the moment. But gravity would take hold, forcing you to plummet to the ground. Your rigid body would desperately try to move, but you could never stop yourself from falling.
When you first had the nightmare, you had writhed on the floor, breathing heavily, scaring Ganko awake. Ganko oinked and nudged you until you woke up. You grounded yourself in the present by feeling the ground under you, your skin, and Ganko’s fur. Once your breathing evened out, you tried to fall asleep again but woke yourself up half-way through the nightmare with an involuntary kick of the leg. You’ve avoided sleeping ever since. While you did fall asleep at times, it was out of exhaustion. That seemed to be the only way to stop yourself from having the nightmare. This meant late nights and early mornings, simultaneously. You’ve had the same nightmare whenever you lull back into your subconscious, still anxious to witness it again.
Tonight, you had hoped for the best, but your eyes remained open even deep into the night. Your heart thrummed in your chest as you looked up at the stars. You distracted yourself as you always had: finding the constellations. However, everything seemed to be off, as though everything was misaligned. Had it really been so long that the sky was different? The constellation you made of Senku’s head was warped. You could barely recognize it. You raised your hand up to trace a new constellation of his leek-like head, committing it to memory.
“Look, it’s Senku,” you whispered to Ganko as he slumbered. “I think I liked the old one better though. What do you think?”
Ganko continued to snore and nuzzled into you, contently dreaming. You sighed and scratched behind his ear, falling back into your thoughts. Senku bled into them. Every time you had trouble sleeping, you’d think about Senku. Something about his presence made you relax. When you two were little, you’d both sleepover at someone’s house in the same room. You always slept soundly next to him. You never knew why.
He was never much of a touchy person. You’d try to hug, lean on, or snuggle Senku when you were little and he learned to dodge you at every turn. Only when you were in distress would he let his guard down. Senku was never spiteful or angry when comforting you, in fact those moments felt vulnerable on both ends. He always welcomed you with open arms — not literally though. You began to wonder if he’d welcome you again tonight.
You carefully wrapped Ganko into his swaddle and carried him out. As you approached, you noticed two guards at the bridge, on lookout. Not wanting anyone to know you were out, you made a quick distraction by tossing a rock in some direction. After they left to investigate, you made a mad dash to Senku’s place. Once you found his little home, you climbed up the little ladder. Inside, you nearly jumped out of your skin as your eyes landed on Chrome. You didn’t know he lived here with Senku. You looked deeper into the little hut and found Senku asleep on his back. Figuring it was too late to back out now, you clambered inside.
You quietly tip-toed over Chrome, towards Senku. You sat above his head and looked over his face. He looked peaceful while he slept. You unwrapped Ganko and laid him in the corner, covering him with his swaddle then turned back to Senku. You contemplated on just snuggling up to him, but figured he deserved an explanation. You poked at his forehead with light taps until he stirred awake. He blinked a few times before his eyes focused on you. He jumped as he recognized you, saying your name somewhat loudly. You shushed him.
“Chrome is still asleep,” you whispered. “Keep it down.”
Senku huffed, talking in a low whisper. “What’re you doing here? I thought you were sleeping at Kohaku’s place or something.”
He rubbed his eyes and sat up to face you. Your face felt hot. “Yeah, I was supposed to. But I… I couldn’t sleep.”
“So you came here,” Senku said, almost like a blunt question.
You looked down and fumbled with the material of the floor as Senku stared at you. Your face went red, nodding. He sighed. “You could have said something earlier,” he said. “What made you wait so long to talk about it? Out with it, what’s up?”
You looked up, a bit stunned and nervous. “Are you mad at me?”
“Not really. I knew something was up but then you ran. Y’know I’d rather you talk to me than put it off.”
Your heart quickened at his sincerity. He wanted you to lean on him. It was something you forgot after all these years. He had gotten upset at you in the past for bottling up your emotions and always encouraged you to talk to him. He still held that notion. Your skin could have glowed as you stared at him, blown away. Senku tilted his head at you.
“Is there something on my face?” Senku said.
“No,” you said, laughing slightly. “Sorry, I just… I forgot what it was like to talk to you again. It feels like forever ago.”
“Technically it was.”
“Yeah…”
Senku saw your eyes grow distant. Something about time passing seemed to irk you. He could understand a multitude of reasons as to why you would be upset but wanted to hear it from you. He egged you on with his eyes. Your lips quirked up.
“I just,” you said quietly. “I dunno. Everytime I fall asleep I’m scared I’ll never wake up again. I-I know that sounds overly dramatic but… I can’t shake those weird moments when I was awake in stone. Those moments didn’t even last long and yet they haunt me. I hated that feeling of being so… still.”
You sniffled and wiped your eyes before a tear could fall. “Damn it,” you continued. “Sorry, I know it probably won’t happen again but god I just can’t sleep. And whenever I do I just have this one nightmare, every time. Where it’s like I’m just frozen, helpless to the elements as I nearly shatter.”
Senku hesitated to reach for you as you frustratingly wiped your eyes again. He pulled his hand back before you could notice. You took a deep breath, trying to hold yourself together. Your hands returned over your eyes with a shaky breath. Senku’s heart sank as you struggled to continue. He tried again to reach for you. His fingers trembled as they came close to your face. He swallowed and redirected his hand to rest on your shoulder. You jumped at his touch and put your hands down to see him. Senku couldn’t help but smile at your face. Tear stained or not, he was happy you weren’t having this meltdown alone anymore.
“It’s ok,” he said. “I won’t let that happen.”
You let out a small laugh. “Thanks.”
You two held eye-contact for a brief moment until your eyes flicked away from him as he took his hand back. Senku hoped you couldn’t see the shake in his fingers.
“Do you think I could sleep here?” you asked.
Senku grinned. “Sure, but I’m not gonna be your teddy bear tonight, got it?”
You nodded. He gave you an extra blanket and pillow and made room for you. Senku watched you get comfortable then turned on his side to fall asleep. Then he heard you scoot closer to him. A sly grin spread over his cheeks. You really couldn’t help but try your luck, huh? He pretended to stretch and moved his arm over, just barely missing the tip of your nose. You stopped yourself. Senku giggled evilly as he caught you in your little scheme.
“Space, please,” Senku said in a snide whisper.
“Oh, whatever,” you said through a quiet laugh.
You scooted back and stuck your tongue out at him. He wasn’t going to let you snuggle him tonight. You settled on staying on your side, looking at the back of Senku’s head. You watched his shoulders lift with his chest as his breathing slowed, probably falling asleep. You closed your eyes and chanted, You’re not alone in your head until you lost consciousness.
You dreamed about floating in a large room that was completely black. You were able to swim freely in the air. A green light shined before you and you reached for it. Once you had it in your hand, your surroundings morphed into a grassy plain. You went from floating to laying back into the plush grass, looking up into an endless purple night sky. The light had formed into a person who held your hand tightly in theirs. That person was Senku. He didn’t look at you, just looked ahead at the stars. His red eyes glistened with hope and wonder as he stared into space all the while you were free to watch him be happy.
You slept well that night.
* * *
After Senku beat you at another videogame, he insisted that you both go outside. He said he wanted to camp out. Senku had hurried past you to your back door. You tried to catch up but your mom called you. She waved you to come into the kitchen with her. You looked back at Senku. He had his hand on the door handle, staring at you and your mom. You shrugged and went to your mom. Senku leaned against the door, content to wait for you.
You waddled into the kitchen to see your mom. She sat at the kitchen table, noshing on some leftovers as she looked over paperwork, pen in hand. You sat next to her. She finished marking something and set her pen down.
“Did you need help?” you said.
“Oh no sweetie,” your mom said then whispered, “I just wanted to ask you something.”
“What is it?” you whispered back.
“Do you like Senku?”
You were bewildered by her question. “Yeah. He wouldn’t be my friend if I didn’t like him.”
Your mom hummed, seemingly confused. Her eyes darted around, like she was searching for something in the ceiling, then an idea struck her. “Would you marry Senku?” she asked.
You hummed in thought. You took great care and consideration into her question. She waited patiently for your response with a light smile.
“I guess I could marry him,” you said. “I like him. I think it would be nice to be together forever with him.”
You turned and peeked out of the doorway. Senku was still patiently waiting. You leaned over and waved at him to catch his attention. He looked up and waved awkwardly. Your mom glanced between the two of you, interested in what was unraveling.
“Senku,” you called, loud and proud. “Would you wanna get married?”
Senku’s face twisted into a mixture of disgust and fear. “No, not really,” he said simply.
You turned back to your mom, pigtails whipping about. “I guess not then. He doesn’t wanna get married.”
Your mother’s jaw nearly hit the floor as she directed her bewilderment at you. You blinked owlishly at her and shifted in your chair.
“Can I go now?” you said.
“Uh, yeah,” your mom said in a slight daze, shaking herself out of it. “Just no more going outside. It’s late and too cold tonight. You can go to your room and play but don’t close the door.”
You and Senku pouted, equally disappointed as you both slunk to your room. You and Senku flopped onto the floor of your room. The overhead light blanketed the two of you in fluorescent yellow. You left your door half-closed to give you two some privacy as you both grumbled quietly.
“Hey Senku?” you said.
He hummed.
“Can people hold stars?” you said. “I think I’d like to hold a star.”
Senku let out a small hiss until it melted into a snicker. “You can’t hold stars. You’d die.”
You were even more crushed than before. Senku felt guilt prick the back of his neck as you looked up at him with heartbroken eyes. He ran through his thoughts, thinking of something to cheer you up. Then it hit him. He got up and pulled out a clear bag filled with plastic stars. He pushed your door closed and turned off your light.
Your stomach dropped as your room was enveloped in darkness. The dim light of a distant streetlight gave you a sliver of light, barely enough to navigate your room. You got up and waved your hands about to search for either Senku or the light.
“Senku!” you snapped quietly. “You better open the door, right now. If my parents see my door closed, they’ll never let you sleep over again.”
“Hold on, look!” Senku said, turning to present a handful of glowing stars to you.
Your eyes sparkled in the greenish glow of the little star shaped pieces of plastic, leading you to him. You gingerly took one and held it in your hands. They were thin and lit up without any batteries! It was the most astonishing thing to behold in all your childhood. Senku dumped the rest into your little palms.
“See? You held a star,” Senku said. “Now you get to think of a new dream.”
“Aw,” you groaned. “But I liked that one.”
Senku shrugged. “You could still come to space with me.”
“I thought you didn’t want me to.”
“I never said that, I’m just offering. You have tons of options.”
You hummed and looked at the door then back at the glowing stars that lit your room in a beautiful glow. It wouldn’t hurt to enjoy the glow-in-the-dark stars for a while longer. You used the stars’ light to help you find scotch tape on your desk.
“Let’s put these up,” you said.
You both stuck the stars about on the walls of your room, even sticking a few to the ceiling over your bed. As soon as the last star was up, you both spun around, basking in the fun glow of each shape. Your backs touched as you both waddled in a circle together to see your masterpiece in its full glory. You glanced at Senku, your cheeks felt warm as you felt his heartbeat against your back.
“Even if we don’t get married,” you said, “can I still stay by you forever?”
“Yeah, that’s what friends do,” he said, as though the answer was obvious.
You giggled and elbowed him. The two of you sat down, backs still pressed against one another’s. Senku could feel your heartbeat alongside his. It was almost an echo of his. It felt amazing. He liked having you there with him. He could fall asleep like this. Senku glanced at you through the corner of his eye, admiring your content face glowing under the luminescent light of the plastic stars.
The thought of marriage never occurred to Senku. You scared him with that sudden question but it did spur on the thought in his brain. If he did have to marry someone, he supposed you would be a good match for him. You were nice enough, easy to talk to, and strong enough to help him through any project. You and him could make a good couple, he supposed. Senku closed his eyes, peacefully enjoying your heartbeat.
You both stayed there for a long period of time. Luckily neither of you got into trouble. In fact, when your mother peeked in and saw the blissful looks on your little faces, she simply slunk off, leaving you two be. She did leave the door ajar though.