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Senku was terrified of the dark.
No one knew this fact, cause he preferred to keep it to himself. However, Senku hadn't always had this fear. In fact, when he was a kid, he found it quite exhilarating to explore things in the dark, because it added an extra challenge. But after spending 3700 years stuck in the dark with nothing but his own thoughts full of endless numbers to keep him company, he had grown sick of it. He tried to convince himself that this was only temporary and would soon go away, but after many nights of waking up in bed, heart racing, he realized it wouldn't be that easy. He kept himself busy during the day to keep the affects that the petrification had on his mental health out of his mind, but when it was nighttime and there was nothing to do and no one to talk to, numbers swarmed his mind. Numbers, numbers, and even more numbers. It was a never ending multitude of numbers that most people couldn't even dream of counting to, yet senku took this draining task all on himself for the sake of humanity.
'3 billion 356 million 980 thousand 256 seconds...3 billion 356 million 980 thousand 257 seconds...'
Senku bolted up in his bed, gasping loudly. He looked around, seeing nothing but the darkness surrounding him. He began panicking, breathing heavily and heart racing. He folded in on himself, grabbed fistfuls of his hair, and began counting out of instinct.
"1, 2, 3..." Senku shakily counted. Every part of his scientific brain told him that this was illogical, that the darkness was no scarier than the light. But he couldn't hear that part of his brain over the sound of his heart pounding. He continued this, not noticing the quiet footsteps that made their way toward him. Soon, a figure was crouched down in front of him, trying to remove Senku's hands from his hair.
"...ku! Senku!" Senkus eyes snapped open as he stopped counting. The voice sounded muffled to him, but it was warmly familiar. Senku's eyes darted around until they connected with the concerned ones of a certain split haired mentalist.
"Gen...is that you?" Senku forced out, voice strained.
"yes, it's me," gen replied softly. "Now please, let go of your hair."
Senku managed a small nod as he released his hair, not realizing that his knuckles had become white from his tight grip.
"Good, good job Senku," gen softly spoke with a small smile. "Now breathe with me, in and out."
Senku tried his best to match his breathing with gen, who was now holding Senku's shaking hand in his own. After a minute or so, Senku had managed to get his breath under control.
"I'm so proud of you, you did amazing." Gen whispered, wiping tears off of Senku's face. "Can I lay you down?" gen asked, proceeding to do so when he received a nod in reply.
Gen placed himself next to Senku, gently guiding his head to rest on his lap, where he began raking his hand through Senku's surprisingly soft hair. Normally, Senku would find this stupid and move away, but we was so physically and mentally drained that he found it relaxing. Once gen was sure that Senku had calmed down, he decided to ask the question that was on his mind.
"What happened Senku?" he asked gently.
Senku sighed before responding. "I'm scared of the dark."
This answer surprised gen, and he would usually find this as a way to tease the scientist, but now wasn't the time for that. "And why is that?" Gen asked, hoping that this wouldn't make him seem like he was prying. Senku was quiet for a moment.
"It reminds me of the petrification."
Oh.
"And when that happens...im completely taken over by numbers. I keep...I keep reliving those 3700 years that I had to spend alone." Senku couldn't believe he was spilling out his deepest secret, and to gen of all people. But...it felt good to get it off his chest. Gen was listening with a frown on his face as Senku continued. "It's just so overwhelming, and honestly, sometimes I wish I had just given in."
"Shut up." Senku's eyes went wide, surprised at gens sudden change in tone.
"Don't ever say that again." Senku sat up slowly turning himself to look at gen. The mentalist's face had hurt and anger written all over it, making Senku gulp.
"Why the hell would you ever think that?!" Gen almost yelled. For the first time in his life, Senku, who always had some sort of witty comeback for anyone, was speechless.
"Senku, I can't even begin to imagine what you have gone through to get to this point. Hell, I gave into the petrification almost immediately. But you? You never once gave up. In all those 3700 years, you never let any kind of negative thoughts hold you back. You kept counting so that you could keep track of time and be able to break free at the time that would work best for you. And once you did, you immediately found a way to keep yourself safe and healthy, all while figuring out how to bring people back. That's pretty damn impressive in my opinion. Senku, I've never met anyone with as much dedication and determination as you." Gens voice softened as he sighed," look, I know you've been through a lot, but please," gen grabbed senkus hand, "don't say that again, okay?" Senku was staring at the ground, a blush creeping up his neck, unbeknownst to gen. "Now get some sleep, you need it."
Senku nodded as he crawled over to his bed, getting under the covers. Once he was comfortable, gen began to make his way out of the hut. He didn't make it far, though, as he felt a tug at the hem of his clothes.
"Please stay," Senku whispered, "at least until I fall asleep." Gen sat next to Senku, and began humming, in hopes that it would help senku fall back asleep. After about 10 minutes, Senku's breathing evened out, signaling to gen that he had fallen asleep. Gen smiled as he brushed a strand of hair out of Senku's face, kissing his forehead. "Goodnight Senku," he whispered. He walked out of the hut blushing, glad that senku had been asleep. However, what the mentalist failed to notice, was the small smile that had formed on the "sleeping" scientist's face.