Chapter Text
It happened the first morning you left the village since your injury. After several weeks of staying within the walls and not walking any large distance without Senku near you, Ruri had cleared you and finally gotten Senku to agree with her taking you further out.
It was supposed to be a short walk with Ruri and Chrome to gather winter herbs.
Senku stood outside the lab, stretching stiff shoulders, already calculating the day’s tasks as he watched you go off into the distance with Ruri and Chrome.
That’s when Taiju’s massive shadow fell over him.
Followed by Yuzuriha’s smaller, determined one.
Senku blinked at them.
“…What.”
Yuzuriha smiled too gently, arms clasped in front of her as she stood next to Taiju.
And Senku knew instantly— he was trapped.
A Trap of Good Intentions
Taiju cleared his throat.
“SENKU.”
“Don’t wear my name out you big oaf.”
“SENKU,” he repeated louder, ignoring the sarcasm.
“We’ve given you time. A lot of time.”
Yuzuriha stepped forward, her voice calm but unyielding.
“We didn’t want to overwhelm you while she was healing. That was more important.”
Senku frowned. “Obviously.”
“But now,” Yuzuriha said gently, “we just want to understand…”
Taiju finished in one booming breath:
“HOW DID YOU TWO GET TOGETHER?”
Senku choked on his own breath.
Yuzuriha scolded softly, “Taiju…”
“What? I’m curious!”
Senku rubbed his temples.
“You two are ridiculous.”
Taiju sat down on a stump across from him, leaning forward with childlike intensity.
“Just tell us! How did it happen? Was it romantic?! Did she confess?? Did YOU confess?!?”
Senku glared.
“I am not discussing this with you.”
“Sure you are,” Yuzuriha said sweetly, sitting on his other side.
“Because we’re not leaving until you do.”
Senku tried to stand.
Taiju put a hand on his shoulder and effortlessly sat him back down.
He groaned head falling into his hands, hair falling around him creating a curtain of despair.
How They Got Together — Senku Finally Says It Out Loud
Senku folded his arms tightly across his chest.
“…It wasn’t one big moment,” he muttered.
Taiju leaned closer.
“It wasn’t?”
“No. It just… built up.”
He stared ahead at the snow-covered fields.
“At first I didn’t even notice. I was too busy. Too focused on everything else. But she kept… being there. Helping. Asking questions. Challenging me. Making everything easier and harder at the same time.”
Yuzuriha’s smile softened.
“And then?” she asked.
Senku inhaled slowly.
“Then one day I realized I was looking for her. Everywhere where I went around the village. In the Lab. And when I did find her, I was… I was happy.”
Taiju grinned so wide it nearly split his face.
Yuzuriha’s eyes glowed.
“Oh, Senku…”
He cut them off quickly.
“Don’t start. I’m not doing some dramatic love story. It wasn’t that.”
Taiju tilted his head.
“What was it?”
Senku hesitated.
“…Comfort.”
The word came out low.
Honest in a way Senku only was with his two oldest friends.
“A kind of comfort I hadn’t felt since… well. Before. Before the petrification.”
Yuzuriha reached out and laid a hand carefully on his arm.
“You deserve that,” she said softly.
Senku didn’t respond, but he didn’t pull away either.
The Real Question Taiju Wants to Ask
Taiju leaned forward suddenly, eyes huge and shining.
“OKAY BUT HAVE YOU SAID ‘I LOVE YOU’ YET???”
“Taiju,” Yuzuriha gasped, mortified. “That’s so personal!”
Senku stared at Taiju like he’d grown six extra heads.
“…Obviously not.”
“WHY NOT?!”
“Because,” Senku snapped, “I’m not going to say something like that unless I know exactly what I mean and exactly how to say it.”
Taiju blinked.
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It is exhausting,” Senku muttered.
Yuzuriha’s voice softened.
“Do you… feel like you love her?”
He went still.
Not the startled kind of still — the quiet, thinking kind.
Snow fell lightly around them.
A long moment passed.
“…Maybe,” he said at last.
Taiju’s eyes softened with something deeper than excitement.
“Then that’s enough for now.”
Senku looked up at him, surprised.
“You’re not going to— I don’t know— demand I confess or some other idiotic thing?”
Taiju laughed.
“No. Of course not.”
Yuzuriha nodded.
“Love doesn’t have to be rushed. It doesn’t have to be dramatic. It doesn’t have to look like what everyone else thinks it should.”
She smiled at him — the kind of smile that only old friends can give.
“It just has to make you both happy.”
Taiju wiped a bit of snow off Senku’s shoulder.
“And you do look happy, Senku.”
Senku looked away, ears faintly red.
“…She’s happy too.”
Yuzuriha’s face warmed.
“That’s all we needed to hear.”
Yuzuriha placed her hand over Senku’s.
“You don’t have to fully understand what you feel yet.”
Taiju nodded.
“And you don’t need a formula for love.”
“That’s debatable,” Senku muttered.
Yuzuriha giggled.
“But you will figure it out. Together.”
Taiju grinned at him, big and warm and overwhelmingly sincere.
“And whatever happens — we’re here. We support you.
Both of you.”
Senku stared at them.
His oldest friends.
His constants in this broken world.
And for once, he didn’t deflect.
He simply nodded.
“…Thanks.”
Taiju nearly burst into tears.
Yuzuriha smiled through them.
And Senku, for all his grumbling, didn’t move away.
Not for a long time.