Listen to the Dopamine -Senku x GN! Reader-

Chapter 4: Miracle Fluid

-1st Person POV-

"Hey, (Y/n), wake up," Senku's voice coaxed while something shook my shoulder. "How the hell did you fall asleep so fast? We weren't gone for that long."

"Mmm..." My eyelids flickered open, revealing Senku crouching next to me with Taiju standing behind him, tilting his head slightly to the side while watching Senku wake me up. "Senku...?"

"Yeah, it's me. Come on, I've got more miracle fluid, we're going to run another test on the swallow statues."

Once the words left his lips, I sat up, eyes shooting open. "Okay, I'm...I'm coming!"

Senku chuckled, standing upright and reaching a hand out towards me. "Come on, you idiot. You're ten billion percent gonna fall over if you try and stand up in that half-tired state."

My eyes widened at this gesture, but I shyly took his hand regardless, allowing him to help me up off the ground. Once I was standing, the three of us made our way towards the lab, where Senku had a swallow statue ready for the experiment. "So, let me guess," Taiju began as Senku started pouring the nitric acid on the statue, "You pour this miracle fluid on the bird statue, the stone breaks, and it comes back to life, right?"

"Oh, if only it were that simple," Senku sighed, emptying the bottle in his hand onto the bird statue. "That would be great."

Everyone went silent, focusing on the bird statue with intensity for a good minute or so. I refused to blink for that entire time until we all collectively leaned back having not seen a reaction from the statue. My eyes were downcast, fists clenching in frustration at the newest failure. "Dammit..."

"Hey, don't get so worked up, (Y/n)," Senku reassured me, standing up. His slight smile faded as he picked up the statue, walking into the lab while observing it. "However, Taiju, we've been working on this project like crazy for the past few months using every possible method we could think of." Taiju and I trailed behind him, Taiju staring around at the lab's interior with surprise at the number of shelves lining the one wall of the lab. "Over and over, again and again. It's a reoccurring cycle for us."

Senku placed the bird on the shelf, his back turned to us so that his face wasn't visible. "It's like something from a fantasy novel... Is it all mineral? Is it cellular?"

He hung his head, hands on the counter of the table as he muttered, "I don't have the technology to properly investigate the properties of this unknown mineral..."

"So what you're basically saying is," Taiju mumbled, gaze falling to the ground. "There're things even science can't explain."

Both Senku and I burst into laughter at the same time. "Oh, there's that same, old, burned-out cliche again," I sighed, wiping a tear from my eye. I placed a hand on Taiju's shoulder, explaining, "Look, Taiju, this is the slow and steady, rinse and repeat progress that is science. We just hafta keep on going at it until we get something plausible to work with."

"Ten billion points for you, (Y/n)," Senku smirked, turning towards Taiju. "They're right, down to the finest parts of it. Science is indeed a slow and drawn-out process." Senku placed a hand on his chin, digging into his thoughts. "Some liquor would speed things up a bit, though."

This statement made Taiju's eyes widen. I noticed and once again explained, "When you combine nitric acid with alcohol, you get a strong and potent solution often known as nital, which is used in metal etching."

"Wait, what did you say we needed?"

I tilted my head slightly, quirking up an eyebrow. "Uh, nital? It's able to get into the ferrite grain boundary, and-"