What Makes A Genius (Reader x Senku Ishigami)

Theory of Relativity

(Author Note: Thank you so much for reading! If anyone knows the artist please let me know, credit to the artist for the drawing, it was a sticker on picsart. Also, I'm still editing some chunks of this)

"How do you always manage to miss a button? Honestly, you're going to make us look unprofessional." The sun crept its way into your hotel room, causing little bits of rainbow to scatter across the ceiling. A parted beam pooled onto your exposed skin that your oddly miss-buttoned shirt failed to cover, supplying momentary warmth. Holding onto the long of your shirt, he meticulously pressed his thumb down each button. Your toothbrush drooped snugly on the edge of your lip as you rolled your eyes at him. "Senku, I could've gotten that..." You asserted, clenching your teeth against the bristles. A mocking laugh slipped out his crooked smile as he popped the collar of his lab coat, "I've fixed one too many buttons to know better." He curled the parts of hair that fell in front of his face with his pinky. Reflecting in the mirror, Senku glanced at you sleepily brushing your teeth and a small smile crept up his face, "You should be thankful Y/N, if this goes well you won't have me around to fix it anymore. Instead of being settled with being Y/N's shirt buttoner, I'll be off on a world wide scientific escapade, finally being able to settle into my research." He always made things sound a lot more adventurous than they probably were, but it was a rare sight to see him so excited.

Not knowing he could see you, you let your smile falter, knowing this all was one big sugarcoated goodbye. Your face fell for just a moment, but it was enough for Senku to have that image occupy his mind. You turned swiftly and smiled at him, "Only if you're lucky, cabbage head, who knows maybe they'll all hate your idea and you'll be lucky to be my shirt buttoner." Meeting his crimson red eyes reminds you of a dream you had of him the night before. You were just a poor Cinderella type, miserably sweeping your troubles away. Senku was an intricate porcelain figure that was your pride and joy that had suddenly come to life, a duke adorned in a worn corduroy suit. He sported gears and bolts across the brim of his hat, one's that shined gold in the moonlight. In this most absurd dream, he swept you away on a steam-powered hot air balloon to which the two of you danced among the stars. Your face flushed at the thought. Slowly coming back to reality you stuttered, "B-But in all seriousness, you're going to do great. You always do. I wouldn't of become your lab partner if I didn't think you could do this." "You're acting like you became a scientist because of faith in me, and not because you wanted to escape your family for a couple of years."

The two of you were finally ready to go but you both felt stuck in place, tar sticking you both well into the ground. The silence echoed for what felt like hours as the sputtering a/c unit spat out freezing chills. Senku let out a small nervous chuckle, "Ku ku ku. I can see big things laid out before us, Y/N. Now that I've reached my dreams, you can start pursuing yours, I'll be cheering for you until my vocal cords snap." He met your glance once again for just a moment with an uncharacteristically warm smile before grabbing his suitcase. You stood in place. "My dream..?" You thought to yourself, your fingers intertwining nervously as you sunk deeper in thought. This wasn't the first time dreams have come up in a conversation with Senku, it always struck you odd that someone as grounded as he is would believe so much in the power of a dream. You couldn't remember ever really having one, you can't even remember what you use to tell your teacher in elementary school when they asked what you wanted to be when you grew up. That always felt like a far-off fairy tale, but when he came into your life it suddenly felt as if anything was possible. Science didn't make much sense before him, to be fair not much did, everything almost felt like it was a fog. You knew you couldn't be dependent on him forever, but the world seems so terrifying without his guidance. What's going to happen to you once he leaves, where are you going to go? Surely not back with your family, oh god what if you had to move in with your- "Hey." His voice cut through the noise in your head. "Jeder ist ein Genie!" He suddenly spoke in German rendering you utterly confused but he smirked at you with that familiar stupid smile he always has when he thinks he's been clever. He continued, "Aber wenn Du einen Fisch danach beurteilst, ob er auf einen Baum klettern kann, wird er sein ganzes Leben glauben, dass er dumm ist." He set his suitcase down and leaned against the door with his arms crossed, looking proud of himself.

"Are you going to tell me what that means or are you going to stand there with that stupid face?" you asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Senku picked at his ear and straightened his back, "Nope!" He suddenly walked out of the room looking as much of a mad scientist as the day you met him. You grabbed his suitcase for him and followed behind, still bewildered by what he was trying to tell you. A thought suddenly finds itself buried in the deep of your stomach, making you feel ill. Are you in too deep? He sees you as nothing more than a friend and will never see you as anything more but you could follow behind him in a cramped hotel hallway, pass all the mysterious carpet stains and the buzzing broken ice machine for eternity. It's almost like you've been playing pretend up until now. But the world is about to know the Senku Ishigami you've gotten to know all throughout these years. You'll have to share him with millions and this endless walk down this hotel hall will be the last time that he's truly yours, if he could truly ever belong to anyone. You feel the feelings you've felt for years start to bubble up in your throat. Just as your lips part, trying to get a last word in, the elevator opens. "Here's to new beginnings, Y/N."