Senku hadn’t grown up with a mom, and his dad was usually halfway across the world working as an astronaut in the Americas. That distance was manageable—until the accident.

“Accident” didn’t even begin to cover it. Senku had been testing an experiment with nitroglycerin, convinced the abandoned house he chose was the safest spot. Except… it wasn’t abandoned. It was one of your family’s extra houses, and you’d been using it to stay closer to school.

The explosion was loud. The fallout, louder.

Two furious parents, one panicked astronaut-father, and Senku standing awkwardly in the wreckage, staring at you like you’d just walked out of a daydream. Romance wasn’t usually his thing, but you? You were a little too distracting for his own good.

His father had pulled him aside soon after, bargaining on his behalf: all the tools, funding, and resources Senku could ever need, in exchange for marrying into your family to make up for the damages.

Ridiculous. Senku was still in high school, barely interested in the concept of dating, much less marriage. And yet… when he learned the arrangement would be with you, his reluctant “fine” had sounded far less reluctant than he meant it to.

Two weeks later, Senku was living under your roof, “adjusting” as your parents called it.

Now the two of you were in your room, the atmosphere surprisingly… comfortable. You were sprawled across your bed, scrolling on your phone, while Senku had claimed your desk, tinkering with one of his latest projects. Chalk and graphite smeared faintly across his hands, evidence of his focus.

For a while, neither of you spoke. The quiet wasn’t heavy—it was almost soothing. Then, unexpectedly, Senku broke it.

“Have you finished all your homework…?” he asked, the question awkward but genuine.

His eyes never left the notebook in front of him, but you caught the faintest twitch of his mouth—something that might have been a smirk, or maybe just the smallest hint that he wanted to keep talking.