After Kaseki made some glass-work, him, Senku and Chrome sat together, focus on their next task. You and Gen looked at them curiously.
"So, what's the spartan crafting club doing next?" Gen asked.
"A light bulb." Senku casually replied, examining the glass.
"Ah, of course." you shrugged.
"Silly us."
You and him looked at each-other and giggled.

Senku disregarded you guys' little joke and explain further.
"When it's lit up, it'll reach 2,000 degrees or so, and the gold wire will melt. We got to reinforce the glass with a tiny bit of adhesive."
"This is some delicate work, even for me." Kaseki said, trying to put the wire in place. "My old man hands keep shaking."
"Let (Y/n) help you." Senku said. "She's good with her hands."
"Oh is she now?" Gen raised an eyebrow.
"I guess I am yeah-Wait a second! Ah~!" you realized what he meant and slapped him in the arm, blushing slightly.
He just giggled.

You followed Kaseki's instructions and correctly placed the wire. He gave you a pat on the shoulder as a way to say 'good job'. He stood up and stretched his back.
"Sheesh~! I've been lazing around this village for sixty years now. But ever since Senku and (Y/n) came along..." he looked at you both and smiled softly. It's been extraordinarily tough, and extraordinarily fun. All the other villagers, except maybe a few (Magma and his personal gremlin), everyone pretty much feels the same way."
"Aww~!" you placed a hand on your warmed up heart. 'I'm included!'
You felt the feels, and through his smile, you knew Senku felt it too.

"So we're talking about electricity here." Chrome looked at the finished product. "The last time we tried it, it burned out in a moment right? What are we gonna do about that?"
"What do you do when you want something to burn real good?" Senku asked.
"Oh here he goes again." you whispered, smiling. "Being all vague and shit, poor Chrome."
"Blow a ton of air at it with the huff-puff tool." Chrome answered. "Like how we're doing it with the water wheel."
"Then conversely, how do we stop something from burning?"
"...Ah! Take away the air!"
"There you go!" he smirked. "Let's get to it!"

The boys went to get the necesary things. Meanwhile, you looked down, frowning.
"Wait what?" you whispered.
It was the same kind of vague questions, but Chrome learned from them. Senku used them as a way to teach him stuff. You recalled all the times he did the same to you. And you felt stupid for not realizing it sooner, maybe that incident with you trying to go solo wouldn't have happen if you did.
You noticed that, after that night, he stopped with the questions. You guessed that, if he'd been more direct, it wouldn't have happen either. He overestimated you, you thought.
'Guess we're kinda both to blame for this.' you ran a hand through your hair.

Senku poured mercury into the vacuum pump you guys set up.
"By taking advantage of mercury's ability to trap air. We can create a vacuum inside the light bulb." he explained.
After shutting and completing your first light bulb, you repeated this process a few more times to have a fair amount of them.
"Alright," Senku started to pick them up. "and now, to set them up for the lighting test."

"Hey Senku?"
He looked up at you.
"I haven't really told you this..." you softly smiled. "Thank you."
For a moment, he didn't say anything. Then he frowned.
"Why are you telling me this out of the blue like this?" he gave you a weird look.
You laughed.
"Yeah, I guess that was pretty cringy, sorry. Anyway!"

You then helped him setting the light bulbs on a big tree nearby. But Senku was a bit bothered. After all, you didn't let him finish.

The sun set a while ago, it was dark and there was the cold air of winter, fortunately your fur coat kept you warm. It started to snow, the snowflakes gently floating down.
"Shall we reschedule the lighting test?" Chrome asked.
"Nah," Senku said. "actually if we can make it happen, today's ideal."
"Why today?" you asked.
But he seemed to be too focused on the battery and wires to have heard you. Emphasis on 'seemed'.

Your attention was shifted to the tree, the light bulbs lit up. A decorated tree in the night's darkness, it was almost magical. Just like last time with just the bamboo fiber, your heart was pounding in your chest.
"An illumination..." Gen said. "All at once, it feels we've been transported back to the modern era~."
"That's how I felt the first time too!" you said with a big smile.
He chuckled at your enthusiasm.

"Two months to get to this point..." Kaseki said to Senku. "Ohoho! Took us a while didn't it?"
"Nah, not really. This is all according to plan."
Gen, who heard them talking, realized something.
"Could it be...?"
You looked at him and tilted your head.
"Today is...Christmas."

You gasped.
"My favorite holiday!" you clapped your hands. "Oh my god! Happy holiday Gen!"
You took his hand and shook it with both of yours.
"May next year be full of good things for you!" you said with a big smile.
His heart skipped a beat at your wishes. Knowing it was genuine.
'So bright.' he thought.
"Uh..." he ended up chuckling and shaking your hands back. "Why thank you! Happy holiday to you too (Y/n)-chan! I wish you good luck and success throughout next year!"
"Thank you so much!"

Suddenly all cheerful, you went to wish happy holiday to all your friends.
"Oh yeah, it is Christmas." Senku said, still looking up at the tree. "What a coincidence."
"Pfff, liar~." Gen smiled.

The villagers didn't understand the reason for your joy, even your explanation was a bit confusing. Your reasoning was clouded by your excitement, which made you use some modern era expressions like 'dope', 'lit', 'hype' and a lot more 'like's and 'boy's than usual. But they basically got the idea of this time of year where we celebrate the people that we love, so they were happy and even gave you their good wishes.
When there was only Senku left, you noticed he moved to be a bit more distant than the others. So when you walked up to him, no one could hear you.

"Happy holiday Senku!" you gave him a big smile.
"Yeah sure." he smiled. "Here."

He handed you something, it took you a moment to process what it was. You gasped loudly when you did, shock written all over your face. You looked back at him with big eyes.
"It's not because it's Christmas." he said. "I just happen to finish it. It's a complete coincidence."
"Fuckin... Whatever man! It's still a Christmas present!"

You took the instrument very carefully, as if it could break at any abrupt movement. The metal was cold beneath your fingertips. You examined it in winder, it was perfectly made, the curves, the length. Your heart pounded with excitement.
This instrument was one of your favorites. Yet you only played it a few times, after all, just when you got your own trumpet, you got petrified. But you really got a 'love at first sight' moment with it.
"How did you even...?"

"Oh it was easy." he smiled, putting his hands on his hips. "Trumpets and other brass instruments are made of 70% copper and 30% zinc."
"How the hell did you find zinc?"
"Zinc is made *from* copper, it's like a thin shell that forms around it. They have different melting points, the zinc melts before the copper, so separating the two was nothing."

"Ah~ oh my god~." you covered your mouth, trying not to shout. "Thank you thank you!"
You hugged him tightly, your arms around his neck. This time, he only flinched at the sudden embrace. He even patted your back lightly with his hand. Though he still wasn't fond of it, it would be considered a big development to anyone who knew him.
When you let him go, you kept looking at your new instrument with stars in your eyes, he smiled at that.
"I actually can't believe it." you said. "I feel bad, I don't have anything to give you."
"...If you want to thank me." you looked up, hearing his soft genuine tone. "just keep on making music, with any instrument that comes your way. That'll be just enough for you and me."

You both looked at each-other silently for a moment. Eventually, you puffed a giggle.
"Okay, *now* I realize the cringiness here."
"Yeah I gotta say, that crushed my soul a little bit when I said that." he picked his ear.
A moment passed.
"Let's never do that again."
"Oh!" you let out and pointed at him after you both said that sentence at the same time.
You both laughed.

Yeah, you both were pretty cringy and very bad at that stuff. But the feeling was there and you both knew it.