My Own Science (Dr Stone Senku x reader)

The spotlight

Vee stepped on the stage, Senku followed her and turned the mic on for her. She stood in front of it while he went and checked the converted cellphone. After a moment, he gave her a thumb up. She glanced down at you and smiled.
"(Y/n) why don't you come here?"
"Huh?" you let out.
"If we're gonna work together, I wanna get familiar with your music. Give me a beat or a base line or something."
You hesitated at first, but having her looking down at you made you feel like you had no choice, and it tightened your heart. You stepped up the stage and grabbed your new double bass. With a quick glance at each-other, you played a base line.

Vee nodded her head to the rhythm, letting it envelop her. She took the mic and after a moment started singing. There was no words, a lot of pauses but it only accentuated the moments when she sang, her voice echoing throughout the almost empty space. Her voice really was something when you listened to it in person, her transition from high to low were smooth. She adjusted it from the vibe your base was given.
Everyone was looking at her. Playing behind her, you kept looking at her back.

When she was done, she looked back at you.
"Yeah, I feel like we're gonna work fine." she smiled.
You forced a smile again.
"Thank you."

The following couple of weeks, Vee quickly proved herself. She always did a great job and because of her background, everyone already loved her. Even the people from the stone world were taken by her charisma.
And you felt more and more bad about it.
A few days before the performance, you were sitting alone, looking over the landscape, the evening sky was slowly enveloping the world in a deep blue light.

Your eyebrows furrowed and your clenched your fist.
"I thought I was over this bullshit." you said to yourself.
"Over what?"
You flinched and turned around. Gen was standing behind you, smiling as if sneaking up on you wasn't creepy at all.

"Gen..."
"Hiya." he waved. "So what are you supposed to be over?"
You looked down and turned back towards the landscape. A moment of silence passed.
"...It's just," you eventually said. "I can't help but feel like I'm gonna..." you shrugged, searching for the right words. "Like, when you go to a show, all the attention is on the singer, no one ever pays attention to the musician in the background. And I make sure they have their time in the spotlight too. I know it's stupid. I know Vee's a nice person but..." you scratched your neck. "It's just that fear of being useless coming back again. And I really thought I was over with that."

A moment passed.
"You wanna know what I think?"
You turned to look at Gen.
"Let me run a psychological check on ya." he smiled. "I've been in the show-business for years, I know what it feels like when you're in the spotlight for the first time."
You thought back to your first performance. It really was a magical moment.
"You got to know that thrill and you loved it. And now you just feel like it's going to be taken away from you. You're not afraid of being useless at all (Y/n)-chan." his smile turned into a smirk. "You're scared to not be in the spotlight again, to not be in the center of the stage again."

He giggled.
"It's pretty common, nothing special." he turned around. "Looks like you're actually the same as any other performers."
And there you go. He did that little ego check on you, and now he was waiting for your turn. You'd get angry, call him weasel-boy and you'd get driven by the desire to prove him wron-.

He heard a sniff and turned around. Your eyes were overflowing. Seemed like you just realized you were crying, you blinked a few times, making the tears flow down your face, and rubbed your eyes, though to no avail.
"God dammit. Sorry." you sobbed, hating yourself for crying over this, in front of Gen none less. "This...I'm so stupid."
He stood there for a long moment, not knowing what to do or say. He clearly went too far on this one. He thought you'd take it but, turned out he was wrong. And he was angry at himself for this.