Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gen had infiltrated the base of Dr. Xeno. It wasn’t only aesthetically pleasing, but also far more advanced than the Kingdom of Science. The science and technology was up to date with parts of the twenty-first century’s! It was admirable, even if it was threatening. Though, it wasn’t like the enemy really trusted Gen all too much yet, they’d have to be stupid to trust a man who fled from one side to another. It was an obvious spy move, and these people weren’t stupid, far from it, in fact.

From what Gen knew, Stanley was sent out to go shoot “Dr. Taiju”. After all this was over, Gen was going to owe Taiju a really big apology for all of this… he honestly felt guilty for putting the target on Taiju's head.

Stanley had been gone for a couple days, it was hard for Gen to tell how much time was passing, but he’d assumed at least a day or two had gone by. He hadn’t been let outside, thank god for their working sewage system. He had forgotten how nice it was to have a working shower with hot water, though the shower couldn’t last more than ten minutes, but that was a price he was willing to pay.

Right now, Gen was in Xeno’s lab, the technology was far beyond anything Gen could understand, let alone know how to use. There was always a soft ticking, or a constant beeping that eched through the room. Everything was scary clean.

Gen kept getting summoned for information on what the Kingdom of Science might be up to, it was more than a daily ritual, at this point.

There Xeno stood, holding the Medusa.

Ah. Shit.

There was no way Senku or any of the other Kingdom of Science members would ever give up something this valuable unless they had to. This was a last resort, and of course, it was up to Gen to make up a lie to buy his team some time. Wonderful. Senku owed him a cola for all this work poor Gen was being forced into doing, dangerous work at that!

Gen put on a performance worthy of an Oscar, he really laid it on thick, telling them the whole story of how they got that petrification weapon. Most of it was the truth, Gen just added a little bit of extra flare. It never hurt anyone to spice up a story, right? And with Matsukaze’s terribly sad backstory, Gen could explain generally where the Medusa came from. It might have been one of his best performances, if he did say so himself.

That’s when Dr. Brody, one of the soldiers who never seemed to get angry, walked in. He called out Gen’s lie, shit, and called Gen’s previous lie about “Dr. Taiju” out as well, SHIT.

If they found out that Senku was actually their mad scientist, that was more likely to put him in danger. No, scratch that, it did put Senku in danger. He was in undeniable danger now that they knew.

Dr. Xeno had this look on his face. It was hard to read, Xeno was a man who was pretty difficult to read, naturally, even for a mentalist. The way his jaw tightened and the dull light in his eyes faded to a muted flicker almost made it seem like Dr. Xeno felt guilty.

Gen was doing his best to cover his own trail of lies, he couldn't get himself killed like this! That would be embarrassing. It was proving to be more and more difficult the more he stayed with these people. He wouldn’t lie, he truly couldn’t wait until Senku and the rest of the group came and saved him from this horrible place!

Poor Gen was trying to calm his frayed nerves as Dr. Xeno went on a small ramble about the Medusa, how he found it interesting and the sort. He only looked up for a moment when he heard the sound of a match being struck. Gen’s head snapped up as well, everyone looked at the door frame where their sniper, Stanley, was leaning. He looked calm.

Gen felt his heart drop, he was drawing in short, quick breaths. Stanley was back and he looked almost too calm. This could only mean one thing. Gen didn’t want to think about it, his stomach was already twisting into knots at the thought. Stanley was asking questions about the Medusa, Gen was able to force himself to answer, but he knew what it meant if Stanley was back, especially looking so tranquil. Adding on Dr. Xeno’s faint look of guilt, that led to only one conclusion.

Senku was shot.

Senku was dead.

Gen wasn’t really paying attention to what happened next. Maya was carrying him somewhere, her awful singing was probably the only thing that was keeping him grounded at the moment.

Senku was shot.

Senku is dead.

Senku was shot.

Senku is dead.

There was no way a man like Stanley Snyder would miss a shot, there was no way a man like Stanley Snyder would ever come back empty handed. He wouldn’t have come back if he had failed his mission, that’s just not who he was.

Gen felt like he couldn’t breath, his head was throbbing and his vision was spinning. He was trying his best to ration out any other explanation, any way that Senku could possibly be alive, but he kept drawing blanks. The bullet was big, way too big to simply survive a shot from. Gen felt like he was going to throw up, the thought of his Senku getting blown up by a bullet made his stomach churn. Gen was just barely fighting back tears, barely keeping his façade up.

Gen managed to keep himself together until he was sent back to his room, it was more like a prison cell with a comfortable bed, but it was still a room.

That’s when it shattered, all of Gen’s years of pushing down his emotions, of making himself the perfect figure head. All his practiced smiles, never failing attitudes to impress, and tactics to calm his nerves failed him. Gen broke down sobbing. His legs felt weak beneath him, his body was shaking like a leaf. He allowed himself to drop to his knees. He felt tears stream down his face, he was gasping for air. Everything around him felt heavy, the air, his clothes, and even his own skin. Gen couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried like this, there was a chance this was the first time in his life he’d ever allowed himself to break down this badly. He knew for a fact it was the first time he didn’t try to pull himself together, didn't try to fix the problem himself. Because there was no fixing it.

Senku was gone, Senku was dead.

There was no way to fix that, no way for Gen to piece it back together. There wasn’t any way to save him, no Medusa, no petrification, nothing. Senku was gone, and he was never coming back.

Gen felt himself dry heaving, he quickly clapped his hand over his mouth. He felt how wet his face was, how tear stained his cheeks were. His emotions made sense logically, Senku had been Gen’s friend, possibly his best friend. Now he was gone, Gen couldn’t help but blame himself for this. If only he had come up with a better lie, if only he had distracted them more, if only he had warned The Kingdom of Science beforehand. If only, if only, if only.

Gen felt queasy, his stomach was tied into so many knots, he felt sick. He had never felt this kind of grief before, never expected a death to hit him this hard. Gen had always put heavy barriers between himself and anyone who tried to wiggle their way into his life. He managed to pull it off pretty well, no one got close to breaking his walls down… until Senku came in and messed everything up. Gen didn’t know when exactly it happened, but by the time he realized, it was too late. Senku had become such an important part of Gen’s daily life, he was the entire reason Gen was still alive, to be fair.

Senku had easily become Gen’s favorite person, the person Gen would look for first in a room full of every person he’d ever met.

That person was gone now.

Forever.

That realization kept hitting Gen like a truck, over and over again. There wasn’t anymore Senku, no more complex ramblings about things Gen couldn’t even begin to wrap his head around, no more amazing inventions that left Gen utterly speechless. There wasn’t going to be any of that, not anymore. Never again. There could never be a person like Senku again, no one could replace a man like that.

Gen didn’t know how long he spent crying, but he knew it was long enough that he nearly forgot what he was crying about. Though, he couldn’t ever truly forget something like that, so now he was stuck staring at a wall, hugging a pillow. His eyes looked hollow, like he didn’t quite have a soul left inside him. Honestly, at this point, he didn’t know if he did. His eyes were red and his face was still wet from the tears. The one person Gen had allowed to break down his barriers was dead, the only person Gen had ever allowed to get that close to himself was now gone and he really only had himself to blame for it. He should have told Stanley that they left their scientist back in Japan, that Senku was the dumbest person on the Perseus, anything to keep them away from Senku.

It was too late for that. It was too late for all of it.

The other crew members must have hated Gen for this. It was his fault, right? He was the one who was supposed to lie their way to safety, but he failed that. They had any and all rightw to blame him for Senku’s death, he was the one who knew a sniper was coming but didn’t warn them.

This only made Gen feel more sick. The lingering feelings of guilt and despair were the only thing Gen felt at the moment. It was like all emotions had been sucked out of him, like he cried out any chance of joy he could ever feel.

His door cracked open, food was slid inside for him to eat.

Gen wasn’t hungry. He didn’t even move from his spot, he just kept staring at the wall as if it would come to life and tell him everything that just happened was all some elaborate joke, that Senku was really still alive and well, that Gen just had some awful nightmare. Of course that would never happen.

Gen felt his nails digging into his skin, he was trying his best to keep himself grounded, to not allow his grief to cause him to do something irrational. There were still the other people on board the Perseus. It would do them no good if Gen went and got himself killed. The least he could do is protect the rest of the crew.

The next couple days were killing Gen. He managed to be all smiles and sunshine in front of people, but the moment he was alone, he broke down crying. It was like he got the news all over again.

Senku is dead.

Gen couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever cried this hard, he didn’t know if he’d ever felt this kind of grief before. He could feel it physically all over his body.

Back before the stone world became his new life, Gen had been a performer, as he made sure everyone knew. Eyes were always on him, people wanted to see him slip up, people wanted to see him break. He had always found it easier to hide his true emotions and become the perfect, pretty thing for people to stare at than. Being honest only gets you so far in life. Honesty was just a way to gain trust, lying was easier. Putting up a facade was easier, it made him more likable.

With this, Gen’s emotions slowly began to snuff out. He had never allowed himself to feel any of them, it was a risk to his few seconds in the light of fame. He couldn’t risk it, he couldn’t lose it, he had to be perfect.

So he became perfect. All feelings were shut off, but when he woke up in the stone world, it was like a switch was flipped in his brain. He was finally something more than a flashy object on someone’s screen. He was more than that, he was a negotiator, he was important now. He could never point it out to anyone on a timeline, he didn’t know when exactly it happened, but he slowly started to feel again and it had probably been Senku’s fault. He started to enjoy his life, he found himself actually smiling, not the faux smile he put on for the cameras, a genuine smile. It was sad, but Gen had forgotten what it felt like to feel anything in a genuine matter. He forgot what his feelings were like, for the last couple years, his only feelings had been those that the public wanted to see. Flipping through the pages of his memories, Gen had to admit it was thanks to Senku. He had never believed any of Gen’s crappy tricks, Senku was way too damn smart for that, and yet he still trusted Gen, even from the beginning. He put Gen to work, Senku made him think, he challenged Gen to try harder. Senku made Gen a better person. So what was Gen now?

It wasn’t like his entire life was based around Senku, he was still his own person, yet it felt like a hole had been dug into his chest, ripping his heart out. Now he was back to square one. Gen was alone once again. It was just like the days before everything had been turned to stone. He had people all around him, but no one to call a friend. Gen was alone and it was pathetic.

Spending days crying alone in his room had ruined his sleep, he had heavy bags under his eyes. He knew Senku would have made fun of him for this, and said something about how Gen really did need his beauty sleep, huh? Gen almost laughed at the thought, he could hear it perfectly in Senku’s voice. Gen would have responded with a comment about how Senku was no better, how his eye bags could be mistaken for black eyes. If the two were really sleep deprived, that would have sent them both into laughing fits.

Gen’s heart ached at the thought. He’d never get to hear Senku’s laugh again, he’d never see that cocky smile, all of it was gone. Gen might as well have died with Senku. The state he was in now wasn’t living, it was surviving. Barely.

Gen couldn’t keep up with the amount of time that passed. Maybe it was just a couple days, maybe a few weeks. He’d been let outside a few times, some of the soldiers had noticed just how pale Gen had gotten. They suspected it was because of the lack of sunlight he’d been given. Even if he was a prisoner, a lot of the soldiers didn’t seem to want Gen to be in pain. It was a part of being a human, caring for others.

Some people managed to turn off that part of their brain, it’s what made people like Xeno and Stanley so dangerous. They only seemed to care for each other, Gen could easily say that was their weakness as well as their strength.

Stanley was almost always around the doctor, if he wasn’t, his highest ranking officials were. They worked together in perfect harmony, even if they bickered, there was an unspoken connection between the two. For the rest of the people in Dr. Xeno’s empire, he couldn’t care less about them. That’s what made their empire so strong, people were expendable, they were replaceable. That was a callousness the Kingdom of Science would never have. They would never abandon anyone, it was a weakness in Xeno’s eyes.

It had been a while, he was being treated less like a prisoner, but everyone still made sure he didn’t do anything stupid. He’d guessed it was about two weeks since Senku… since Stanley came back from his mission. He didn’t know what the Kingdom of Science was up to, if they had a plan. Gen’s brain felt like mush, he couldn’t really think properly, he just couldn’t focus on anything important.

Some of the fighters noticed that Gen barely ate, if he ate anything at all. Even if they were working as prison guards, they were still more human than people like Stanley and Xeno. They started to force Gen out of his room when he ate, making him eat in their cafeteria. Some of the nicer ones even found a way to sneak him food he seemed to like more. Gen never let his façade drop, he was always smiling and always using his charm, but that smile never met his eyes. Any person would notice how hollow and soulless he looked as long as they looked him in the eyes.

No one said anything about it, some of them even seemed a little afraid of Gen. He heard a couple of them say he looked uncanny and threw them off. Gen would like to keep it that way.

At some point, Gen got called into Dr. Xeno’s lab. This wasn’t unusual, though his requests for Gen’s presence had been less and less frequent recently.

“I have a question for you, Gen Asagiri,” Dr. Xeno wasn’t looking at Gen, he was fiddling with some vials with mysterious liquid inside of them, “What is your fledgling Kingdom of Science’s plan? Of course, I’d assume you wouldn’t have a clue what they’re up to, you have no way of communication, and I would have heard over the radio if they tried to contact you.”

Dr. Xeno put the vial of liquid into something that held it and he finally turned to look at Gen, “you always seem to know what they are planning, you claim yourself to be a mentalist, yes? Well, answer me this one question, Mentalist, where have your friends gone?”

The question didn’t fully register in Gen’s mind for a minute, it took him a while to even realize he’d been asked something. Gen was horribly sleep deprived, his overall state of grief wasn’t exactly helping, either.

Dr. Xeno waited a few beats before speaking again, his question must have been more of a rhetorical one, He had barely waited for Gen to answer.

“Assuming by your expression, you didn’t even know they planned on leaving, am I correct?” Once again, Xeno didn’t give Gen a chance to respond, “some of Stan’s soldiers had staked out the place where your little fledgling empire’s ship was. They saw your friends loading food and supplies onto the ship, and seeing a few warriors emerge from the forest walking away from what looked like our base. I believe a blonde girl and black haired boy with a bandana, I assume they had been on a stake out mission of their own, trying to find the best way to infiltrate our wonderful empire we have here.”

“The blonde didn’t seem all too happy, my men reported she was practically getting dragged away, yelling at the men dragging her. I don’t speak a lick of Japanese, none of my men do either, but I’d say it’s safe to assume she didn’t want to leave you.” Stanley explained while taking a drag of one of his cigarettes.

As if on cue, the radio crackled to life.

“We’re sorry Gen, we had to leave, we–” Dr. Xeno cut off the message before the person talking could continue, turning off the radio.

It had been Kohaku speaking, she sounded sorry, genuinely sorry, and Kohaku was no actress.

“So, what is their plan?” Xeno asked as he stood up from his chair and made his way to Gen. It was like a punch in the gut, Gen was still recovering from what he’d just heard. He blinked a few times, trying to regain his composure, but it wasn’t quite working as well as he would have hoped.

“Unless you don’t know their plan…” Stanley’s voice was a low purr, he started to circle around Gen as if he was a lion about to pounce, “unless they left you all alone at the enemy base.”

Gen was doing his best to control his breathing, but it was coming in short, quick pants. His vision was starting to get all spotty, his lack of food from the last couple days certainly wasn’t helping with his current predicament. Gen was alone. The Kingdom of Science abandoned him. Could he really blame them?

Senku was dead, he’d been shot.

Their leader, their brains, their strategist had been taken out, it’s hard to improvise when the man who led them to America was blown to bits.

Gen felt very lightheaded, his vision blurred into nothingness and he felt himself hit the ground. He wasn’t quite unconscious, he was still aware of the things around him, he just couldn’t hear or see anything. It was scary, honestly. Gen felt himself say something, “I’m okay, I’m okay”, but he couldn’t hear himself. He kept blinking as if that would help, his arms felt all tingly and he slowly started to be able to feel again. His heart was pounding in his ears and his vision finally came to, though, his brain wasn’t registering anything around him. He could hear Stanley and Xeno talking, it was hard for him to make out what they were saying. He’d picked up Stanley felt a condescending sort of pity for Gen and Xeno wanted to put Gen to work; they needed as many hands on their projects as they could get, even an enemy’s.

Gen blinked a few more times and he finally registered what he was seeing. He could hear the ticking of a machine and the constant beeping. He pulled himself up and sat on his knees for a moment, catching his breath. He stood up slowly, doing his best to control his breathing.

“You are dismissed, Mr. Gen. Thank you for that wonderful piece of information.” Dr. Xeno smiled down at Gen and quickly turned back to his work.

“Hear that? Move, we’re sending you back to your room.” Stanley nodded to the door, a sign Gen should start walking. Two other soldiers walked Gen back to his room. The two men didn’t say anything to Gen, but they were bickering about something. Somehow, the two reminded Gen of Kinro and Ginro, two opposites with the same job. The kinder, more energetic man offered Gen a protein bar.

“I saw you pass out earlier. That’s rough, man. Eating might help,” the guy kind of reminded Gen of Taiju, as well. Not when it came to looks, but his personality was the same bright and cheery kindness that Taiju always showered the world with. Gen let out a small laugh, it wasn’t at the other man’s actions, no, it was at his own thoughts. He couldn’t believe he was comparing these strangers to his fellow members of the Kingdom of Science, to the people who abandoned him. Even though Gen didn’t blame them for leaving him behind, that didn’t mean it didn’t still hurt. He’d grown attached to these people, enough so to call them friends.

It was strange for Gen to miss a person. Back in the old world, he didn’t allow himself to get attached. He would use acquaintances to get what he wanted, he manipulated his way to the top. What was the point of getting attached to a person you used as a pawn? Now, the people in his life were more than that, more than a way to get the best life he possibly could.

“Thank you, that’s very kind of you,” Gen accepted the protein bar and slipped back into his room.

He was back to square one, back to his life before, building his walls back up. Yet again, there was no reason to get attached, there wasn’t a point in building relationships with these soldiers. He was alone… again. Gen made his way back to his bed, falling back into the mattress and letting the air leave his lungs.

He opened up the protein bar and started chewing on it. He had to assess what had to happen next. Now that there wasn’t the threat of the enemy, Dr. Xeno and Stanley had no use for Gen, they didn’t have a reason to keep him around. Though, the two men both agreed that they needed more manpower to continue to build their empire.

On one hand, Gen could convince them to keep him around so they’d have more hands on their little projects. On the other hand, Gen wasn’t exactly strong, he had more skin and bones than any kind of muscle. He wouldn’t exactly be much help when it came to physical labor, though he was better with smaller, more tedious tasks that Senku had always put him up to. Senku… Somehow, Gen’s thoughts always returned back to Senku, back to his friend. Everytime he thought of Senku, a small part of his heart broke, he could already feel his eyes stinging with tears starting to form.

Gen rolled over onto his back staring at the ceiling for a moment before draping his hand and wrist over his eyes, pressing into them a little, just to feel something. Gen was doing his best not to cry, he’d already spent so long crying over something that couldn’t be undone. Something broke inside of Gen over and over again every time he thought about how Senku came to his end. Even though Gen didn’t want to think about it, his brain kept replaying how Senku must’ve died. Somehow, his brain managed to play around twenty different ways that Senku could have been shot, some were worse than others, but Gen couldn’t stop the thoughts from invading his brain.

It was painful.

There would be nights where it got so bad, Gen would curl his hands into fists and hit his head over and over again in hopes it would stop the thoughts.

Nothing helped. Nothing ever helped.

Other nights, Gen would spend hours hunched over the toilet in his room, gagging. The thoughts were gruesome and Gen didn’t exactly have a strong stomach. He threw up a couple times. Usually, he ended up spending the night in the bathtub, head lolled to the side and resting against the wall.

By now, it had been around a month, Gen had to assume. A horrible month since Senku had been shot, since he’d been killed. The others had left around a week ago. Dr. Xeno had called Gen down to talk a few times in that week, though he’d picked up that Gen really was abandoned, but that didn’t mean Gen got to walk free. No, Gen was still followed around by two guards, it was never consistent. That was probably a good idea on Xeno’s part, or maybe Stanley, he didn’t know who was in charge of his guards. Either way, it was a good play.

Gen could easily lull someone into a false sense of security and befriend them enough to set him free. It wasn’t like he was planning on doing that, he had nowhere to go, it would just lead to his death. Gen was still working on a plan on how to survive this scientific empire.

Befriending Xeno and Stanley was out of the question, the two were psychos who only cared for each other. It would take years, possibly decades for Gen to gain the trust of both Stanley and Xeno. That was a last resort, Gen would only do it if he found no other plan. Getting all buddy-buddy with his guards, especially because they were interchangeable, was out of the question as well. These weren’t exactly the brightest men and women on the planet, but they weren’t stupid. They knew a scheme when they saw one, not to mention, they would be switched up with someone new by the next day, so it would be a near impossible feat to befriend one of them. Getting along with another higher up wouldn’t exactly be easy, and it wouldn’t be realistic. Gen had no targets he could go for, so that left him with pretty much one option. Gain everyone’s trust. It wasn’t something he wanted to resort to, but it was Gen’s last useful card in his hand. If he had no weak link to aim for, he would simply just weaken the entire chain. If he managed to gain everyone’s trust, if he managed to make himself important, he could tear this damn place down from the inside out.

Chapter Text

Everything hurt.

Every single part of Senku’s body hurt.

The last thing he remembered was making the oobleck shield to stop the bullet from killing him. Judging by the fact he was still alive, it worked.

His ears were ringing. 

How very American for that colony to have focused so intensely on making firearms. A shocker to no one with Stanley standing so close to the man remaking America.

Senku heard voices and felt bodies crowded around him, probably Yuzuriha and Taiju about to ask him ten billion questions about how he felt. He opened his eyes, and to no surprise, Taiju and Yuzuriha were standing above him, looking worried. 

They were overreacting.

Senku’s ears were still ringing, but he could already hear Taiju’s big, oafish voice yelling question after question. Senku wanted to go back to sleep already…

Now that Senku was really looking at it, there was almost the entire crew down there, other than a few who had to man the ship. Not everyone was in his line of view, but he could feel their eyes watching him.

“Hey, you big oaf…” Senku croaked, managing to crack a smile.

Francois was tending to his wounds, along with that girl from the American colony, Luna. She looked worried, Everyone looked worried.

“Senku!” Taiju was shouting way too loud for Senku’s ears, “You’re awake!”

He was probably being held back by Yuzuriha, but Taiju looked like he was about to pounce and squeeze the life out of Senku. Senku did not just survive being shot by a massive bullet to be hugged to death by an big oaf!

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, calm down, you think I’d be killed that easily?” Senku huffed out a laugh as he tried to sit himself up. Quite a few people voiced their concern and disapproval of the action, but when had Senku ever been a person to listen to reason? 

There were about thirty people crowded into that little room, everyone looked so worried for him. If Senku was a different man, it might have made him cry to see that many people were there for him.

He took a quick scan around the room. The boat was rocking, so Senku was left to assume they’d taken on water once again. Ryusui was their captain, he’d probably given the order to flee after Senku had been shot. He didn’t know how many days he’d been out, he’d have to guess a week or more, judging by the concern on everyone's faces and the soreness of his muscles.

“Where’s Gen?”

Taiju and Yuzuriha were the closest to him, other than Luna and Francois. Neither would meet his eye. Ukyo and Ryusui had to tend to the ship, they weren’t there, along with quite a few of the other crew members who were more well adapted to life on the seas. A lot of the fighters were farther away, but that still left the question, where was Gen?

He wasn’t exactly a helper on board the ship, so there would be no purpose to putting him to work. Senku would assume people would let Gen stand closer to Senku’s unconscious body just out of respect. Everyone knew how close the two were, it would be rude to not allow Gen to be close to Senku while he woke up.

Senku was studying everyone’s faces, there was a range of facial expressions. A lot of people couldn’t even look at him. Most held shame in their eyes.

“We had to leave him behind.” Senku heard Ryusui’s voice come from the entrance as a path formed for him to walk up to Senku.

“Leave him behind . ”

They left Gen behind?!

“You left him behind?” Senku’s voice was quieter than most people expected. His eyes were wide and they were tracking Ryusui’s movements like a hawk. They expected yelling or anger.

“Believe me, we didn’t want to leave him…” Kohaku’s voice was low and shaky. Her eyes were wide and she was tense. She was gripping her own arms tight, like she felt personally responsible for leaving him behind.

“A rescue mission would have risked the lives of all our crew, and with you out of order, it didn’t leave me much of a choice,” Ryusui spoke firmly, he was calm but flickers of guilt consumed his eyes. His words were chosen wisely, they were calculated. He spoke as if it was only his call, in a way to direct all blame towards himself, in a way that directed Senku’s anger at himself.

Senku didn’t quite register what everyone was saying. 

They all left him behind.

They all left Gen behind.

Senku’s breathing felt strangled. He was having trouble filling his lungs with enough air.

“You left him behind…” Senku’s voice was barely audible.

No wonder no one could meet Senku’s gaze. No one shame and guilt were etched into the faces of every crew member in sight.

They should be ashamed.

They should feel guilty.

They abandoned their mentalist!

They abandoned Gen.

“We’re turning back around and retrieving him.” Senku’s voice was low, firm. His eyes were staring blankly at his own hands.

“We can’t.” Ryusui spoke just as firmly as Senku.

“We have to turn around and get Gen back!” Senku almost yelled. It must’ve been too much strain on his vocal cords because he broke into a coughing fit soon after. Coughing up blood wasn’t exactly delightful, but it felt better than leaving behind such a vital member of their crew in another country with a homicidal maniac and dictator scientist with questionable morals.

“Senku, you are in no shape to be giving orders. You are bedridden and coughing up blood. I’d do what everyone is thinking and lay back down ,” Ryusui’s words were calm but sharp. He was the captain, Senku may have been the chief, but they were in Ryusui’s element and it wasn’t like Senku had much of a choice. “I promise we’ll go back for him, but the Kingdom of Science cannot go up against an enemy like that in the current condition we’re in.”

Then Ryusui walked out of the room. Everything was quiet. Senku could hear the lapping of the water against the side of the Perceus. 

He felt sick.

How could they leave behind Gen like that?!

It was pathetic, they couldn’t even make the effort to go and save Gen. Pathetic. Truly, truly pathetic.

The trip back from America was quiet. No one really said anything, there was an awkward tension that was constantly in the air. Everyone could feel Gen’s absence, everyone could feel how bitter Senku was for leaving Gen behind.

It turned into an unspoken rule not to bring Gen up once they reached Japan, especially around Senku. It didn’t take Kohaku’s eyes to see the slight way Senku flinched whenever Gen’s name was said or how his jaw tightened every time Ryusui walked into the room.

Ryusui had taken the brunt of the blame for abandoning Gen, he was the one who made the call, but everyone else fell complacent once the order was given. Everyone felt the guilt of running away, Senku made sure of that.

The energy in the Kingdom of Science shifted. Everything felt so much heavier, this loss hit everyone hard. Gen was the first person they had lost in this new stone world. The Kingdom of Science had been able to bring back the dead with the Doctor Stone set but this wasn’t a loss they could reconstruct with stone. 

Gen had been abandoned.

Gen was left for dead.

Gen was gone.

Those words kept ringing in Senku’s mind, he couldn’t escape them. He felt guilty, for what, he didn’t know. 

He knew logically there was no dirt on his hands, but he still felt dirty. Senku had been in charge, he’d been the one to send Gen out there. If he hadn’t done that, then maybe Gen would still be with them. Senku was the one who insisted they go to America. If he hadn’t done that, then maybe Gen would still be by his side. Senku was the one who made Gen switch sides. If he hadn’t done that, then maybe Gen wouldn’t have wriggled his way into Senku’s heart. All of the arrows pointed back to Senku. 

This wasn’t his fault, directly, but everything came back to Senku. The logic wasn’t sound, but logic and blame rarely ever go hand and hand with one another.

Senku didn’t quite know what to do. He didn’t like the feeling. He always knew what to do, everyone was looking at him for guidance, but how was he supposed to guide a Kingdom when he was in the same darkness as everyone else.

Time didn’t feel real. It either passed too quickly or too slowly. Everything felt off, out of balance without Gen. It was strange to see how the Kingdom of Science got rocked so easily without one crucial member.

Gen had been a key player ever since he was revived, so it made sense why his absence would rock their delicate balance so much. Yet, no one seemed to be thrown off as badly as Senku. 

It was embarrassing for the young scientist to admit, but he’d relied on Gen for much more than he’d previously realized. Gen had been Senku’s rock, a constant in his life that threw him for a loop once removed. Gen had helped with almost everything the Kingdom of Science. He did small tedious tasks, he did manual labor, he helped boost morale.

It had been easy to forget the smaller things he did as well, like how he told the children stories or how he’d taken it upon himself to be the man taking care of Senku. It had all felt so natural, small things that could go unnoticed while present, but left a gaping ache once they were absent.

Gen used to drag Senku to bed on nights where he stayed up too late, working too hard on whatever science gadget Senku had fixated on. But now, Senku pulled all-nighters every couple days. It was hard to tell if Senku actually wanted to work on these projects or if he stayed up to make a point, to show the small things Gen did that made him such a vital member of their team. Either way, no one seemed to be able to convince Senku to put his science work down and sleep, not the way Gen did. 

In the months that passed, Senku was almost never seen. He was always in the lab, always working on something. He didn’t talk as much, he didn’t eat as much, and he barely slept. It was a struggle to get him out of the lab, but Suika managed to convince him to eat with the group for the first time in months.

It was awkward. 

It was quiet.

Senku was sat next to Suika and Taiju. Yuzuriha was on Taiju’s right, Kohaku to Suika’s left. Some others were seated somewhere else for one reason or another. Ukyo tended to eat by himself, he didn’t like the sound of people chewing. It was mainly because of how loud it was for him, his sensitive ears didn’t like the smacking of lips one bit. Ryusui sat away from the group, only for the moment, though. Senku’s animosity towards him hadn’t died down in the last few months, so it was best for everyone to keep them separate, at least for now. Ruri and Chrome sat next to one another, while Kinro and Ginro stood guard nearby. It wouldn’t hurt to keep watch.

Though Ginro and Kinro were a couple paces away, they were still within earshot, Ginro had never been good at whispering in the first place, either.

“I’m surprised to see Senku out here, he usually takes his dinner in the lab…” Ginro mumbled to Kinro, who gave a noncommittal noise in response. 

Kinro responded after a few beats, “He’s been focused on his work, as we all have been.”

“I mean, yeah, he’s a focused guy, but we all know the real reason he’s become such a shut in.”

“Ginro…”

“What! This all started once we left without Gen. Everyone knows it, we’re just not talking about it.”

“Gen’s absence has weighed heavy on us all, Ginro, it’s hit Senku especially hard due to their closeness. So stop talking about him so disrespectfully,” Kinro scolded, peering at Ginro over his glasses frames.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but Senku’s acting like we left his lover behind or something! It’s just Gen !” Ginro’s voice was now well above a whisper.

With those three words, a silence fell over the camp. Everyone in earshot went quiet for a minute. It was a painful silence, all eyes naturally moved to Senku. Senku’s silence was worse. There was no expression on his face, but the light in his eyes had been put out. It was hard to remember the last time they’d seen the light in his eyes even flicker to life.

A couple agonizing minutes of awkward silence passed.

Senku stood up stiffly, he didn’t take his plate. He started walking off, a couple people tried to get him to stay, but it didn’t seem to be of any use. It looked like he was on auto pilot.

“Ginro! What the hell?!” Kohaku looked mad, no, furious .

“I was kidding! I didn’t think he could actually hear me!” Ginro put his hands up in defense.

“Oh, you didn’t think he could hear you?! Everyone could hear you!” Kohaku had taken Gen’s loss pretty hard as well. The fighter team had to drag her away, kicking and screaming, just to get her on the boat. She had been the most vocal about not leaving Gen behind, yet they still sailed off without him. It felt disgraceful to Gen’s name, he put so much effort into the Kingdom of Science and yet everyone sailed off without him. 

“One doesn’t have to be a lover for them to feel the pain of loss. Gen was one of our greatest allies, and we abandoned him while Senku was half dead, unable to do anything about it! Put yourself in his shoes and use your brain for five, measly seconds and think about how you must've made him feel!” Kohaku’s voice carried across the camp, it had been a while since anyone had seen her this angry. 

The guilt was starting to settle into Ginro’s gut. The same guilt everyone else had been feeling for months.

All Senku could hear was his own heart beating in his ears. Ginro was an idiot, everyone knew that, but that didn’t mean his words hurt any less.

It was less about what Ginro said and more about the feeling of never being able to see Gen again finally hitting Senku like a brick. 

The chances that Gen would be kept alive is slim, even if the American Colony needed workers. Having an enemy as a worker was just begging for disaster to happen. It would just be safer for people like Xeno and Stanley to get rid of the threat of a problem before it became an actual problem.

Senku found himself at the cemetery. He was walking mindlessly to where the gravestone of the original founders had been. It was easy to spot, it was the one place that didn’t have grass as green as the area around it.

Senku’s legs gave out beneath him and he just dropped. He was down on his hands and knees, staring at the dirt.

Gen probably hated Senku, if he was still alive. Afterall, how could Senku allow this to happen? How could Senku let Gen of all people be left behind?

It made Senku’s stomach churn. It felt like his dinner might come back up. He felt sick.

His eyes started to burn, he hadn’t allowed himself to cry, even if it was a logical reaction. Everything that had happened in the last couple years was all catching up to Senku in that brief moment. It wasn’t hard for him to keep a cool head, he was usually quite good at it, but it seemed like Senku’s usual demeanor was crumbling before him.

Before he knew it, a tear rolled down his cheek. Then another. Then another.

Senku was crying.

It was hard to pinpoint what exactly he was crying over. Was it because the world was on his shoulders? Was it because of the lack of sleep? Was it because Byakuya was dead? Was it Gen’s absence?

Senku didn’t know. It was probably a mix of everything. 

He was too young for this, Senku was barely an adult, even though he’d long since recovered from the bullet wound, he’d still been shot with something that should have blown him to bits. He was still in pain. He had lost people, two of the most important people to him were gone. Senku missed Gen, it felt almost like a physical pain, every ache Gen’s presence was supposed to ease. Gen did so much for him, and yet, Senku had done nothing to save him.

Senku missed Byakuya, no, Senku missed his dad . He missed the man who raised him. He wasn’t supposed to have lost his father so early on in life, he wasn’t meant to be orphaned by seventeen. But the fates had other plans.

Senku had lost so much, he’d gained so little. He had an army behind him, an army no twenty-two year old should’ve had to lead. He could feel eyes filled with hope and wonder burning into his skin until it felt like it was going to melt off.

He couldn’t do this alone. No one could, Senku was no exception. As smart as he was, Senku knew he needed others. He knew exactly what he needed, He knew exactly who he needed, a man he needed more than he’d realized.

Senku needed Gen.

It was more than just a simple want, a craving for someone else’s reassurance and presence. No, Senku needed this, he needed his mentalist. He needed the man who had stood tall and proud beside him for years. He needed the man who managed to live through lies and easy smiles. He needed the man whose finger he’d found himself wrapped around, whose complex charm and cat-like eyes lured Senku and made him feel safe. He needed the man who he had fallen in love with, who made breathing feel difficult when he wasn’t around.

Senku needed Gen.

And now, Gen needed Senku.

Senku didn’t care how long it took, he’d find a way back to America. He would find a way to sail across the ocean and return for the one he’d left behind. Senku looked up at the stars, and on the other side of the world, Gen stood and stared at that same sky. For him, the sun had long since risen, but the sky was all the same.

Gen would wait for Senku. Even if it took Senku another 3,700 years, Gen would be waiting patiently for his scientist to return to him.

Chapter Text

Year One

Gen wasn’t surprised they didn’t come back for him, but that didn’t mean it didn’t still hurt. A small part of him still hoped they’d turn around and come back for him, but that day never came. He’d wake up in his room, which was more of a prison cell, and he’d remember where he was. It always felt like some sort of bad dream.

It was obvious no one trusted him. Gen wasn’t even assigned an actual job for months, they didn’t trust him enough to not sabotage their work. It made sense, logically. Gen had been a hostage, a traitor. Even so, there would be no point in bringing down their empire, it wasn’t like he would gain anything from their loss. He had no way to make it back to Japan and he had no way to survive on his own. He would be suspect number one on their list if anything happened, and being kicked out to survive on his own was an obvious consequence for his betrayal. 

He didn’t quite know why he hadn’t been killed yet. Maybe it was because they needed a bigger work force, maybe it was because he could be used as a bargaining chip for when, more like if, the Kingdom of Science ever came back for him. He didn’t quite know, but it wasn’t like he was complaining. He didn’t want to die, Gen had never been the type of man to take the easy way out. No… he always used his hand to the fullest, even when he didn’t quite know what to say. Sometimes bluffing was all you could do, and that’s what he planned on doing. He’d lived a life full of lies before the days of stone, he could continue it now. 

There were some days that Xeno called him down to talk, to interrogate him. Well, it was less of an interrogation now that the Kingdom of Science wasn’t as much of a threat to Xeno anymore. 

He would sit Gen down and stare at him with those dead eyes. He offered tea and snacks, but being in the same room as a man like Xeno was enough to kill anyone’s appetite.

He mostly asked about how advanced The Kingdom of Science was. It hurt talking about Senku, Gen found himself talking about the man in present tense, as if he wasn’t…

“We had a radio, as you could tell,” Gen blinked a few times, as if clearing his eyes of tears that hadn’t yet formed, “We managed to get a pretty good signal, but not as good as modern technology, for obvious reasons.”

Xeno nodded thoughtfully, his black eyes bore into Gen’s skin. His gaze felt like a weight, every time it was focused on Gen, breathing felt harder. 

“Yes, the elegance of your technology was lacking compared to the things we had in the modern age. Then again, so is ours, but it won’t remain like that for long…” Xeno’s lips twitched into a smile before taking a sip of tea, “I assume you may have gotten a message from the man on the moon.”

Gen’s blood felt like it ran cold for a second. It would be a foolish thought to think that a man of Xeno’s caliber and scientific advancement wouldn’t know about Why-Man, but it was still chilling knowledge. Xeno was an intimidating enough enemy, but maybe if Gen could twist a story, he could get Xeno into his pocket…

“Yes, we received a few cryptic messages from our dear moon man. We even planned to go to the moon one day and confront our mystery man, maybe you could–” Xeno cut Gen off before he could continue.

“I’m aware of what you’re trying to do, Mr. Gen. I won’t be joining your fledgling science brigade over a moon mission. Senku and I had very conflicting views on how the world should be run. I’m assuming the rest of your lesser advanced scientific empire agreed with him, for the most part, at least. For, they wouldn’t have followed him so passionately otherwise.” Xeno tilted his head to the side with a nod and looked at Gen with a cocked eyebrow.

Had…

The use of past tense when referring to Senku sent a pang of grief through Gen’s heart. It had been about a year since… it happened. The pain never stopped, it barely even dulled. Gen knew that grief didn’t pass easily, but he’d never experienced it like this, he never thought the pain of losing a loved one would hit him this hard. Yet it did.

Gen allowed air into his lungs, filling them with as much air as he could manage. He did it subtly enough that Xeno wouldn’t notice. He filled his lungs with enough air to hurt, then let it out through his nose.

“Yes, most of us do agree with his views on how the world should be run.” Gen’s voice was sweet and sugar coated, it was something he’d performed thousands of times before the age of stone.

Xeno took a sip of tea, his eyes never leaving Gen. Some parts of Xeno reminded him of an owl. Maybe it was the large, unblinking eyes. Maybe it was the intimidation that Xeno’s energy seemed to inflict on everyone around him. Whatever it was, Gen didn’t like it. He didn’t like Xeno, for many obvious reasons.

“You talk about Senku as if he’s still here, Mr. Gen,” Gen took a sharp inhale through his nose, it was audible in the quiet room, “Do you know something I don’t?”

Gen’s jaw was wound tight, it was taking everything in him to control his breathing and not allow his eyes to tear up. Not in front of Xeno. Not in front of anyone . The fact Xeno noticed that wasn’t exactly surprising, anyone could have noticed Gen’s habit of speaking about Senku in that sense, but no one had pointed it out… It felt like a stab to the chest to be reminded of Senku’s… disappearance. He did everything he could to avoid the topic, he didn’t trust himself to not break down crying one day because some nitwit decided to bring up the man who was willing to give his life up for science and what he believed in over and over again.

“Or is it because you’re mourning him and have not yet accepted he is gone?” Xeno’s words stabbed right through Gen. He felt sick, he had to bite the inside of his lip to stop himself from making any noise. “He is dead, I can assure that. Stanley is an excellent shot, he’s never missed, not even in childhood. It’s truly elegant.”

Gen hated the fact that Xeno’s words hit so hard. It wasn’t just the way he spoke so bluntly about Senku’s death, it was how he spoke of Stanley on top of it. It reminded him of a time he’d overheard Senku speaking about his own skills as a mentalist. He said Gen was an important ally, he was useful…

Gen had to stop thinking about this before he made himself sick, before the tears spilled over his lashes and down onto his cheeks.

“How could I not miss our Senku? He was a dear friend of mine,” Gen flashed a stage approved smile to Xeno, all while digging his nails into his palms. It hurt. It kept him grounded.

“Friend?” Xeno tilted his head to the side slightly, almost seeming confused. What else would Senku have been? As much as Gen had wished, nothing more came of his relationship with the romance uninterested scientist.

Xeno didn’t push the subject further, Gen was released soon after. He mostly just roamed around the halls, ate, roamed around some more, and then went to sleep. He was usually given simple tasks like doing the laundry and cleaning. They didn’t want him to mess up a bigger project of theirs. It made sense, they were trying to advance and Gen might as well have been a joker in their deck. He wasn’t supposed to be there, but they would play him as best they could.

At first, it had taken Gen a while to adapt to constantly be speaking English. It wasn’t like he couldn’t speak English, far from it, in fact. He’d picked up most of it from shows he watched back in the old days and it never hurt to drop in a few English words when he was on television. It helped him gain a small amount of an American and British audience, not to mention, those who didn’t understand English all too much enjoyed the mystery of what he said. That being said, it felt strange on his tongue to speak in constant English without a drop of Japanese throughout his day. 

Gen had to pick and choose his words wisely, he didn’t have the widest vocabulary in English and some of the American colony members struggled to understand what he was saying. He knew his grammar wasn’t perfect, but he thought his accent was at least clear enough to pick up the general idea of what he was saying! Then again, some of these Americans never learned a second language, never grew up with the diversity to try and understand another person’s accent.

After a few months though, Gen had managed to get used to constantly speaking English. He didn’t know if it was just him, but it felt like his accent was getting better, it seemed like others were understanding him better.

Good.

Though, sometimes when Gen was lonely or had an especially rough day, he would find himself talking in Japanese. It wasn't like he was talking to anyone in particular on most nights but it just felt nice to hear himself talk in the language he’d grown up speaking, the language he learned to love, it felt almost comforting…

It was the closest he could get to a homely feeling. During the earlier days of his stay in America, Gen found himself talking as if Senku were there listening to him. He would talk about his day, talk about whatever he could to make himself forget that Senku was gone.

These talks always ended in tears. Gen had turned into a real crybaby whenever Senku would be brought up. He barely managed to hold it together in front of people, but the moment the doors closed behind him, tears poured like a waterfall from Gen’s eyes. He would cry until his throat was sore, his eyes were red and sensitive from him wiping away the tears, until he nearly forgot what he was crying about.

But there was no forgetting Senku. Gen never tried to forget him, never tried to erase the memories. It was the least he could do, it was the only thing Gen could do to comfort himself. 

He may have let Senku die, but Gen would be damned to hell before he let Senku’s memory disappear from his mind.

Gen was damned to hell anyways, right? He’d promised Senku they’d rot in hell together… hah…

Senku was probably looking up and laughing at Gen, laughing at how he cried over him. Gen could practically hear Senku calling Gen illogical for wasting his tears on the scientist. The thought could almost make Gen laugh. Almost…

—

Year Two

Gen wouldn’t say he’d gained the trust of everyone, that would be a lie, but the Americans had now adapted to having Gen stay with him. Unfortunately for Gen, just because he was thousands of kilometers away didn’t mean he could ever escape back breaking labor…

Xeno had quickly picked up on how they could use Gen, and of course, he used Gen. They needed a bigger labor force and since they didn’t know the revival fluid mix, they couldn’t bring anyone back.

As much as Senku’s rambling confused Gen at times, of course he had memorized what it took to make the revival fluid. Gen had it saved in the back of his mind and he wouldn’t be giving it up to anyone. He knew it was the only thing that the Kingdom of Science had above the American colony. If he gave up that piece of information, he might as well have taped a sign to his back that says “stupid”. 

The Americans didn’t seem to even know there was a revival fluid and Gen wasn’t even going to hint at the fact there was something that could bring people back no matter what. Knowing Xeno and Stanley, they would probably revive some sort of crazy empire of messed up morals and science. That would utterly screw Gen and the rest of the Kingdom of Science over.

Right…

The rest of the Kingdom of Science…

They still hadn’t come back for Gen, they didn't even send a message out… It wasn’t like Gen would have been able to intercept the message, he didn’t have a phone or a radio, but a dumb part of him thought they’d at least try!

It was stupid. 

It was hopeless.

There was no way they were coming back, they would have done that in the first year, but they didn't. They chose to leave him there. He knew he shouldn’t have been surprised, shouldn’t have felt the horrible ache in his chest, but he did. These two years were the first times he truly felt out of wack, like he wasn’t in control and he hated it .

He didn’t quite know when everyone from the Kingdom of Science had managed to nestle themselves so close to Gen’s heart, but he hadn’t been able to stop it from happening. He’d let his walls crumble down, his defenses shattered. Now look where he was at.

He was hopeless, suffering, and alone. 

On some of the worst nights, he would think about the crew. How did those people manage to get so close to him? How had he allowed it to happen? Had he even noticed it happen? Thinking about it too much felt like a knife twisting into his chest. As much as he tried to reason with himself that what everyone did, that leaving him behind was the best option to keep everyone safe, it never stopped the pain in Gen’s heart and the knots that formed in his stomach when he thought about it.

It made sense, one man’s life was not worth the lives of everyone on the ship. Especially with Senku… Senku being shot and killed, there was no way they would have been able to think of a plan good enough to defend against Stanley and Xeno. It would have been a glorified suicide mission, it would have gotten everyone killed… 

Yet… Gen still found his eyes stinging from unshed tears the more he thought about it. He couldn’t blame them, he didn’t want to blame them… but a small part of him did blame everyone. They had a choice… and they made their call, even if it was the only call they could make.

Maybe if Senku had been awake… Maybe if Senku had survived…

It was a foolish wish, really. Stanley wasn’t the type of man to leave a job unfinished. He killed Senku, the thought alone was enough to make Gen gag. He’d watched enough action movies to know how a big bullet like that would affect the human body. Senku may have been smart, one of the smartest men in history, but there's no escaping death. Death comes for everyone, it’s not cruel, it’s not meticulous, it is simply a factor in life. Humans can heavily influence death, they can cause it, they can prolong it, but they can never escape it.

Stanley caused Senku’s death. To think… Senku could have lived a long life, could have lived long enough to pass down his knowledge to future generations… 

Not anymore.

Gen rolled onto his side. He was in fetal position, cheeks tearstained and eyes red. He’d done this countless times, trying to trick himself into thinking he was back at Ishigami village. There were times he thought about traveling all the way back to Japan. He knew he wouldn’t make it. America was so far from Japan, not to mention, Gen was far from a survivalist. He would die within a week.

“Death or imprisonment… those seem to be my two options…” Gen’s voice was raspier than usual. Crying seemed to do that to his voice, along with having to speak almost all day to several American soldiers for whatever reason he had.

Gen slipped his left hand into his right, holding it like it was someone else’s hand. Oh, how he wished it was someone else’s hand. He closed his eyes and squeezed his right hand, rubbing his thumb along his own knuckles. He’d never taken himself for a romantic, but his yearning for home seeped into Gen’s longing for Senku, his ache for the other man to just be alive . 

He knew how sad he must seem from an outside perspective. He was holding his own hand, pretending it was another man’s. Gen knew if his former self could see him now, he’d be disappointed. Wasn’t he supposed to be the most shallow man? He’d always claimed he’d been attracted to artificial things. He said he wanted a harem, said he wanted money, riches, and food, he said he wouldn’t grow attached.

Yet here he was. Attached.

Senku’s friendship had managed to overthrow all of Gen’s former beliefs of himself, as corny as it sounded. Gen thought he would always be able to evade true attraction, but Senku being himself, he managed to break down what Gen had convinced himself he was. It still felt silly, even after years of thinking about it, how could Gen not fall face first for Senku?

It hurt even more knowing that Gen would never get the chance to share his feelings with Senku. It was only a dream, a foolish dream at that, but Gen had wished for a future with Senku in it. He’d wished for a future, hand in hand with Senku. He thought he would have had more time with his scientist, even if that time was spent listening to Senku talk about subjects Gen couldn’t even begin to wrap his mind around.

Time at the American colony seemed to drag on painfully slow. Gen barely managed to keep track of time, of the months passing by. He’d mostly disassociated from his body. Most of the time, it felt more like he was looking in on some sort of movie rather than living a life. The fact he wasn’t all there mentally helped time feel like it was going by faster. Parts of his memory were splotchy around then, he wasn’t paying attention to anything going on around him. He just did his assigned jobs, ate, slept, and repeated. It was the same boring cycle over and over again, he’d stopped being able to remember small details. It worried a part of him, but another part didn’t quite care what happened anymore, especially in the later months of the year.

He didn’t completely stop caring… but it was hard to care. Gen didn’t feel like himself, but he’d given up on trying to hope for a better future, hoping to return to Japan. 

Even as Gen smiled, the light in his eyes had flickered out. He wasn’t living, he was surviving . 

—

Year Three

Was Gen surprised he was still there? No. But it hurt. His head knew that no one was coming back for him, it had been three damn years. They would have returned for him by now. But they didn’t. 

He’d made himself a useful member of the American Colony, many of the soldiers weren’t as suspicious of him anymore, thankfully. He simply did the jobs he was assigned and went on with his day. Gen would even say he was friendly with some of the soldiers, enough to have a genial conversation with a few of them, but they were far from friends. 

Gen knew he didn’t have anyone left, he was just doing what he could to make sure he survived. It kind of felt like the days before everything turned to stone, the walls Gen had built high, the fake smiles, all of it was so familiar to Gen.

And he hated it. He hated all of it. He’d grown used to it, thought it was the only way to live before getting revived. He’d gotten used to the comfort of Ishigami village, the closeness everyone felt with one another, only for it all to be ripped away from him. It was like some sick, twisted game the gods decided to play on him.

But Gen would survive.

He was a shallow man once again, only looking out for his own needs and wants. He didn’t know why he was trying so hard, but he was, it might’ve been out of spite…

Out of spite for what?

Did he know?

Not really.

Life didn’t really feel like living, days merged together, it was hard to pick out details from his day. He was in a constant state of tiredness, it was like nothing really changed from the first two years, there was nothing all that different… not anymore. He still held grief in his heart, he still had problems sleeping, nothing was better.

Time heals all wounds, as people once said, but it felt like Gen’s wounds were inflamed. Infected, even. He didn’t feel worse, but he certainly didn’t feel better. He just felt stuck. Stuck in America, stuck in life.

Stuck.

His mind was somewhere else, somewhere else entirely. Going through the motions of life felt exhausting, it felt almost pointless. 

It wasn’t like Gen wanted to die or anything, it felt more like a constant tiredness that plagued his body. He simply wanted to go to sleep and not wake up again. He didn’t want to die, but living didn’t seem worth it anymore.

At that point, did it even count as living? It certainly didn’t feel like it… 

The dreams of Senku never seemed to stop, some were better than others. On good nights, Gen would dream of a life he wished he could have lived with Senku, only to wake up alone. His heart always felt emptier on those days, but it was better than the nightmares he would get. 

It was almost funny. He hadn’t even seen Senku get shot, but his brain managed to pull pieces of rumors he’d heard together to make a beautifully sickening dream to witness. Those mornings and nights… Gen would wake up in a cold sweat, feeling sick. The dreams persisted. Gen’s head felt heavy, his brain felt heavy. It made him feel bad. 

He was supposed to be getting better. Years had passed, he was supposed to be healing. He was a mentalist, goddamnit, he was supposed to be good at this stuff! It was his entire deal! Gen was a psychologist, he knew the ins and outs of the brain, yet his own tormented him painfully with what seemed to be no end. 

He tried technique after technique after technique to try and rid himself of these god awful dreams, of the heaviness in his head and heart, of the pain that always seemed to linger. Nothing worked. What a sham, Gen was. He was a mentalist, right? Yet none of his silly tricks seemed to work on himself. How could he claim himself to be a renowned mentalist, yet the techniques he preached didn’t even work on himself.

Senku was right, Gen was a full-of-shit mentalist. All his books, all his tricks… that's what they were. Tricks. Nothing more than silly things Gen had picked up along the years, a way to distract the mind. Gen’s mind was distracted, but not by the tools he’d learned by heart. No, Gen’s mind wandered to a life where he was happy. Where he was free. A life where Senku was still alive and well, a world where Gen wasn’t trapped at that god forsaken American colony.

—--

People were hard at work, always doing something. Things had changed in the last three years, the Kingdom of Science wasn’t what it used to be. Senku wasn't what he used to be. Everyone knew that, everyone knew why.

The first year was the hardest. Senku wasn’t the same, he was so much more jaded… so much angrier. Taiju and Yuzuriha did their best to work with him, to make him feel better, to take the blame a bit more. But Senku wouldn’t have any of it. His anger had mostly been directed at Ryusui, who took it as best as he could, but it was easy to see how his walls started to chip away.

The kindness that had gone unnoticed before from Senku was now gone. And boy, was it noticed… Some of the dumber members of their crew complained about this new change, but the sense was beaten into them pretty quickly.

Senku’s walls were hiked all the way up. The moment they reached Japan once more, those left behind at Ishigami village felt the difference. It was like a cold breeze wafted in off the ship. 

Senku had changed.

It was hard to blame those who stayed behind, they had no part in leaving Gen behind, but Senku still wasn’t how he used to be. He’d locked himself in the lab for days on end, he dramatically lost weight, the bags under his eyes made him look like he was sick. 

No one really knew what he was working on, nor the purpose of why he would work on something without sharing his ideas. Every few weeks a new order and blueprint would be given and the work load was as brutal as ever. The fun of the Kingdom of Science wasn’t killed, Ryusui and the other generals made sure of that, but it certainly was different. With Senku being less lenient and caring, life wasn’t the same.

Many tried to make their apologies known, tried to get the old Senku back, but nothing seemed to work. Senku lived in the lab at that point, disturbing him would put him in a bad mood, and apologizing to him while he was already peeved seemed pointless.

Gen’s absence was noticed.

Not just because of how Senku was now treating everyone, but how everything just felt a bit more… dull. He’d always been a man to try and uplift everyone, to get everyone’s loyalties to Senku, to one to translate Senku’s blunt and brash exterior into a more charming and palatable explanation for others. 

Without that, the group morale seemed to dip quite a bit. The guilt was already weighing heavily on everyone, but with the lack of their usual hype man? It was like a funeral. Of course, people did their best to keep their hopes high, but it was hard…

Senku wasn’t making it easier. It was a rare sight to even see him outside, let alone him sitting with the group during meals and whatnot.

Behind the jaded exterior, Senku felt awful. What else was he supposed to feel? One of his most trusted friends was left behind all the way across the world simply because some fool thought it would be easier to run away than think up a plan on how to save Gen. 

The crew chose this fate the moment they didn’t stop Ryusui, they chose this fate the second the ship pushed off the land and they were out at sea. No one could be mad at Senku, not now, not after they left a vital member of their kingdom behind simply because it was too difficult to get him back.

Senku had no idea if Gen was okay. Xeno may have been a brilliant scientist, but he also lacked morals. He did what he thought was best, he wanted to live in a world run by his science. Gen may have been able to lie his way to safety, but there was no true safety in a state like that. 

Their science was so much more advanced than Senku’s little team, they already had working machine guns! There was no way that Gen would be able to survive something like that! There was no way Gen would be able to survive something like the bullet that Stanley shot at Senku. Hell! It was a miracle that Senku survived that. There was no way that chance would allow that kind of survival twice!

The thought of Gen being thrown out into the wilderness, thrown out to sea, or shot made Senku sick to his stomach. He was well aware that the American Colony didn’t know the revival fluid existed, let alone how to make it, so they needed as many workers as they could get. It honestly didn’t matter if Gen gave up the revival fluid, well it did, but Senku wouldn’t care. As long as Gen was alive, as long as Gen was safe, he could give up all of the Kingdom of Science’s secrets and Senku wouldn’t be mad. 

He just wanted Gen back.

Senku just wanted his mentalist back.

He didn’t care if he was pushing his team too far, they brought this upon themselves! He needed to get back to Gen as soon as possible. They needed to rebuild the ship, to upgrade the ship. Whatever it took, Senku would find a way to get back to America.

He wouldn’t leave Gen behind. No. He couldn’t do that. Gen was too important to the Kingdom of Science… Gen was too important to Senku…

During dinner one night, Senku came out of the lab. It was rare for something like this to happen, not to mention, no one had to drag him out in the first place. His hair was all frizzy but the look in his eyes was nothing short of determined. 

“We’re going back for him,” Senku spoke firmly, a hush fell over the camp almost instantly. Everyone knew who Senku was talking about, there was no one else who it could possibly be.

“Alright, we just need supplies,” Ryusui spoke with a nod.

Senku opened his mouth to argue, only to realize… Ryusui wasn’t arguing against him.

“Allow me to start the preparations,” Francois bowed their head and made their way to the makeshift kitchen, already planning on making the sweet bread for their trip.

Others got up, dinner was pretty much finished at that point, so those who were done made themselves useful and went to go collect what was needed. It felt almost unspoken how everyone knew exactly what to get, what their job was.

Senku looked almost confused, almost like a deer stuck in the headlights. 

“My sailor’s instincts tell me you thought  we were never going back for him, am I wrong?” Ryusui cracked a slight smirk, this was the first… civil conversation he’d had with Senku in, well, years.

“You’re not.” Senku nodded his head.

“Of course we’re going back for Gen! His mental fortitude, I want it back!” Ryusui snapped his fingers and laughed, but his face softened after a moment, “It was my call to leave him behind, I always planned for us to return for him one day.”

Senku hummed in response, he felt like he’d been flipped on his head… but not entirely in a bad way. Seeing everyone working towards his goal, his goal to return for their mentalist… It was almost nice. It almost felt like things were back to normal.

Now all Senku could do was hope and pray that Gen was alright. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, holding it long enough for it to hurt.

Finally, Senku would have his Gen back.

Chapter Text

The trip back to America felt longer than it was. They were rushing to get back that, everyone wanted the old Senku back, and hopefully, getting Gen would bring Senku’s old, kinder self back.

Adrenaline was coursing through everyone’s veins. In the last three years, many things had been upgraded, many things had changed. Senku explained most of it while they were sailing back to America. All those things he’d been working on, it was all meant to help them return for Gen. It ranged from weapons to armor to the speed of their ship. 

Senku was a bundle of nerves while they were at sea. Coming up with plans on how to save Gen was one of the first times in years that Senku and Ryusui managed to work together without it ending in an argument. It felt nice, it almost felt like what the Kingdom of Science had been like all those years ago. But something was still missing, someone was still missing. That someone left a gaping hole in their team, and Senku just tore the hole open more… he made sure everyone knew…

Of course everyone missed Gen. He was always a core part of the Kingdom of Science and one of the original members, he’d always been there to lighten spirits and motivate everyone to work harder under Senku’s reign. Though, many others missed Gen for alternative reasons… Senku was brutal when Gen wasn’t there complaining about the heavy work load, not to mention, Senku cranked up the work load by ten after Gen was left behind. 

The open ocean was rough. They started out in mid summer, taking the shortest route possible. It was simply a hope that the American colony wouldn’t be checking the waters to see if anything was coming. Knowing Senku’s awful luck, they would be…

The Kingdom of Science could only hope and pray they wouldn’t be shot full of holes the moment they touch back down at America… Though, at that point, death might not even stop Senku from getting Gen back. He was truly determined.

They had a few plans written out, but none of them seemed like a sure-fire way to get Gen back. Everything relied on luck, so the Kingdom of Science would have to improvise their way through this rescue mission.

Senku was pacing back and forth like some sort of caged animal as they arrived closer to America. Even if they had a bunch of plans, that didn’t mean they were good plans. Senku was rattling off idea after idea on how to make things work.

Three years had already passed, all Senku could do was hope Gen was alright. God, just the thought alone was enough to make Senku’s stomach twist into all kinds of knots. Xeno was cruel, but he wouldn’t take someone’s life that easily… Gen was slimy enough to keep himself alive, but it was always a possibility…

“I can see land!” Kohaku’s voice snapped Senku out of his thoughts. She’d run down below deck to where Senku had been huddled away. The determination on her face… she wasn’t backing down, no, not again. “Ryusui said it should be about half a day till we reach land.”

Senku made a noncommittal noise, his attention was drawn back towards the map. He heard Kohaku walk closer, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder.

No words were exchanged, but it wasn’t hard to pick up on what they were thinking…

They had to get Gen back…

—--

At the American Colony, Gen’s life hadn’t changed much. It was a rinse and repeat life, not that he enjoyed it, but he’d fallen into a rhythm. He just became a part of the colony, another cog in the machine.

He had already finished up all of his work for the day, nothing too difficult, as always. Gen was just walking around the hallways, it wasn’t like he had anything better to do. It had become one of his pastimes, one of his few ways to move his body around. It felt better than going back to his room and crying, it just made him feel more productive…

After three years, he had managed to push down his feelings enough to rarely have breakdowns. The only times he would find himself crying was when something truly reminded him of Senku. 

Senku’s birthday had passed about a month prior… He would have turned twenty-three… Gen had barely managed to finish up his work that day without crying. It just made him feel awful, how could someone so bright and amazing be killed at such a young age? 

Gen locked himself in his room that day and cried, he cried until his eyes were dry, until they were red and puffy. He hadn’t cried since then, he just felt… awful, pathetic… He knew he couldn’t continue living like this, but he was going to survive, even if that meant turning a part of himself off… leaving a part of himself behind…

—--

The Kingdom of Science made it to land. They had no time to waste, so they hurried their way to where the last known location of the American Colony was.

Senku was rattling off ideas for plans, what to do in every single scenario that he could think of. He was prepared, maybe overprepared, but he was certainly prepared…

It was a small group being sent into the American Colony, they couldn’t risk getting caught, they couldn’t risk lives. Kohaku, Tsukasa, Hyoga, Luna, and Taiju were the ones sent in. Luna was the only one who knew the way around, she claimed she would be fine, that she was a cool and capable gal, but the anxiety was etched into her face. The rest of the team had their own stresses about the plan, but their nerves were more under control.

They didn’t exactly have a way to communicate without letting Xeno know they were there, they made sure not to use their radio. Stealth was pretty much the only thing they had on their side, if they lost that factor, it could ruin the entire plan and cost the lives of their team.

While Senku had the radio up and running, he made sure everyone knew it was only for extreme emergencies and if Xeno was the one to contact them first. Minami was positioned at the radio, she knew enough English to understand if the American colony said anything… She was also smart enough to not do anything stupid.

As the small team left for the last known location of where the Americans had settled, the anxiety seemed to spike among everyone. 

This was it.

This was the moment they’d been waiting years for.

They were going to get Gen back. Or die trying.

Senku was pacing back and forth like some sort of trapped animal, he was biting at the nail on his thumb. Not enough to bite the nail off, but just enough he was chewing on something. It didn’t help that all of their best fighters were sent out to find Gen. They would be absolutely fucked if Xeno somehow found out that they were there. The current worst case scenario was that Xeno already knew the Kingdom of Science was there and he was just luring them into a trap. The best case scenario was they somehow rescued Gen and ran away as fast as they could…

Senku didn’t want to be hopeful, he knew the likelihood of everything going perfectly was one in ten billion… 

As mad as he was at everyone for their lack of care for the mentalist, he didn’t want them dead. He didn’t want to be a foolish leader causing the demise of everyone around him. Their loyalty to him… it would be their downfall if Senku were a dumber man. As angry as Senku acted, he didn’t want anything bad to happen to his crew, his team. He couldn’t bring himself not to care, he couldn’t bring himself to hate any one of his crew members… even Ryusui.

Senku was a logical man, he knew in his heart it wasn’t all Ryusui’s fault. He knew Ryusui was just taking the blame so no one else had to feel the brunt of Senku’s anger. Ryusui was a good man, behind his cockiness and greed, he truly cared for each member of the crew like family. Even Senku. Even Gen…

“You really think the plan will work?” One of the crew member’s voices snapped Senku out of his train of thoughts.

“I hope… otherwise we’re dead…” Another replied.

They really weren’t helping poor Senku’s anxious spiraling, but he couldn’t blame them. They were here because of him, they were in danger because he couldn’t let go…

“Don’t be ridiculous! Of course the plan will work! Senku’s the one leading us, afterall!” Chrome’s confidence in Senku should have helped, but it didn’t do much more than make Senku feel guilty for dragging everyone into this. Especially those from Ishigami Village.

They could have lived a perfectly peaceful life, they could have gone their entire lives without Senku’s problems… but no… not anymore… their lives were far too intertwined…

There was no turning back…

The plan was pretty simple in Kohanku’s eyes. All they had to do was break into the fortress and save Gen. Then again, it was much easier said than done. 

Luna swore up and down she knew what she was doing, but how could they be certain? It had been three years, hell, almost four years since she’d been back here. There was no way things would be the same! They must’ve renovated or come up with new science stuff Kohaku wouldn’t understand.

The anxiety coursed through their veins, everyone in the small team knew the risk they were taking. It was like an unspoken rule that they would all follow Senku, no matter how crazy his plans were, no matter how doomed everything seemed. Senku was their leader, he was where their loyalties rested. Kohaku lived by that unspoken rule.

“We should be able to sneak in through a vent on the right wing of the building,” Luna whispered, they were far enough away that no one could hear them, even with Ukyo’s ears, but they could never be too safe, “They wouldn’t have patched it up, it was the only way to get air through that section. A lot of the soldiers took smoke breaks over there, so I doubt Stanley would have pointed it out.”

As calm and collected as Luna tried to present herself, she was nearly shaking. She knew the risks of it all, and Kohaku had to respect her willingness to follow Senku into such obvious danger.

Everyone else was trying their best to be as quiet as possible while walking through the forest surrounding the American Fortress. They got up on a hill that overlooked the American colony, the exact same place Chrome and Kohaku had sat all those years ago, looking out trying to see a glimpse of Gen. 

When Gen had given himself up…

Kohaku felt her stomach twist a bit, she’d always felt personally guilty for the fact Gen was left behind. She could have done something! She was right there! She should have stopped Gen when she had the chance… but she didn’t.

Kohaku shook her head to snap herself out of it. She couldn’t let her head get stuck in the past, she couldn’t risk the team like this, she couldn’t allow herself to be distracted.

Tsukasa was reviewing the plan, even he looked a little stressed. Who wouldn’t? They were about to walk into what was basically a death trap, Kohaku had minimal experience with guns, but even she knew how dangerous they were. She saw what they did to Senku…

“Luna, are you sure you know where it is?” Tsukasa’s voice was level and calm, it’s truly what made him an amazing leader in battle. He never showed his stress, he never worried. That reassured his soldiers.

But Kohaku knew that deep down inside, Tsukasa was just as scared as everyone else. He would have to be a crazy fool to not be scared…

“Yes! I know where it is! They can’t have changed the layout of the building that much, right?!” Luna was laughing nervously, she looked very frazzled.

“I don’t know… the fortress looks pretty different from the last time I was here…” Kohaku muttered, she hadn’t meant to say it aloud. She knew it wasn’t helping poor Luna’s frayed nerves, but she couldn’t help it! The place looked bigger, more fortified…

They were screwed, weren’t they?

Gen was exhausted. It was exactly anything in particular that was making him feel crushed, but he still felt crushed nonetheless.

It seemed to be more of his constant state of being. The last couple weeks he’d been spending his days doing barely anything, other than his assigned work.

At the current moment, he was just wandering around the hallways. He felt lazy just sitting in his bed all day, but it wasn’t like he had anything better to do. He passed a couple of the soldiers as he was walking around, exchanging pleasant smiles and a nod of acknowledgment. 

Gen eventually found Stanley smoking a cigarette and staring at Gen like he was some sort of prey animal. It didn’t feel all too good, it felt like being hunted. Stanley’s eyes didn’t miss much, hell, they might not miss anything! 

“Hello dear Stanley,” Gen tried to smile and mask the unnerving feeling he got from just being around the man. 

Stanley just grunted in response, his eyes never leaving Gen. 

Gen was quite sure Stanley didn’t like him. He didn’t exactly have much proof to back up that claim, but call it a gut feeling… Stanley didn’t like anyone, well, except Xeno, but other than the nerdy scientist, Stanley didn’t seem to see most people as more than pawns. 

“Is everything going well at the stronghold?” Gen truly was trying his best to make small talk as he walked by Stanley. Hopefully Stanley didn’t notice the way Gen sped up a little as he started to walk past the sniper.

Judging by the way Stanley grabbed Gen’s arm while he was trying to get away, Stanley noticed…

Gen yelped, it was really more of a squeak, when he felt Stanley’s grip on his arm. It wasn’t like Gen was going to try and run away, but now he quite literally couldn’t get away. Oh, how lovely…

Stanley turned his head to the side and released the smoke that he’d been keeping in his mouth.

“I still can’t understand you, Gen,” Stanley dropped the cigarette from between his two fingers and let it fall to the ground, where he stomped it out with his foot, “You’re still loyal to your friends who left you behind, you know Senku is dead, right?” 

Gen flinched at Stanley’s words. He knew he was stupid for still holding a place in his heart to the people who abandoned him, it was stupid! But what really hurt Gen was how easily Stanley stated Senku’s death. Three, almost four, years later, and the name of a man Gen only knew for a handful of years still hurt Gen to his core. Pathetic, it was the only way to describe it.

“Even now, you react to his name,” Stanley smiled at Gen, but it was a smile that would never reach his eyes.

If Stanley was going to play that game, Gen might as well try to play along.

“Well, how would you react if your beloved Xeno was shot?” Gen put on the innocent facade, he was damn near close to batting his eyelashes at Stanley, but he felt that might be pushing it too far.

Bingo.

Gen saw the way Stanley’s entire body language changed. The soulless smile dropped from his lips and his eyes hardened. His grip on Gen’s arm grew tighter, Gen would just have to hope it wouldn’t bruise.

“You’re really comparing your little science buddy to my relationship with the doctor?” Stanley was speaking through grit teeth, Gen swore he saw the man’s eye twitch!

“What would that relationship be? He’s just giving you orders,” Gen was doing his best to maintain his faux innocence(and not get shot by the blond man in front of him). Gen knew exactly what he was doing. Neither Stanley nor Xeno had ever stated they were together, but all it took was a person with eyes and ears to tell they were more than just friends, more than just soldier and commander.

Stanley’s undying loyalty to Xeno wasn’t just about him being a good scientist, hell no! Gen knew that look, he knew it so well from his own face! The way Stanley looked at Xeno, the way he followed the scientist into any situation. It was a feeling all too familiar, it was a look all too familiar to Gen. It was the look of love, the only difference was, Stanley’s love was reciprocated.

Well, that and the fact that Xeno was actually alive and Senku wasn’t… but that wasn’t the point!

Stanley’s jaw was wound tight, his grip only tightening around Gen’s arm. He took a breath in through his teeth and let it out slowly through his nose. Gen had been aiming to push the man’s buttons, but he might have pushed them a little too hard…

“I thought you were smarter than that, magician,” Stanley pulled a cigarette out and lit it, “well, maybe you are. You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” 

Stanley’s eyes were sharp, almost hawk-like…

“While Xeno is the one giving me my orders, he is also more than simply a commander,” Stanley’s eyes seemed to flick down to his left ring finger absentmindedly, almost as if he was expecting something else to be there. Gen had a pretty good idea of what that something was… “don’t you dare reduce him to someone lower. I would kill for him, I would burn the rest of civilization down if he even suggested it. You aren’t stupid, Mr. Gen, you have to know the extent of our relationship by now.”

Stanley cocked an eyebrow and slowly let the smoke out of his mouth. Gen scrunched his nose, he never liked the smell of cigarettes. His reaction seemed to amuse Stanley who loosened his grip on Gen’s arm. 

“I assumed as much…” Gen replied after a moment, the silence between them had become a bit suffocating and Gen was always the kind of person to fill the silence.

“Huh…” Stanley’s sharp eyes were burning holes into Gen’s skin. Stanley took another drag of his cigarette, he looked almost lost in thought.

“What is it, dear Stanley? You look like something is on your mind,” Gen said before he could stop himself. He knew he was just egging Stanley on, and he knew that wouldn’t end well for himself… but he found himself doing it anyway.

“You must really miss your little scientist,” Stanley hummed, his lips less than an inch away from his cig, “I mean, if the doctor got shot and killed… ooh… tsk tsk tsk,”

Gen felt himself tense, his teeth grinding against each other. Of course Stanley was bringing this up again, it was like a game of cat and mouse. Stanley must’ve liked seeing the reactions Gen gave, it must’ve been entertaining in his sadistic mind… He was probably just tormenting poor Gen like this because Gen got on his nerves about the doctor. Though Stanley seemed like a generally calm man, it was obvious Xeno was his weak spot. If you poked at that spot enough, you could make him snap.

Gen must’ve poked a little too hard…

“Your relationship with Senku must’ve been quite similar to the bond I share with Xeno,” Stanley shifted his head to the side, closing his eyes for a moment, “well, except for one key factor… I have the doctor’s heart, did you ever have Senku’s?”

Gen took a sharp inhale through his mouth. He didn’t exactly know what he was feeling at the moment, but it was probably something close to anger.

No.

It was anger.

White, hot anger.

He could feel it. Not just emotionally, no, he could feel it in his bones. A rare kind of anger he’d never allowed himself to feel before. He was meant to be happy, he was meant to bring joy. But this anger… This anger coursed through his veins like an infection. It was spreading quickly, he felt his vision get a little blurry, his head throbbed and before he could stop himself, he balled his hand up into a fist and punched Stanley in the jaw.

Now, Gen wasn’t strong, not by any means, but a punch to the jaw hurt no matter what. It wasn’t a strong enough punch to break the jaw, or even cause any damage much beyond bruising, but Gen knew it hurt.

Stanley brought his hand up to his jaw and gently touched his jaw, it almost looked like he flinched. Almost.

“You little shit.” Stanley said through grit teeth.

That’s the moment Gen realized how badly he fucked up. Stanley was stronger than himself, Stanley also had a gun…

Gen was fucked.

Senku had started pacing back and forth a while ago. A couple people tried to get him to stop by asking for his help, but that only stopped him for a second. He would then promptly kick them out of the lab. He wasn’t even using the lab! He was just… pacing. Pacing back and forth like a trapped, caged animal…

It had been about two hours since Senku had last come up from the lab, most had to admit they were getting worried. 

At some point, Yuzuriha went down just to check on him. Everyone knew Senku’s nerves were all frayed, and they didn’t want to be the target of his anxious anger. That pretty much just left poor Yuzuriha as the one to go down and make sure he was okay.

She was one of his childhood friends, afterall! He (probably) wouldn’t snap at her and yell at her as much as anyone else!

When Yuzuriha finally went down below deck to where the lab was, she found Senku just curled up in a ball in the corner. This wasn’t something that was especially unusual for Senku, especially when he was stressed out of his mind, but it was still worrying. Yuzuriha hadn’t seen him do this since… well… It was actually pretty hard to remember the last time she saw him do this. It was probably some time before the world turned to stone.

Senku’s stare was blank, he was exhausted. The bags under his eyes looked almost like black eyes…

Senku needed to sleep, but he wouldn’t allow himself to, and Yuzuriha knew that. This was a big mission, it was a do or die situation. Obviously Senku falling asleep would be a major risk, but him staying up? It wasn’t much better.

It took a second, but Senku’s eyes focused on Yuzuriha. He didn’t say anything, he just looked so… out of it. It really broke her heart. His face, it just… didn’t have any sort of expression, it almost looked like his soul had been sucked out of him.

She let out a small breath she barely knew she’d been holding. Senku’s eyes followed her as she sat down next to him, close enough for him to know she was there, but far enough they didn’t touch.

They just stayed like that for a minute. The quiet was thick, Senku’s exhaustion rolled off him in waves, he looked awful. He had always been a beacon of hope to the villagers, hell! Even to those from the old world, Senku had been a shining star meant to lead them back to their comfortable lives. But Senku was human, he was barely an adult. Yuzuriha knew that, she knew that! But seeing him like this… it made her feel… almost like crumbling herself.

It was hard to tell how long she’d been sitting there, but something snapped her out of her daze.

A sob.

At first she thought it came from herself, she was stressed, they all were. She knew she was susceptible to crying easily, not as much as Taiju, but stress got to everyone, right?

But no, it wasn’t her. She brought her hand up to her cheek and it was dry, she wasn’t the one crying.

Yuzuriha wasn’t crying.

She turned her head over and saw it, Senku’s head buried in his arms as he tried to quiet his choked sobs.

It didn’t work.

Yeah, Yuzuriha had seen him cry before, obviously, they’d been friends since they were little kids… but seeing Senku like this, seeing Senku break. It… it broke something inside herself.

Wordlessly, she wrapped him out into a hug. She felt his tears hit her skin, she felt him tense in her arms before melting away. Senku broke down, the dam he’d built up was rushed away with the water pouring out of it. 

His sobs sounded awful, she hated the sound of him crying, of him seeming so weak. Because Senku wasn’t weak, he was one of the strongest people she’d ever met, yet here he was, sobbing in her arms like a little kid.

Yuzuriha gently ran her hand over his back, it didn’t do much, but it felt right. She could feel his bones through his skin and clothes. She made a mental note to make sure he ate more if they made it out of there alive.

If?

When.

When they made it out of there alive.

Senku buried his face into her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her. He wasn’t an affectionate person, not by a longshot, but she knew he needed this. Even if Senku never acted like it, even if he made it seem like this stuff was stupid, he needed love. He needed people around him. He needed to know people loved him. Because they did. They did love him. So much.

Yuzuriha would make sure he knew that. Maybe not now, all he needed was comfort now, but later. Once they got Gen back. Once they got home safe. Once everything was back to normal, she would make sure Senku knew of the love he was being given.

Stanley’s grip on his arm tightened even more, it hurt. It hurt like hell. The look in Stanley’s eyes was something predatory, something Gen saw in an animal documentary…

Gen couldn’t help it, he was shaking like a leaf. He didn’t want to die, he really didn’t want to die!

But some small part of him, some messed up part of himself wasn’t upset… no, what he felt was something like… satisfaction. 

He pissed Stanley off, that wasn’t easy to do. He would die by the same hand that took Senku’s life. 

He was okay with that…

He survived almost four years in that hell, he survived. He survived. He survived. He might die…

But he survived.

He felt Stanley’s hand wrap around his neck, he felt it grow harder and hard to breathe. It almost felt out of body, how his mind felt so calm while his body was fighting to survive.

Gen was tired.

He was tired of fighting.

He was tired of barely making it by.

He was tired.

Gen was giving up.

He felt his ears ringing, the blood rushing to his head drowned out most other noise.

His body stopped fighting. He gave up.

Bang.

Gen’s eyes snapped open, he was released and he gasped for air. His vision was all blurred, he was fighting for consciousness.

He saw Stanley standing above him, eyes wide and almost… panicked.

Gen followed his line of vision and there he saw Xeno with a gun to his head. 

Huh, no wonder Stanley looks so worried.

Gen’s eyes trailed up to who was holding the gun.

Oh. 

Tsukasa.

Tsukasa.

“… Tsukasa,” Gen barely managed to croak out.

“Step away from the doctor,” Stanley’s hand reached for his own gun, his nails digging into Gen’s arm. Stanley might as well have been snarling, his teeth were bared and eyes were nothing more than slits.

“How about we make a trade,” Tsukasa pressed the barrel of the gun to Xeno’s temple, “you hand over Gen, we hand over Xeno.”

It seemed cut and dry. But nothing was stopping Stanley from shooting the battle team up the moment they turned their backs.

This plan would never work.

Kohaku stood beside Tsukasa, just barely behind him. She’d grown up since he last saw her. Hyoga was behind Tsukasa, as some sort of look out. Taiju stood there beside Tsukasa, some random girl with pink hair hiding behind Taiju…

Strange.

“Hand over Xeno or I shoot your magician.” Stanley was chewing on the bud of his cigarette.

Gen felt something cold against the back of his head.

Stanley’s gun.

None of this felt real to Gen, it just felt like some wacky dream. He didn’t really care at this point, he’d had so many dreams like this.

He truly just felt hopeless. 

Xeno looked as calm as Gen did, he knew Stanley would do anything to keep him safe. He knew he was going to be okay, he had faith.

“Now, now, let’s be civil about this…” Gen mumbled, his throat hurt like hell from being choked by Stanley.

The language barrier was… less than optimal. Stanley didn’t know a lick of Japanese, and the only person, to Gen knowledge, that knew English was himself and Tsukasa… and Tsukasa’s English was… flawed, to put it lightly.

The planning was awful, really. They should have brought someone like Ukyo along, he was good at negotiating and spoke English… how did they make it this long without Senku?!

“Tsukasa, let go of Xeno,” Gen looked from Xeno to Tsukasa.

Tsukasa tensed, he looked like he was weighing his options out. From his perspective, this was an awful idea, it would just lead to the Japanese team getting filled with metal. Hell, even in Gen’s eyes, this plan would only work if Xeno wasn’t feeling very murderous… but even with his clear distaste for the (lack of) plan, Tsukasa released his grip on Xeno, lowering the gun.

“Now please let me go, Stanley dear. Xeno and myself will cross the hallway at the same time and there we have it! An exchange of hostages!” Gen was trying his damnedest to sound cheery, but he probably sounded more like a frog.

Gen’s preformative smile didn’t seem to be moving Stanley all too much, it had been worth a shot. His grip on Gen’s arm only seemed to tighten, he wasn’t much of a listener, eh?

“Stanley,” Xeno cleared his throat and gave Stanley a look.

Huh.

Stanley grumbled something before letting Gen go. Gen felt the blood rush back to his arm, he knew he was going to have bruising all over from Stanley’s man handling…

Gen took the first step, Xeno took the second. The walk between the hallway was only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. It was quiet, only Gen and Stanley’s footsteps being heard. Everyone was holding their breath, as if even the sound of breathing would tip this delicate balance they had going on.

Gen turned around and saw Xeno by Stanley’s side. Stanley’s hand was still gripping his handgun, close enough to shoot any of the kingdom of science members if he wanted…

“Now we leave before they can shoot us…” Gen waved everyone away and they started speed walking out.

Holy shit.

It worked.

They were out. They were alive.

They came back for him.

They came back for Gen.

As soon as they turned the corner, Stanley started to walk after them. He was going to fill them full of lead, he felt like his blood was boiling.

“Stanley,” Xeno’s voice was sharp, bordering on annoyance.

That caught Stanley’s attention, he turned around and saw Xeno standing there with a cocked eyebrow.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Xeno strutted over to Stanley, his hair was all messy and tousled.

“I’m going to shoot them, what do you think?!” Stanley said through grit teeth, he had thoroughly chewed through his cigarette at this point, it wasn’t even lit anymore.

Xeno let out a breath through his nose and took the cigarette from Stanley’s lips and tossed it on the ground, stepping on it. He grabbed Stanley’s collar and straightened it, his hand trailing up Stanley’s neck and to his cheek, the cheek Gen punched. His thumb brushed over the reddened skin, it wasn’t quite bruised, but it still left a mark. That zebra looking twink wasn’t strong, but he still packed a punch…

“Stop grinding your teeth. It’s bad for your jaw,” Xeno’s hand dropped to his side.

Stanley stared for a moment before continuing on, about to turn the corner.

“Leave it.” Xeno spoke once more, it was almost like he was talking to a dog, “We made a deal. They stood by their end, we’ll stand by ours.”

Xeno gestured for Stanley to follow him with one of his metal, claw-like fingers. Stanley followed.

“Besides, we have work to do,” Stanley couldn’t quite see Xeno’s face, but he heard the smile in his voice.

Gen came out of his shock soon after they left the American colony base. They had barely made it to the trees before his legs gave out and he started shaking.

“Seems the ess-stray finally caught up to me,” Gen smiled up at the worried faces above him.

He must’ve looked awful. There was probably bruising around his neck by now, his hair was much longer and messy, and the bags under his eyes must’ve made him look horrible. Gen didn’t have a mirror, but he could practically envision how godawful he must’ve looked.

“Rest. We’ve got a bit of a walk ahead.” Tsukasa’s voice was deep and somehow calming. 

Kohaku took a seat down next to Gen, she hadn’t said anything since they’d left the American colony. 

“You’re okay.” Kohaku’s voice was small, she wouldn’t look at him.

“I’m okay.” Gen nodded, his eyes closing and resting his head against the tree.

She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. By the time Gen opened his eyes, he finally looked her in the eyes.

She looked so… guilty.

“You’re okay…” her voice was shaky, her eyes wide.

Gen didn’t quite know what to do, it felt so odd seeing Kohaku like this, looking like she’ll crumble. It was hard to know what to say, hard to even think of…

So he didn’t say anything. He just wrapped his arm around Kohaku and pulled her into a hug. Neither said anything for a while, they just sat there.

It was a bit hard to tell how much time passed, but eventually Hyoga started to get impatient, so they started to make their way back to camp. The threat of Stanley loomed over their heads as well, which only seemed to make them walk faster…

There was minimal small talk, the air was filled with a mix of relief and a feeling of impending doom. It was mostly because Stanley and Xeno could come after them at any time, they could easily track them down if they wanted…

There was a dull throbbing in Gen’s chest, a dull ache that wouldn’t seem to leave him alone…

Senku.

Sure, the Kingdom of Science came back for him, but it just… it wasn’t the same. Senku was gone – he was dead! Gen had been able to ignore it enough while he was at the American colony, but now that he was traveling back to japan… the thought of going back to Ishigami village without Senku..? Without the Ishigami that the village had been named after..? It made his stomach churn, it made Gen feel sick. It just felt so… wrong…

“Gen, are you hurt? You don’t look so good…” Taiju’s booming voice felt almost… relaxing, it was nice to hear his voice again. Gen’s worries must’ve shown on his face, Taiju wasn’t the brightest, but his heart was in the right place.

“I’m fine, dear Taiju,” Gen offered Taiju a gentle smile in an attempt to make him feel better, “Just a wee bit surprised that you all came ack-bay for me.”

That slipped out before Gen could stop himself. It wasn’t a lie, he was surprised they came back for him. He had honestly thought they’d abandoned him, given up on him.

There was a silence after Gen said that, his face felt hot, his cheeks were probably flushing red by now. The look Taiju gave Gen… it felt heartbreaking. He looked so sad, so guilty. Kohaku couldn’t look at Gen, Tsukasa’s grip tightened on his sword. The pink haired girl, Luna as Gen had quickly learned, was looking at Gen with a look of… something adjacent to horror..? It was hard to tell. Gen couldn’t exactly put his finger down on the expression…

“I-I didn’t want to leave–” Kohaku sputtered out.

“I know, Kohaku dear,” Gen tossed her a gentle smile, “I heard you had to be dragged away.”

Gen tucked his hands into his sleeves and held them out in front of himself, it had always been a habit of his…

“I don’t ame-blay you all for leaving,” Gen looked up at the canopy of trees above, the leaves shielded his eyes from the sun, “I mean, after Senku–” Gen took a sharp inhale, having to stop himself from flinching, “died… it couldn’t have been easy. You made the right decision, you kept eople-pay alive. A hundred lives are worth more than one.”

Another suffocating silence fell over the group. Gen didn’t know what he said this time, but Luna and Taiju were staring at him with these big, wide eyes. It was like he said some strange, earthshattering truth. The rest of the group exchanged looks, even Hyoga peeked his eyes out… 

Maybe they were just shocked at his acceptance of it all. If Gen were to really think about it, he was pretty shocked himself at how okay he was with it all. Hell, looking back on it, he didn’t even get upset once he came to the realization they weren’t coming back for him. Of course he felt hurt, but he never did anything drastic. He just sat there and cried.

Taiju opened his mouth as if to say something, but Tsukasa put up his hand, a signal to be quiet. They were walking through the trees and it looked like they were coming to a clearing.

“What is it?” Kohaku was as quick to action as Gen remembered, sneaking up to Tsukasa’s side within seconds.

Tsukasa didn’t reply. Gen could see the gears turning in his head, how his brow furrowed while he was thinking. It was hard to tell what was going on inside that head of his, he was one of the hardest to read for Gen. The four years he’d spent away from everyone was enough time for some mannerisms to change. Gen would have to re-memorize what else the Kingdom of Science members did, how things have changed… he noted that down in the back of his mind.

Tsukasa’s voice dropped down to a whisper, only loud enough for Kohaku to hear. Her brow furrowed as well, but she nodded. Gen couldn’t quite see her expression, her back facing him… he was left in the dark… wonderful…

Before anyone could ask questions, Kohaku jumped down through the trees and landed somewhere. Gen couldn’t see where, Tsukasa’s body was blocking any sort of view.

“It’s best to stay here for a moment,” Tsukasa knelt down on his knees, looking at everyone expectantly, like he thought they should do the same.

“What’s going on, is there a problem on the ship?!” Taiju’s voice was anything but subtle…

“Everything’s okay. Just sit down and rest, we’ll be here for a little while,” Tsukasa spoke incredibly calmly. It was something that Gen truly had to admire about the man, he never lost his cool, but at the same time, it made him impossible to read! 

At this point, all Gen could do is shrug it off and sit down. His feet hurt anyways, he might as well take a break while it was being offered to him, right? Luna sat down next, the poor girl looked so exhausted. This must’ve been a pretty long day for her. Not to mention, she was risking her life for a man she didn’t even know! Hyoga seemed to pick up on something no one else did and sat down near Tsukasa, also blocking any sort of view with his chesticles.

Taiju was the last to sit, his brow was furrowed and his jaw tight. He was worried, who wouldn’t be? Taiju honestly reminded Gen of a puppy dog with how he acted sometimes… Tsukasa may have been able to keep his calm no matter what, but that seemed to only stress poor Taiju out more. He looked through the clearing of trees, and sat down. That calmed Gen’s nerves a little. If Taiju wasn’t rushing to action, then they were probably going to be okay. Gen would just have to have trust.

What felt like several hours passed. It got pretty boring after a while, Luna ended up falling asleep from the gentle warmth of the sun.

By the time Kohaku came back, the sun was starting to set. Tsukasa stood up, gesturing for them to follow. Kuhaku had to wake poor Luna up, who jolted awake in panic.

They walked through the last few trees and into the opening. Gen saw familiar faces, they all smiled back at him as he kept walking. A few whispers ran through, but it was hard to make any specific voices out or specific words. Poor Gen was exhausted.

Luna was taken under the deck, back to her room, at least, that’s what Gen was left to assume. Hyoga and Kohaku broke off from the group for one reason or another, Taiju was asked to do some heavy lifting, so he left soon after Kohaku and Hyoga did. Tsukasa wasn’t saying anything. It wasn't like he was the type of man to participate in small talk, but it still felt unnerving as Gen was led through the ship.

It was different from what he remembered. It was more sturdy, it was bigger, it had more tech too. They certainly made some advancements. Maybe they revived another scientist… That had to be it, right? There was no other way for the Kingdom of Science members to come up with this kind of technology, and Gen couldn’t remember another scientist in their group. Yet all the faces he saw before him looked familiar… no one new…

Hah…

Maybe they only replaced Senku.

The thought alone was enough to make Gen’s blood boil. There was no replacing Senku. There was something that boy had that no one else could even come close to… a light that shined brighter in a day than most did in a lifetime. Yet that flame was doused a while ago. Gen had to stop getting his damn hopes up. He wasn’t even hoping anymore, no, he was just delusional.

“Where are we going, Tsukasa?” Gen couldn’t help but ask, Tsukasa wasn’t given a chance to respond.

“Gen! You’re okay!” Yuzuriha’s gentle voice cut through the murmurs of those who passed by Gen.

Gen was enveloped in a tight hug before he could even say hello. It felt nice. He hugged back. He missed this… He missed… everything here..

“She’ll patch you up,” Tsukasa nodded and walked off.

Strange.

Did it really matter how weird things were or how weird people were acting? 

No.

Gen couldn’t care less anymore. He was okay! He was finally safe, he couldn’t give a fuck if people were acting weird. He was just happy he was safe!

Yuzuriha gave Gen a gentle smile and led him through a hallway. They walked through another door, after that, there were barely any people. Well, there were a few others…

Ryusui, Ukyo, and Chrome were all sitting in the radio room. Minami was there as well, sitting by the radio and listening in. 

Chrome jumped up and almost started yelling the second he saw Gen. Yuzuriha had to shush him and remind him that people were starting to go to bed, they didn’t need to hear his screaming, even if it was for a good reason.

Ryusui broke out into a grin, snapping his fingers and laughing his signature laugh. He seemed proud, he seemed happy, but under both of those beaming lights within him, there was relief in his eyes. As if he carried all the guilt of leaving Gen behind.

As if it was his fault…

Gen’s attention was drawn to Ukyo, who had managed to get right beside Gen without Gen even noticing. He’d barely made a peep. Or perhaps, Ryusui and Chrome were just that loud…

“We’re glad you’re back, Gen.” Ukyo gently rested his hand onto Gen’s shoulder. They stood like that for a moment before Ukyo brought Gen in for a hug.

Chrome came barrelling in next, nearly knocking poor Gen out in the process. He hugged the daylights out of him, Ryusui coming up and patting Gen’s back, harder than was probably necessary, but it was the thought that counted, right?

“You must be tired, you should go get some rest,” Ukyo’s quiet voice was a sound for sore ears, really, it was… but the look he gave Yuzuriha over Gen’s shoulder did raise some questions in Gen’s mind… 

“Oh – OH! Yes! You’ve got to be tired by now, you should go to bed! Now!” Chrome’s lack of subtlety certainly was setting off some alarms in Gen’s head. He didn’t really know what it was they were hiding from him, he was kind of too tired to think about it, but they were hiding something. He’d just have to ask about it in the morning…

Yuzuriha cleared her throat, as if trying to get Chrome to shut his yapper. It worked, but… Gen was now aware they were hiding something.

Whatever. 

Did it really matter?

Not to Gen. Not anymore. Not right now.

Gen was too tired to really care… he just wanted to lay down and fall asleep.

Yuzuriha led him farther down the hallway. There were a couple bedrooms they passed, and they were now walking through a long, outstretched hallway.

“Yuzuriha dear, are you quite ertain-cay that we’re going the right way? There doesn’t seem to be any more bedrooms…” Gen was saying it as gently as he could… but it really didn’t seem like she knew where she was going.

Gen was behind her, but he could see the smallest hint of a smile crossing her lips.

“Don’t worry about it, Gen. I’m just showing you something before you head off to bed. It’s a surprise, but I’m pretty sure you’ll like it,” the pep in Yuzuriha’s step seemed to become a bit more noticeable the closer they got to a certain door.

She paused a couple paces ahead of the door and signaled for Gen to stop walking as well. Gen did as he was told and stood there, watching her with a curious look, but didn’t say anything.

Yuzuriha pushed open the door and poked her head inside. Once she leaned back out, she nodded Gen over.

Gen walked over to the door with quiet, careful steps. There was a sign above the door that said “lab”… this must be where their new scientist was…

This must’ve been the one thing she wanted to show him… their new scientist… Senku’s replacement…

Gen closed his eyes and pressed his palm to the wooden door. It was smooth beneath his touch, his breathing felt steady… but it was all forced. A forced kind of tranquility, the kind he’d masked and mastered for years…

Years…

He’d been gone for years…

So much had changed…

Gen felt Yuzuriha’s hand gently rest on his shoulder. She gave him a gentle squeeze and dropped her hand back down to her side. 

Gen pushed the door open, the room was dimly lit, only a small lantern on the table. Gen’s eyes scanned the room, there were glasses on the walls, liquids of every variety… just how Senku kept everything… just how…

Senku…

Gen’s eyes finally went to the table where the lantern sat, right next to the lantern was a mop of green and white hair. That same beige tunic, that same mess of hair, that same hunch over the table…

“He fell asleep working on something,” Yuzuriha whispered, her smile gentle, but Gen could barely hear her.

Blood rushed to Gen’s ears, his head felt light, eyes wide. Senku… he was there… his chest rising and falling.

Senku.

Alive.

Senku was alive.

Senku was alive.

Gen’s feet were moving before he was even realizing it. His steps were soft and quiet against the wooden floor, some part of him hidden away for years was coming out once more. All of this, seeing Senku sleep like this, it just felt so…. Natural. 

Gen didn’t notice, but Yuzuriha closed the door behind her as she left, leaving them alone.

Gen knelt down beside Senku. He didn’t quite know what to do, it had been so long since he last saw Senku, since they’d last been in the same room.

Hell, Gen didn’t even know Senku was alive till less than a few minutes ago…

Gen sighed, lifting his hand and placing it into Senku’s hair. He gently raked his fingers through the frizzy mess. Now that Gen was getting a better look at him, Senku looked awful. He’d clearly lost weight, Gen could see bags under Senku’s eyes… he just looked awful… then again, Gen couldn’t have looked much better. The bruising around his neck, eye bags of his own… what a pair they made…

“Senku, my dear,” Gen’s voice barely reached above a whisper, his fingers making their way through Senku’s hair, “you can’t keep working yourself this hard… passing out at a able-tay can’t be good for your back.”

It was the exact same lines Gen would recite all those years ago. It just came back like muscle memory, it was a phrase he’d grown so used to saying.

Something inside Gen felt lighter, like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He was back, Senku was alive. 

Gen felt his cheeks grow hot and his eyes prickled with the formation of tears.

Senku let out a sleepy groan, batting Gen’s hand, just as he used to.

Maybe things hadn’t changed as much as Gen had previous thought…

That’s when Senku’s head flew up and his eyes shot open, immediately finding Gen and focusing on him.

No words came out of his mouth, but Gen knew. He could already tell what Senku was thinking, he could feel it radiating off him. His hands found their way to Gen’s shoulders, his grip quivering, his mouth hung open slightly. He looked like he was about to say something, looked like he was about to do something… 

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, my dearest Senku?” Gen’s hands slipped out of Senku’s hair and around his shoulders, bringing him into a hug.

Senku’s arms dropped down to Gen’s waist and slowly wrapped around Gen. It was like he couldn’t believe Gen was actually there, Gen could feel his mouth still hanging open.

Neither said anything, they just held each other. Gen buried his face into Senku’s neck, he honestly expected to be pushed away, but Senku only held him tighter. 

Gen couldn’t hold back his tears anymore. He broke down, sobbing into Senku’s shoulder. Senku didn’t say anything, but his grip tightening around Gen’s waist… his actions didn’t need words.

Gen could’ve sworn he felt tears touch his own neck as Senku hid his face into the crook of Gen’s neck as well. He didn’t make a sound, but Gen could feel the hiccups rattling through Senku’s body. 

It honestly felt a little pathetic, but Gen was starting to realize he was okay with being pathetic. As long as he was with Senku. He was okay with it all. He was home. Gen was home. 

Senku was alive, he was well. Maybe Gen wasn’t as pathetic as he’d previously thought… being in Senku’s arms, being around Senku, it was like a part of Gen had been gifted back to himself… Gen was whole again.

It was hard to tell how much time had passed, neither said anything for a while, they just held each other. Senku was the first to pull away, the light from the lantern highlighting his features in an almost heavenly way. Senku had aged, he’d changed. He’d grown into himself a bit more, even if he looked more malnourished than Gen had remembered.

Senku was fiddling with a pencil, not looking up at Gen. Meanwhile Gen’s soft gaze was glued to Senku. He was soaking in every last feature, every highlight, every shadow, everything he’d missed before.

Senku was the first to speak, his eyes darting up to meet Gen’s. But only for a moment.

“Barn swallows, they mate for life, you know,” Senku mumbled, his eyes flickering to the shelf where a stone swallow sat, “they’re not strictly monogamous birds, but some will defend their chosen mate…”

Senku’s voice wasn’t certain, it wasn’t as calm as usual, almost shaky…

“Their… um… social mate. Pairs that remain together for years, mostly because of their efficacy with one another,” Gen’s eyes might been playing tricks on him, but he could’ve sworn he saw Senku’s cheeks flush red as he spoke, “they’re not strictly monogamous birds, but the males will defend a female so she doesn’t choose someone else… and the females will find their way back to their chosen male…”

Gen saw Senku’s Adam’s apple bobble as he swallowed thickly. He must’ve sounded crazy… well, to anyone else who wasn’t Gen.

Gen knew the words Senku was trying to say, he just didn’t have the words to say it back. Not now… not yet…

Gen simply took Senku’s hand into his own and squeezed it. Senku looked up and finally met Gen’s gaze, no words were needed in that moment. Senku let a breath out his nose, closing his eyes and pressing his forehead against Gen’s shoulder.

“Glad you’re back, Mentalist…” Senku’s voice came out more of a croak than anything.

“Glad to be back, my dear scientist,” Gen rested his hand on the small of Senku’s back.

They would have stayed like that for longer if it weren’t for the sound of footsteps coming up to the door. Senku jolted away, Gen had to admit it stung a little…

It was Taiju, he wanted to check on Senku, wanted to make sure Gen made it to Senku. Words were exchanged, Taiju was unfortunately too dense to see he’d clearly interrupted something… but that just added to his charm… even if Gen felt like strangling him in the moment.

He practically dragged Senku and Gen out of the lab by their collars, saying how they shouldn’t stay up so late. It looked like everyone had a room. Each door was labeled with a sign and a name. Gen counted each door, he saw each name, he saw the logic of each door, how each door was planned out for the perfect place for each person. Of course there were bunks for most of the crew, but for those with power and importance, they got their own private room. 

This ship was quite a bit bigger than the original Perseus, and much more structured. It was truly amazing to see what happened in the last four years.

Their pace was slow but they finally reached two doors right next to each other. Senku’s door was just like all the others, his name etched into a small sign at eye level. Right next to it… 

“Asagiri Gen”

“Senku made sure you’d get a room too,” Taiju’s smile was blinding, “he was super insistent on it, hahah!”

Gen had to bite back a smile, he could see Senku’s brow twitching. Maybe it was from annoyance, maybe it was from lack of sleep, but Gen’s bet was on embarrassment…

“Thank you, Senku, my dear,” Gen nudged Senku with his shoulder, ducking his head down slightly and smiling at Senku, “I’m so glad you thought of me.”

Senku grumbled in response. He waved Taiju off, saying something about Yuzuriha. Gen wasn’t really listening, he was just staring at the doors.

It was weird. Senku’s door looked almost untouched, the handle was all perfect and shiny… while Gen’s… his looked a little rough around the edges, like it had been used.

Gen shook his head to snap himself from his train of thought. No, that was silly… Senku wouldn’t have used a room he specifically made for Gen, right?? Gen was just being delusional, a hopeless romantic perhaps…

Senku let out a sigh and reached for the door handle… not his own, but Gen’s handle. It was like he did it on instinct, out of habit.

Gen couldn’t take it, he burst out laughing. The red flush that flared over Senku’s face only made Gen laugh harder.

“Shut it, Mentalist… people are trying to sleep,” Senku muttered through his embarrassment, reaching for his door this time.

“No no, Senku, I’m not laughing at you… stay with me,” Gen snaked his arm around Senku’s waist and pulled him back in. It might have been the lack of sleep, but Gen felt almost tipsy, a little more daring… “I’ve been gone for almost four years, could you please just entertain this one request?”

Gen felt Senku tense as he pressed his face against Senku’s shoulder, damn near nuzzling into his skin.

Senku nodded, though it was hesitant. He let go of the door handle and followed Gen inside the dark room. 

Gen took a look around, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. The bed was a bit messy, a few photos placed up on the shelves. 

He took a breath in and just… allowed himself to relax, for the first time in years… he was home… he was safe… he was with Senku.

Senku sat down on the bed, he looked stiff. Gen followed suit, sitting himself right next to Senku, then laying down, soon Senku laid down as well. 

They were shoulder to shoulder, both staring up at the ceiling.

It finally hit Gen.

It hit him like a truck.

He was safe.

He was okay.

He’d been repeating it to himself in his head all day, but it was hard to believe it… he was really okay… he was really alive!

“Y’know, I thought you were dead…” Gen mumbled, eyes still glued to the dark ceiling.

When Senku didn’t reply, Gen just kept talking. Silence felt too heavy…

“Stanley’s aim is truly remarkable, so when he came back looking calm as ever… I didn’t really have much to go off,” Gen was rambling at this point, “but… but you’re okay, you’re alive…”

Gen let out a broken laugh, his hands curling into fists around his clothes.

“Must’ve taken some real tricks to make Stanley believe he shot you—“

“He did shoot me,” Senku finally spoke, “right here in the chest. Hurt like hell…”

“I’d sure guess…”

“Hah… yeah… the only way I managed to survive that thing was cause of some flour and water mixture.”

Gen could hear Senku’s voice trailing off, the exhaustion they both felt was palpable…

“It turns hard when it gets hit with impact but is otherwise a liquid…” Senku’s voice was practically silent by the time he stopped speaking.

Gen lolled his head over only to see Senku’s eyes closed. Gen’s own eyes were struggling to stay open… the last thing Gen remembered seeing was Senku’s face, his features barely made out with the light shining in through the crack under the door.

Gen was home…

Gen was safe…

“Goodnight, my dearest Senku…”