Chapter Text
Senku took a couple of seconds to understand what was going on.
He just got petrified and that is far from an every-day experience, making it 10 billion percent justified for him to skip rationality. At least for a couple of moments before it kicks in on itself.
He suffered a short-lived natural panic from not being able to see or feel anything, yet very quickly collected himself anyway. There’s no time for that when he should be spending it on strategizing and using his mind to come out of the situation in hand if that’s ever possible.
Gladly, his mind did supply him with a thought of realization - He’s still conscious.
That… Wasn’t in the reports.
None had previously stated that they weren’t, in fact, sleeping, as most described what had happened to them.
Before he could theorise on how or why, Senku was hit with the definite explanation. In an instance he suffered the persistent pull into the darkness, felt his mind slipping. Like how he can’t help but fall asleep at a boring lecture at school (that he gets nothing new from anyway because of self-studying for a full year ahead) after pulling an all-nighter once again.
He- Can’t just pass at an opportunity to study the effects of staying conscious in a state like that!
After a mental exhale (one that didn’t really feel right or did all that much, considering lack of the physical action and input) Senku steadied himself and focused on one task to keep mind occupied.
He couldn’t think of anything as steadying and focus-requiring as counting the seconds.
One, two, three, four…
It’s not as easy as it seems, when you fight off the fatigue and don’t have a watch to check if you’re even doing it right.
twelve, thirteen, fourteen…
After the first ten seconds, Senku was content to find that his mind was finally synching up with the process. He felt calmer and more collected now.
The weird sleepiness is still there, but Senku has trained his brain to focus on the task at hand long before, so it’s just applying the same principle here, really.
fifty nine, sixty, sixty one, sixty two…
After the first minute he felt natural in the nothingness this way, focusing completely on logic.
Seems like not all of the emotions are present in the state he is in right now anyway, given he didn’t feel the urge to smirk at his last note as he usually would've. Maybe the brain isn’t fully operational? He’ll definitely have to test it later!
…
If they don’t pulverise him or something. That’s unfixable.
Though the criminals aren’t supposed to know about revival fluid yet, the maximum they will probably do is break him a bit, which still works if you glue the pieces back.
Wait-
He just noticed he lost track of numbers.
Damn it. It’s hard to think of completely different things at the same time. Especially with having a distraction of endless fatigue. He will definitely try to master that later, but right now the numbers did everything required from them, giving Senku enough time to get used to fighting off the pull.
Then there’s another problem that requires thinking over first.
Getting revived by the police wouldn’t be ideal at all.
Vigilantism (even if he and Chrome don’t call themselves that, they are still perceived as ones, given it’s the closest thing really) is illegal, punished by law despite Senku still being underage. That’ll probably ruin Byakuya’s and his own possible future career too, cause the man won’t deny knowing about it even if Senku tried to keep him out of trouble.
More than that, the whole Ishigami family will probably be under investigation, Given how it’s a known fact the Science Club members are very close…
At least one of them would slip up with about 70% chance as far as Senku can calculate. Especially someone like Taiju or Ginrou. This percentage also includes police finding physical evidence.
Although… Nah, including that, them finding ANY “work”-relating stuff… This percentage is surely at the very least 10 points higher.
He just doomed everyone by taking a stupid walk.
So much trouble for simply listening to Yuzuriha’s advice of touching grass sometimes!
So… Now what?
He can’t do anything but think in a situation he’s in. And thinking won’t change what he already ruined.
There still is a chance someone will wake up and see he hadn’t followed through with any other messages after saying he went out, but… The chances they’ll be able to save him in time are extremely slim anyway.
Those still existed, of course. There were a lot of incidents when new batches of statues were found only by the morning. There’s a very little number of people who go out at night, so it’s only natural that a true random witness is hard to come by before morning hits. So Senku can bank on that, hoping that his friends and cousins will be the first ones to find him. That’ll be a best case scenario!
But Senku doesn’t do best case scenarios. Not with his luck (or lack of thereof), not with his line of work.
He’s only good because he tries to plan ahead for every situation. And that’s what he’ll do now.
Gladly, there’s quite a lot of time to spare before he wakes up, one way or another.
“Huh?” Was the first reaction Scientist had when Sorcerer poured nital and finally broke him out of the stones.
Gen didn’t think anything would get such a visible reaction out of this boy at this point, but here they were. Fair, actually.
“Man, I was fucking scared the moment I learnt you were petrified!” The other vigilante expressed.
“How did you- That’s just improbable that you would’ve found me this fast.” As if he had calculated the odds already. Although, knowing him…
The leader’s mechanical voice, usually deadpan, didn’t cover up some of the shock in his speech. Even voicechanger like his can’t disguise that level of surprise it seems.
“I was lucky enough to stumble upon the group of villains surrounding you.” Smooth Talker said, smug. He even finally pulled the extensions on his mask back out to make it look smiling.
“Right.” The boy just whispered in reaction, seemingly back to what’s really important.
He rolled his sleeve back down, no longer showing any skin, got up on his rollers and turned to face his partner.
“They have her.” Was all he said to Sorcerer, clenching his fists in tension.
“Wha-” A choked sound escaped the other boy’s throat. “You mean Sui-” He always clarified stuff out loud and almost did the same now, before covering his mouth with a hand, as if suddenly remembering about Gen’s presence.
“Yes.” That was probably said through greeted teeth by Scientist, who started rolling away towards the direction where Sorcerer came from. “Let’s go. I feel scarily fresh, now that I’m out, so we’ll have a discussion on the way.” That sounded more like an order if anything.
Gen heard him being direct before, especially when speaking from out of his chair and trying his best to control the situation at hand. But there was a certain different kind of tension now, easily felt and heard despite everything that’s trying to hide it. It’s obvious for a mentalist like Gen, no matter how past he is of this career.
And it seems like it’s bothering both of the guys, if Sorcerer’s delayed yet persistent response was to follow his partner with no hesitation or questions asked.
Wait- They were going away without elaborating! That won’t do.
Taking one last look around the future investigation zone, Gen sighed.
“Archer, report and call someone here now, it’s clear.” He said, faking letting the vigilantes go while actually watching all their moves.
“And you?” The man in question asked, probably already expecting what’s going to follow.
“Tell them I’m following the criminals. Actually though, stop recording my cam obviously.” He only replied to that.
Aha, gotcha. They turned left.
Smooth Talker stretched for just a couple of seconds, ignored his partner’s mutters about Gen’s doings being very illegal, and then started sprinting.
Silently, keeping the distance from them and lurking through shadows where he can (which saved him from a bust a couple times), Smooth Talker followed the two vigilantes. He hadn’t even really thought about what he was doing, adrenaline still circulating high inside his veins.
From time to time he has heard snippets of their conversations.
“What were they doing to her?” Sorcerer asked at some point.
“I- I don’t know. She’s more like a tool to them I think. They don’t even allow her glasses! Probably, depending on the situation, for both their own advantage and safety, with her not being able to concentrate on anything…” Scientist answered him solemnly.
Gen felt uncomfortably out of the loop, desperately trying to understand what they’re talking about.
Did they know someone the responsible mafia captured? Who’s she?
By some point the vigilantes stopped. That was… Exactly the moment he knew he fucked up.
Ukyo chimed up a couple of times during this whole chase, trying to warn him, yet Gen completely ignored him. And now… Now it was too late.
Sorcerer checked his pockets, searching for something in the middle of a row of some random garages. When he pulled out a key and started opening one of said garages Gen realised the boys just led him to their homes!
Or, well, at least somewhere near.
And once Sorcerer came in, Gen’s gaze met with the Scientist's robotic mask. He was noticed!
“What the fuck are you doing here?” He shouted. Not too loud, but enough for Gen to hear.
“I told you.” Ukyou sighed once again, now sounding rather defeated. While Archer’s the best partner one can ask for, Gen’s surely the worst, huh?
Well, that’s it, huh?
He just blew up all trust these vigilantes had in him, huh?
Still, now he can’t really do anything but try to talk his way out of the situation he’s stuck in.
ST raised his hands up in a surrendering manner, carefully approaching a tensed up vigilante. Sorcerer also peeked out of doors, now frowning at him.
Once he finally approached the two and was stared down for at least a full 30 seconds, which felt closer to eternity than the 15 minutes he spent waiting for Sorcerer to come rescue Scientist just now, the unpetrified guy just sighed exasperately, putting his hands on the hips and shaking the head slightly while looking down.
“Let's head inside then, jeez.” He gestured for Gen to come in, while Sorcerer slid the half-closed door completely open. “Someone might notice us.” He elaborated, coming inside first himself.
Gen was surprised to be trusted like that. Scientist came in first, turning up his back to the hero.
That's… Not a move he expected, but only rational..? Their life is kinda in his hands already now, if he comes to think about it. Scientist does the right thing by not expressing any aggression signs.
Sorcerer's mouth is still tense and down-turned though, so Gen gulped, before lowering his hands and finally coming in too, hearing the sound of a lock closing behind him as he entered.
The place is as cramped as he expected of the garage.
Maybe even a little more so, given it’s full of random stuff, placed all over the place with a purpose or not. Some were to be expected, many people store tools in these spaces, but not these types for sure. Gen has no idea what the least of all those machines and trinkets on shelfs, floor, counters and multiple tables do. Even less idea of what they even are. These two seem to actually be invested into nerdy sciencey stuff then, huh?
He didn't get to notice all the details in the chaos this workplace is, as Scientist started speaking.
“Before we continue, I want you to cut all contact with Archer and everything else that records you at the moment. I don't have a single millimeter of trust in you with any footage of our place or conversation we’re going to have.”
“Yeah, of course…” Gen was about to take his communicator and turn the camera off, but Ukyou chimes in first, stopping him in motion.
“I'm saying you're on your break after a failed chase. It's about time for your shift to end anyway. Don't show up in your costume to the tower or put the thing into the system manually though - I just put on record that you already returned it to the storage in your quarters. Just please, don't do anything stupid while I'm off to finally sleep a little.” Gen heard the click, symbolising his headset was remotely turned off.
“Something happened?” Sorcerer asked, anxiously turning his weight from one leg to another.
“Yeah, Archer turned it off remotely.” Gen nodded. “Here, I'll even take the piece off.” He added and did so, before the boys could even react.
Another silence stretched for about a minute. Gen stood between the two, Scientist intimidatingly took his place behind the biggest (and cleanest, despite there still being quite a lot of stuff on it) table and Sorcerer blocking his path out.
“Well, that's one more problem to deal with.” He sighed.
The next thing he did was shocking. To both Gen and Sorcerer, as it seemed.
“Wha- Dude, what are you doing?” The latter asked loudly, as the Scientist pushed a button from somewhere inside the mask, reaching to it from the gap between his neck and the mask itself.
“They'll easily learn our identities by a five minute search in their systems, Chrome.” Scientist said, seemingly addressing his partner by his real name as he pulled up his mask. “Might as well get comfortable. I don’t like breathing muffled air.” He said in a clear non-robotic voice (which felt a tad weird after everything), while looking directly into Gen's eyes with a pair of his own dangerous crimson-red ones.
Gen has always wondered what was the reason for such a… Statement choice of the mask for Scientist. He thought it was just to store all the technical bits in. This upper part was supposed to resemble some sort of hat or maybe even a crown he thought. The camera lens in the middle suggested it was all technical. But now it was obvious that the upper half is the hair.
Because his real hair looked about the same. Really, who in the right mind would make their mask with the intention to hide their identity look so similar to them? Besides, why was all of the space actually occupied with hair? Why was his hair upwards??? Did he defy gravity somehow? Maybe that was his power? Because Gen didn't notice him displaying one before.
Now wasn't really the time for these kind questions though, he quickly realised.
“Name’s Senku.” The boy (and he can't be too old, so a boy if anything. Probably a late teen, maybe 18 max, which Gen highly doubts. Not that he himself is much older at 19) said, picking at his ear. He probably took his mask off this early just so he could do this, as absurd as it sounds.
So nonchalant and unbothered by the situation, in spite of what he sounded like just some 20 minutes ago.
“Glad to meet you, Senku..?” Gen tried.
He was supposed to be an expert in those kinds of situations.
But, frankly, how is he supposed to act here anyway?
He's clearly in the position of power. And yet Senku, Scientist himself, acts like he owns the moment instead.
And, besides, Gen's really the one at fault anyway.
“Arrgh.” He heard Sorcerer- Chrome..? The other boy in question clearly was not happy about what his partner did. “As my cousin already said, I'm Chrome. Feel yourself at home in my lab, but don't touch anything that looks expensive, we probably can’t replace it easily.” He revealed his pouted expression, as his hat-mask came off. He was even younger and looked nothing like how competent he usually was.
Hearing his words, Gen remarked that quite a lot of machines looked fancy and important here, so he settled up to just lean to the one empty wall and look at what the other two would do next.
Chrome came and took his place by his (surprisingly, Gen didn’t think they were related) cousin's side, now a pair of two eyes burned a hole through Gen.
“Why did you even do that?” Chrome asked while taking a loop of rope off the table, combing with his hand through a mess that was his hair after wearing the mask, and tying the thing around it.
Was their whole family just obsessed over defying gravity with their hairstyles?
“I-” Gen said before he can actually think of an answer.
He turned to look at the side of the entrance, opposite to the boys.
The truth is… He doesn't really know why. He just knew he had to.
“I...” He tried again, now taking yet another breath in and trying to voice the concerns. “...am not sure.” The man just sighed, standing straight and started slowly coming closer to the teenagers who were still wary of him, despite trying to cover it. “When I saw they were going to break you, Sci- Senku,” Gen corrected himself, he noticed the boys looked surprised to learn the details. “I just couldn’t hold myself back after that. I literally just ordered them “out”.” At that point he couldn’t stop himself from laughing, which sounded more deranged and threatening if anything, coming through his mask’s voicechanger.
It was an uncomfortable situation to be in for both parties, so Gen wasn’t at all offended when the younger boy cringed a bit at the sound. He stopped laughing after that though.
“I’m sorry.” The hero said. “I did not think that through and compromised you two now. Everything I was going to say would just be excuses, really.” Gen finally reached the opposite side of the table from his allies.
He looked at the evading eyes of Chrome (now his childishness at times was completely justified. He was… What? Like- 14?), then at the calculating and steady, despite the situation they’re in, eyes of Senku (he really is the most suitable for the leading position huh?), and he can’t really deny there was no other way out.
“Well, it’ll only be fair on my side.” Smooth Talker closed his eyes and looked down, reaching at his back to open the clips that secured his mask on the man’s face. It fell off his face and planted right into his open hand which he instantly clenched to fight off any uncertainty. No way back now! “Hi again Senku, Chrome…” The now unmasked hero looked into their curious and surprised faces. Senku even had a hint of a smile on his lips. “You may have known me as a hero, but right now before you stands just a man who fucked up. I’m Gen, and I’m very sorry.” He bowed with all due respect.
It wasn’t really necessary with these two, as it turned out.
“Hm, so some of the theorists were correct, huh? Not gonna lie, hairstyle change really helped you cover, but your face isn’t that forgettable for it to work fully.” Senku hummed, as if he was expecting to see exactly him under the mask.
“Wait. Gen as in- Asagiri Gen… It was this stupid magician you theorised about him being, right?” Chrome instantly chimed in.
Gen turned his head back up in surprise.
Was he that popular? Besides-
“What do you mean a stupid magician? That’s rich coming from you, Sorcerer.” Gen bit back. He’s not the one to pass on an opportunity like that! “And, unlike us heroes, you chose the name and suit yourself.”
“It’s an inside joke, you wouldn’t get it.” Chrome instantly shooed that away. “Besides, I’m a kid. What’s your excuse?” He smirked, smug.
Well, that hit. Not that it’s something Gen can’t recover from.
Before he could counter that though, Senku stopped the verbal fight the two had.
He reminded everyone of what happened and called their gathering a strategy meeting.
Turns out Senku had stayed awake during all these 40-50 minutes he spent in stone. It came as a surprise since there’s no information of people being conscious while in there. Apart for a couple of seconds to maybe realize what happened, of course, but still.
When discussing the implications of having not only partial brain activity while petrified (as they have noted before with the mysterious Gorilla’s input), but a capability of staying fully awake for at least an hour worth of time too… At some point Gen noticed the other two were using too complicated terminology for him to follow, so he gradually directed their discussion to something else.
He said about Archer mentioning the possible things they may do now, with Gen’s fuck-up. They may use the mess they’ve created, and both boys instantly came with a couple of specific moves.
“Um- Isn’t this one too dark even for you, Senku..?” Chrome broke off a tirade the other boy started all of the sudden when the group mentioned how they will fight the criminals.
He spat out too many chemical names with instructions of how they would mix them for Gen to understand, so he gave up on that at least 5 minutes prior. Instead he focused on noting expressions and all the other psychological details in the speech of a mad-scientist the boy looked as at the moment.
On top of smiling sinisterly at what he could pour on ‘these bastards’, Senku seemed almost… hurt. Maybe pouting a little, of course. He mentioned not being able to put them to sleep since they circled him yet kept their distance before turning to stone, but it wasn’t the main thing he painted it as, was it?
“Being paired up with heroes doesn’t leave us too many chances to intentionally harm them. Besides, they deserve way more than whatever I’m willing to inflict on them.” He sighed. “For kidnapping and then obviously mistreating Suika.”
The last sentence held a heavy weight in them, souring an already tense mood even further.
Before Gen could break it off with some comment or whatever (because he definitely won’t poke the matter and ask them about who that Suika they keep mentioning is), Chrome’s determined voice did it first.
“We will bring my sister home. We all are together in this and a random group of low-lifes don’t stand a chance after a team as strong as ours.”
“You’re ten billion percent right.” Senku just smirked at that.
Both boys look so stoic and mature, Gen almost forgot he’s talking with two teenagers right now.
After a couple more hours of planning specifics of some of the plans, part of which required a bit of sketching so the main table was full of random sheets of paper full of plans, calculations and whatnot, the two boys looked at the clock and groaned about needing to head out for today cause school time was nearing.
“So um- Now that the masks are dropped can we be considered like… Friends?” Gen tried. He needs this established in order to know his future approach to the two. If they oppose, he’ll easily treat them as something akin to business partners only. But he kinda liked the guys.
His question was met with a couple seconds worth of silence, where the boys obviously needed time to process what they’ve heard, when finally-
“Pffft-” Chrome was rolling.
“That’s so cringe.” Senku seemed to completely get his cousin too, picking at his ear with an unimpressed expression. “Although… Yeah, I don’t see why not.”
“Yeah, all good man, just don’t look like a girl confessing to us under the tree after school next time.” Chrome added from down on the floor.
“Wha- How in the world can you interpret it like that? I’m nothing like those girls!” Gen obviously offended.
“Well, you kinda are if I squint just enough.” Senku, obviously, sided with his relative.
“Now that’s just ean-may!” The hero pouted, before his mind finally registered something. Squint.. “Oh, fuck. Right!”
He was reminded of what he originally wanted to do today. The reason why he wanted to see Scientist in the first place was-
“Here.” Gen offered his new friends(?) the object they dropped all those weeks ago.
“My magnifying glass!” Chrome instantly perked up and was off the floor and trinketing with the thing in less than 3 seconds. “How did you- Oh right.” He seemed to remember now who the group was running away from that day. “Well thanks for returning it anyway! I missed the thing so much. I can’t even express it really.” The boy was beaming, and that alone was telling Gen way more than words can.
“Well glad to finally finish this side quest. I kept forgetting to do it for the last eternity!” Gen himself chuckled.
He was offered some spare clothes at this point, which is nice, even if the shirt’s a bit stained with something. He just needs to return to the tower and there’s little to no one on the streets at such an early hour anyway, so he just confidently headed to the door.
“Wait, mentalist.” Senku’s voice forced Gen to stop at his tracks and turn his head back. “Thanks for saving me over there.”
At that he just smiled.
“Any time.”
The moment didn’t seem like too much on the surface, but… Something shifted. The whole atmosphere felt way more relaxed now. Gen no longer felt so awfully out of place,
Chrome looked comfortable by now and even a tense hunch in Senku’s shoulders, barely visible before anyway, finally faded.
Maybe it was good that he trusted his gut today after all.
Definitely no to crossing his friends boundaries this easily now though.
The magnifying glass has finally returned to its owner!
And some proper friendships are finally formed too.
Here, Gen, Senku and Chrome, despite still calling it a strategy meeting, don’t say they three will go to hell together. There’s just no need since their tactics of use are not as evil as in the anime, even if what they’re about to do (and are doing already to be fair) still is a major crime. The main piece of their plan still involves Yuzuriha doing the work by the way, which is a fun detail I haven’t even deliberately planned for in the power creation stage!
I can still easily say that all the leaders and tacticians are always the ones mostly responsible for what’s going to happen during the mission they’re planning for, the choices they make and so on, but that’s not as bad.
On the contrary, heroes keeping secrets from agency like they do is a way worse thing to do than any vigilante shit from SC. So really, if anyone’s going to hell is Gen and Tsukasa, not Senku XDDD