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Good evening kingdom of science!!
The official reporter of the Kingdom of Science News, Hokutozai Minami´s voice, echoed through the rough TV on the lab.
Today´s like any other April 1st! Foooools Daaaay!
The woman said as she blowed on a simple toy made from paper. The man hidden below what seemed to be a new side project, emerged at the news. He took his googles off for a second to pay a bit more attention at the tv, as Asagiri Gen made an appeareance with his usual nightshades.
"Oi, Senkuu! Gen´s program is gonna start soon!" A young man with a lab coat busted into the room, just to see the king sitting on the floor absolutely dirty in ash and who-knows-what gooey material. "BUT WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!" The young man trotted to lift up Senkuu.
"I was testing the new liquid oxygen we got from earlier to use it with this oxidizer, but I fucked up when I put the fuel" a little smirk formed on his lips looking at the machine on the floor "I thought I could pull it off with an all nighter but guess this garbage engine still needs some adjustments" He told Chrome looking fondly at the machine he had been working for the past weeks.
"I agree on that. But you certainly haven´t slept for three days straight trying to get more liquid oxygen for this small test have you?" Chrome said crossing his arms on his chest. Senkuu looked sideways knowing he was about to get scolded. He was pleasently surprised to just be dragged out to the small resting room between their labs. "I haven´t either! Let´s just sit here and relax man. Gen´s show´s about to start too" The younger man sat him on the comfortable sofa Yuzuriha had made herself specially for both scientists.
"Why would I even watch something like that?" Senkuu said with a frown. Chrome silently watched him with his eyebrows pulled up.
"Oh, yeah, you were ABSOLUTELY NOT just analysing the exact curvature of Gen´s ass just a moment ago. Just shut up and enjoy the show" Chrome said smirking.
Senkuu opened his mouth to protest but closed it again, without any good fake excuse to put. Chrome knew him too well and was thanked the fact Chrome couldn´t see him red as a tomato as he snatched some coffee from the coffee machine. The kingdom of science had made about 20% of it´s central fully electrical and Senkuu could see everyone had adapted to it rather quickly since it´s incorporation a few years back.
"Thanks" he replied to the mug being given to it in a whistle. He felt Chrome´s weight on the couch, but couldn´t bother to pay attention to it as he saw Gen´s act in TV.
It was about the same kind of amazing he had shown since he had met him, almost 12 years ago. Senku took a sip of his coffee as he was thrown back to the memories of the Village. He was taken a back as Gen smiled as he talked.
"Pfft teenagers" Chrome teased him noticing his reaction.
"Shaddup. That´s not it"
"Oh? Then what?" Chrome perking his head a bit to the side.
"The date. It´s just ironic how eventful April Fools can be" Senkuu said mazing Chrome even more. Senkuu looked up to the TV as Gen started one of his now usual acts on that specific day.
It was a really simple hypnosis where the person went ice cold for a few minutes. Nothing to be surprised. But what he dreaded was the phrase to which he ended every April Fools program.
"Well, well, with those few words, Paf! you should be out of my stone spell!"
Senkuu clicked his tongue hiding an small laugh.
"13 years and he hasn´t let go of that small fact" he referred to the short writing reading: "5738, April 1st" that had caught Gen´s interest in Senkuu all this years back. He knew Gen said it specifically that way only for him to notice the joke.
"Well, If he has gone all this years without using any shoes and stubbornly bleaching his hair like that, I don´t think he´s ever going to let go" Chrome half laughed across the sofa.
"You´re 10 billion percent right" he giggled just before the program ended with Gen saluting the camera with a foxxy smile.
Chrome had taken off to his room right for a nap after the program ended. Strongly warning Senkuu to also go have a nap as he "looked far worse than when he was an statue". Senkuu had given him a glare but agreed he needed a rest. He couldn´t get the igniters to work just yet and he definitely would need to ask Kaseki´s pupils to make the adjustments he needed to make the dummy for the rocket engine.
He looked through the glass windows of his lab as a soft breeze ruffled through his dirty blond hair. A full view of a somewhat modern looking buildings besides a tidal wave based power generator and a few hot ballons and cars spotted the air with their presence.
Senku looked long and hard at the village. Science had made all this possible in such a few years. He was proud of how far everyone´s efforts had taken them. However, there was somewhere he still was miles and miles away from reaching. He pulled himself straight, looking one last time at the village as it was being covered in the night, before walking away inside.
He wasn´t that far off space when he went to the observatory. Before the old man Kaseki´s passing, he had made an absolute upgrade to the lenses in a coordinated effort that lasted a whole three days. So now he could perfectly see some of the far off stars in the galaxy. Chrome was still working in a computer or pseudo computer, that could manage larger codes, so he would have to wait until the further ones became visible.
But that was enough to let his thoughts wander and be bathed in curiosity.
He started dozing off writing a few more spacial report and didn´t feel himself drifting into a deep sleep.
He dreamt of the day he knew the truth about the petrification beam. How it had been a shock that it was actually intended to make people be reborn into a world full of materials they could use again. To reconstruct the world from the ground up just like Senkuu had always wanted. But, he had committed the error of waking up too soon. 262 years early to be able to use the special materials for the new generations.
It was the first time anyone saw Senkuu actually enraged at something.
He remembered feeling absolutely frustrated not only for himself, but for everyone else. If he hadn´t woken up earlier. If he hadn´t tried to mantain his brain going for thousands of years culminating into him waking up, then none of the people who were depetrified would´ve had to go through wars. They wouldn´t have teached the wrong people about the destructive power science can lend humans. He wouldn´t have had to see Gen´s shocked face at the time he understood being depetrified was a mistake after the big mistake he had been.
It´d been his fault and he couldn´t bare to see the people he cared about having to go through that because HE did something he shouldn´t have.
But...
A gentle touch made his eyes open to a see of stars.
He knew those hands as well as his.
"Hey there Mentalist" he smirked still drozzy.
"Hey there Senkuu-chan" the man with the long, half bleached hair replied just by his side.
"You know, I´m just three years younger and I´m already on my thirties..." He tried, hoping he would get him.
"Did you say something, Senkuu-chan? " Gen emphasized with a big smile.
Senkuu made a short sigh "You´re impossible" he said cracking his sore neck.
Gen had taken a sit on his side and Senkuu had to wonder how long he had been watching him sleep. By the light alone, he knew he had slept quite a while.
"So? How´s the rocket engine going?" he asked casually putting a napkin back into his sleeve.
"We´re getting there in maybe five to seven years. I´m not hopeful to reach that soon to be honest...There´s too many materials and the need for 10 billion percent accuracy is crazy. But if we keep on steady doing our work we might close it to two years. And if that..." Senkuu was getting fired up when he was interrupted.
"What did you think of the show?" Gen suddenly went.
"...Not bad. Maybe try to gather some new jokes for next year´s though" Senkuu said going through his notes.
"I´m happy you saw it, but! Not happening! Today´s an important day after all!"
"What´s so important about fool-your-neighbour-day? It´s just another day"
Gen saw him scribbling down some difficult formula and putting an eye on the telescope.
"It´s basically your second birthday and I´ve to congratulate you properly!"
Senkuu´s eyes widthened and for a moment stopped observing the night sky to see Gen´s face. He had always found funny how fitting his scar was to his personality.
"There´s 10 billion percent nothing to congratulate today, Gen" he mantained eye contact, a frown starting to form on his face.
"Don´t say that~! Today´s the day that consequently allowed me to be here" That exactly didn´t help the frown from growing deeper into the man´s face. "That allowed all the science kingdom to know about its wonders. Healing and all what came with it."
He knew it. He knew Gen was trying to comfort him, but...
He pressed his fists tighter and opened his mouth.
"Senkuu-chan was right where he was needed" Gen continued putting a bottle of Cola between both their faces...and a bit of rum. "Allow me to remind you there were people who hadn´t you been there would´ve died" he said as he poured the contents of both into a pair of glasses. "Tsukasa-chan, Suika-chan, Ruri-chan, Ginro-chan" He handed one to Senkuu, who had shifted from a tight frown to a light pout. "we can´t change anything in the past, Senkuu-chan. Well, that´s until you come up with a way to time travel" he giggled by himself "But until then, we gotta keep on moving towards the future. When you will finally..." Gen took a moment "...Finally go to space" he finished taking a sip of his drink.
"Is that same eagerness that brought you here...202 years..."
"And that same eagerness is the best that could happen to me" Gen interrupted him. "Do you remember what I said back then? At South America?" he got closer to him.
"I was thankful for been awake at that moment, because you allowed me to have something nobody nor money, could give me: the company of people I can trust" He said it with an unusually heavy weight on them. So unusual Senkuu was shocked mute "Who knows if I would´ve gotten that if I had been waken up when I was supposed to. Who knows if I could´ve had fun in a place without you"
"You have helped us with everything you know and can do. So today´s important, because I get to remind you, how happy I am that you woke up. Even if I don´t understand something you will explain it to me, and even if I wont understand it ever, I know it´s gonna be ok. Because it´s you. So don´t go saying it´s not worth a celebration!" Gen lifted his drink waiting for Senkuu´s glass.
"...kukuku, You´re 10 billion percent an strange man, Gen" he toasted with him.
"Hey, I already said we would gladly go to hell together..." Gen put a sad frown suddenly and Senkuu finally figured out what was bothering him.
"You would be coming with me if we ever made the space rocket, dummy" he clarified to Gen´s amusement.
"FOR REAL?!" His eyes shined and glimmered very close to Senkuu´s face, that went absolutely red.
"OF COURSE YOU DUMB MENTALIST!!" He yelled at him taking him off his face with his free hand. "DO YOU THINK I WOULD LEAVE YOU HERE?"
He didn´t process what he had said until it was out of his mind. That made Gen put a big smile on his face.
"Senkuu-chan you´d such a romantic side hidden all this time!" Gen made a fake sweeter tone.
"WHAT No! You weren´t out of the calculations even from the start..." he once again didn´t knew what he was saying. "AHG, IM SO TIRED I´M SAYING WEIRD STUFF. C´mon I´m heading to bed" he said walking to the door. Leaving Gen sitting on the chair besides the telescope.
They waited in their places for a second until Senkuu put his hand high towards Gen and he slowly but surely walked to take his.
"You really should ask Yuzuriha for shoes, Gen. It´s getting colder and your feet are kinda itchy" Senkuu said being very aware of the hand he was holding.
"I will have to search for her tomorrow then~" Gen was also aware of how tight he was holding his.
"You just really got a weight off your chest just now didn´t you?" Senkuu asked their conversation drowning in the silence of night.
From where an observatory would, hopefully soon, see them off someday.
Together.