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Gen squeezed between him and Chrome with the audacity reserved only for incredibly spoiled cats and Senku couldn't help but recall the first time they let him in the storage room with them. He had wrapped himself in a blanket and curled in a corner refusing to impose to his hosts, courtesies that have been long lost to familiarity and well, as long as Gen shielded him from the barrage of kicks Chrome unleashed in his sleep, his presence was a net positive.
Chrome rustled and hissed a drowsy 'gnight' in response to Gen's purposefully clumsy movements as he burritoed himself in his blanket, annoyed that his attempt to drift to sleep was interrupted, Senku could only smirk at their interaction before he piped in his own 'goodnight' and turned to his side, falling asleep soon after.
His eyes shot open as he woke from a nightmare well into the night. He grunted and winced, trying to get back to sleep, already deciding he wouldn't give it the leeway to stress him while awake too. It was only a dream, speculation has it that dreams are just random images the brain puts together to help with processing information and maintaining a healthy memory but it's at the very least a fact that they're meant to be forgotten within a few seconds of waking up.
His hand still reaches for his neck and he can feel a ghostly throb from where Tsukasa's grasp suffocated him in the dream. He rubs his neck dismissively and throws his arm under his pillow. 'It's not real, it didn't even happen like that. Tsukasa is just a dumbass, he's not even that scary.' he repeats to himself but it doesn't seem to quite settle in.
He's been ignoring how nervous he was about... well everything. The uphill struggle to restore civilization from zero was one thing but having an actual war to deal with as well was another. Plus the potential of said war not ending up in any way close to what he was planning or what he wished it to never stopped bothering him.
No 'life or death' ordeal he faced ever seemed to go the way he set it out and he was tired of resigning to cruelty and worming out of it against all odds. Or having to learn to live with harsh realities completely outside of his control.
Finding out Byakuya really was dead had been harder to swallow than he expected.
He knew deep down that was likely the case the whole time, but not knowing the exact circumstances and limitations of the petrification ray allowed for a small spec of hope to creep in his mind before it was inevitably and painfully snuffed out.
It was bizarre how he never managed to improve his own living conditions despite being able to do so for everyone else. There was always a problem that would burden his thoughts and before long, his pillow was soaked with tears and his breath hitched as he chocked a couple of sobs.
"Senku-chan?"
His body tensed when he realized he was not the only one awake at the time. Gen's weight shifted behind him and he was soon leaning over him. "You alright there?" He wiped his face quickly and turned to face the barely visible white strands of hair hanging overhead.
"Yeah, just homesick" he muttered somewhat coarsely, "Go to sleep".
Gen tutted in response.
"It's okay to talk to me, we're in the same boat you know." Senku could almost hear him smile when he spoke, still in whispers. His mind however protested that they really weren't, but he stopped himself before giving a voice to such a thought. Even if the claim was true, Gen was not that far behind, it was unfair to dismiss him.
"I just want to sleep" he admitted finally, mostly to the tightness that welled up in his chest.
Gen hummed in approval and pushed his forehead down on Senku's, he couldn't help but welcome the gesture. They stayed like that in silence for a while until Senku shifted, letting Gen fall back on his side and burrowed his face between him and the covers.
That turned out to be more helpful at stifling the gasps he was now unable to control. Gen softly shushed him as he pet his hair. "It's okay, we're safe now, it will all be okay" he hummed and continued making vague small talk.
Senku didn't grasp most of what he was saying but Gen's voice soothed him as it vibrated through his chest, easing him enough to melt back into sleep.
***
The mentalist squeaked an 'eep' when he was caught rummaging through Senku's bag and the scientist glared annoyed upon seeing most of its contents sprawled on the floor around it. "Put my stuff back, we're leaving in five minutes!"
"I will only take a minute I promise!" he assured and he returned to his task, trying to fit an unfamiliar box inside the already overstuffed bag in a way that didn't take up any space. Senku sighed and squated facing him and the bag.
"What is that?"
"It's for later~"
"Yeah, but what is it?"
Gen slapped his hand softly when he attempted to pry it off his hands.
"It's a surprise for later! You can't open it yet."
It wasn't unusual that the mentalist would be difficult over insignificant things, but Senku didn't take too kindly to being delayed and reached out for the box again. Surprisingly, Gen surrendered it as soon as danger of dropping it while wrestling rose and whined fakely at Senku's stubbornness.
"You're seriously so mean!"
Senku ignored him and undid the strings holding the lid together, sliding it open only to reveal several streaks of smoked fish on the left, the top right corner filled with diced daikon and what seemed to be potato puree coated with zig-zag lines of some sauce he didn't recognize taking up the rest of the space in the box.
"...See, Ruri-chan really wanted to give you a present for helping her, so I suggested she make this! Ah, but we couldn't find any rice unfortunately!"
Senku took a moment to survey the attempted bento box between his hands and then tied it again swiftly, packing it in with the rest of his stuff. Gen simply watched him silently as he fitted everything in and seemed a little concerned Senku had nothing to say about it.
"Should I tell her you like it~? He coaxed.
Senku smiled as harmlessly as he could manage and pushed his bag in Gen's arms. "Since you decided to make it heavier, carry it for me till we get to the meeting place."
Gen gaped his mouth to protest but Senku was already sliding off the ladder from Chrome's lab, so he sighed and slipped the bag on his back before chasing after him.
No amount of pet names and being called after for walking too fast was enough to deter Senku as he marched ahead ensuring a fair amount of distance between them. 'Ruri-chan' his ass, he'd already settle things with her, Gen was so full of shit.
And yet something as dumb as a bento box made him feel a certain giddiness he wished he could shrug off. Despite being a fairly challenging person to deal with, Gen had his way of drawing an array of reactions from him and it was somewhat scary.
And at times like this uncomfortably warm.
Chrome and Magma were already waiting when they finally reached the summit, along with some villagers that were eager to see them off. The mentalist pouted wearily as he handed over the backpack and Senku focused to make sure his other two companions had everything they needed for the cave expedition before finally giving the heads up to begin their trip. Chrome trailed after him after being momentarily distracted by Kaseki but Senku quickly realized that Magma had lagged behind. He turned around and was ready to call for him only to discover that it was Gen that had been holding him back, seemingly whispering something to him.
Like a clock reaction, a new source of anxiety overtook his thoughts.
He turned and continued down the path following Chrome, trying really hard to dismiss it. Trying instead to make sense of what was going on exactly, what would Gen even approach Magma so casually and in secret for? They had the time to talk when they were all still in the summit so why didn't they before?
He tried to ease himself, he was overthinking it.
It was probably nothing.
Sure there was a murder attempt in the air muddying the possibility those two even spend time together, but they could in theory have grown to be on good terms enough for such a scene to occur naturally. The time span for it was there, and he it's not like he was omnipresent and could keep track of these things.
But in the case something was off like he feared, well, he'd figured his way out of bad situations before, he'd do the same again. He just had to be prepared. He had to figure out what Gen was planning exactly and foil it. It was unlikely that Gen was working for Magma, he had nothing to gain from such an alliance, but what if he still worked for Tsukasa...?
Senku frowned at the thought, he hated it and it wasn't the first time it plagued him.
Gen seemed to have some level of pacifistic ideas so if he was still on Tsukasa's side then what would his goal be? Perhaps ensuring a truce with the village and some level of pass in scientific progress? That did make sense, he did praise the villagers for their level of adjustment and living conditions being better than Tsukasa's camp once, and it seemed to be genuine compared to most other things he babbled about.
And of course the deal breaker to bring such scheme to fruition would be none other than Senku's head.
This situation was manageable.
It should be fine.
If that was the scenario at hand at least. As much of a bat as Gen was, the villagers would never turn on Senku, not after everything he did for them.
...Which was what exactly?
He hijacked and obliterated their religious practices and customs. Disrupted their everyday lives and bossed even their chief around.
He was roping them into his war.
But they now had the tools, the man rather, to turn the situation back on its heels, even in the case he wasn't the instigator behind this plot, Gen would have no choice but to oblige.
Kohaku had no reason to protect him this time. Ruri was doing great, it would be only natural if she'd want to keep it that way. She was a practical person, she would surely go for the route that resulted in less losses, despite how she often acted recklessly for those under her care, or even exactly because of that.
They weren't in incredibly good terms anyway, whatever good impression she had of him when they first met he'd already manage to obliterate simply by being himself in her vicinity.
It was all falling to pieces finally.
And this time he was cornered and had no way of escaping.
Chrome whistled looking down the chasm beneath his feet, they were already pretty far down the cave. "We're going to need the ladder again!" He announced somewhat thrilled to use it again. He was a little too overexcited about getting to mine in the cave, clearly having a poor grasp of the amount of work that was ahead of them and more concerned with the potential new breakthrough that this mission would bring forth.
Chrome really was the one he felt the most bad about.
Senku turned to Magma and motioned to get the ladder in position, the other grunted something under his breath and proceeded ahead. "Careful how you place it, the ground might give out." He instructed.
It kinda sucked.
He actually trusted Chrome to stick by him, but that was the issue. He was honest to a fault and while smart and resourceful, a tad naive and impressionable. If Tsukasa took over the village, Chrome would likely get similar treatment as him, he stood no chance.
And it would be his fault for inflating his knowledge and enthusiasm.
Senku exhaled as discreetly as his mental state allowed him to.
What hurt the most still was Gen's over familiarity with him through it all.
The path to victory really was set on flowers.
***
Something about Magma saving him twice in one day didn't quite stick with his previous trail off. Senku guessed Tsukasa wouldn't be so picky how he died, so long as he was actually buried in front of him this time and Magma definitely had plenty of chances to off him but not once did he display any actual desire to do so.
Deciding to keep a cool head and go forth with the expedition, regardless of everything seemed to have been a good decision. Everything was making his anxiousness seem dumb now. The bento box was pretty good too.
He was relieved but also somewhat mad he ever thought up all that to begin with.
He tossed in his sleeping bag and turned to face away from the other two aligned close to his, it was really frustrating to be in this position and he wanted to cry his guts out but settled with silently sobbing against his pillow. Such a thing as time to himself evaded him once again however and he clenched alerted as one of sleeping bags beside him betrayed sounds of motion.
And then some more, something sounded like it was being shaken and not very gently.
"Hey, wake up-" Magma whispered and the tugging persisted, successfully waking up Chrome after a few push and pulls. "Magma? What the hell?"
Magma's voice fell significantly lower than his previous attempt. "He's crying, do something." Chrome sat up and rubbed his eyes, nothing was really visible but he had a vague idea that Senku was laying by Magma's other side so he called to his direction.
"Are you okay? Should I come over there?"
Senku waved his arm to dismiss him but since it was likely not visible, was forced to speak up. This was beyond embarrassing and he wanted them off his case.
"I am fine, my dad is just kinda dead, let me be."
He could swear he could hear Chrome glare at him stubbornly before he began rustling and stumbled over Magma, who growled under his breath, muttering something about his toe. Chrome's hand patted around till it located Senku's leg and after a bit of adjusting landed with a 'pof' by his other side, successfully barricading Senku between him and Magma.
"You can call it dumb again all you like but we're here for you" Chrome declared and adjusted his head on his pillow. "Right?!" he asked a little louder and his voice echoed in the cave slightly, Magma only groaned in affirmation.
Chrome was still pleased to be backed up and turned to Senku, whispering again "I can hold your hand if you'd like?"
Senku chuckled somewhat fed up but already feeling a little better.
"Go to sleep, you idiot."
The rest of the days in the cave passed by pretty uneventfully. They mined and dug and mined some more and his limbs were aching a lot but he was feeling calmer. Work helped drown out whatever negative thought that so much as attempted to pop up and the few times he remembered that was the case, he was grateful for it.
The full baskets they had stacked looked so satisfying when the visible rocks on them glittered and they'd look even better when someone (other than him) would be carrying them out the cave. He snickered to himself at the thought contently.
A rough pull on his head wiped away his vision and before he could fully grasp what happened, he was hauled away by Magma who didn't bother to explain himself and completely ignored Chrome who was yelling as he chased after them demanding an explanation.
***
He was still toying around with the telescope, making plans for things to tweak and improve when Gen popped in later the same night. "Chrome-chan officially evicted me, can I sleep here?" Senku didn't look away from the plans he was scribbling. "Yeah, but at least five feet away from me"
"Absolutely, I've had enough of getting kicked around for a while~"
Gen seemed fairly pleased as he unpacked his small package of belongings from his blanket wrap and set them under a table by the wall, only setting up his bed for now.
"Thank you." Senku said after a while, catching him off guard. Gen looked up from puffing his miserable looking pillow, but the scientist didn't seem to break his concentration from his new toy, so he rolled his hands back in his sleeves and walked over.
"What for?" His voice rang with that the same disgustingly sweet calmness from a few hours ago. Senku had only been exposed to it for less than five minutes and already deemed it more detestable than Gen's regular sing-song tone.
They were side by side now and Gen waited for his attention to switch to him, but since it never did he continued. "I'll take it that you mean the telescope then"
"I mean everything, you didn't have to do any of this for me."
"Why not, you do so much for us already?"
Senku turned to him finally, finding it a little challenging to put to words what he wanted to say.
"I guess... I needed it more than I thought I did."
Gen raised his hand towards his face and seeing as Senku didn't object to the contact pushed one of his bangs behind his ear and cupped his cheek.
"Shouldering all of us yourself sounds like a pretty big feat, so I thought that would be the case. At the very least let me look out for you."
Senku was comfortable enough with the gesture to close his eyes and let his cheek press against his hand, causing Gen's eyes to slightly widen in surprise.
"Ooh~ You have this side to you too? You're so adorable!" he cooed and Senku instantly winced, flushing red and reached to squish Gen's face as revenge for the remark, he really shouldn't be allowed to speak sometimes. Gen did not attempt to fight back, fully surrendering to his grasp and snickering in response to being tortured.
Once he was satisfied, Senku released Gen's face and rested his head on his shoulder. He remained quiet for a while and it stirred a small sense of worry in the mentalist but before he could speak up to question him, Senku wrapped his hands around his waist.
"Thanks." his voice sounded strained from the embarrassment but Gen only hummed pleased, assured nothing was wrong, he enveloped him with his huge sleeves.
"Anytime~"