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The Stone Wars had been won by the Kingdom of Science. Hyoga and Homura were imprisoned, and Tsukasa was, well…
From what Gen understood, Senku was going to freeze Tsukasa to death in order to prevent his wound from killing him. That way, once they discovered how to use petrification themselves, they could revive him. To be honest, it seemed like a long shot to Gen. Not that he didn’t trust Senku, but there was just too much unknown about petrification in the first place. Still, something in Senku’s genius mind said he could do it, so Gen was going to follow him to the ends of the Earth if he had to.
Besides, Senku had other brilliant ideas on how to use petrification to humanity’s benefit, such as healing purposes and food storage. Gen would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little excited.
He was not whipped, no matter what anyone else said.
Gen hadn’t seen the scientist around for the past few hours since he had to put Tsukasa to sleep. It was a bit concerning, but Gen knew how much Senku valued his personal space. The scientist usually preferred distant proximity to total isolation, but this last year or so had been extremely difficult. He figured that if anybody deserved some privacy, it was Senku.
He headed back to his makeshift hut. It wasn’t much, but it was certainly better than just sleeping in a cave. The Ishigami villagers had shown the Tsukasa Empire how to build them. Thank god, because Gen did not feel like living like a caveman.
When he entered, he startled at the person already there, sitting up on his bedroll. “Senku-chan!” Gen exclaimed. “What are oing-day here?”
“I’m sorry,” Senku replied in a shaky voice. “I just didn’t know where else to go, and I didn’t want anyone else to see me like this.”
Surprise gave way to alarm. Gen quickly crossed the distance between them and sat down next to Senku. “What’s wrong, Senku-chan?” he asked gently.
Senku lifted his head, and Gen could tell he’d been crying. His eyes were pink and puffy, and tear tracks stained his cheeks. He looked up at Gen, eyes swimming in agony. “I-I-I couldn’t s-s-save him!” Senku exclaimed in a broken, raspy voice and lunged forwards, grabbing Gen’s coat in his fists and burying his head in his yukata.
Gen felt his heart shatter into ten billion tiny pieces as Senku broke down in front of him. The scientist sobbed into his clothes, still clutching at them in fists, trembling all the while. Tears and snot quickly soaked through Gen’s yukata, but he didn’t care. Nothing was more important than the boy who was currently holding on to him for dear life.
He’d seen Senku cry before out of grief for his father, but somehow this was so much worse seeing him cry from shame and perhaps a little bit of self-anger or loathing. Grief was a necessary emotion to process loss while shame just tore at a person’s soul.
“Oh, Senku-chan,” Gen murmured, feeling utterly helpless. He wrapped his arms around Senku’s back. “It’s alright. Let it all out. I’ve got you.”
Senku nodded slightly in acknowledgement and continued to cry into him. “I-I-If I had j-j-just been a little f-f-faster, then maybe-” A choked sob broke him off.
“No, Senku-chan,” Gen protested. “Hyoga caught us all by urprise-say. I’m the mentalist here, so really I’m the one who should have seen it coming.”
The only response from Senku was a slight head shake as he continued crying. “See? If you can’t ame-blay me, then you can’t ame-blay yourself either,” Gen added, trying to keep his tone light despite the heaviness he felt. “You can’t carry the entire weight of the world on your shoulders, Senku-chan. No matter how badly you want to.” He began to rub circles on his back with one hand and stroke his hair with the other. “And we will still save him. If anyone could do it, it’s you.”
As Senku continued to let go of everything he’d been holding back, Gen continued to rub his back and whispering soothingly. The whole situation felt almost unreal. Out of everyone Senku could have gone to, why him? Was it because he had seen Senku cry before? No, that seemed unlikely. Being such good childhood friends, Gen was sure that Taiju and Yuzuriha had seen him cry before at some point- maybe not recently, but perhaps when they were little kids.
Out of everybody, Taiju seemed like the obvious choice. He was such a warm, kind-hearted person, and surely he could provide better comfort than Gen. So why come to Gen instead?
Because Taiju was too loud, Gen realized. What Senku needed now was a quiet understanding. Even though Senku loved his friend, he wore his heart on his sleeve, so he wouldn’t truly understand the gravity of seeing Senku in such a vulnerable state, and Taiju probably wouldn’t understand why Senku felt such heavy grief towards his murderer. They were very different, like an opposites attract situation.
On the other hand, Gen and Senku were very similar. They both acted cold and aloof, but in reality they cared very deeply. They put up walls to keep people from truly knowing them, and yet they’d let the other in. There was a quiet comfort just being in the other’s presence. The relationship they had was truly something special; something Gen had never had before, and probably neither had Senku.
I love him, Gen suddenly realized.
As a mentalist, he was used to wrapping everyone around his pinky finger and playing them like a violin. This was the first time somebody had him so tightly around their own pinky finger.
Eventually, Senku’s cries quieted down, leaving the very exhausted scientist just leaning against Gen’s chest. “Sorry about your clothes,” Senku muttered weakly.
“It’s quite alright, Senku-chan,” Gen replied softly. “Feeling any better?”
“Yes, actually,” Senku said.
“Do you wanna eep-slay here tonight?” Gen asked. “It doesn’t look like you have enough energy to walk anywhere right now.”
Senku blinked a few times, surprised. “You sure you don’t mind?” he asked.
“I don’t ind-may~” Gen replied with a small smile. “If I did, I wouldn’t have offered.”
“Alright,” Senku said, almost whispering. “Goodnight then.” He proceeded to flop down against the bedroll and pass out.”
“Goodnight, Senku-chan,” Gen replied. He removed the soiled layer of clothing and threw it to the side. He could worry about washing it tomorrow. He then laid down, taking the thin blanket Yuzuriha had sewn for him and draping it over the both of them. His heart felt like it would burst from affection.