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Senku’s birthday had stirred up the whole village quite a bit.
Sure, they’d had the concept of birthdays before the modern people came along, but they didn’t really celebrate them with the party and presents aspect- that was to be expected with a civilization that still had so many other important things to worry about.
But now that Gen had introduced them to this modern world tradition, to say the villagers were excited was undermining it.
Some people had come to Senku the day after his birthday, teasing him about his gift and how he’d better not forget to give them something back on their own day. A lot of people had also expressed interest in having a party, especially the children. The idea of it was a complete novelty, so the enthusiasm spread like wildfire.
And so, the thought to keep track of everyone’s date of birth arose with the necessity.
“Do you not mind?” Gen had asked him the night after Ruri had proposed to him the plan the whole village had come up with. “This will probably take away focus from their work from time to time.”
“Not really, it’s good for morale or whatever, isn’t that what you always say? Besides, it’s a good opportunity to finally make a calendar in this stone word, get excited.” Senku didn’t take his eyes off the telescope to answer, continuing to take notes on the papers strewn around him.
He’d taken to a recent, personal, side project, unrelated to their upcoming war with the empire of might. Senku was trying to rechart the constellations and planets current positions, after having noticed long ago how they’d shifted--which was to be expected after more than 3,000 years. After all, he still hadn’t given up on his original plan, and if he ever was to go to space, these observations would prove useful.
Gen, ever the mentalist, would probably tell him something stupid, along the lines of he ‘used space as a coping mechanism’ and to ‘escape the pressure of his new role as a leader of a village about to enter a war’. But Senku, ever in denial, would tell him that was just dumb, and he was seeing things where there were none.
He ignored the pang of something he couldn’t describe in his chest, as he looked out the telescope again, not even searching for anything in the night sky, just observing.
“A calendar huh? I never even thought about that before, although the villagers don’t seem to have a problem keeping up with the date.” Gen sighed, overly dramatic. “Ah, how I miss being able to check my phone and get all the information I needed~. Now I wouldn’t even know what day it is if it weren’t for you Mr ‘I know how many seconds there are in a day’”.
“Says the person who calculated my birthday by just knowing how many days I’d been alive.”
Gen didn’t retort. It was a rare sight, so Senku let himself take pride in it as a smirk crossed his lips. The mentalist simply let himself fall back from where he was sitting on the floor.
It hadn’t been long since Senku had been gifted the observatory, but it seemed that Gen had made himself quite at home in it. It wouldn’t be the first time the mentalist would fall asleep in the room while Senku worked in the background. He wondered if the floor could really be that comfortable.
“But still, an alendar-cay… If everyone in the village joins in, it’ll be very lively here soon. I think I know just what to add to it.”
Senku didn’t respond, but he hoped what Gen was thinking of writing in it, was his own birthday.
He’d never admit it out loud, but he really was thankful for Gen’s gift. In his life, only one other person had given him a telescope, something that brought him closer to his dream, even if just a little. He’d done everything to help Byakuya, and return the favour, back then. He wanted to do something for Gen as well.
Simply because he appreciated his gift, no other reason in particular.
But the problem was, he didn’t know when Gen’s birthday was, and he knew the mentalist wouldn’t give out that information without a fight. After all, as much as Gen liked to talk, Senku noticed it was never much about himself, and he definitely didn’t give out personal information just like that.
He wouldn’t fall for a leading question like the one he gave Senku either, he might not have fallen for it even if it hadn’t been his idea in the first place. As much shit as Senku gives him, Gen is a damn good mentalist, and mind tricks were his specialty. With no other idea of what to do, his biggest hope right now was that Gen would simply add himself to their shared calendar, maybe hoping to go unnoticed. And then Senku could start thinking of what to get him.
A light snore from behind him interrupted his thoughts, and he turned to see Gen burrowing into himself, already asleep. It still amazed him how the mentalist could just fall asleep like this, in the dead of winter, in a room with an open ceiling, and on the hard wooden floor no less. Senku shook his head as he got up to drape a blanket he kept close by for times like this, over the other’s sleeping frame. It’d be bad if their resident mentalist got sick after all. And God knows how annoying he would be with a fever, so better not risk it, for Senku’s patience’s sake, if nothing else.
Maybe for his first present Senku could get him his own hut in the village, he thought while walking away from the sleeping man, a small smile at his lips.
-☆-
“How does this look?” Namari, the village’s resident artist asked, presenting Senku with a stack of papers a few days later.
Senku sorted through them, the top one was simply titled 1 and underneath it had rows of columns with squares numbered up to 31. This was the first calendar of the stone world, how exhilarating.
As the village still didn’t have reading or writing yet, Senku had decided to stick to numbers, as they were easier to learn. Each month was identified as 1 through 12 and each paper had the necessary number of squares for the days of the respective month.
Senku had also skipped the concept of days of the week. Sure, if he wanted to, he could probably calculate what day of the week it was now, but that would be: 1. too complicated to teach the villagers why they needed to divide the months in periods of 7 days, each with their designated name and purpose; and 2. unnecessary since they didn’t organize their time by the old working/rest days concept anymore. Maybe when they reached the industrial revolution they could think about it.
All said and done, their first calendar served its purpose.
Before even being made public for everyone to write their birthdays in it, Senku noticed Namari had already added marks on some of the village’s important days. On the 25th of the 12th month there was a little drawing of a tree with lightbulbs on it, and on the 1st of January a sun rising behind the horizon. These were two recently added holidays, no doubt. It seemed the village had really taken to Christmas, even though they only knew one tradition of it so far. And the sun on New Year’s Eve was certainly a reference to Gen’s idea to watch the sunrise that day.
Seeing this only made Senku want to show them all different types of holidays and traditions they had in the modern world. One day he would, for sure.
The only birthday already written down was his own, now that everyone knew when it was- thank you Gen- identifiable by a small sketch of his face not unlike the one Namari had previously done for the grand bout.
“This looks great, nice work Namari. Now you just need to go talk to Ruri so she can start collecting everyone’s birthday to add to it, is that alright?”
The girl nodded and scurried off, clearly excited with this new project, and soon that excitement spread to the whole village. Over the next couple of days Senku would check over its progress, and each time the calendar became more and more crowded. The buzz around the village also seemed to be of approval with the new idea, the birthday people that were closest in time already starting to get vocal about wanting a party and gifts on their own day. Gen had no doubt told them about the birthday traditions of their time more in depth.
Speaking of the mentalist, it seemed Senku’s predictions weren’t far off, as he still hadn’t added himself on the list of birthdays. Senku checked it every day, holding out hope that maybe Gen was just building suspense by making everyone wait for it before he joined in, but every day still nothing.
He finally decided to bring it up one day when a large part of the village converged around the updated calendar, giving a chance for anyone who hadn’t participated in it to do it before they affixed it.
“Are you not going to add yours, mentalist? I took you for one of those people who love their own birthdays.”
“Eally-ray? How so?”
“I mean, a day that is all about you, and you basically get gifts to celebrate your existence? Sounds like something right up your alley, ‘shallowest man on Earth’.”
Gen scoffed, amused. “I see what you mean, that does sound like me. It’s just that there’s something I have to do before anything else, it simply can’t wait” The mentalist suddenly thrust his arm up signalling to the people around them and calling for their attention with his shrill voice. “Everyone! I have something I’d like to add to the calendar!”
“Add something?”
“Yes! What do you say we create a new holiday, something completely unique to this village? And actually I know just what it could be.” He stepped closer to the calendar, everyone parting ways so he could pass, before pointing to a date. “Right here, on April 1st, the day our dear Senku woke up from stone! It could be something like the depetrification day!”
“Oi Gen.” Senku brought up, but no one paid him any mind. If there was one thing Gen had, it was the charisma. When he talked, everyone listened, and now they seemed to be hanging onto his every word.
“Despe-deperfi-depre- what?” Suika voiced everyone’s confusion.
“Okay so we can workshop the name. But think about it, we could do a celebration or a festival, and it would be a very personal event to us right? And so, in the future, when we re-establish the entire human civilization, they’re going to learn about how the world turned to stone, and one man leading an entire village managed to save everyone on Earth. They will surely want a day to celebrate it, so why don’t we start now? From then on, no one could ever forget the amazing Ishigami village and its brave members!” It was plain flattery, but it was obvious it was working, the villagers were intrigued, to say the least. “That being said, what better day to make it than the one where our beloved chief freed himself from his stone prison, from where he eventually came here?”
The result was instantaneous, any doubt they had before was quickly replaced with wonder and excitement after Gen’s speech. Murmurs of ‘festival’ and ‘future’ all around showed there was something appealing for everyone, and Senku knew immediately Gen’s idea would stick. It wouldn’t matter what protests he could bring up, Gen would just wave them away by saying Senku was just being ‘too modest’. So, the man in question simply stood there with no idea what to do to stop this.
Too soon, someone suggested they voted on the idea, and unsurprisingly the overwhelming majority was for the creation of this new festival. And just like that, the 1st of the 4th month was marked with a simple sketch of a stone. Thus, stone day festival was born.
Amidst it all, the issue of Gen’s birthday was the last thing on Senku’s mind.
-☆-
Senku wasn’t sure if he’d unwillingly forgotten it, or if his brain had purposefully kept him from thinking about it, but way too soon April 1st was upon the village.
They were on their last-minute stretch with their telephone preparations, and Gen’s team would leave on their reconnaissance mission to bring the phone to Tsukasa’s empire soon.
Senku had been keeping himself pretty occupied these past few days. Be it with managing the construction of the materials or preparing their plans for when the actual attack was to take place. And after Gen had come to him that night in the observatory to present his idea on how to trick the people of the Empire of Might, Senku was left with much more to think about.
So, when some villagers caught him with a moment to spare and brought up the preparations for their stone day festival, it was safe to say Senku had not been ready. Thankfully, assembling the party didn’t fall under his duties and they’d just needed his approval to use some materials they were keeping for winter (mostly the wine). Senku had sent them off claiming they could do whatever they wanted, it wasn’t his problem if they wanted to waste their resources on some made up holiday.
He only brought up the festival again the day before, another late at night in the observatory with only Gen as his company.
“I still don’t understand why you came up with such a stupid idea, mentalist.”
Gen snickered, clearly enjoying Senku’s displeasure. “Don’t be such an arty-pay pooper Senku-chan, it’s a good motive for celebration. Plus, the villagers are all so excited! They don’t have many festivals, but we had so many back in the day, don’t you remember how fun those were~?”
“Never really went to them.” Senku answered simply.
“Eally-ray? Are you telling me my dear Senku-chan wasn’t a fan of something people used to do for…fun? Colour me shocked!”
Senku didn’t dignify Gen’s sarcasm with a response but couldn’t help the way the corners of his mouth lifted up at the other one’s antics.
Sure enough, Gen was right. The villagers didn’t have the habit of festivals or matsuri like it existed back in their modern world, only celebrating random events like the finale of the grand bout, and New Year’s Day. It was natural that everyone was pretty excited, which meant Senku couldn’t stay in a sour mood for long himself.
After all, the reality of the encroaching war was starting to weigh on all the villagers, not just Senku. As the last snows of the year fell and their telephone was completed, they could no longer avoid thinking about what was to come.
The festival got everyone’s spirits back up, even if it were just for one night, as Gen’s team would be headed for enemy territory the next day. But it was important for morale, or whatever psychological terms Gen could use, to have one night where everyone could let go of their worries for a while, and be proud of all they’ve accomplished so far.
If they wanted to use the date that marked Senku’s depetrification to do it, he couldn’t really be that mad about it.
When the evening of the first day of April descended, and the day turned to night, Senku found himself among the villagers as they prepared a bonfire, stringed lights along the houses and made ramen and cotton candy to hand out. They even set their makeshift speaker to play Lillian’s song on repeat, apparently never growing tired of the same song.
It was the only one they’d ever known after all.
Senku was content with just standing off to the side, watching as everyone around him talked, laughed, danced and drank into the night. Honestly, this was much simpler than he’d imagined, and than what they had back in the day, but everyone was still enjoying themselves. If they didn’t involve him anymore, Senku wouldn’t mind bringing more festivals into the village’s tradition.
He walked around aimlessly throughout the night, talking for a bit with everyone. Gen had told him it was important for him to show face as a chief. The villagers needed to see that their leader could have fun with them and cared about them beyond the manual labour they could offer. It was the basics of holding a power position with respect and not fear, he’d said.
Senku had simply retorted that he did not care for his position as chief and was really only in it for the extra pairs of hands to help him. Obviously, Gen had not bought it for a second.
Speaking of the mentalist, Senku found him later into the night, surrounded by a group of kids, performing what seemed to be a small magic show. The children were enraptured, awing and clapping at all the right times, and Gen seemed to glow under the attention.
He could only do small tricks with sleight of hand, using the props he kept on himself, but the children didn’t mind one bit. Still, Senku couldn’t help but think a magician like him was certainly missing a deck of cards. He wondered if Gen ever missed his usual props much.
If he’d told him he needed them, Senku would find a way to get him some.
For his last act, the magician pulled a small flower seemingly from behind one of the little girl’s ears, who was both shocked and delighted as Gen handed it to her. The mentalist bowed to his tiny audience leaving them to enjoy the festival as he approached where Senku had been observing.
“Back to magic tricks? Do you miss the limelight that much already mentalist?” Senku quipped when Gen got within earshot.
Gen’s smile was undeniably fond when he spoke, “I wonder… Kids are always just so fun to perform to, they’ll be amazed at any small trick I do.”
“Of course, their little minds are still expanding. Don’t be too flattered though, they’d do that at any new thing they see.”
Gen hid his smile behind his sleeve “Of ourse-cay not! How could I ever let my ego get too big when you’re always around to humble me Senku-chan!” He reached his hand behind Senku’s head suddenly, and before Senku could even ask what he was doing, Gen pulled out a little stone, like he’d done with the flower. Senku let him deposit it in his hand. “Happy stone day Senku-chan!”
Senku pinned him with an unamused look.
This time Gen didn’t cover his laugh at the sight. It rang like a bell in Senku’s ears. “Did you really think I’d let you forget the true purpose of this festival?” He looked away to watch the people in front of them dancing around the bonfire, his smile turning more wistful. “All of us have very good reasons to be thankful on this day, who knows where any of us would be if you’d never broken out of that stone.”
He didn’t know how to respond to Gen’s sudden serious mood, so he did what he did best and dismissed it. “Well, you’d probably still be with Tsukasa’s army living your dream harem life, right?”
The mentalist accepts the mood shift promptly. “Ha! Exactly why you also have a reason to be thankful! If I hadn’t seen that date engraved on the stone, maybe I’d never have allied with you huh? And what would the poor Kingdom of Science have done without me? Perish in a day, a week at most, for certain!”
“Nah.” Senku smirked, watching from the corner of his eye as Gen faked a deeply offended look at him. “I would’ve found a way to get you on our side anyway.”
Gen let the words hang over them for a bit, before responding. “I don’t doubt that dear Senku, one bottle of cola and I’d be sold all over again~.”
“Oh, speaking of which.” Gen tilted his head at him in confusion when Senku walked toward the Ramen stand not too far from them. He watched as the scientist reached behind it and returned to Gen’s side presenting him with a bottle of cola.
Gen only stared between the drink and Senku’s face, mouth slightly agape. Senku couldn’t even be proud like usual for making the loudmouth mentalist speechless, as he grew uncomfortable with the silence surrounding them.
Senku scratched at his ear nonchalantly. “Last time you said you don’t drink alcohol and that you prefer cola so… Sorry it’s not as fresh as last time, I had to make it in advance. If it’s not up to your high standards, oh Gen-sama, I’ll happily drink it for you.”
Finally reacting to his words Gen took the bottle from his hand in a quick motion, holding it close to his chest as if it were something precious. “No, it’s perfect like this.” He turned to smile at him, and for once Senku knew it was completely genuine, not a hint of his usual charming-but-fake mentalist persona to be seen. “Thank you, Senku-chan.”
It was all Senku could do to turn his head away from the magician’s gaze, a constricting feeling in his chest and a burning in his ears that he hoped was too dark outside to notice. “It was nothing.”
A comforting silence befell them afterwards, neither feeling the need to say anymore. Gen sipped at his drink and they entertained themselves by people watching.
But, observing everyone happy and enjoying themselves, a feeling Senku had been trying so hard not to dwell on these past few months started rising again as he remembered that soon they’d all be dragged to a war they had nothing to do with.
Already, the next day, Gen and his team would be leaving with the telephone heading up to the empire of might. Sure, they had a plan, Homura would be subdued, they were to communicate the entire time, and if nothing else, Senku trusted Gen’s judgement on what to do when it came to it, more than anyone.
But honestly, when had anything gone according to plan with him?
And even if they pulled off the telephone stunt, what about the war that was to follow? A war without bloodshed, was that even possible? Did any of these people deserve to die for them? They were living normal lives before Senku came along, how could he ask them to-
“Senku-chan.” He snapped out of his head when he heard Gen’s voice. The mentalist’s face already coming into his field of vison, his brow furrowed with worry.
Senku suddenly let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, and he felt his shoulders lower from where they’d tensed up. He hoped Gen hadn’t noticed his mood shift.
It really wouldn’t do to let himself get carried away with thoughts like that. He knew they’d do what to be done, nothing more, nothing less.
“Sorry, I got a little distracted.”
Gen settled back into his previous position, probably satisfied that Senku was back to normal. “Tsk tsk, Senku-chan you really think too much. Very ude-ray, especially when you’ve got such interesting company as you do now.”
“Yeah sure, maybe I tuned you out on purpose.” Senku teased, “were you saying something?
Gen hummed but didn’t say anything for a few beats. Senku let him ponder for as long as he needed, slightly curious on what had the mentalist hesitating so much.
“Do you believe in soulmates, Senku-chan?”
That caught the scientist off-guard. Whatever it was he had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t that. He turned to look at the other, trying to gauge something from his expression, but Gen wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Where did that come from?”
“Nowhere particularly, just making small talk, I suppose. Thought it’d be interesting to know the point of view of a scientist such as yourself.”
Senku was still suspicious, but he’d learned that trying to understand the meaning behind every little thing the mentalist did was always a pointless endeavour. He chose to play along, “Well, I think it’s bullshit.”
“Right~”
“I mean, there is no scientific way prove someone is your soulmate. Actually, the definition of soulmates in itself is an unknown variable. First it implies the existence of ‘souls’, which are just not a thing. And what even is it that determines whether two people are ‘mates’ or not? Most instances of claimed soulmates were simply couples finding coincidences in their lives and attributing it to fate or destiny. But it was never more than that, a coincidence. Behind every coincidence there’s always a logical conclusion.”
Gen paused, processing Senku’s speech, before smiling. “I thought you’d say that. There’s no way you’d believe something as irrational as fated love.”
“Right.” Senku still didn’t understand the point of the question. “Why? Do you believe it?”
The mentalist tucked his hands back into sleeves of his robe, looking away from the sea people in front of them, and up at the night sky. “Hmmm, there’s something quite magical about the possibility isn’t there? To think that amongst all the billions of people on the planet, there is one meant for you, meant to love you and complete you in some way.” A beat passed. “Though I can’t deny most cases can’t be explained away as coincidences, and there’s really no concrete proof in them. But as a man in the field of psychology, that doesn’t stop me from speculating. I mean, think of Taiju and Yuzuriha. I spent so little time with them, but I wouldn’t call them something less of soulmates. Can’t you find a ‘coincidence’ between them both that could be mistaken for destiny?”
Senku pondered this, simply to amuse the other. “The two of them once found a petrified bird each, they ran into each other at the vet because of it, even though it was closed. But that’s just a sign of both of them being idiots I suppose… Oh right, they both have a pretty similar birthmark on their backs, Taiju was adamant that that meant something for a while. But of course that’s just another-“
“Coincidence, yes. But who’s to say? Maybe it is, maybe it’s a sign of the universe that they were meant to be together and fall in love and live happily ever after!” Senku must have given him a truly disgusted look at this prospect because when Gen turned to meet him, he immediately barked out a laugh, bringing one sleeve to cover his mouth. “You really are the most pragmatic person I’ve ever met Senku-chan. But I suppose that’s not a bad thing.”
Their conversation ended just as suddenly as it started, and they were back to people watching. After a while, Gen was whisked away by Suika to go dance with her, which the mentalist happily obliged. He’d always had a soft spot for the girl.
This left only Senku to replay their previous conversation in his head by himself.
He still didn’t understand the meaning behind the mentalist’s question, but he figured he’d just have to chalk it up to one of his many eccentricities.
Gen wasn’t an easy person to figure out, he acted like an open book but kept most things close to his chest. He would tease and joke, and suddenly ask an important question, or tell Senku something that showed he was watching closer than anyone else. Senku knew almost nothing of his past life, or anything that would count as personal information.
But still, he felt he was closer to the mentalist than any other person, right now. Which didn’t make much sense given he’s the one person he’d spent the less time with, having joined their side later than anyone else.
And yet, when Senku needed advice, he turned to Gen. When he needed a distraction, the mentalist was there. When he just wanted to spend his night looking at the stars, Gen would keep him silent company, like he knew exactly what the scientist needed.
If he wanted to, Senku could probably find a logical reason to why he leaned on the mentalist so much. Maybe Senku was lonely, as this was the longest period of time he’d spent without his two best friends. Maybe it was the comforting presence of a fellow modern man, someone who actually understood most things Senku was talking about.
But maybe it was neither of them, maybe it was something else Senku couldn’t quite put his finger on yet.
And even if he couldn’t figure out the mentalist, that didn’t damn well mean he wasn’t going to keep trying.
-☆-
As quick as it had come, an entire year had passed.
Their lives were nothing like they’d been on Senku’s last birthday.
After the stone wars, the kingdom of science had assimilated the people of the empire of might without many problems over all- thanks to Gen’s efforts- but their population had basically doubled overnight.
Tsukasa was out of the picture, and they didn’t have the pressure of an impending attack. But their race against time continued, now that they need to find a way to petrify Tsukasa before he died from his injuries.
The decision to build a ship was easy enough, but the project in itself was bringing in its share of problems.
First, they’d needed a captain and so Ryusui entered their lives, with his obnoxious personality and his introduction of capitalism to the stone world. Still, Senku had no regrets in waking the extravagant man from stone. He quickly proved to be a great addition to their roster. Expediting the search for oil, and the addition of agriculture in the village’s life.
And soon enough the construction of their ship was underway.
Even though the actual building of Perseus was a long and tedious endeavour, they weren’t bored for long. When the problem of making bread arose (pun not intended), Ryusui convinced them to revive his butler Francois, who in turn also proved quite efficient in their duty.
Overall, a lot had happened in a year, but it still somehow felt like not much time at all had gone by when the topic of Senku’s birthday came up again. After the new year had passed, Senku’s birthday was the next event on their calendar, though this year the scientist had been prepared for this and had set clear boundaries right away. No surprise gift or party or anything of the sort. They could have a small celebration if they so insisted, but nothing beyond it.
For the most part everyone seemed to respect his wishes, so Senku trusted them and returned his attention to his projects.
The one thing the talk of Senku’s birthday had brought up however, was the communal calendar of the village. With their growing population, it was now severely outdated. Various people still had to add their birthday on it, and since their demographic composition now counted with more modern people besides Senku and Gen, the idea to start celebrating some more holidays from their time was gaining popularity.
So, between the efforts with the ship building, some members had gathered once again back at the calendar. Ruri had been in charge of collecting everyone’s birthdays once more, but there was still the discussion of what holidays to bring back.
They could also now redo it on actual paper, and make more copies of it, so it was as good of an opportunity as any to update it.
“Oh! What about Valentine’s day?” Ryusui suggested, to no one’s surprise. “We’d have to give presents to all the beautiful woman in our kingdom, but it’s an international holiday that’d be fun to get back!”
“I don’t know if a lot of people have the time for romance here. Besides, the villagers don’t exactly have the concept of dating…” Ukyo trailed off, hesitant. He was the one who held their calendar currently in front of him, the rest of them gathered around the table.
Gen chimed in “All the more reason to bring it back, no? We can teach them all the things about crushes and dating, after all! Plus, who says there can’t be any romance? We have a lot of work but life can’t be just that. All work and no play you know~.” He didn’t wait for anyone to counter as he wrote it down in the bullet point list of ideas they’d had so far.
Senku wasn’t exactly participating. There weren’t a lot of holidays back in the day that he cared about particularly, Christmas and New Years were enough festivities to last him for the whole year. But last year he’d seen how a simple festival had been so important for the overall atmosphere of the kingdom, so he didn’t oppose this either. He had promised to show the villagers all the exhilarating things from the modern world, after all.
Yuzuriha piped in after a beat, “Do we want to bring back Easter?”
“The question is, do we want to explain to them the intricacies of Christianity?” Gen countered. Silence fell throughout the room as everyone seemed to realize the weight of Gen’s question.
“By the way Gen, I just noticed this,” Ukyo interjected after going back to look at the calendar, breaking the tense mood, “your birthday is not on the list, is it?”
Senku barely stopped his head from snapping in the man’s direction.
Forget Senku, Ukyo was the real genius. The scientist thought that he’d never been so thankful for the ex-marine—well, except maybe when he’d thrown himself in front of a spear to save Senku’s life but still, details. He turned to look at Gen just in time to see his eyes widen before he schooled his expression back into a quizzical look.
The thing was, Senku had failed at broaching this topic last year, and no matter how much he dwelled on it, he’d never been able to figure out how to bring it up again naturally without the mentalist closing himself up even more.
It seemed impossible but, after an entire year, Senku still had no idea what Gen’s birthday was.
“Is it really not?” Gen wondered as he leaned over pretending to do a once over of the dates on the calendar.
This was the ideal situation Senku could have only hoped for. Someone else had asked him, and it was obvious Ukyo had no second intentions besides genuine curiosity. And under the gaze of all the people here there was surely no way Gen would be able to divert their attention so easily.
“That’s weird.” The mentalist added as he flipped through the months on the pages.
Finally, this had to be it. Gen had nowhere to hide, he had no choice to give up the information he’d kept so close to his chest for the past year. Senku was practically at the edge of his seat the more time passed. Gen kept shuffling the pages, pretending to look for something.
Any second now he’d have to say it. Any second now-
“What does this drawing mean?” Ryusui asked suddenly, pointing to the page Gen had stopped at, more accurately, on the symbol inside the April 1st square.
“Oh my God.” Senku groaned, burying his head in his hands. This couldn’t be real.
“Glad you asked Ryusui-chan!” Gen, opposite to Senku, was delighted that someone had brought up the topic, and probably even more delighted he’d efficiently diverted the attention from himself. “That marks an issued Ishigami Village official festival actually! It’s called stone day, the anniversary celebration of when Senku first woke up from the petrification! Isn’t that wonderful~?” He preened.
Unaware of Senku’s boiling frustration, the conversation around him easily shifted topics. He couldn’t believe Gen had gotten away with it. Again.
Of course, Senku couldn’t blame Ryusui. The man had no idea the importance of the opportunity he’d just blown. Honestly, Senku wasn’t entirely convinced Gen hadn’t set the captain up by discreetly showing him that date on the calendar, hoping he would ask about it.
At least, if anything, this had brought up a certainty with it. If Senku really wanted to get to the bottom of this, he’d have to go about it another way. A direct approach would be more suited. Even after all this time, Senku could never hope to beat the mentalist with mind games.
Something in the back of his head wondered if he was maybe blowing this all out of proportion. Why was he so adamant in finding out something as trivial as Gen’s birthday? If he wanted to hide it, shouldn’t Senku respect that?
‘Well, he figured out my birthday and got me a huge gift, isn’t it only fair I at least know his?’ he rationalized.
But would he be this invested if it was anyone else?
The mentalist was just such a challenge, Senku couldn’t get enough.
“Oh, now that you mention it, that is the date that was carved on the stone by the miracle cave. The first of April of 5738.” Ukyo voiced, snapping him out of his head.
“Wow! So you get a whole festival for yourself Senku? How cool!” Taiju added in earnest excitement. “How did the villagers even know what day you woke up?”
Senku rubbed at his temples, trying to forget his previous predicament. “Obviously they didn’t know you big oaf, I wasn’t for a single millimetre involved in the creation of this holiday. But someone,” He threw a pointed glare at Gen who in turn gave him his most innocent look, “had to go and make a big deal about it.”
Ukyo interjected placatingly, knowing there could be no end to Senku and Gen’s banter if they started. “Haha, that does sound like a Gen idea.”
“Well, I still stand by it, it’s a great cause for celebration, wouldn’t you agree?”
Senku chose not to comment.
-☆-
Everyone had respected his wishes this year, and Senku’s birthday went by more quietly. They’d let off everyone working at the Perseus earlier so they could all eat together a meal put together through Francois’ efforts.
It was more food than usual, and the quality was also impressive, but besides that, nothing big or extravagant happened, just as Senku had asked for.
Honestly, he was happy simply by the fact that not only he could celebrate another year with the villagers and Gen that started this tradition but also the new members of the kingdom of science he’d grown so close to, and his two best friends with whom he’d always spent his birthdays with. That was enough for him.
Not that he’d ever say anything as sappy as that out loud of course.
After dinner was over, Gen had approached him, claiming to have a gift for him. Seeing Senku eye him suspiciously, the mentalist snickered and assured him it was nothing as amazing as last year, before he seemingly produced a small object from his sleeves.
Senku stared at it, but even in the dark it didn’t take too long for him to figure out what it was Gen was holding. He accepted it quietly when it was handed to him.
It was a small thing. Something completely ordinary in their time. But here, in the middle of the stone world, the contraption stood out like a sore thumb.
A Rubik’s cube
“How did you make this?” He wondered after a few moments in silence just staring at it. His voice came out with more awe than he’d intended it to.
“Ahh, I didn’t really make it, I simply came up with the idea for it. Kaseki and Chrome worked on the construction after me and some other modern people described to them how it worked to the best of our abilities. Then it was Yuzuriha-chan who painted it, that’s why the job was is so well done.” If the scientist didn’t know better, he’d think Gen sounded nervous when he answered. “I was of the opinion that any of them were better suited to present you with the gift, but they all insisted it’d been my idea. Although I could never take any of the credits for myself.”
Senku nodded but didn’t answer right away, trying out the puzzle in his hands. Every side seemed to twist without any trouble, better than most cheap plastic ones of their time. No surprise, a job well done by the engineering team. The colours weren’t the standard Rubik cube’s ones either, in the weak light Senku could see Yuzuriha had taken some liberties with them. It made it special, he thought, before chiding himself for thinking something so cheesy.
“A children’s toy.” Senku said, finally throwing Gen a grin.
The mentalist wasn’t offended by Senku’s answer. Senku knew he wouldn’t be. Gen simply smiled back. “I suppose it would be child’s play for you, wouldn’t it Senku-chan? Though I must admit, this might have been more of a gift for myself than for you really. I was always fascinated with those people who could solve it in like 5 seconds, and I just couldn’t wait to test it on you~.”
“So I’m nothing more than a lab rat solving a puzzle for your experiment?”
“Exactly! I’m glad you get it.”
Their conversation was easy, smiling at each other one last time, before reconvening back with everyone else. Senku knew he didn’t have to say anything more, Gen was their mentalist for a reason, he was sure he could see the gratitude in the scientist’s eyes.
Later at night, in their cottage, Senku stewed in his thoughts once more.
Another year where Gen had gone through the effort of making something for him. And another year he was no step closer to knowing his birthday so he could retribute the kindness.
Betraying Tsukasa, defeating Hyoga, the telescope, the company, the willing ear whenever Senku needed, the Rubik’s cube now… the list of everything Gen had given him in the short time they’d known each other was overwhelming. And Senku had no idea of how he could ever pay him back.
“Senku-chan, I still haven’t seen you do the cube! I’m going to start believing you don’t really know how to solve it.”
“Yeah, yeah, just watch closely mentalist. Maybe then I can teach you one way to do it too.”
But here, sitting side by side on the floor of their hut, knowing it was way past the time they should reasonably had gone to sleep if they wanted to be coherent enough in the morning, revelling in something as easy as how to solve a Rubik’s cube while Gen watched intently, Senku was able to forget about debts and presents. This was enough.
-☆-
The arrival of the next April 1st was significantly less stressful for Senku than the year before.
The kingdom of science has been pretty busy with their ship, but that didn’t stop the village from getting excited about it, and when the modern people caught wind that a festival would be involved, they were quick to join in on the anticipation.
Taiju and Yuzuriha’s birthdays that happened a day before and after the festival, respectively, were probably a small deterrent to any extravagancies they could plan. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t bigger than a simple birthday celebration, which both Taiju and Yuzuriha were very supportive of.
That night saw the return of the bonfire, lights, cotton candy and ramen stand from last year. Lilian’s music was still played, but this time a makeshift stage, made of a simple wooden pallet, was set up for those with the better singing voices (or worse, as the night progressed, and the wine flowed more freely) to go up and share any song they remembered from their time.
The biggest difference, of course, was that it was significantly more animated, as they had almost double the people. The voices and laughter rang much louder, and this time when Senku had tried to escape to a corner to watch everything from afar, it didn’t go unnoticed. Soon he was dragged from place to place, speaking with everyone, trying some food, and at a point even dancing with the kids when he couldn’t take their pleading anymore.
But still, when he managed to get away from the overbearing excitement of the villagers, he once again went to look for Gen. This year Gen had been able to put on more of magic show than the one last year for the kids. The significant change in his act no doubt being the deck of cards in his hand.
After acquiring paper Senku had quickly collaborated with Namari to make Gen his costume playing cards he used right now, and it was obvious how the mentalist thrived with them now, shuffling them from hand to hand with ease. Senku sort of recognizes the shuffle he is doing right now, he thinks Gen had told him it was something like the Faro shuffle? He’s not sure, he mostly remembers Gen’s small grin when explaining it to him, proudly stating that it involved some math- Senku held back on telling him it was basic math at most, but still.
The cards flowed freely in his grip, no untrained eye would catch the slight sleight of hand technics he used, he was undoubtedly a professional. Senku managed to catch most of them, and even though some might say that ruins the magic of it, he couldn’t care less, he liked that he was able to see something in the mentalist no one else could. Besides, he wasn’t the least interested in the magic part, it was much more admirable to him seeing the underhand tactics Gen used without anyone noticing.
That was the mentalist of the Kingdom of Science, after all. Not just a fraud magician like he’d once thought.
Both villagers and modern people gathered around the performer and watched entranced as he did his tricks. Watching him, Senku really understood why he’d gone into the entertainment industry, there was no other way about it, Gen was captivating, completely in his element.
Even if you approached him with no intention of taking his show seriously, he’d immediately trap you in his web of charisma and showbiz, and you’d be left with no choice than to watch attentively and marvel when he did, in fact, pull out your card.
The rest of the night went by quickly, with no one seeming to pay any mind to the original reason the festival had been created in the first place. Senku thanked the nothing that was up there for that.
The number of people started trickling down as the night progressed, undoubtedly headed to bed after an exhausting day. At some point, only a small group of Senku’s friends remained, a silent agreement between them to stay and enjoy more of each other’s company in a quieter environment.
They gathered around a smaller campfire, settling on the ground or in some make-shift wooden seats, the sight very familiar to a stereotypical camping trip. In total they were the last 9 still standing, Kohaku and Chrome on one of Senku’s sides, Ryusui and Francois to their left; Taiju and Yuzuriha were on Senku’s other side, and lastly Ukyo was in front of him with Gen happily sipping his cola next to him.
They talked for a while about nothing in particular, content with just enjoying the time to unwind. When the conversation also trickled down, and the question of what to do next came up, Ryusui was the first one to throw in his two cents.
“We should play some old party games! I haven’t been to a party with some friends in so long, 3000 years in fact, but we’ve got everything we need right here!”
They all looked between one another, considering this. No one seemed to dislike the idea, but Ukyo was the one who agreed first. “Sure, I don’t think I’ve done anything like that since before I joined the marines. It should be fun.”
Yuzuriha clapped her hands, clearly excited. “What should we play then?”
Senku, her, and Taiju had just barely been teenagers when the petrification happened, and he couldn’t speak for sure for the other two but given Senku’s usual hobbies, he wasn’t one to get invited out to parties often. He was sure this would be the first time they’d get to live the typical teen experience.
At Yuzuriha’s question, the suggestions started.
“Hmmm… never have I ever?”
“That wouldn’t work, we don’t really have shots and most of us don’t drink.”
“So, drinking games are a no-go huh? Maybe, would you rather?”
“How about spin the bottle?”
“Absolutely not.”
“You’re no un-fay Senku-chan~.”
“Kiss, marry, kill?”
They paused, considering their options. Senku hadn’t had much experience with any of the games, even if he knew the basics of most of them, so he’d let the others do as they please. They were only interrupted by Taiju, who suddenly shouted “Oh I know! Truth or dare!”.
“Taiju-kun, not so loud, everyone is asleep.”
“Oops sorry, aha.”
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea, truth or dare is a classic after all~”
Everyone seemed to finally agree on something, looking at each other for approval. That was when they finally noticed the twin looks of confusion coming from Kohaku and Chrome, who had been completely silent their entire exchange.
“Yeah, we didn’t get any of that.”
“Honestly, you guys are just saying words.” The blond girl deadpanned.
Ryusui gave her one of his boisterous laughs. “Right, I suppose they’d have no way to know what party games are, but this is as good as time as any to learn! Listen up, this is highly important knowledge we’re about to impart to you!”
Senku rolled his eyes at that, but despite Ryusui’s dramatization, it wasn’t too difficult for the two villagers to grasp the concept of truth or dare- the rules of the game were basically in its name, after all.
“So, I could get you to do or say anything I wanted to?” Kohaku asked when they finished the simple explanation.
Ukyo laughed nervously, scratching at his cheek. “Well, within reasonable limits yes, I suppose.”
“Eriously-say Kohaku-chan, what are you planning to do.”
She didn’t answer the mentalist’s question, simply shrugging.
As they settled that, and on such an ominous note, they got ready to play. Francois stated that they would be sitting the game out but would observe and be at the ready in case their master needed any assistance. Senku had tried to follow suit when he saw that opting out was an option, but was quickly shot down by everyone, and forced to participate.
Well, that hardly seems fair.
The circle started with Chrome and moved in a clockwise motion around the group. As expected for his first time, Chrome went with the seemingly safer route of truth. Kohaku, however, showed no hesitation as she immediately pounced on the opportunity, as if she’d been prepared for this long before.
“Are you still in love with my sister?”
Some of them gaped at the opening question, others, like Senku, cackled at it. Go big or go home, as they say.
Chrome, the poor boy, at first could only splutter at the bluntness of his friend, but eventually managed to nod, while never looking directly into Kohaku’s eyes. The girl simply nodded, ignoring the embarrassment of her friend next to her as she picked dare for her turn.
And just like that, it got the ball running for the game.
They played a couple of rounds, and it definitely felt like a normal party game of their times. Ryusui had been dared to go skinny dipping, with Francois having blankets and a change of clothes at the ready for when he got back. Ukyo had given a full body shiver when asked what the most traumatizing thing he’d ever heard with his super hearing, claiming they ‘didn’t want to know the sort of things that happen when a bunch of men are trapped on a submarine with nowhere to go for indeterminate periods of time’. After that, they agreed.
In true party game fashion, most people had been asked about their sexuality at some point. It started with Gen who admitted he was gay, promptly followed by Ryusui saying “Yeah and water is wet. You seriously wasted your question with that? Look at him, that’s the biggest twink I’ve ever seen!”
“Rude Ryusui-chan!” Gen had thrown his empty cola bottle at the blonde’s head while the others laughed at the interaction. When the same question was directed at Senku he simply shrugged and admitted that everyone was attractive in its own way. This time Ryusui had simply chimed in with “Preach!”
Besides that, Taiju had also picked dare to which Senku had just nonchalantly proposed “I dare you to confess to the person you like until next week” while picking at his ear.
“SENKUUU!”
“Hey, a dare’s a dare.”
Yuzuriha by Taiju’s side simply flushed, and probably scared by the possibility that Senku would direct the same challenge to her, picked truth for every round after that.
As they went maybe more 2 or 3 times around the circle, the adrenaline of the first rounds was wearing out, and they became quieter as time went on. Sleep seemed to be finally settling in all around, but they were happy to push through for some turns more, enjoying the company and comfort.
What they all probably saw as some quality relaxing time however, Senku began to see as an opportunity. So, when Gen’s turn came again, and he answered with truth, Senku spoke first, not giving anyone else the time to think.
“When’s your birthday?”
Gen’s carefree expression blanched. It might have just been in Senku’s mind, but time seemed to freeze for the seconds where Gen stared at him, shoulders dropping, and eyes slightly widened.
“Well, Senku-chan, never thought that this is how you’d go about it.”
“Subtlety was never my forte.” He smiled at the mentalist, who’s mouth simply settled into a thin line.
Choosing silence huh? Whatever, that wasn’t going to work, not this time.
Everyone around them took some time to process the question and interaction, but eventually threw him matching looks of confusion.
“You’re going to waste his turn with that?” Kohaku was the one to voice all their thoughts.
Chrome added. “Yeah man, that’s why we have the calendar!”
They all seemed to share the same opinion, Senku scoffed, smirking. Gen kept quiet through it all.
“It is, isn’t it? So, here’s a question for 10 billion points to anyone who can answer correctly: When is the mentalist’s birthday?”
He saw the moment they paused, probably trying to rack up their brain for the memory of where Gen’s face was marked in their calendar. And he slowly saw the moment each of them silently realized they couldn’t conjure it up. Of course not, how could they remember something that doesn’t exist.
“I might be able to help. Master Gen’s birthday is not on the shared calendar, and I believe none of us knows when it is.” Francois piped in.
“Correct, 10 billion points to you!”
“Thank you, Francois-chan.”
“That time, back when we were updating the calendar, I asked you about it.” Ukyo directed his comment at Gen who, for one, seemed to be trying to shrink onto himself, burrowing farther into his winter robe. “But then we changed topic and never got back to it.”
Kohaku added. “More than a year has passed since we started the birthdays thing, and we never celebrated yours.”
Everyone was finally realizing the same thing that had been tormenting him for more than a year. Senku revelled in the feeling. He had the mentalist cornered, there really was no better way than a direct approach after all, no beating around the bush.
“I’ve tried asking him as well, but he never gave in.” Senku added fuel to the fire, picking at his ear all the same.
Gen, however, seemed to finally try and gain his composure back, plastering on his practiced smile, and dismissing them all with ease. “Haha, it must have slipped my mind after all! We’ve always been so busy, I must have forgotten to add it in. I shall do it first thing tomorrow!” As if Senku would fall for that again.
“That’s great and all, but it doesn’t answer my question. When’s your birthday mentalist?” He insisted.
Gen shrunk again, face contorting into displeasure slightly. He tried subtlety looking around as if asking for help, but all he was met with was the now curiosity-filled eyes of his friends. Senku had gotten them all on his side, even if it didn’t seem like anything of much importance, it was clearly something the mentalist wasn’t so excited about sharing, and that certainly piqued their interest.
“Tell us Gen!”
“Come on, what can you be hiding about your birthday?”
“When is it, man?”
Finally, Gen gave in to the pressure, raising his head to silence the voices around him. “Fine, fine! If you’re all really that impatient to know, who am I to keep my audience waiting? Although I don’t see what could be so interesting about it.” He sighed, squirming slightly. “If you must know, my birthday is actually quite ironic. I am the resident liar after all, it’s only fitting that I was born on April fool’s day.”
Now, Senku also paused with everyone while processing the information. It only took a couple of seconds until it seemed like almost all of them had come to the same conclusion at the same time, as a chorus of exclamations sounded from them.
“Your birthday is today, Gen-san?”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Really, on April fools?”
“You’re not lying are you? This would be so not funny.”
They all crowded around Gen, the discovery much more dramatic than they’d all expected it. Everyone pestered the mentalist, except Senku who was having a harder time accepting the information.
Gen was trying to calm everyone’s outbursts with no success. It was only when Senku abruptly stood up from where he sat on the ground that everyone silenced. Gen nervously turned his head from the group surrounding him to meet the scientist’s eyes, squirming under the slightly furious look Senku was sure to be sporting.
“S-senku-chan?”
“Let me get this straight, your birthday was today, and instead of telling us, you created a stupid made up holiday, and didn’t say anything as we celebrated this bullshit instead?”
At Senku’s words, all hints of cowardice vanished from Gen’s face as his tone turned cold and determined “It’s not bullshit. I was thinking of the future when I created this holiday. It’s about the legacy.”
“Oh my god Gen, who cares about some stupid legacy?”
Gen suddenly stood up in response to Senku, meeting him eye-to-eye. “I do! I care about your stupid legacy! But when we’re gone, who’s going to care about my stupid birthday?” He took a deep breath, calming himself before continuing. “After we restore the human civilization, you’re going to be famous, Senku, whether you care about it or not. I do. And I wanted to help with that, create something that’s going to last, to make sure no one forgets what you’ve—what we’ve done here. And if that meant giving up my birthday for it, I couldn’t care less.”
“You are such an idiot!” Senku exploded, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This is the person who’d once called himself the shallowest man on Earth? This was the most selfless and idiotic thing he’s ever heard.
“You’re right, I don’t care about it, Gen. I couldn’t care less about what anyone does after we’re gone, because I won’t be here. But you are here mentalist. You’re here right now, and I—We care about you, so we want to celebrate your ‘stupid’ birthday with you. The future and our legacy be damned, that doesn’t matter one millimetre right now. Do you really think I’d care more about stupid things like that, than you?”
“I—” It seemed like Gen was out of retorts, choosing instead to hide his flushed face back into his coat’s neckline and advert his gaze.
Through it all, no one commented from the ground. The group simply watching between them like an intense tennis match. Even if they wanted to interject, they weren’t really sure how, so they all fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence.
But Senku wasn’t even aware of it. In the quiet, he could finally think for a second. Ever since Gen’s revelation, something had been prickling at the back of his mind, trying to get his attention. It was the same feeling as being on the brink of finding the missing piece in his experiments. He held all the puzzle pieces, he just needed to see the bigger picture.
When he got it, it felt like a lightbulb going off inside his head.
This time when Senku spoke, his voice was much quieter than the borderline screaming match they’d just had.
“’Do you believe in soulmates’” It was clearly still loud enough for Gen to hear him, as he snapped his head immediately in Senku’s direction with a squeak. The scientist met his gaze, the mentalist seemed to be somewhere between shocked, confused, and scared. Senku took a small step forward, Gen stepped back in turn. “You asked me that a year ago today. If I believed in soulmates.”
“Damn genius and his perfect memory” Gen grumbled.
“You were talking about our birthdays, weren’t you?” Senku continued. Gen didn’t answer his question, simply keeping their distance whenever the scientist tried to close it, but Senku wasn’t expecting a response anyway. “I’m 4/1, you’re 1/4. You saw that as a sign.”
“Don’t mock me!”
“And I revived on your birthday. I wrote it down. You saw it when you woke up, too. That’s why you said that maybe if you’d never seen it you wouldn’t have switched sides so easily.”
Silently, the people around them started shifting out of their seats, urged by Ukyo and Francois, to give the two their privacy. Senku and Gen were too caught up in their tense moment to notice. (Of course, their friends still hid behind the nearest hut and listened in, but that was the least of the two currently facing in a stare-off’s worries.)
By this point, Gen had backed himself into a corner, both metaphorically and literally. He had nowhere else to backtrack to, stuck between a wall and Senku who finally stopped his encroaching steps, keeping enough distance between the two. If Gen wanted to walk away he could, but he stayed. Even if he couldn’t look Senku in the eyes.
“You really are an idiot.” Senku’s, otherwise mean words this time were said in a tone that could only be described as soft, his lips tugging upwards as he gazed down at the mentalist.
Gen pouted slightly in response, fiddling with the oversized sleeves of his robe. “And you’re a meanie.”
Senku smiled wider, “I don’t believe in soulmates, and this just proves it really is all bullshit.” Gen visibly deflated at hearing his words, biting at his lip to stop it from quivering. “Because I’m 10 billion percent sure I would have fallen in love with you even if you were born on any other day of the year.” Once again Gen snapped his head up and was met with Senku’s confident grin and bright glint in his eyes. “The fact that we’re soulmates or not doesn’t change my feelings for one millimetre, so what does it matter if I believe in it or not?”
“I—I—” Gen spluttered, shock clear across his face.
Senku had to admit, the sight was amusing, but still, “You know, I usually take pride when I manage to make you shut up, but this time I’d really prefer it if you said something.”
“You asshole!” He now noticed how Gen’s eyes shined with unshed tears, a flush high on his face as he yelled at Senku. “Eriously-say, you can’t even be nice to me when you’re confessing? I’m coming to terms with the fact that the person I’ve been in love with for over a year, who I thought I had no chances with, actually likes me back, here! Can’t you be a little bit more considerate?”
Apparently not, as Senku started laughing immediately after Gen was done. The mentalist punched him repeatedly on his shoulder in response. Senku only laughed harder
“It’s not my fault you’re terrible at your job as a mentalist and couldn’t pick up on the 10 billion percent obvious fact that I’ve been completely infatuated with you for just as long.”
Gen crossed his arms, his blush darkening, if that was even possible. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t, you think we’re soulmates.”
“I’ll--”
Gens threats were cut short by Senku suddenly closing the gap between them and crashing his lips into his, catching the mentalist by surprise. The scientist raised one of his hands to cup Gens face, while the other settled at his waist, pulling the stunned man closer.
For a couple of beats, Senku wondered if he’d done the right thing. He’d never kissed someone before, but he thought understood enough of it to know that the other person was supposed to at least respond in some way. Gen was standing stock-still frozen, arms dangling at his sides, eyes widened.
It took a couple of seconds more before it seemed that his brain finally caught up to his body and he immediately pressed back into the kiss, returning it with just as much fervour, his arms coming up to wrap around Senku’s neck.
Senku hummed against his lips. Even though he had no past experiences to compare this too, after kissing Gen, he was certain nothing was ever going to come close. He even found himself reluctant in pulling a way, keeping them at breath’s width distance after breaking the kiss for air.
Senku had never even thought he was capable of falling in love before meeting Gen. It had had to be him, a fraud magician nonetheless, to introduce the feeling to the scientist, and making him never want anything less for the rest of his life. It was ridiculous, completely against every rational, logical bone in Senku’s body. But then again, so was Gen. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I still hate you.” Gen muttered, their faces so close their lips almost brushed with his every word.
“And you’re still an idiot.”
-☆-
Senku woke up overly warm.
Damn, he knew spring had barely just started, but this was too much. Blindly shifting in bed, he tried to shove off the blankets on top of him, belatedly realizing there was no way simple blankets could have so much weight.
The sleeping figure currently using his chest as a pillow stirred.
“Ugh, stop moving Senku-chan, it’s still way too early to wake up.” Gen wined and pulled the blankets Senku had managed to shove off back over his head to shield his eyes from the morning light.
Right, Gen.
In his sleeping haze he’d forgotten they’d slept in the same bed yesterday, after their… emotional confrontation, one might call it, yesterday
“It’s approximately 8 a.m, mentalist. This is when I usually get up.”
From under the covers, Senku was met with Gen’s annoyed gaze, eyes still slightly fogged by sleep. “Too. Early.” But he still threw the blanket back down, so that his head was visible, while he stretched out his whole body in a yawn. Senku could only look at him fondly. “I can’t believe I’m dating an orning-may person. But nobody’s perfect, I guess.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Senku replied, pretending his chest didn’t contract at the mention of them dating.
Even though they were both awake by now, neither felt the need to get up right away. For the first time in forever, Senku allowed himself a lazy morning in bed.
Gen hummed contently and wrapped himself back around Senku’s body, so even if the scientist wanted to get up, he had no doubt Gen would put up a fight. He didn’t mind it though, he knew that despite the change in their relationship status, Gen would never be one to demand Senku’s attention like this often. Be it whether because his pride wouldn’t allow him, or because he understood the importance of Senku’s duties.
His certainty about this was what had allowed him to let himself fall in love with the man. And one of the reasons why he knew it could never be anyone but him.
But still, there wouldn’t be any harm in letting themselves indulge in times like this. Their whole kingdom wasn’t going to fall apart by him spending a couple more minutes in bed.
So, he brought one of his arms up to pet at Gen’s hair, while he interlaced the fingers of his other with Gen’s hand that lay across his chest. He managed to catch Gen’s small smile at the gesture.
He wasn’t sure how long it was until they spoke again, but it was Senku the one who broke the silence.
“Hey, uhm…” Gen shifted his head upwards so he could meet Senku’s eyes, his eyebrows raising in a quizzical motion. Senku however, adverted his gaze away. “Even though it was technically your fault, I’m still sorry I never got you anything for your birthday these last couple of years.”
Gen didn’t respond right away, struggling for a bit as he detangled himself from Senku and sat up straight in bed so he could face the scientist. Senku followed suit, but still didn’t meet his eyes.
“What the hell are you talking about?” The confusion was clear in the mentalist’s voice.
“Well, it’s just always bothered me. You figured out my birthday and gave me a whole fucking observatory, and then the Rubik’s cube last year, and I was never able to… return the favour I suppose.”
When he wasn’t met with a response, Senku chanced to look up to see Gen’s reaction. What he saw was the mentalist covering his mouth with his hand, very clearly trying not to laugh. Senku’s face dropped from nervousness to an annoyed look, his ears burning.
“I’m leaving.” He deadpanned as he motioned to get out of the bed.
“No, I’m sorry, wait!” Gen practically threw himself into Senku’s lower body to stop him from moving, but his voice was still coated with clear amusement. Senku settled back down, but crossed his arms over his chest, looking away petulantly. He was also definitely not pouting.
Gen straightened up in his seat as well as he calmed down from the laughter. When he was recomposed enough, his tone became much gentler as he rested one of his hands in Senku’s legs. “Senku-chan, do you honestly not know how much you’ve given me all this time we’ve known each other?” It was clear Senku wasn’t going to respond, so Gen carried on by himself. “I mean, the cola last year, and this one as well, even if you didn’t know it was my birthday. The deck of personalized cards you had made for me. Giving me this hut to live with you, a home. Not to mention all I got to experience in this kingdom, all you’ve taught me.”
Senku allowed himself to look at Gen, even if he didn’t know how to respond to his words. He really had been gifting the mentalist without realizing, without even a special occasion. He couldn’t believe he’d been so worried about this, when here Gen was, sounding so thankful for such small things.
Senku knew he’d continue to do anything in his power to keep Gen as happy as he sounded now.
“Besides…” Gen’s voice startled Senku out of his musings. “One could say you’ve already given me the biggest gift of all. Hope. I meant what I said on that observatory after all, I fell for you way before having first met you. When I saw that date written on the stone, the day you woke up, my birthday, I already knew who I belonged with. Even if you may call it a coincidence, it was a coincidence that saved me, after waking up 3700 years in the future with no purpose besides survival. You gave me hope, brought me to your side along with it, and gave my life a new meaning.” His voice had become wistful, staring into the distance, before looking back at Senku with a smile back on his lips. “Though I guess this is even more cringy, huh?”
Senku, who’d had no choice but staring dumbfoundedly at Gen’s face throughout his speech, was forced to snap himself back into reality. The familiarity of the situation made him smile in return, as he slowly leaned forward until their faces were mere inches apart, cupping Gen’s jaw with his hand.
“Yeah, gross dude.”
“Right~?”
Gen laughed as he was the one to close the gap between them this time.