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Taiju is planning on killing him. Now, you may be wondering how he got to this conclusion. It’s simple really–Taiju won’t stop staring at him. Now, Gen being the ex-celebrity that he is, is used to the stares of admiring fans and skeptics alike. But this? This staring is different. It burns holes into his back. Thus, Gen has come to the conclusion that Taiju has some grudge against him and is plotting his demise. Perhaps he got too close to Yuzuhira, those two have always been close, or perhaps Taiju simply didn’t trust him, even after the war. Of course, the idea of Taiju or all people, known as pacifist and simpleton, planning his murder is silly at best. I mean, how could someone like him even consider murder. But Gen can feel it. The glare aimed at him at every waking second.
Let it be known that Asagiri Gen does not think of himself as brave. He has always been a proud coward, running away when he can, and if he can’t, then he uses his sharp tongue to slip out of less than ideal situations. So, like the true coward he is, Gen decides that rather than confronting Taiju, he’ll avoid him instead. Breakfast? He’ll eat in the lab rather than with everybody else. Work? He’ll stick with Senku and put up with manual labor. Dinner? He sits in the farthest corner possible. Even with all his efforts though, he still runs into Taiju. Even stranger, Yuzuhira has started staring at him as well. Great. Two people, Senku’s most trusted friends at that, want him dead. Fantastic.
That night, after a tense dinner filled with intense stares courtesy of Taiju and Yuzuhira, Gen decides that it would be best to take a walk. Get away from the people who may or may not want to kill him. Of course, in hindsight maybe it’s not the best idea to go off on your own when there’s people wanting to kill you, but Gen never thought they’d actually follow him! His walk starts fairly normal, he takes the same path he’s been taking since he woke up in this new world, the ground starting to wear into a trail from how many times he’s walked it now. It’s peaceful. Almost. There’s a crunch behind him, and then a soft voice whispering something he can’t make out. So, in true coward fashion, Gen runs.
Running, it turns out, is not Gen’s strong suit. Gen runs as far as he can, until the figures behind him disappear, and then he ducks behind a tree. He’s out of breath, panting and sweating like a pig. He really hopes they murder him now, he feels pathetic.
“...Gen?” A soft voice tentatively calls out, “Why’d you run from us?”
As embarrassing as it is to admit, Gen lets out a squeal. A manly one!
“Haha! Dear Yuzuhira! Taiju! What are you doing…following me… to a secluded area…” he says nervously.
“Gen.” Taiju says seriously. More seriously than Gen thinks he’s ever heard him, “We wanted to talk to you.”
Yuzuriha must sense his nervousness, because she grabs his hands and says softly, “It’s nothing bad, we swear. We just… wanted to talk.”
He pauses, glances between the two, Yuzuriha looks at him with a kind smile, but Taiju, Taiju is still looking with that impossibly blank stare.
“Uh-huh yep sure why not!!” He says, a bit hysterical.
Yuzuriha and Taiju look to each other, before Taiju blurts out,
“You like Senku right?”
That… isn’t what he was expecting. He was expecting maybe a sword to be held to his neck while they threatened him, maybe even a rope to tie him up. He certainly wasn’t expecting this.
“Well, I would sure hope so, considering we’re dating.” He says with an easy grin. Inside he’s sweating buckets and mentally writing his will. He’s leaving everything to Suika.
“I think what Taiju means is, you care for him, right? You want him to be happy and safe, yeah?” She says softly, with an odd look in her eyes, “I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I've noticed the way you and Senku interact.”
“Yeah! He’s so close with you! He won’t even let me hug him, and we’ve known each other since we were kids! But with you, he’s all touhy-feely.” Taiju agrees.
“I… suppose yes. I don’t really understand what this has to do with anything.” Gen admits, his eyebrows drawn together.
“We just want to make sure you’re treating him well.” Yuzurhia states.
“Yeah! Senku is our pal and we wanna make sure you aren’t using him!”
Oh. Oh this is a shovel talk. This is a horrible, uncomfortable, shovel talk. Given to him by Senkus' most beloved friends.
Gen smiles, a real one, and says softly, “I love Senku, truly. You two have nothing to worry about, I swear on my own life.”
The two look at ease at his words, glancing at each other in a wordless conversation, before finally nodding at him. They each throw him a thumbs up before walking away.
All Gen can do once their figures disappear is laugh. Laugh at the absurdity, at the fear he’d been feeling for weeks, fearing that the kindest people were going to kill him, all for it to be this. He laughs until his sides hurt. After nearly an hour, Gen decides it’s finally time to head back.
The observatory light is still on. That’s the first thing he notices when he reaches the village. Senku must be working late again. Swiftly, he climbs the ladder and pushes the door open. There, Senku sits on the floor, chewing up charcoal between his teeth and schematics thrown about. Gen creeps forward, bringing one hand to Senkus cheek while the other gently dislodging the poor charcoal from his mouth.
“Senku dear,” he calls softly, “Shouldn’t you have been asleep hours ago?”
“Couldn’t. I have to finish this before tomorrow,” and then, almost as an afterthought, he says, “‘Sides, you weren’t here. I wanted to wait for you.”
Gen grins at that, “Well, you wouldn’t guess where I was.”
“On another one of your night time walks?” He guesses.
“Hmm, yes. But, I wasn’t alone.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, it seems your friends wanted to tag along. Followed me all the way out there and everything.”
Senku groans, but before he can say anything, Gen continues, “They wanted to chat. About why they’ve been staring holes into be for the past few weeks,” He pauses for dramatic effect, and then, “They gave me the shovel talk.” His face splits into a shit-eating grin.
Senku shoots up at that, ears rapidly turning red, “They what?!”
“Oh yes, it was quite the talk. Although, it didn’t really live up to the glares I’d been getting. Quite tame in comparison.”
At this point, Senku is more red than a tomato. With a drawn out groan, he flops onto Gen's shoulder.
“Did they really do that?” He asks, even if he already knows the answer.
“You’ve got a good family there, dear. I’m glad that you have them. And I’m glad we talked.” He ends his sentence with a disgusting wet kiss to Senku's cheek, slobbering all over him. Senku weakly swats at him.
“Now, I do believe it’s time for bed. Shall we, dear?” He extends a hand to Senku.
“Yeah.”