Chapter Text
The mentalist had settled into the village surprisingly well, though maybe it shouldn’t have been, since it was the job of the mentalist to get along well with people. It was just all the talking that Gen had done to claim to be the shallowest man on earth that had made Senku think they weren’t really a people’s person, but looking at him now it was clear they were enjoying the company of the Kingdom of Science. Even kids seemed to like him, which Senku knew was usually a sign of a good natured person. Of course, the mentalist was still a little bit of a mystery to Senku, as he always seemed to be wearing a mask of some sort and hiding his true emotions underneath. He wasn’t afraid of Gen betraying them though, he had done more than enough to prove whose side he really was on.
In the past days, they had finally mastered making the gold wires in the cotton candy machine and were finally able to start working towards their cellphones. The cogwheels that they used had made Chrome and Kaseki sprint off to do some secret project, and Senku would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit he was atleast a little bit excited to see what they had been up to these past two days. Though since those two were off and the rest of the village busy with other tasks, Senku had found himself spending most of the time with the mentalist. At first Senku was confused why Gen had been sticking around him most of the time, but hadn’t found himself minding it, reasoning it as he was the only other modern man there. Even if Gen wasn’t too much help with the science itself, he was a good listener and Senku noticed explaining things to him (even if he didn’t understand) made spotting mistakes easier. It was surprising how easily he had started feeling comfortable around the self-proclaimed “shallow man”.
They both had managed to fall asleep in Chrome’s hut while working (well, it was really only Senku working while Gen was keeping him company) on the blueprints for the phone. Senku was woken up by his neck feeling incredibly stiff from sleeping while sitting up and opened his eyes with a groan, not remembering when he fell asleep. Taking in the situation, the sky had fallen dark and judging from the quietness outside, the village had already gone to sleep a long time ago.
What a pain, I hadn’t meant to fall asleep before finishing these blueprints. Senku thought while stretching himself awake. Better finish them up now while I’m at it. It was strange how easily he had found himself falling asleep while talking with Gen, maybe it was one of his psychological tricks and he was ten billion percent falling for it.
Just as he was picking up his pen and starting to finish the blueprint, he caught some movement with the side of his eye. Looking outside, just at the edge of the forest he could barely see Gen's figure disappearing into the woods. Right, the mentalist had fallen asleep with him in the hut, so what was he up to now. Senku could recognize two emotions rising from his chest at that: worry and curiosity. Gen sneaking off at night definitely seemed a bit suspicious, but he hadn’t given anything else to doubt his loyalty to the Kingdom of Science, so what else could it be other than betrayal?
Senku thought about it for a second before deciding to go after the mentalist. There was nothing wrong with looking after Gen, he as a mentalist would surely understand the suspicion of seeing their newest member wander off at night. And if he turned out to be wrong about his worries, maybe he’d finally learn something about the real Gen and not the mask he hides himself behind. Senku had to take a running start to not lose the mentalist out of his sight, but once he was a good distance away that he knew he wouldn’t lose him, slowed down and started following Gen's pace.
After a short walk Senku started hearing the faint sound of water flowing and soon they arrived at a small stream going across the forest that Senku had not known the existence of. Gen kneeled down next to it and to Senku’s surprise took his hoari off and dipped a towel that Senku had not noticed before into the stream. Senku was watching as the mentalist started carefully rubbing himself with the wet towel, clearly washing himself off. From where Senku was looking he couldn’t see Gen’s face, but noticed from his movements how calm he seemed. This sight of the mentalist peacefully cleaning himself caused a strange feeling in Senku’s chest, but he decided to write it off as just feeling bad for invading his privacy so he decided to stop hiding.
Walking closer to the stream, he wandered behind the mentalist before saying anything. Though as usual Senku’s bad luck, he chose the absolute worst time to do so. “Mentalist, what are you up to this late?”
Gen, who had leaned over the stream to wash his face, jumped out of his skin and quickly turned around, making him lose balance and fall into the swallow stream on his back. Recovering himself and taking a look at who had surprised him, Gen’s tense shoulders relaxed as he saw his stalker being Senku.
“Senku-chan! It’s not nice to sneak up on people you know. I already thought I was a lion’s next meal.” Gen spoke with an accusatory tone, though it was clear there was some playfulness to it. The mentalist pushed himself up from the stream and stood up, not bothering to step away from the stream and letting his bare feet stay in the flowing water. He crossed his arms, squinting his eyes at Senku who had frozen in place as he hadn’t expected to surprise the mentalist so badly. Water was dripping off Gen’s body as falling into the stream had given him a proper bath and drenched his clothes completely.
Senku huffed and crossed his arms too in defence. “Hey it’s not my fault, I wasn't exactly trying to be quiet.” Which was true, but Senku still felt a little bad for scaring the mentalist who had just been so calm before.
“Ah yes, as if I should’ve expected to be followed to my evening bath.” Gen shot back, finally stepping off the stream to the dry land, clearly uncomfortable in his wet clothes.
“Yeah my bad, didn’t mean to make you fall into the stream. I just saw you leave camp and I got curious what you were up to so late.” Senku answered truthfully and his eyes caught the way water dripped down from Gen’s wet bangs.
“Got worried your favorite mentalist was betraying you for Tsukasa?” Gen huffed but didn’t look at Senku, instead sitting back down next to the stream. Senku didn’t feel the need to answer as the mentalist already knew it had been a reasonable concern, and he also sat down next to the stream, leaving some space between them though. There was a moment of silence before Senku broke it. “Didn’t know about this stream going through here, did some of the villagers tell you about it?”
Gen, who was in the middle of trying to squeeze any water left in his hair out, squeezed one last time before leaning back on his hands and answering. “I asked Kohaku for a nearby watersource suitable for cleaning yourself and she showed me here. Quite a nice spot, isn’t it?”
“Hm. The water definitely does seem quite clean, Kohaku clearly knew what she was talking about.” Senku answered thoughtfully, running his hand in the water. Gen flashed him a smile before another silence fell above them. It wasn’t the uncomfortable kind though as Senku was quietly examining the water and Gen leaned back on his hands gazing at the dark sky.
It was once again Senku who broke the silence, clearing his throat before asking. “Why don’t you use the hotsprings to clean up though? Surely they’re more comfortable as the water is warmer and you don't have to use a towel to clean yourself.” Senku raised his gaze from the stream to look at Gen, only for his breath to hinge the sight of the mentalist’s slightly wet hair and turning his face back to the ground, not understanding what was making him do so.
Gen noticed the quick glaze Senku had thrown at him, but didn’t question it. “Eh well…” Gen started sheepishly, leaning back up from his hands. “I like to always bathe before going to sleep and walking to the springs every evening felt a bit inconvenient so I decided to ask for Kohaku’s help” A sudden shiver ran through Gen’s body as the wet clothes were making him cold even though it was a warm night. “It’s just… as a performer I used to need to take such a good care of my hygiene, but here in this stone world there isn’t the need to maintain high levels of hygiene. I guess old habits just die hard.” Gen hummed at the last though.
“Anyway, I think I’m getting a bit chilly, courtesy of you, so I’ll be getting back to the huts and hopefully changing into some dry clothes.” Gen continued as he got up, Senku following him and standing up too. “It sure would be nice to not be drenched wet.” Gen let out a dramatic sigh while putting his hoari back on, not caring about it getting soaked too.
“Yeah yeah I get it, shut up mentalist” Senku teased back, itching his ear. “I’ll know better the next time I follow you to stalk you bathe.”
“Oh my Senku-chan, I didn’t know you were such a pervert.” Gen covered his mouth with his sleeve, acting shocked. Senku just scoffed at that, turning his back on the other and starting to walk back to the village. “I thought you were cold, mentalist.” He yelled across his shoulder and saw how Gen started following him close behind, a playful smile still playing at the ends of his mouth.
He had ended up finding something new about Asagiri Gen.