Chapter Text
October 1st, 5739 AD.
Today marks 6 months before Gen’s 21st birthday. 6 months before he will be executed, if he doesn’t take a life. In 6 months he will either be a murderer or dead.
He may not love himself that dearly, but he still knew what option he would pick.
As Gen lay in his hammock, he thought about how he was actually going to be able to kill someone. It wouldn’t be easy, especially for someone of Gen’s build. He was very slim with very little muscle, however he did try to hide that fact by dressing in baggy clothing. He was certain he would have to poison his victim, because the chances of Gen actually winning a fight were very slim. The only abilities he had to play to his strengths was his agility, but more importantly, his mentalism.
Ever since he was a child, Gen had been fascinated by the human mind. How to spot when someone's lying, or how to convince someone you were telling the complete truth. He had studied the mind and lied to anyone and everyone he met- he realised later on, this probably wasn’t a good thing, especially in his childhood, when he isolated himself from the other children in his kindergarten, becoming known as the liar, rather than Gen. He had been lonely, but the children were no one who would be able to help him escape the Pillars.
That was all he had cared about, really. Getting out. The reality of being a slummer was that the only way you could get out was by two things- marrying a rich degenerate or by doing an act of civilian gallantry.
That was how Ukyou escaped. Ukyou had been Gen’s best friend ever since he was 12, and, like Gen, he didn’t want to kill anybody. Ukyou had been taught archery since he could hold a bow by his mother, and had trained in self defence until he could hold his own against his father, but he didn’t look strong. Ukyou was of a similar build to Gen, slim and of an average height and to other slummer who didn’t know him well, he looked like a target. And that’s how when he was attacked by a well-known mass-murderer and came out as the only one alive, he was awarded access to a part of what used to be Japan’s Elysium. Every place in the world has an Elysium, the place where the greedy idiots who have the whole world in the palm of their hand live.
And not only that, Ukyou then got married to one of those fools. He was a few years older than Gen, and it wasn’t uncommon for young people to get married quickly in relationships, for a fear of either being killed or getting taken. It was common for that to happen, especially to unmarried women.
‘Bzzt! Bzzt!’
Gen was dragged out of his thoughts by the sound of a smartphone Ukyou had given him buzzing. Speak of the devil, (or rather, think) it was Ukyou messaging him.
‘Hey Gen, I was wondering if you would be able to spare a bedroom for a while? Ryuusui says that he’s fine with me coming to see you again, and since the official interval has ended I’m allowed to come back to the Pillars to see you again!’
And underneath that message, was another shorter one:
‘I miss you. And I know you don’t like Ryuusui, but I would love for you to get to know him. He wants to meet you really badly, too.’
Gen sighed. He had made excuses before to avoid meeting Ryuusui, but he had thought he’d been less obvious than this. Well, no point in denying the inevitable now. After shooting back a quick ‘fine’ , Gen was surprised to receive a FaceTime from Ukyou. When he answered, he was immediately deafened by someone on the other end yelling.
“HAHA! I knew it was finally time for both of us to visit! I desire it!” When Gen opened his eyes from wincing from the roaring shouting, he saw a man who he recognised to be Ryuusui from photos he had seen from Ukyou. Despite his best friend being married for years, Gen had never actually spoken to the man, which he did feel guilty about from time to time.
But it was justified. Ryuusui was a member of the Nanami Conglomerate, after all. Ukyou had understood when it was difficult for Gen to accept Ukyou getting married to him, after what the Nanamis did to him.
Gen could only describe Ryuusui as a human golden retriever. He had the golden hair to match their fur, and definitely had the same boisterous energy. As Ryuusui continued yelling at him over the phone, a very embarrassed Ukyou popped up from the bottom of the camera frame and snatched the phone from his husband. Gen laughed as he saw a very sad Ryuusui looking at Ukyo like a child who got their candy snatched.
“Sorry, Gen. I meant it when I said he was excited to meet you. I probably should’ve warned you before calling you, he can be very loud.”
“You’re telling me! I don’t know how you survive, dear Ukyou-chan, especially with your uper-say sense of hearing!” Gen chattered whilst smiling at his friend. Yes, he had been very jealous of Ukyou when he achieved Gen’s dream, but he was the most deserving person to be able to leave. Whenever Gen needed him, he was there. Even when Gen shouted at him. Even when Gen pushed him. Ukyou had been there, helping him through his grief.
Yes, he was happy for Ukyou.
Gen finally got out of his hammock, pushing through the piles of whatever Gen needed in his filthy room, whilst happily chatting to his friend. It was once Gen had sat down to eat his leftovers from yesterday when Ukyou finally addressed the elephant in the room.
“Have you found someone yet?” He asked warily, nervously fidgeting with the mustard yellow cap on his head.
“Oh? Whatever do you mean, dear Ukyou-chan?” Gen smiled innocently, despite knowing exactly what Ukyou was talking about.
“Don’t play dumb, Gen. Today is six months until your 21st. Have you found a target yet?”
“You know I haven’t, Ukyou. I don’t want to kill someone just as much as you didn’t, but we both know I won’t be lucky enough to get into a fight with a criminal and come out alive.”
Gen winced as soon as the words left his mouth. It was true, Ukyou was a pacifist and he had been traumatised by murdering someone, even if that someone had been a monster. But when he opened his eyes, he saw Ukyou smiling sadly at him.
“You know full well I won’t let you sit back and wait to die. At least let Ryuusui and I find you someone. With our statuses, we have access to the Pillar databases, and we can find you a target. Someone with no family, and no friends. Someone who won’t be missed.”
Gen gritted his teeth. Ukyou would not take no for an answer. “Fine.”
♠
As Gen boarded the one of the rickety elevators to head down to the ground floor so he could go to work for the day, he spotted one of his close friends, and neighbour. “Ah! Minami-chan! How good to see you!” He waved at her, flashing her a bright smile.
“Oh, Gen! I didn’t expect to see you today!” A lie. The twitch in her right forefinger said as much. He had learnt Minami’s tells very quickly since he had met her, but she knew that he would always know when she lied. She also knew he wouldn’t call her out for it, since he knew her secret.
It was a few years into their friendship when he had discovered that Minami was an information broker, known in the criminal world as ‘Journalist’. He saw it as justified, as trading info paid well and Gen knew that Minami had a large family which was struggling. Not only that, she was kind. Yes, she could be selfish or vain but she would always repay her favours.
It was also clear to Gen that, for the past few weeks, she had been acting differently around him. But as a part of their unspoken agreement, he never brought it up.
“Are you heading to work?” She asked innocently, blonde curls falling across her face.
“Yes I am. Got to pay the bills somehow!” He laughed. “But what about you, Minami dear? You are looking awfully dolled up to be heading on a shopping trip,” He smirked at her, and nudged her with his elbow.
Her face brightened immediately, and yelled, “I’m not doing whatever you think, dumbass!”
“Really, Minami-chan? You aren’t meeting with a special someone? Not even a special Tsukasa?” He dragged Tsukasa’s name out, teasing her with each syllable of his name.
“No, Gen. You and I both know how he feels about me. And for your information, I am going out for a grocery run!” She ‘hmphed’ at him, and they both burst out giggling, and caught up on the recent news and gossip that had happened recently.
“No! Hyouga actually kissed Homura-chan?! I never thought it would happen!”
“Yeah, but he says he thinks they are better off as staying friends.”
“Goodness, how unfortunate! I really thought they would make a good couple. And now I owe Tsukasa 10 bucks.”
As Gen and Minami parted ways, his phone buzzed. He had received a message from Ukyou.
‘We’ve found you a target. Family is minimal, with only an adoptive father, and has as many friends that can be counted on your fingers. Physically, he is weak, so if it came down to it, you could probably win in a fight.’
‘Name?’
Ukyou’s response was immediate, with an image attached of a boy who looked almost Gen’s age, with crazy spiky hair fading from a pale blond to a light green, with two strands laying carelessly across his face. And his eyes. Gen drew a breath in as he stared into the crimson red eyes of the boy he was to murder.
‘Ishigami Senkuu.’