Chapter Text
April 1st—surprise surprise, Gen’s birthday—came with disturbingly perfect spring weather. Students buzzed with excitement for the entrance ceremony, but Gen simply sighed.
Adjusting the red tie of his formal navy blazer uniform, he couldn't wait to start wearing the cream knit vest to school.
It wasn’t hope or dread—just acceptance, the calm resignation of someone stepping into yet another chapter of life’s chaos. Still, he had to admit, the dramatic pink snowfall suited him a little too well.
“Gen?” Gen heard a low voice calling him. When he turned, there was a long, brunette-haired man with broad shoulders.
He was taller than Gen and had the body of a high schooler shouldn’t have yet. He looked scary at first, but the guy was actually such a sweetheart.
“Tsukasa-chan! I didn’t realize we would be in the same high school!” Gen didn’t expect the agency they were in would be involved directly in their choice of school. Well, they’re minors in the entertainment industry. Sure, they have to take care of them.
“Same here. Would you like to go inside together?”
“Sure! It’s nice to see a familiar face, y’know,” Gen sang.
“I agree,” Tsukasa smiled.
They went inside the hall, and there were already a lot of students sitting based on their respective years. Gen and Tsukasa decided to sit side by side.
The ceremony ran smoothly with boring stuff: the principal's speech and the student council speech. But for Gen, the highlight was the tenth-grade representative's speech.
“Good morning. I’m Ishigami Senku—apparently the top scorer in Japan this year, though that’s really just the result of an unhealthy obsession with science.
Since I was a kid, I’ve had one ridiculous-sounding dream, which is to build my own rocket so I can go to the moon as soon as possible. Not because it’s easy, and not because it sounds cool—though, let’s be honest, it does sound cool—but because humanity exists to push boundaries. The moment we stop questioning, stop experimenting, stop challenging what’s possible, that’s when we stop moving forward.
High school isn’t just a place to memorize for exams; it’s a workshop, a launchpad. Everything we learn here—physics, chemistry, biology, even the boring lectures—can be fuel. And if any of you have a dream that sounds too big or too insane to say out loud, good. That means it’s worth chasing.
I don’t know what kind of discoveries we’ll make here. Maybe nothing world-shaking, or maybe the first spark of something revolutionary. Either way, I plan to push this school’s science facilities to their absolute limits.
So let’s get to work. Let’s break things, fix things, create things—and maybe, just maybe, build something that reaches the stars.
That’s all. I am ten billion percent excited to see what we’ll achieve.”
The first thing Gen thought was the man has ridiculous hair. Then, the moment he talked, Gen was captivated. Not because of how amazing the words he used were or the fact that he’s building his rocket –even though it’s still surprising–, but because of how sincere he was.
He had that childlike excitement, hopeful, optimistic. That glow from his eyes. And yet, Gen could see that he’s a confident person, based on how he smirked even in a formal setting.
At the end of the ceremony, the classes were assigned. The system in this school was that they would be in the same class for three years. It’s not a common system in Tokyo, but they did that.
The assigned class could be seen on the board in the field outside the main hall.
Gen and Tsukasa found out that they were in the same class. It was class 1A. Gen took notice that the representative, the Senku guy, was in the same class as them, too.
After they found their names, they took a step back so other students could search for theirs. In the chaotic situation, Gen could hear people near the board shouting. It was a brunette, short-haired guy with a bandana.
“Crazy! Three of us in the same class? Shame that Ruri isn't with us. If so, we could have the Ishigami Quattro,” the boy cheered.
Then another brown-haired—now a spiky one—shouted too. “Senku! We will be in the same class!”
“Ugh, fuck, I’m trapped with loud people for three years?!” Senku groaned. Now, they were apparently the representative’s friends.
“Come on, dude! It would be easier for us to do science! Isn't that the pro?” exclaimed the first guy.
“Yeah, it would be great with you asking every time I move.” His crimson eyes rolled, indicating sarcasm.
“But, I’m your favorite cousin!”
“Since when have I had a favorite cousin?” Senku winced.
“None! but there is a favorite best friend!” The spiky brown-haired one was still screaming and hugging Senku.
“Oh hell no!” Senku shouted. The hug was deflected by the man.
“Taiju-kun, he’s cranky after the speech. Give him a break,” a calm and soft voice chimed in. She had long brown hair. Apparently, the brown spiky-haired one was named Taiju.
“Senku! It’s only a speech! We know you’re not usually interacting with people, but it’s over!”
Senku scratched his ear with one of his pinky fingers. Gen wondered if it was a habit of his. “It’s not about the speech. I didn’t mind talking about how science is so important, especially for humanity's sake.”
His face radiated irritation. “But the teacher, after the speech, who warned me about attitude bullshit—that irritated me.”
Feeling mischievous, Gen was intrigued to chime in. “Oh my! I didn't know if our model student had a foul mouth!” Gen gasped with one of his hands covering half of his face while approaching the representative’s crowd.
“What should we do? The school would become a home of brats.” Gen let out a false sob for sarcasm. He's not a mean girl, but he acted like a mild version of one for only this time.
Of course, he would get stares from them. Especially a piercing gaze from the blonde, blue-eyed girl beside Senku. Is she his girlfriend? Gen was curious. And yet, the man himself kept a calm, neutral face.
“They only asked me to do the speech because of my score,” Senku scoffed. “That doesn't define me as a model student. The existence of misbehaved kids is not a student’s responsibility. I couldn’t care less,” Senku said matter-of-factly while scratching his ear.
“So blunt of you,” teased Gen. Oh, this is going to be interesting.
“Weird hair you have there,” Senku pointed out, sounding only curious. The change of topic was surprising but did not catch him off guard.
“I can say the same for you, leek boy,” Gen smirked.
“Alright, piebaldism onigiri,” Senku responded with a confident smirk. Of course, the boy was not backing down from an imaginary challenge.
Usually, when he made snarky comments, even if playfully, people would get anxious, angry, or offer straight-up no response. It was fun to have a response this way.
“I’m just messing around!” Gen laughed.
“You’re right with genetics, but it’s not piebaldism. Nice to meet you, Senku-chan.” Gen used his default smile while reaching out his hand for a handshake. The other, without missing a beat, welcomed the hand.
“Nice to meet you—” Senku stretched the last word as he didn’t know Gen’s name yet.
“Asagiri Gen.” Gen stared at the other’s eyes directly, giving him a silent message. There were seconds of pause from Senku.
“Gen,” Senku stated, understanding what Gen meant. Gen gave him an approving smile, then let his hand go to wave at them.
“See you tomorrow in class, Senku-chan!” Gen said playfully, then turned around to go back home.
“Already, Gen?” on his side, Tsukasa asked him in a neutral tone while following him to the gate.
They were not by any means close yet, but Tsukasa had seen him doing this sort of thing in the agency for his projects or just messing around in the building.
“What? I’m just having fun! He’s clearly not offended,” cheered Gen like nothing had happened, like he wasn't just attempting verbal bullying toward the 10th-grade representative.
“Yeah, but his friends are.”
“It’s fine, Tsukasa-chan. I have you!” Gen patted the taller man’s shoulder proudly. He received an amused huff.
—
“First name basis already? Did you know him?!” asked Kohaku, bewildered.
“Never in my life have I met that guy.” The expression was neutral, but there was a clear amusement in his tone.
Senku scans the board and finds the name, Asagiri Gen, in the same class as him. He didn’t realise the formed smirk on his face.
[][][][][]
The next day, Gen arrives in the class not exactly at the bell but not too early that there are no people yet. Gen decided to sit in the middle row and near the window that has a view of the school front yard, where the sports field is. The class is on the third floor, so it has a pretty good view.
While waiting for the bell to ring, he continued his book, 13 Steps to Mentalism by Tony Corinda. Gen had finished the book, but he decided to reread it as preparation for his pilot that would be shot this weekend.
It would be a once-a-week TV program where the basic concept is interviewing talented high schoolers. But what makes it different is that Gen would do a magic act in every first segment.
To be honest, that’s pretty demanding, but he accepted it because he can push himself to learn magic and mentalism.
“Morning, Gen,” a deep voice called him from his side.
“Oh, Tsukasa-chan! Sit beside me?” Gen sang.
“Yeah, you’re like the only person I know, if you don’t mind, of course.” Yet the man already sat down.
“Totally okay!” Tsukasa looks a bit nervous, maybe because of the first day of school? Though he doesn't appear to be a person who would shy away easily.
“Oh! How’s Mirai-chan? She’s doing okay?” Gen tried to open a conversation about something that Tsukasa held precious, so he could ease a little bit. He made sure to use a bright tone so the man could become comfortable.
“She’s doing incredible.” As Gen expected, Tsukasa’s eyes became softer, as did his smile.
Mirai was hospitalized for quite a long time, and now she’s in physical therapy. Gen only knows that that happened after an incident—the man didn’t let Gen know what exactly it was.
The conversation branches from medical procedures to simple things like food. Gen’s book is still in his hand even though it’s abandoned.
In the middle of the talk with Tsukasa, a person walks between them to sit at a desk behind Gen. Immediately, Gen was distracted by the napa cabbage head, making him turn his body to face the man.
“Morning, Senku-chan! Did you choose this desk because of me?” Gen teased.
“Isn’t it too early to be narcissistic?” He sounds slightly annoyed.
“That’s kinda my charm.” Gen is persistent at teasing.
“What? Narcissistic?”
“I would say, confident. So why did you sit here, Senku-chan?”
“Second row from the back, letting me enough space to not pay attention, and beside that, this window right here,” Senku explained as he opened the window on his side.
Gen only realized his window cannot be opened. That asshole prepared this.
“A weird, obnoxious hair and sitting beside the window stall, not paying attention to the class—isn't that a main character syndrome? And here we thought I was the one who was being narcissistic.” Gen sighed. His arm supported his head on Senku’s desk.
Senku let out a disapproving, amused look, but before he said anything, a blonde woman with blue eyes approached Senku’s desk.
“You’re the bastard from yesterday! Don’t you have anything to say?!” She accused, both of her hands resting on her hips. There’s clearly an offended face on her.
“Oh, you’re the one who stared at me yesterday; that’s rude, by the way.” Of course, Gen only does that to mess around. “Aren’t you supposed to apologize to me?” Gen taunted.
“Me?! You’re the one who should apologize to Senku, as you disrespected him!” She scolded.
“Relax, dear.” The pet name only makes her more annoyed. “He’s not offended. Instead, he’s probably amused based on that god-awful grin he made. Exactly like that!” Gen points at Senku with his finger the moment he sees the smirk on his face. Senku’s Cheshire grin turns into laughter.
“Yeah, it’s okay, Kohaku. What are you? A Mentalist?” Senku snickered. Gen only lifted up the book in his hand the whole time to answer the man. Senku let out a surprise snort. “You’re actually?!”
Gen answered with a shrug. “Not yet, I’m learning.”
The bell rang, and all the students got to their own desks neatly. “Say, Senku-chan,” Gen is definitely gonna enjoy having a conversation with Senku more in the future.
“Do you think this book that I show you was an answer to your deduction, OR a subtle cause of your deduction that I've been planting in your head?” He let his Cheshire smile bloom before he went back, facing upfront for a dramatic out.
There is a big pause. “The fuck, Mentalist?!” Senku let the cuss louder than Gen expected; luckily, it was before the homeroom teacher came in. That received a muffled giggle from the Mentalist.