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Gen sat up within his leafy futon as he stretched his arms outwards and took a deep exhale. Time to get ready for the day, he thought. Though as he rose from his makeshift bed slowly, he still didn't quite feel completely awake. He yawned and slid on his winter coat as he went to exit his hut.
He felt sluggish, and could name a certain scientist to blame for his drowsiness. He started along a path to the waterfall with the hydroelectric wheel Chrome and Kaseki had built way back when. And he rubbed his eyes as he recalled the events of last night.
Senku had kept him up all night with his explanations: first, with how he guessed Gen’s favorite color, before transitioning into astrology and astrophysics alike. Gen honestly didn’t mind star talk, it was only when Senku attempted to explain string theory to him—that he bothered to wonder what time it was.
Gen had pointed this out, and Senku reported that it was 4:27 am…that left Gen stunned. Had they really been talking that long? He was not a pleasant morning person when sleep deprived. He promptly wished the human clock goodnight as he made his way back to his hut, but expectedly, his internal clock still woke him up early.
“Curse my ime-tay in showbusiness…” he grumbled to the crisp morning air.
Gen rounded the corner to find the ginormous red water wheel, water carbonator, and a boy with blue leather clothes bent over the river collecting some water.
“Chrome!” The boy turned at the sound of his name.
Was that wheel, always red?
“Oh, hey Gen! Why’re you out so early?” He tilted his head to the side.
“I’m usually an early iser-ray,” he approached the boy and river alike.
“But I hide out in my hut so Dear Senku thinks I’m ost-lay to dreamland!”
“Trying to get out of more work?” He eyed him knowingly.
“Guilty as charged~!” Gen cupped his hands and dipped them into the water, and brought it up to wash his face.
The water was like ice against Gen’s skin, but he wasn’t about to walk around all day with eye crust and drool. So he finished up, and his hands returned to the concealment of his sleeves, for both warmth and out of habit.
Chrome had already filled his bucket with water and was already making his way back to the village.
“By the way, Dear Chrome,” Chrome glanced behind him as the mentalist stood to meet his eyes. Gen pointed behind him with his thumb.
“Was that wheel always that red-ish color?”
Chrome put his finger to his chin as he stared at the moving wheel curiously, before focusing his attention back on Gen.
“Looks the same to me. We made it out of redwood, so it has a slight tint to it.”
“eriously-say? Huh.”
“Anyway, I got to get back to Kaseki,” he turned to leave and waved as he started to run. “ See ya!”
Gen waved back silently as shifted to glare at the wheel. After a few minutes, Gen sighed in resignation, the wheel wasn’t going to change colors if he stared at it long enough. He tucked his hands back into his sleeves as he made for the path he came from.
“How peculiar."
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Gen roamed around the Persues aimlessly, seeing people left and right hard at work. They were doing the final checks of the ship before they set sail for Treasure Island, and there was a lot to do.
For everyone but Gen apparently.
I guess it made sense, mentalism and negotiation weren’t necessary for battleship prep. But right now…he just felt plain useless. Gen sighed dramatically as navigated the halls and entered the next door he saw.
The door clicked open, and inside was the Control room. Filled with all kinds of equipment: with the radio communicators to the far front left, and steering modules with a chair to the left of it. Slightly closer to the entrance, was the sonar radars, where Ukyo was testing them out currently, and the closest being an extended worktable, where many blueprints, maps, and weather predictions lay scattered across it.
A tall man was looming over the numerous papers, wearing a red coat, white belt, and a blue sailor's hat. Gen approached the table from the left to examine the papers before greeting the man hovering above them
“Dear Ryusui! What are ese-thay for?” He pointed down between them.
Ryusui peered next to him before straightening himself, placing a smirk on his face and snapping theatrically with three fingers.
“Haha! I see you’ve taken an interest in my work! These are simply–”
Gen was already tuning him out, he was so ored-bay he had forgotten how much Ryusui loved to ramble. It was like talking to the sailor version of Senku. He kept his polished show smile intact as he nodded along to this drawn out display of weather patterns and sea levels beyond his comprehension.
Gen eyed the room around him, looking for something to do, or an excuse to leave. He found his eyes drawn to Ryusui’s red coat, he didn’t know why.
He simply labeled it as his splash of red was designed to be as prominent as his eccentric personality.
“I have tea, Master Ryusui.”
Gen leaps backward like a startled cat, he could’ve sworn he felt his soul leave his body too. He puts hand to his heart as he catches his breath.
“Thank you, Francois." His eyes never leaving the desk, he grabs the tea off the clay made tray with nonchalance, as though expectant of this.
Gen glares up as he clenches his haori in irritation, not at the butler for scaring him, he knows it wasn’t intentional, but at the fact they practically appeared out of thin air.
“How do you always do that?!”
Francois glances up calmly as they place the gray tray to their chest.
“I have more tea brewing if you would like some.”
Gen sighs, “Yes please…” Completely ignored.
As Francois asks Ryusui about drink and food requests or things of that nature, Gen gazes at the butler’s tidy uniform.
A fully buttoned blue coat and pants to match, with a single shoulder pad on the right shoulder that resembles that of an army general. But what was truly eye catching, was their sash and rolled up sleeves, red, white and blue stripes.
Likely to represent the French flag, Gen guessed. Both they and Ryusui both have red on.
“Gen!” Ryusui called.
Gen flinched at the sound of his name, as he looked up he noticed a lack of Francois in the background, They disappeared like a magician… He met the eyes of the captain.
Ryusui pointed to the door behind him with his thumb. “Senku’s asking for you up on the main deck.”
“Ah, I ee-say. Guess I’ll get going then!”
Gen brushed past him on his way to the door as Ryusui went back to his work. Before leaving, he took one final glance back to see the man bent over the table once more. He smirked as he turned to leave.
I onder-way if wearing red is a rich thing.
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“Senku~! I heard you called for me?”
Gen approached the back of the scientist, who was looking out at the sea view with one hand on his hips. They were still strapped to land, but the view from the boat was something else entirely.
“Ah, mentalist.”
Senku pivoted to face him, revealing a paper with blueprints of sorts upon it in his free hand. He walked to meet Gen halfway as he began.
“I wanted to see your opinion on this room I’m designing."
Gen eyed Senku warily. “You know I know next to othing-nay about your science gizmos, which can only ean-may one thing.”
Gen crouched down as he hid his head in his hands.
“More of the grueling, soul-crushing, back-breaking labor!!”
He shivered as he recalled the 800 batteries Senku once had him make, or the copper wire he helped twist, or the Tungsten toothpaste he was forced to be a part of. That one took all night, the mere thought made his hands start to tremble.
“Chill, mentalist.”
Senku crouched down beside Gen.
“There’s a ten billion percent chance you’ll like what I’m making this time.”
He slid the blueprints across the floor and into Gen's limited field of vision. His face slowly widened in realization as his head snapped beside him. It was–
“A garden?” Gen asked softly.
The gleam in his eye and excitement in his voice were obvious, so obvious in fact, even the emotionally obtuse scientist could see them clear as day. Seeing this reaction made a soft smile tug on his cheeks. It got Senku excited, meaning the plan was ten billion percent a success.
“But, why? It’s not like we need one with all the food we grew and the bread Francois ade-may for us.” Gen questioned as he met Senku’s eyes.
“I figured we could use it for whatever we didn’t get to finish growing. Since we don’t know exactly how far Treasure island’ll be, it’s better to have a crapton over starving cause we don’t have enough.”
Gen’s expression relaxed, as the joy in his face began to fade along with it. He didn't look sad per say…just neutral. He had practiced facial expressions for too long to show anything more. But Senku could tell, it was the kind of face that means he’s hiding something deeper beneath it all.
How do I know that? Senku pondered briefly. But he had more important matters right now.
“But, if there’s enough room, I’m sure we could stick some more extraneous plants in there.” He put up a finger, “Like flowers for example.”
Gen’s eyes lit up again as a smirk formed on his face. He didn’t want to pry and lose his new movable garden—but such a perfect opportunity just couldn’t go to waste.
“Aw, Senku!” He poked his shoulders lightly with one finger as he raised his other hand to hover his mouth.
“Don’t tell me you’re building a arden-gay just for me~” He rose to his feet as he began to sway dramatically.
“The great scientist, allowing me to take my florets on our erlious-pay journey onward! uly-tray a sight to behold!”
Senku rolled his eyes at the show before closing them and standing as well, “Kukuku, keep talking like that and there won’t be any room for your precious flowers.”
Gen gasped theatrically as he placed hand on his chest.
“You wouldn’t!”
He undid Senku’s crossed arms as he took hold of his hands and gazed up with signature faux innocence.
“Not to your favorite mentalist~”
Senku opened his eyes, and Gen was completely awestruck at what he saw. Senku’s eyes had always been red…but this was different.
“Favorite might be a stretch.”
They glistened like brilliant rubies in the blaring sunlight, like roses that flowed gracefully in the midday wind of a peaceful meadow.
“Are you eating-chat on me with another mentalist, Dear Senku?”
Like the very apples that hit a certain scientist on the head, and like the falling autumn leaves that would scatter the roads with their beauty.
“No, no, never.”
The breathtaking performance of the first light of dawn, and the ethereal shine of the last light of dusk. The only rival to their brilliance was–
“the very stars in the sky.” He whispered quietly.
“Huh?” Senku stared at Gen, having not heard what he said.
“Nothing, nothing!” Gen released his hands and he threw them up surrenderingly.
Senku tilted his head, suspicious of the mentalist’s schemes.
“Here,” Gen rotated his wrist, to find it held a red flower with its petals enclosed between his fingers.
“A parting gift.” He stretched them out towards the scientist.
Senku accepted the flower amused, “Where did you even pull that from?”
Gen spun on his heel and began to walk away, before his head alone turned with a single finger to his lips.
“A magician never reveals his secrets.”
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Senku waved goodbye to Chrome as he turned to head back to his hut. They had just finished their checks for the ship, but they still had about 10 days of test runs and packing before they could actually set sail.
He was walking a little slower than usual, having his bag weighing him down. It was a medium sized crossbody with its contents arresting on his right hip. Yuzuriha had made it for him, saying that having only your hands to carry everything wasn’t enough space. “What if you have to carry 5 things at once!” she had told him.
He gripped the door as he swung it open. A desk and wooden chair that Kaseki gave him sat along the right wall.. Above it were walls of beakers, minerals, and ingredients for when he did experiments on his own time.
Along the left, was his bed, and there was a skylight rather than a classic bamboo roof. It was smaller than his hut back in the village, but it was more logical to be closer to the ship and its prep.
Despite feeling the exhaustion of the day weighing heavy, he made his way to his worktable to work on his blueprints.
The desk had a lightbulb to the left of it and some ink and makeshift pen to the right, besides that it was pretty empty. Senku made a point to always tidy it up when he was done knowing he wouldn’t want to do it later.
But tonight was different.
He turned on the light and began taking the blueprints out of his bag. As he pulled them out, he saw something fall to the floor. He grabbed the lightbulb and crouched down to see what he’d dropped.
It was the flower Gen had given him.
“Ah, tulipa gesneriana.”
He picked it up and placed the light on the table, using only the stars as his light as he examined it.
What am I gonna do with a tulip, mentalist?
He sighed as directed his attention back towards his desk, he saw his rolled up designs—along with something blue, that shined like a diamond in the moonlight.
Senku pulled out his chair as he sat and picked up this mysterious blue present. It was… a flower? He inspected the flora in an attempt to identify what it could be.
After a few minutes of silence, he narrowed it down to what had to be the salvia azurea, or blue sage in normal terms. But that was the easy part. The hard part was figuring out–
“Why?” Senku asked the wind.
He rested the plant down carefully, as he snagged a beaker off his shelf and made his way to the door.
I’m not sure why he’s giving me these,
He pushed open the door and started walking the path to a nearby river.
But there’s a ten billion percent chance I’ll hear about it if I let them wither away.
He slowed his steps until he came to a halt. He glanced up at the sky above him, and grinned ever so slightly.
“Damn, mentalist.”
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It had been 8 days since that fateful night, and Senku’s flower collection had grown exponentially since then.
Ever since, he had received a flower on his desk every morning and every night. From gardenias to daisies to even heliotropes.
Some heliotropes grow here in Japan, but this–heliotropium arborescens–is native to freaking South America!
“How the hell did he even get these!” he had yelled the morning of the 4th day.
Currently though, he was on his way back to Ishigami village to visit the patch of Sunflowers that they knew and loved. There, he would find a certain great detective that could help him crack the case of this onslaught of florets Gen was throwing at him.
Stomps echoed in the distance, causing Senku to peer in its direction. It was coming from the forest. They grew louder, and louder, until you could see a small shadow emerging from the shade of the trees.
“Senku!”
Suika rode toward him on Sagara, her pet pig, with her melon mask and a bright smile as she came to a stop just before him.
“Perfect timing, Great Detective Suika! I have a job for you!”
Her face lit up.
“Really? Yay! I get to make myself useful!”
Her face was ambushed by shock. “I almost forgot! I made something for you!”
She took off her helmet to reveal her blonde hair, with two rings of sunflowers resting atop her head. She grabbed them as she extended one in front of her.
“I made these while I was at the sunflower patch with Gen!”
Senku accepted the flower crown with a gentle smile.
Gen, huh?
He pulled the crown over his unruly hair and onto his neck. As much as he wanted to wear it properly, he knew his hair wasn’t going to cooperate with such endeavors, so this was the next best thing.
“Thanks, Suika.”
He stretched his hand out towards her, and she placed her hand in his own. They began to walk hand in hand, as he started to explain their ‘mission.’
“I’ve been getting a lot of flowers recently, and I’m wondering what they mean.”
Suika peered up at the man beside.
“So, you want me to tell you what they mean?’
“That’s right, ten billion points.”
Suika placed her free hand onto her chin.
“Who were they from, you said they were gifts right?”
“Yeah—but that’s not relevant anyway."
They stopped just before the doors of Senku’s hut. He reached for the door and opened it before Suika walked in. It didn’t take long for her to see the flowers on the desk. They…stood out.
“Wow! You have so many!” She ran towards the worktop. The once pristine counter was now covered with 6 beakers worth of flowers, offering only a fraction of the workspace it once had. He’d actually been working on the floor and his bed as of late for that very reason.
Senku closed the door behind them as he joined her at the desk.
“Yep.”
He gently picked her up under her arms and sat her onto the chair.
“You said Gen taught floriography, right?”
Suika looked at him confusedly.
“Florio–what now?”
He chuckled. “It’s a fancy way of saying flower language.”
“Ohhh, yea he did!”
She grabbed each beaker and pulled them towards her, as she started removing the flowers from them. She sorted them into piles by flower: Gardenia to the far left with sages, a daisie, heliotrope, chrysanthemums, and tulips to the right.
She observed them silently for a moment, with a hand on her chin. Before turning back to meet Senku’s eyes.
“Whoever sent you these must really love you!”
Senku was stunned in shock. Left gaping, as he processed the information just said to him.
Love?
“...what?” he managed to croak out.
“Yeah! All of these are different ways of saying they like you! I can tell you exactly what each means if that's better…?” She noticed the pained expression on his face.
Gen…
“Yeah—sure.”
He stared as she picked up the gardenia. “This one means ‘You’re lovely.’”
loves me?
She picked up the next, “Blue sages mean ‘I think of you’, while red means, ‘forever mine.’ She set her sights on the next in line. “Daisies mean—”
His heart rate began to pick up, fast. There’s no way in hell!
“–How romantic, right? And heliotropes mean—”
How could the mentalist like me? I don’t–wait…
“Red and white chrysanthemums, wow that’s pretty hard to say, mean ‘I love you and’—”
Do I,
“The tulips are the best to me though–”
like him too…? His face heated at the thought.
“Wanna know why?”
Senku snapped out of his spiral to respond. “Yeah…why?”
“Well, the red one you have is a declaration of love.”
Senku’s face heated more as he averted his eyes.
That was the first one he gave me…
“But the yellow means ‘sunshine in your smile!’”
Senku stared at the ground as Suika tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
“You gotta smile a lot to make them happy, ok !” She smiled widely as an example of sorts.
He met her eyes, before exhaling and smiling in return. Suika gasped as she jumped off the chair.
“I forgot I was supposed to go see Kohaku after I came back!”
She started towards the door and spun back to wave goodbye.
“Bye, Senku!!”
He calmly put up his hand to wave back.
“See ya, Suika.”
She darted out the door, leaving our dear scientist to the whims of his ever consuming thoughts—of Gen and flowers.
He scanned the desk for a moment, before making his way to the door for an adventure of his own.
He had some questions for the mentalist, and he intended to pry those out from behind his theatrical facade if he had too.
He slammed opened his door to scour the path to the village he had planned to take before. He was heading for the sunflower patch, where a detective had told him he was last seen.
“Mentalist, when I find you…”