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When Gen woke up, he found himself in an unfamiliar room with people he didn't know.
It turned out he had been kidnapped by a group of people who disagreed with the development of the time machine. They believed the project would halt without him, because he was the one who recruited most of the scientists and negotiated to get the necessary resources. And because he often traveled around—unlike the scientists, who spent most of their time in the lab—he became an easy target.
While he was thinking of a strategy to escape, the kidnappers received a phone call that sent them into a panic.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and he watched as members of the Kingdom of Science stormed in and subdued the kidnappers. Senku, Tsukasa, Ukyo, Ryusui, Kohaku, Hyoga, Homura, Xeno, Stanley—wait, wasn't that a bit excessive? And there were even more people still coming in!
He felt that mobilizing so many people just to rescue him was unnecessary; after all, most of them were usually incredibly busy and rarely in Japan. How had they managed to coordinate and arrive in such a short time?
Before he could utter a single word, he was whisked into a car driven by Francois and rushed to the largest hospital affiliated with Senku's lab—meaning it boasted the most cutting-edge medical technology available.
He underwent a thorough examination using machines he hadn't even known existed prior to the petrification. Senku monitored everything, while the others kept a close watch on him—still on high alert. No matter how many times he insisted that nothing bad had happened to him, none of them believed it.
Once the doctors declared he was fine, and Senku nodded in agreement, he was finally allowed to return to the house that he shared with Senku.
…With the others still following him. It seemed they wouldn't rest easy until they saw him safely home.
During the journey home, they proceeded to lecture him at length about safety. Finally, once they arrived at their place, they left him and Senku alone.
Gen closed the front door and sighed fondly. "Geez, I've said that I'm fine. Everyone is such a worrywart," he said, though his tone and expression showed he was happy to be so cherished.
There was no reply from Senku. He had been mostly silent since Gen's rescue, only speaking when necessary, such as when discussing his examination with the doctors.
Gen turned to look at Senku and jolted slightly when he saw that Senku was already staring at him with a burning gaze.
Before he could say anything, Senku grabbed his wrist tightly—not to the point of hurting him, but it was with more force than usual.
"Sen—"
"Don't ever leave my sight again," Senku cut him off with a low voice.
Gen blinked. "Orry-say?"
Senku ignored him and pulled him further inside.
***
Since then, Gen was forbidden from leaving the house for any reason, including for his diplomatic work.
Senku massively upgraded their home security system. He replaced the door locks with a very advanced type, making it impossible for people other than him to go in and go out. Not even a skilled magician like Gen could lock-pick it.
Since Senku still had to go to the lab to continue working on the time machine, he installed surveillance cameras in every room so he could keep watching Gen. The cameras would light up red whenever someone was watching, and Gen could see the light was always red no matter which room he was in—even the bathroom.
Gen didn't protest, knowing that if he did, Senku would also never leave the house. With how important Senku's work was, he couldn't let it happen.
Outside of work, Senku always stayed at home, sticking by Gen's side as much as he could. It reminded Gen of a baby duck.
With the amount of work Gen himself needed to do, he knew this arrangement couldn't last long. As he had predicted, not long after, Senku began coming home with a frown.
Apparently many people were pressuring Senku to let Gen leave, stating that his assistance was crucial for rebuilding civilization.
Eventually, Senku agreed to allow Gen to leave the house, though not without making a few arrangements.
He installed GPS trackers in Gen's phone and wristwatch, and gave him several accessories—such as earrings and a bracelet—that were also equipped with trackers; he made perfectly sure there were backups of backups.
He told Gen that he actually wanted to implant a GPS tracker under his skin as well, but unfortunately, the technology wasn't advanced enough yet—though he was working on developing it.
Now, Gen was finally able to continue his diplomatic work just as before.
One day, in one of his meetings, surprisingly Ukyo was there too—it was quite rare for them to be at the same meeting. After the meeting ended, Ukyo invited him for dinner, and he happily agreed. He was happy to be able to talk to him again after so long.
After rescuing Gen from the kidnapping and confirming nothing happened to him, Ukyo breathed a sigh of relief and returned to work, leaving Gen in the care of his housemate, Senku. However, he later learned that Gen had been kidnapped again—this time by Senku himself.
He understood why Senku did such things, but this wasn't the way to do it.
Everyone kept telling Senku to let Gen go, and finally he did. Yet, whenever Ukyo tried to contact Gen—whether by calling or messaging—it was always Senku who answered, showing something was still going on.
It was highly likely Senku had modified Gen's phone so that he would be the one receiving all incoming calls and messages. With how Gen's phone was developed by Senku, it would be child's play for him.
Ukyo then adjusted things, so in one of Gen's meetings, he would also be one of the people required to be there. If he couldn't, he planned to go to their house. Thankfully he didn't need to go that far.
After the meeting concluded smoothly, Ukyo invited Gen to dinner, and he agreed. Ukyo chose a Japanese restaurant with private rooms so they could talk freely without anyone listening.
They enjoyed their meal while talking about fun, random topics. Ukyo was glad to see Gen in high spirits.
After they finished eating, Ukyo asked about the question that had been weighing on his mind: what exactly had happened to Gen after that (first) kidnapping incident.
As Gen began to recount the events, the more Ukyo heard, the more his head hurt. When he saw him at the meeting today, he had wondered why Gen had suddenly changed his style with the amount of accessories he had; now he had his answer—every single one of them was a tracking device.
When Gen finished his story, Ukyo clutched his head and sighed tiredly. "I knew Senku was doing something, but I never imagined the situation was this bad."
Gen simply laughed in response, as if oblivious to how bizarre the situation was. Ukyo could only sigh again; Gen was always very accepting of whatever Senku did.
Ukyo took out his phone and began typing a message. "I'll let the others know. Surely Senku will at least listen to Taiju and Yuzuriha—or we could all stop him together."
"Why?"
Ukyo's hand stopped moving, and he looked at Gen. "What do you mean?" He didn't understand the question.
"Why does he have to stop?" Gen continued with a clear gaze, showing his question was genuine, and it made Ukyo break into a cold sweat. Unfazed by Ukyo's reaction—or perhaps he didn't notice—Gen went on. "The house arrest makes it inconvenient for Senku-chan himself, because I couldn't help anaging-may the world he had saved, but there is no issue with the current arrangement. Senku-chan seems happier too, since he could keep an eye on me at all times. Isn't that right, Senku-chan?" Gen looked somewhere up with a smile, though so many thoughts were swirling in Ukyo's mind that he couldn't give space to think of what Gen was looking at.
What was he talking about? And why did he suddenly seem as though he were speaking to Senku?
Ukyo was about to ask Gen, but before he could, the door suddenly opened.
It was Senku, looking as nonchalant as ever. He closed the door and sat down next to Gen. "Yeah, exactly."
"I knew it!" Gen's face lit up. "How is the implant tracker oming-cay along?" he asked eagerly.
"It's progressing nicely. It won't be long now until it's safe to implant under the skin."
"Senku-chan is amazing-yay as always!"
Onlookers might have thought they looked cute together—had the topic of their conversation not been so insane.
Ukyo could only watch them, and once his brain processed what was happening, he stood up abruptly. "Senku?! Why are you here?! Wait—was that an answer to Gen's question?"
"Senku-chan had been listening the whole time, after all," Gen explained cheerfully, like what he said wasn't weird. So it wasn't just GPS trackers attached to him?
Senku huffed. "Not just that—"
"You're watching us through the camera too, right?" Gen interjected.
"Yeah." Senku nodded.
"Camera? What camera?!" Had a hidden camera been installed on Gen, too? At this rate, what privacy did he have left?
"Right there." Senku pointed upward.
Ukyo sat back down and followed the direction of his finger; sure enough, there was a security camera on the ceiling pointing right at where they were sitting. That must have been what Gen was looking at when he was talking to Senku. The camera wasn't hidden, but it wasn't something people usually noticed.
"Even though this is a private room, they still installed a camera for security reasons," Senku explained. "I asked the restaurant staff to let me see the live feed, and once I told them who I am, they gave me permission. I was watching while listening to your conversation."
"Don't use your authority for things like this!" Ukyo slammed his hand on the table. His voice kept rising because the whole situation was too bizarre for him to wrap his head around.
"Even if they didn't let me see it, I could easily hack into the system—after all, I was the one implementing it. But this way is much easier." Senku grinned proudly.
No, no, no! That wasn't exactly something to be proud of!
Ignoring Ukyo's inner agitation, Senku looked at Gen. "Gen, are you done eating?"
"I am." Gen nodded cheerfully. "How about you, Senku-chan?"
"Not yet, but I'll eat at home. If you're finished, let's head back." Senku turned his gaze back at Ukyo. "After meeting Gen and hearing what had happened to him, all of you should be satisfied now, right?" He stood up without waiting for Ukyo's reply. "I'll take care of the bill," he added, then left the room.
Gen stood up as well. "Thanks for inviting me today, Ukyo-chan. I really enjoyed our dinner. See you later." He waved at him. Ukyo was too shocked to wave back or do anything other than stare at him.
Gen walked out and closed the door behind him, leaving Ukyo alone to process the events that had just unfolded and the information he had just learned.