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As a captain, it was his job to make sure the weather was good enough to set sail. He knew they wouldn't be doing so for a few more weeks since the Perseus was in need of more supplies as their journey would be farther this time, but still Ryusui liked to check the weather ahead of time anyways. It helped him get a better sense of what it would be like later down the line.
Senku had insisted they would be able to predict the weather just fine with his science, but as much as he may have trusted Senku's science, he trusted his sailor's intuition more. And thus, he wanted to check it again for himself before his meeting with the other generals later that morning.
That was how he had found himself out in the early hours of the morning, a good forty minute walk away from the shipyard and all of the Kingdom of Science's huts, overlooking the ocean from a small bluff. It was only about 7 feet tall, but more importantly, it was far enough away from the treeline and landmass that he could get an accurate read of the wind.
He smiled to himself. It seemed like the weather would be nice for the next few days, as expected.
What he did not expect, however, was to hear quiet sniffles coming from below him. He paused, listening to make sure he heard correctly. And sure enough, another sniffle rang through the silence, followed by a heartbreaking whine and a shuddering breath.
Ryusui looked below him but couldn't make out who it was at the angle he was standing at. Whoever it was, they clearly came out here to be alone, but a few quiet sobs swayed his hand. Hearing such a soft voice in such pain clenched at his heart. He wanted to know who it was, wanted to help. And he was a man who always got what he wanted.
Quietly, he maneuvered down the edge of the short, rocky wall, doing his best not to slip or disturb any of the loose sediment. When he made it to the bottom though, his brain stuttered yet again as he saw a small figure hugging himself, two toned hair popping out from his knees as his face was buried in them.
He opened his mouth, but found that no words had come out. He wasn't usually one to be hesitant, even in delicate situations, but he was in foreign territory. He had never seen Gen so distraught. Honestly, he had personally never seen Gen with anything less than a smile on his face, barring the occasional dramatic evil sneer or the exaggerated crocodile tears. And though he was under no illusion that the man's true feelings were always positive, he may have fallen for the bait a bit in believing that the mentalist’s mask was unbreakable.
Although to give himself some credit, it probably was in public, or else Gen wouldn't have taken the time to journey all the way out here just to be alone and finally release his feelings. Ryusui almost felt bad for interrupting him, seeing as he had gone through so much trouble for some privacy. But still, Gen was his friend. And Ryusui wasn't about to turn a blind eye to his friend’s suffering, whether the magician would've preferred him to or not. He strode forward.
"...Gen?" He said hesitantly. He hardly recognized himself with his voice as quiet as it was.
Gen's head popped up quickly, a panicked look on his tear streaked face, there for a flash before being replaced by one of his more standard showbiz smiles.
"Ah, Ryusui-chan~” He crooned, his voice perfectly steady. And if Ryusui hadn't just witnessed him sobbing mere seconds ago, he doubted he would've been able to tell there was anything wrong with him at all.
“My apologies, I didn't…” He went on, and Ryusui was almost impressed. He knew Gen's skills were nothing to sneeze at as he wouldn't have been able to gain as much fame as he once had if they weren't, but even so, he never realized just how skilled of an actor Gen actually was.
“..ike to come and watch the waves~”
A part of him admired Gen's skill. The same part of him that greedily wanted it for himself, wanted Gen and his skill for himself, in the same way he wanted all impressive and beautiful things. But another part, the part that was Gen's friend and had just heard him in pain, felt bad. He wondered how many times Gen had cried alone before. How many times he had cried his eyes out as he had done now, and showed up moments later with a fake smile and everyone none the wiser.
“...overall very anquil-tray~”
A part of him even felt angry. Frustrated at himself and his fellow generals’ ineptitude. He was always too busy or too self absorbed to notice the feelings of the others around him. All of the generals were really. All but Gen. Their people person. Their mentalist.
“...still, even I'm not…”
They were all content to let him deal with all of the social affairs and monitor everyone in the kingdom's emotions, but rarely did they ever extend the same courtesy to him.
“...ust've lost track of…”
To be fair to the others, Senku and Chrome were much too busy with scientific preparations to notice much of anything from anyone. Let alone the person best known for guarding his true feelings. And Ukyo actually was quite discerning and good with people, in fact he probably would have noticed something was up with Gen, had the younger man not taken the time to travel so far away to have his breakdowns.
“...or did, perhaps, the meeting…”
But try as he might, Ryusui couldn't come up with a single excuse for himself. His only responsibility was to pilot them across the sea, and as they were not yet on the water, he had mainly been spending his time frivolously enjoying his riches. Which he had only been able to do because Gen had spent his own time and energy coming up with more and more ways for him and everyone else to spend their money and increase both productivity and morale in one go.
“... thought Senku-chan had said it started…”
Honestly for someone who claimed to be selfish and shallow, Gen was too altruistic. He went through so much trouble to help bring the kingdom happiness, yet wouldn't even let himself confide in any of his friends when faced with his own sadness.
“Honestly, Ryusui-chan. Are you even listening to m–”
"What's wrong with you?" He interrupted whatever excuses, flowery language, and distractions Gen was still spouting on about.
He didn't mean to sound so angry, but the situation as a whole was hard for him to be calm about. He felt so helpless and out of his depth. But more than anything he desperately wanted to help his friend.
He certainly went about it the wrong way though, as his friend appeared more frightened than anything else. It hurt.
“How ean-may, Ryusui-chan! What did I ever do to you?” He asked with an exaggerated pout.
Ryusui tried to stay calm and collect his feelings. He was usually quite fond of Gen’s dramatic antics. Gen knew this. Which was probably why he was laying it on so thick. But seeing him use these skills to skirt around the problem at hand put a sour taste in his stomach.
He took a second longer than he normally would to think about his words. This was important and he wanted them to be heard and understood.
“You and I are very different, my friend. You like to hide your feelings in double meanings and grand gestures. Your kindness and truth is always indirect. You're a kind person pretending to be selfish.” Gen looked down at that. He had an expression on his face that Ryusui couldn't make out. When he opened his mouth to respond, Ryusui continued before he could interject.
“But I prefer to tell the truth. I'm honest about what I want. And I honestly want everything. I'm a selfish person who views kindness as an afterthought.”
“Ryusui-chan–”
“I know we've never been particularly close, but I want to be. You're a part of my crew, an important part. And I know that you try to hide who you are, and you don't want us to know when you're hurting deep down inside. But I promise you that whatever's going on, whoever's buried deep down in there is my friend. And nothing you say could ever make me want him any less.”
It seemed like those words were the final push for Gen as the tears he was holding back finally burst through his eyes. He tilted his head towards the floor, fists clenched at his sides.
Ryusui stepped forward and pulled the smaller man into a firm embrace. He felt him tense and for a moment, he thought he would pull away. Then, the fight finally drained out of him and he collapsed into the steady figure as the tension leaked from his body.
Ryusui felt his shoulder steadily dampening. He felt Gen's hands, shaking, clinging into the fabric on the back of his shirt. Heard the little cries and hiccuping breaths. Little, “I'm sorry”s choked out, whenever Gen could find enough air in his lungs to speak.
“You're beautiful both inside and out, and I care for you very much. It hurts my heart to see someone so dear to me crying.” He tightened his embrace, pulling the other man's head closer into his shoulder, firm and anchoring. “But I'd endure the pain a thousand times over as a tribute to our bond. As many times as you need me to. Because that's what it means to be a friend.”
They stayed there like that for a while. Both quiet and subdued. But eventually Gen calmed himself enough to pull away.
Ryusui saw him putting his mask back on piece by piece, but he must've been pretty out of it still, because he wasn't doing a very good job.
He sniffled, and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “Sorry about that.” He said quietly.
“Nonsense, my friend. There's no need for apologies. But please! Tell me what's wrong.” He stared into his eyes imploringly. He wouldn't budge on this.
Gen looked away, scowling, "It's stupid." He said, but his voice was shaking.
Ryusui just kept staring. He couldn't argue with the mentalist. He didn't think he would win. So instead he said nothing, hoping his friend would confide in him anyway.
Gen sighed and seemed resigned. He took a seat in the sand, facing the shore. Ryusui took that as his cue and joined him.
The water was calm and beautiful. At this hour, the sun was barely peeking out over the waves, making them shimmer with pink and orange hues.
They were silent for a while longer. Just listening to the gentle push and pull of the tide. Gen looked like he needed to collect his words. Ryusui let him. And eventually, he spoke.
“It really is stupid.” He smiled self-deprecatingly. At the indignant look on his face, Gen continued before he could interject. “My parents never really liked me all that much. They argued often and seemed to view me more as an inconvenience than anything else. My mother was always working, and my father was out drinking. So, I eventually learned to make due on my own and not ask them to spend time with me.”
The words were clearly tragic. But he said them with a smile on his face. As if recalling fond childhood memories, just like anyone else.
“But every so often, my grandpa would visit. He lived in a retirement home across town, so he couldn't come and see me every day. But he still took the train for two hours just to spend time with me every Saturday. He was the first person I ever met… who always looked happy to see me.”
At this, he clenched his jaw and tilted his head away, swiping at his eyes with his sleeve. “He brought me candies and cola every time he came over. And he taught me a bunch of magic tricks. And every year, on my birthday, he would take me to the festival and win me the biggest prize we could find. I had one for every year we had gone, even when I grew up and my shows started getting more popular, I still kept them all in my room. He was so proud of me…” his voice cracked. “He went to so many of my shows, as many as he could, even though it was getting harder for him to go out. I–” He turned away again and Ryusui could see his shoulders shaking.
“He passed away about a month before the petrification happened. It was peaceful, of old age. And I had just seen him recently before it happened, so I wasn't too sad…
But I guess with my birthday coming up again, I realized that all those prizes I got from him are gone. And I just–” his voice was shaking again. He sniffled, burying his face in his knees and crying. Softly, as he had when Ryusui had first found him. He put his hand on his shoulder firmly, rubbing up and down with his thumb. There were no words of comfort he could give for this moment. Gen clearly knew his grandfather loved him.
They had all lost things in the petrification. Gen himself would often complain about it, probably more than anyone else. Lamenting the loss of his fans and the lavish life that came with stardom, usually playfully when Senku sent him to do something tedious, or with a dramatic whine when he remembered a modern luxury they no longer had access to.
But this was the first time he had seen Gen mourn something personal. And for a problem with no solution such as this one, the best thing he could think of to do was just to let him cry it out for a while. He would be the quiet comforting presence that Gen had been before for so many of the reawakened people in their kingdom. And hopefully Gen would feel better after letting it out, as all of them had tended to feel.
And sure enough, after a few minutes of muffled cries, a firm hand rubbing up and down his shoulder, Gen took a deep breath and continued.
“It isn't even actually the first year without him. Just the first time I remembered… how could it have slipped my mind so easily? I just–” He swallowed it down, his voice cracking again. Again with the self deprecating smile.
When he spoke again, his voice was all cheerful and bright. “Like I said, it's upid-stay! I was just being a bit melodramatic~”
“You can't blame yourself. From what Ukyo’s told me, you were revived right at the start of a war. I'm sure you simply didn't have time to ponder everything that you lost. You were too busy trying to stay alive, after all. It makes sense that you're only just realizing it now that everything has calmed down.”
Gen’s eyes shined as he stared at him, touched, then scrutinizing. As if searching for any small hint of deception. He must've sensed his earnestness as a soft smile began to grow on his face. He looked as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. As if, through Ryusui’s reassurance, he had been absolved of guilt.
He took a deep breath and released it, rising from his seated position and swiping the sand off of his clothes. “Really was nothing to make such a fuss over.” His voice was soft but steady. He looked put together once again. “Especially not with so much to do! We should get going, or we'll end up late for our eeting-may!” And there he was once again, the Gen they all knew and loved was back.
Gen was right, too. There were things to be done today. And it was clear he was no longer in a mood to share his feelings. Ryusui rose and swiped at the sand as well. The moment had ended for now, but it didn't mean he would forget it. His friend shared something important today, and he wanted to show him that there were benefits to confiding in others.
As he followed him away from the shore and back trees of the forest, Ryusui stopped and grabbed his wrist. “Gen.” He said quietly.
The younger man turned around with nothing but an expectant smile. His poker face was back and whatever his true emotions were now, Ryusui could no longer discern them. “Thank you for telling me.” He said, as earnest and sincere as he could. There was more he wanted to say, but he didn't quite know how. He hoped the mentalist could read it somehow on his face. And by the look his friend gave him in return, he might've been right.
The moment didn't last long though, as Gen replied, “Aww, Ryusui-chan is such a sap~ But we need to keep oving-may. Honestly! If the two of us show up late together, what will the people think, Ryusui-chan? Think of the rumors!” His smile was mischievous once again and his eyes gleamed. His voice was bright and dramatic.
This was no longer the vulnerable Gen he caught off guard crying at the beach. This was the Gen he saw every day in the village, cooking up schemes and making people smile. And whether it was because he had such a good poker face, or because talking it out really did help him feel lighter in some way, Ryusui couldn't tell. Although he suspected, and hoped, it was the latter.
___________–—----____________
When they got to the village, Senku was outside their designated meeting hut, pinky in ear, waiting expectantly. His voice was deadpan as he informed them that they were one thousand three hundred ninety-seven seconds late, but his eyes narrowed as Gen walked nearer.
“Mentalist. What's up with you?” He said, not hiding the suspicion in his voice at all.
Gen stopped and turned to fully face Senku. As if showing off his fine-ness. His eyes weren't red or puffy, no tear streaks on his face. In all ways he looked perfectly normal. There was absolutely no visual way to tell that he had been upset. “Hmm? What do you mean Senku-chan?” His voice was clear and steady, absolutely normal in every way. But it only seemed to make Senku more suspicious.
“There's clearly something wrong, I don't know why you're trying to hide it.” He said, blase and matter of fact, as if it was so obvious anyone in the village could've figured it out.
Ryusui was honestly stunned. He was always impressed by Senku's intellect, but it was rare that young man was ever emotionally aware and this was definitely a step above that, delving into the world of some kind of magical mind reading more than anything. And he thought Gen was supposed to be the mentalist of the two.
Whether it was his analytical mind noticing the smallest details others would overlook, or just strength of the two’s bond that clued the scientist in, he couldn't tell. But it seemed it was something that happened often enough for the mentalist to become used to it.
Gen looked caught off guard for only a second before he sighed. He looked resigned once again, but in a more fond way this time. “I can never keep anything from you, can I, Senku-chan?”
“Your tricks don't work on me, mentalist. If you're tired, go and sleep. This meeting’s not that important anyway.”
“Huh!? Is Senku-chan implying I rest instead of work?!? What has the world come to?”
“Yeah yeah, you'll ten billion percent make up for it with more labor when you wake up. We still need you to help plan peace keeping contingencies for Ruri for when we’re gone. And that should probably take a few hours or days or so.”
“So rutal-bay!” He sighed dramatically, wrist placed against his head as he leaned back, Senku dragging them to their hut to go and sleep.
Ryusui felt the worry he had lingering inside slowly melt away. Perhaps he was wrong about the friends that surrounded him and how observant they actually were. As he watched Gen walk away, sleeve raised to his mouth and laughing in the distance at some remark the scientist had made that he was just a bit too far away to make out, he couldn't help but think that his friend was going to be just fine after all.