(one-sided sengen mentioned)
“You’ve been acting strange ever since you returned from your last trip with Gen,” Kohaku casually noted during one of their runs, which had become part of their routine in the new world they lived in.
Whenever Tsukasa was back in Japan, he would join Kohaku and Hyoga on their morning runs, with Homura and Kirisame joining in occasionally.
It was nice. It helped Tsukasa relax after months away, either working on keeping vulnerable areas safe while reconstruction took place, or working as Gen’s bodyguard whenever he went on diplomatic missions to tense territories.
It wasn’t the life that he would have chosen, but at least that way, he felt that he could atone for his previous crimes, especially when it seemed that neither the new government nor the so-called justice system seemed particularly interested to put him, Hyoga or even Xeno to trial.
It should have been a relief, Tsukasa had the chance to watch Mirai grow and live a normal live like he always wanted, but he wasn’t oblivious to the fact that the only reason that was happening was because he was more “useful” as an ally.
What would happen once his and Hyoga’s strength or Xeno’s intellect weren’t needed anymore?
/“Then you will settle down in a nice cottage, or something, and enjoy your well-deserved retirement,” Gen had said during one of those late night snacks they often shared while away.
“Hm, I never took you for such an optimist,” Tsukasa had hummed, earning a laugh from the mentalist.
“Neither did I, I admit. But… things are different now,” he said, a soft smile playing in his lips for a moment. “And besides, you’re friends with humanity’s hero, Doctor Stone! Not to mention that Ryusui-chan could easily finance your way out of any trouble~.”
“Thought you said things were different now.”
“Oh, Tsukasa-chan, you’re so innocent~,” Gen teased him but it wasn’t with any malice.
In fact, his reasoning helped to appease him. After all, he knew that whatever it happened, he wasn’t alone anymore./
“The bat probably got to his brain,” Hyoga accurately pointed out, making Kohaku give him one of her catlike grins.
“Oh~, so that’s how it is.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Hyoga frowned but, judging by the embarrassed look on Tsukasa’s face, maybe he should have. “Are you serious?”
“I knew you two had gotten close!” Kohaku continued, completely ignoring Hyoga’s disgust. “Have you told him yet?”
“Of course not, he obviously has a thing for Senku.”
“Hah! Who doesn’t?” Kohaku laughed, and Tsukasa had a hard time telling if she was being serious or just saying it to make Hyoga’s disgusted frown even worse.
He thought that the topic was over when the conversation stirred into a different one.
“Oh, are you visiting Senku?” Kohaku asked when she spotted Gen at the labs centre.
“Yeah! I thought I could stop by and say ‘hi’ to Senku-chan and the others.”
“Oh, yeah! I bet they will be all happy to see you. Say, what are you doing later?”
“I think Senku-chan wanted me to see something—“
“Because Tsukasa needs someone to accompany him to the cinema!” Kohaku exclaimed.
“Huh?” Gen turned to Tsukasa then, clearly curious about what was going on.
“I… I bought an extra ticket thinking Mirai would want to come but she’s busy with her work today,” the man hesitantly explained. It wasn’t a lie, but he didn’t tell Kohaku about it so she could do /that/. “But you don’t have to come if you’re busy.”
“I’m sure whatever awful job Senku-chan has waiting for me can wait. What are we watching?” Gen smiled at him, making Tsukasa feel the troublesome butterflies in his stomach again, the one he had grown fairly used to by now.
Once they finished discussing the details of their outing and Gen left to the lab, he turned to Kohaku to reprimand her for setting him up like that.
However, she simply gave him a proud grin along with a thumbs up and a “You’re welcome!” before she left to greet Suika and the others.
Tsukasa sighed in resignation.
This didn’t sit right with him. Even if they never once mentioned that it was a date, because it wasn’t, he still felt like he was getting in the way of something that was meant to happen sooner or later.
“Why haven’t you told Gen how you feel?”
One minute Senku was telling him about his current experiment, and the next second those dreaded words were coming out of his mouth.
They were currently the only ones in the lab and their friendship had certainly strengthened over time, but that didn’t mean he could intrude like that.
In fact, he didn’t want to be the one to give them that final push. After all, a part of him didn’t want it to ever happen. But they were his friends and he did wish them happiness, specially after everything they had done for the world and for him.
Tsukasa stayed silent for a solid minute.
“Yeah, yeah…. Taiju and Yuzuriha were surprised too. I just thought it was the most efficient way to get over with it,” Senku explained as he picked his ear.
“But… why?” It didn’t make sense. “Does he like someone else?”
Was Gen already seeing someone? When did that even happened? How could he have possibly missed that?
“Isn’t it considered rude to ask someone about their crush’s crush?” Senku asked, interrupting his line of though.
“A-ah… Sorry, you’re right.”
The scientist rolled his eyes.
“I’m just messing with you, I had time to get over it.”
Just how long ago did this happen?!
“So… if he ever decided to date someone. I would support him. It’s the least I could do,” Senku added then, making him blink in confusion.
“That’s saying something considering you saved us all.”
“Yeah, Gen said something like that too,” Senku snickered.
And yet, he still rejected Senku.
“If you’re so curious about what the mentalist was thinking, ask him directly. At this point, you should already know that it’s nearly impossible to figure it out on your own.”
As usual, Senku made a good point.
The problem was that Tsukasa, perhaps for the first time in his life (or at least in a long time), felt what it was like to be a coward.
He wanted to know the answer but at the same time he didn’t. Besides, he was sure that if he asked, Gen would figure him out as well and then… Then what?
Gen still acted the same as usual around Senku, nothing has changed between them. In fact, no one seemed to have noticed that something happened in the first place.
Why couldn’t he just follow Senku’s example and “get over with it”?
“What’s wrong, Tsukasa-chan?” Gen asked him, not for the first time reading him like an open book.
“Who says there is something wrong?”
“Well, something is clearly bothering you to be making that face,” Gen patiently pointed out. “Do I need to have a little chat with someone who said something out of line?”
Gen could be terrifying too.
Tsukasa never had to ask Gen to do that whenever someone badmouthed him or reasonably pointed out he didn’t deserve to walk freely around the streets like he did. In fact, he would have never found out of Gen’s little “interventions” if it wasn’t for the fact that Ukyo once accidentally mentioned it.
Sufficient to say, once it happened, it never happened again.
“No, it’s nothing like that,” he assured the mentalist, who eyed him in suspicion before taking a sip from his tea. “I was just… wondering… if you were dating someone,” he finally said, even if it was looking down at the table and his probably cold tea.
“Oh? Need dating advice, Tsukasa-chan~?”
“Something like that,” he admitted, finally daring to look up to the mentalist, only to find him frozen in his seat. “Gen?”
“Ah… sorry Tsukasa-chan, I guess you took me a little by surprise. Are you sure you want little ol’ me giving you love advice? I’m single myself, you know?”
Was Gen just crushing on someone and having trouble confessing as well?
“Well… yeah…” Gen laughed awkwardly. “When would I even have time for that if I’m always traveling?”
“I’m sure you would manage,” Gen could easily charm anyone after all, “and they would surely understand if you needed it to be long distance most of time.”
Tsukasa felt himself blush, thinking for a moment Gen was actually asking him out.
“Make it work if it was long distance most of the time?”
“Ah… I think I would, if they were the right person.”
He would surely do it for Gen.
“If? Don’t you have someone you like already?” Gen asked, tilting his head in confusion.
Tsukasa held back a sigh. It would be easier to come out clean at this point.
“I do but… I don’t believe it’s requited.”
“Well… up until recently, I was certain they had a crush on Senku,” he slowly admitted, leaving it up to Gen to tie up loose ends.
“Senku-chan?” Gen repeated. “And how did you confirm that wasn’t the case, did you ask them…? No, you asked Senku-chan, didn’t you?”
“Yes… I did,” Tsukasa confirmed.
“Wow… they must make you really nervous,” Gen said as he took in that new piece of information.
“Something like that… I’m usually able to relax around them.”
“So I’m guessing you’re close,” Tsukasa nodded. “But it clearly isn’t Senku-chan, and I have a feeling neither is Kohaku-chan nor Hyoga-chan.”
“They’re not,” he confirmed, dreading the way Gen stared at him as he pointed towards himself.
“Could it be that is me?”
“What if it is you?” That was practically a confirmation at this point, and Gen must have realized it as well from the way he smiled at him.
“Then I would be happy because I wouldn’t have a reason to get jealous,” he said, laughing at the look on Tsukasa’s face.
“To be honest, I thought that awkward invite to the cinema was you asking me out on a date.”
“So when I asked you for love advice…”
“…I was devastated,” Gen sighed dramatically, making him laugh.
However, even if he knew Gen mostly meant it as a joke, he could also tell there was some truth behind it.
Perhaps he could learn to read the mentalist after all.