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Gen had two favorite things in the stone world that somehow managed to survive the petrification and all the hardships that the universe threw at them. Beautiful things with the need to be treasured for all eternity.
It really was ironic that his two favorite things in the world were slowly killing him.
Gen had loved flowers since he was a kid. Dozens of different species existed with many different meanings or sayings going with them. They could be small or big, or pretty yet dangerous. Gen took the time to study as many as he could, always happy to learn more about them.
Gen had also loved Senku since the minute he saw him — or more accurately — it probably started when he discovered the date Senku had carved into a tree by the cave of miracles. Senku was a bonafide genius with pretty features and a personality that challenged everything Gen had come to know about human behavior.
Either way, Gen was wholly screwed, and he knew it.
——————
Gen could remember the week he first noticed it with more clarity than any other memory he had. It was the dead of winter, and they were almost finished building the cellphone with the new year on the rise.
He had woken up with an itch in his chest that never went away. No matter how many times he discreetly coughed or cleared his throat, the itch only got worse until every cough felt like graters were crawling up his throat.
Getting sick in the stone world meant high chances of death creeping up on you if you weren’t careful. Still, Gen couldn’t help but feel like this particular wave of illness was odd. He’d been sick plenty of times before but never just had a painful cough. He didn’t have a fever or chills, nor was he sweating excessively or lightheaded. There was just a cough.
Even so, Gen decided to keep it to himself for the time being and periodically sneak some antibiotics into his system when no one was looking. After a steady week of medicine suspiciously going missing from the storage hut and no results, Gen started to worry a little.
He still didn’t bring it up, though, since he wanted to let Senku know in private. If only getting some alone time with him was easier. Gen was no stranger to pining for Senku’s attention, along with all the other villagers. He just wished Senku would spend more time with him without the manual labor involved.
Eventually, another week passed, with his cough only getting worse when he couldn’t keep his cough to himself anymore.
He was stuck making more manganese batteries with Ruri when he suddenly doubled over with a coughing fit, vaguely aware of Ruri’s concerned voice and frantic patting on his back. Once it was over, Gen had to grab her arm before she had a chance to run out and tell Senku. He assured her he was okay, that it wasn’t pneumonia and that he was sure it would go away, but the sudden change between fear and horrored realization striking Ruri’s face had him doubting even his own words. Gen was confused as to why she looked so panicked when Ruri suddenly ran up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, hauling him up and dragging him fast through the village and to her hut.
Once they arrived, she sat him down on a large throw blanket on the floor and went about the hut, grabbing items here and there and throwing them into a pot with water over a small heater Senku had built for her.
Gen was about to ask what she was doing when she abruptly turned and stalked towards him, taking his hand and examining it. Gen felt his heart leap into the ceiling when he gazed down, about to question what she was doing, when he noticed it. Blood splatters staining his palm, with his fingers wrapped tightly around small flower petals, all stained with red as well.
How had he not noticed that, and where did they come from? He couldn’t have choked them up with his coughing fit earlier… Was that even possible?
From there, Ruri proved him wrong and explained the “love curse” to him and how the condition was incurable unless the person Gen loved, acknowledged, and reciprocated the feelings he had for them. She also told him if he didn’t do it in time, then the condition would get worse and worse, starting from a few flower petals to full blossoms and then to thorns wrapping around his lungs and killing him.
Gen was stuck frozen in his spot, unable to move until Ruri brought a cup over and filled it with the stuff that was boiling in the pot. She told him it was herbs used for medicine and that it would help with the pain.
He accepted it with numb fingers.
“Gen? Are you alright?” Ruri broke the heavy silence surrounding them, sitting in front of him and taking his hand in hers.
“Please don’t tell anyone.” Gen pleaded, making Ruri squeeze his hand tighter with a sad expression.
“But we need to; otherwise, you’ll die.”
“Please.” Gen felt tears well up in his eyes. “Don’t tell him.”
“Okay,” Ruri whispered, dragging Gen froward into a hug. “I won’t say anything unless you say so. But please, promise me you won’t let this get to the point of no return.”
“Mhmm.” Gen murmured, returning the hug and burying his head in her shoulder while Ruri petted his head softly.
“You know, he’ll be really sad if you left our world too soon.” Ruri rubbed his back as Gen stiffened in her arms.
“How do you know who —”
“I can tell.” Ruri sighed, letting Gen go again so she could face him. “It’s a little obvious.”
Gen cast his gaze down to the floor. “Not obvious enough, apparently.”
“He’ll come around. He is the chief, after all.” Ruri assured.
“I hope so.”
——————
After the incident with Ruri, Gen was given a strict plan on what to do and what not to do as well as a massive box of teas and herbs he would have to brew in order to keep the pain at a manageable level. As he asked, Ruri didn’t say anything to anyone.
Weeks passed, and more and more petals started being choked up from Gen’s lungs, giving him a nice collection that he buried by the river in the dead of night. Senku’s birthday had already passed, leaving Gen even more miserable afterward.
The observatory was meant to be a discrete sort of confession to Senku, which backfired hard on him when Senku never reciprocated after. Sure, a hearty conversation about cringeyness was achieved but nothing else.
He still vomited petals that night and the next after that.
——————
A few more months passed down the line, and they had somehow beat Tsukasa’s army and joined up with the Empire of Might.
Gen had no idea how they even managed their Lillian Weinberg trick when his throat had been more than roughed up already; with the included, usual two-day sprint he did between kingdoms in less than two hours.
Though Ukyo did end up seeing through him — the man had ears like a hawk, so Gen didn’t count it.
Now they were building a ship to cross the ocean and find the source of the green light that petrified the whole world. They had revived Ryusui, and with the shipbuilder’s knowledge, they were able to get really serious in the building process.
It wasn’t long before all the weaker people who couldn’t work on the ship were ordered to help with the farms and such back in Ishigami village. Gen had unfortunately been one of them, and if he spent the whole night vomiting blood and petals in his old hut, miles away from the one he loved, then, that was nobody’s business.
The days passed, and Gen’s condition steadily grew worse. More and more petals were regurgitated up, and it was getting harder to hide them all from prying eyes. His throat ached all day, too, except for the few hours of short relief that he got when he drank the medicine tea Ruri provided him.
Speaking of the priestess, Ruri was still the only person who knew about his condition and would occasionally pull him aside for a few hours, with brewed medicine tea waiting and talk to him about how he was holding up. Gen didn’t know whether he was more grateful for her kindness or silence. Both were painstakingly aware that Ruri could go off and spill Gen’s secret to the rest of the science kingdom, but she never did.
Their meetings were held in secret every time with Ruri explaining the different phases he slowly grew into as she made him eat all sorts of herbed drinks to help. Each time Ruri never failed to bring up the notion of just telling Senku and saving his life, but Gen refused. He was screwed anyway if Senku didn’t reciprocate. He wouldn’t be able to bear if Senku knew Gen was dying because of him.
In the last phase, Gen was instructed to brew a special kind of tea that would be more of a poison meant to help him. If he drank too much, he’d get seizures, so only a cup was necessary. It was practically just a numbing tea to drown out the pain he’d feel.
Gen accepted the recipe with a grimace for what was to come.
It was at their last meeting that Ruri told him she had an estimate for how much longer he had left.
Till the end of the year.
Gen honestly expected that.
To the average human eye, it wasn’t hard to tell that something was wrong with him. With the way he disappeared and kept to himself most of the day and how he always had to put in a lot of effort just to manipulate his voice to sound normal. Not to mention the flowery scent that followed him like a puffed-up cloud. Gen was sure that someone could probably smell him from at least 5 meters away, which was proven right when Minami asked him one day where he got the strong flowery perfume she thought he was wearing. Gen couldn’t tell whether he wanted to laugh or cry at the question.
He ended up telling her a fake soap routine where all she had to do was rub the flowers she wanted to smell like on her skin as she bathed. She, too, gained a new flower scent.
——————
Another agonizing week passed when a phone call from Senku came through their stone world phones directed to him. Gen nearly skipped over to answer it, hoping beyond hope that Senku had somehow found out about his condition and was going to ask him to come back to the shipyards so they could be together. But no, he was just tasked with more work of manipulating Minami into getting the last of the revival fluid so they could revive Ryusui’s butler.
And he did, of course. Despite the disappointment and amplified aching he felt, he still completed his job.
That was when he was met with a fork in the road. They had revived Francois, and she was needed back at the shipyard, but having just been revived, she wouldn’t have known where to go.
So in the split moment decision, Gen decided to haul out with Francois to the shipyard. His condition was only more painful, being forced to stay away from Senku anyway. At least with his last year, he’d be closer to him.
Francois was something else too. Not even half an hour into their hurried walk to the shipyards, did she look him up and down and ask who it was that was causing him pain. For a second, Gen was reminded of an overprotective mother trying to defend her kid. He didn’t even try to deny her; instead, he shrugged and blew away a few stray petals that had come out of his throat. It was silent between them for a while, before Gen needed to take a break. Francois agreed and helped him sit down against a large tree as Gen coughed up a few dozen more petals. When it was over, Francois shuffled over and took Gen’s face in her hands, using a cloth to wipe around his mouth where blood had stained across his lips.
The gesture made tears gather in Gen’s eyes, and before he knew it, he was spilling everything to her. How Ruri estimated he only had the year left. How the pain would only get worse till his demise unless he confessed to the person he had fallen for. How the only cure was a kiss from the person, he held so dearly in his heart that he would die.
As tears tracked his face, he explained to the silent butler how the person he had fallen for, had no interest in love or romance and was strictly into his work. How Gen was sure, he’d get rejected because there was no room in that person’s life for him to make a commitment.
Gen finished his rant soon after, taking a few more heaving breaths before staying silent and regaining himself. Francois never said a word, instead, patting him on the shoulder and head, silently offering her services any way she could.
All Gen asked of her was to keep this between them.
They took a few more minutes of silence and rest before getting up and walking again. The breaks repeated a few times, each with a worsening cough, but nothing was said about it.
Gen knew the minute they arrived at the shipyard, and Francois met with Senku that she could already tell he was the one. It also didn’t take her long to figure out where Senku’s priorities and preferences were. Gen was glad she took their vow of silence seriously and never uttered a word about his short breakdown.
And if a few days later, Francois entered his hut with a steaming mug of medicine tea, obviously having got the recipe from Ruri, then they still didn’t say anything about it.
——————
Gen quickly came to realize just how much work was being done at the shipyards. Apparently, breaks were a well-wanted pleasure, and finally, Senku relented and let them have one in the form of a big party Ryusui put together. For once, Gen joined the big group instead of staying in his hut for the night. He intended to have a good time whether his condition worsened with it or not. He was already almost out of time. What more harm could it do?
Drinks were going fast, and people were getting more excited and less aware of themselves as the night went on. They were all sitting by the campfire and teaching the non-modern people what truth or dare was when his condition delved into something worse.
Gen couldn’t exactly remember how they got to the topic of love, but all of a sudden, it was Senku’s turn, and he had picked truth.
“Truth. Will you ever honestly let yourself fall for the likes of love, Senku?” Yo wiggled his one eyebrow that wasn’t covered in a stone husk at Senku, who took no time in answering.
“No. Never have and never will.”
The effect was instantaneous. Gen’s chest started burning from the inside like molten lava, and he could feel something large try and shove itself up his esophagus as needles were jammed into his lungs. Gen foolishly thought he actually would’ve been able to withstand it and hold out until the end of the party; until Senku decided to elaborate.
“Love is pointless and illogical. I don’t need it distracting me.”
That was it — the breaking point.
After a few more seconds of using every last will of his strength to continue looking normal, Gen got up with a silent excuse that he was turning in for the night and made his way back to his hut. Blood was rushing up into his mouth, and it was a miracle he wasn’t gagging at the horrible taste.
The second Gen knew he was out of plain sight, he took off and sprinted as fast as he could towards his hut. The second he entered, he slammed the door behind him and collapsed to his hands and knees, letting the flow of blood and flowers stream out of his mouth onto the floor.
He didn’t even try to make it to the bucket he had stored in the corner, just letting everything out in front of him.
He was in the final stage. The worst part was that he didn’t even have the heart to throw away the flowers he threw up. He just let them sit on a table, still covered in saliva and blood, as a constant reminder of his death sentence.
Tears started gathering in Gen’s eyes. The pain was too much to bear anymore. Gen wanted it to finally end.
So he did the only rational thing that came to mind. He cried.
Rubbed his hands furiously over his eyes to get it to stop, yet they never end. Gen slammed the table in frustration just as a heavy and painful cough erupted from his throat. It hurt and stung, and he could practically feel the vines wrapping around his lungs, pressing it’s thorn’s painfully into any area it could get. More blood splattered onto the floor as he choked up blossom after blossom after blossom of flowers.
Gen’s mind was fuzzy, and his vision blurry from the tears staining his cheeks. He was screaming and choking on every cough that escaped from him as he continued to sob. Gen knew there was no way no one couldn’t hear him, but he didn’t care, nor did he even bother to try and stop. His mind narrowed down to the pain suffocating him. This is it, he thought. He was going to die alone and in pain, and the thought just makes him cry harder.
Eventually, the dizziness from the lack of air became too much, and Gen collapsed face-first into the floor. Every breath that wheezed out of him was like glass cutting up his insides, and he no longer had the strength to even wipe the blood dribbling out of his mouth like a leaky faucet.
Finally, the process started to end as a numbing feeling started washing over him. His eyelids suddenly felt heavy as lead, and it was hard keeping them open. Gen was only vaguely aware of a sudden crash near him and heavy footfalls coming right for him before a familiar figure moved his aching body to face them.
The familiar anti-gravity leak hair and piercing red eyes, almost made the pain come back for another round.
“Shit, shit, shit! Why didn’t you say anything!?” Senku cursed, scooping the pale mentalist into his lap and away from the blood puddle on the floor. Flowers were everywhere just like Francois had explained, when she dragged him over to Gen’s hut, going on about a “love curse.” Senku stopped paying attention once he heard the loud sobbing and coughing coming from inside the hut.
“I’m sorry, mentalist. Shit, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking, and I didn’t realize and —” Senku felt his own face pale when Gen’s eyes slipped closed. Not like this, Senku thought.
“No, no! Listen to me, I was lying ok? At the bonfire, I - I do need love, and I want to experience it, but I just didn’t want to say it, alright!” Senku shook Gen vigorously, holding his head on top of his chest, hoping beyond all odds that he wasn’t too late. Senku’s own heart drop when he couldn’t find any rhythm in Gen’s chest.
“Shit, come on. I need — I need you, mentalist!” Senku racked his brain for something to do. Gen was bleeding out from the inside with a disease Senku wasn’t familiar with; besides the meager explanation, he got in a hurry. “I want to spend more time with you and show you the crazy things I plan to do.”
“I need you, please.” Tears gathered in Senku’s eyes as Gen’s ashy complexion never changed. “Gen come back to me.”
Suddenly Francois’s words echoed back at him, and Senku cursed himself in multiple languages for forgetting in the panic. Gen needed an act of true love from the person he loved in order to survive. Without hesitation, Senu surged forward and planted his lips against Gen’s. He kept it up until he needed to separate for air, feeling despair wash over him when Gen never reacted.
“I love — love the way your ideals align with mine and that you can adapt to any situation so fast and not falter no matter what. I think it’s amazing how you can walk into any disaster with a smile on your face.” Senku whispered in Gen’s hair as he kissed him again. He’d never forgive himself if Gen didn’t walk away from this, and Senku damned his pride if he wasn’t going to admit everything now. “I love that you’re a complete mystery and challenge all wrapped in one beautiful body. I love the way you can diffuse or worsen a situation depending on your needs so effortlessly and the fact that you always test me gets me so excited —”
“Senku-chan.” A cracked voice interrupted him, making Senku stop immediately and pull back quickly, meeting Gen’s soft half-lidded eyes staring at him. Senku couldn’t move, even as Gen’s hand slowly came up and wiped the tears falling out of Senku’s eyes. “It stopped.”
Now Senku was the one that couldn’t breathe, but it was more out of shock. “Are - are you alright?” His voice quivered slightly as he asked.
“I think so?” Gen shakily moved to sit up a bit, wincing at every pull of his muscles but alive.
Somehow Gen blessedly came back to life, and Senku couldn’t have been more relieved.
Snapping out of his stupor, Senku stopped Gen’s efforts to pull himself up and carried him over to the clean bed while dropping a towel on the floor and haphazardly cleaning the blood a bit. Once Gen was settled, Senku walked on shaky legs over to a table and grabbed a pitcher of water and a cup for Gen to drink. Gen accepted it with a nod and started drinking as Senku busied himself with cleaning the rest of the floor.
When he finished, he dragged the towel to the corner of the room and let it sit by the door to dispose of later. From there, he walked back to the bed, where a noticeable tinge of red was blushed over Gen’s cheeks. After worriedly checking his temperature, Senku concluded it was more out of embarrassment than a fever. That was good. Senku wouldn’t have been able to handle two heart attacks in one night.
“You should’ve said something.” Senku broke the silence between after he sat next to Gen on the bed.
“Me?” Gen sputtered. “What about you?! Spreading all your lies.” Gen jabbed his finger into Senku’s shoulder.
Senku reeled at the sudden outburst. “That’s hardly my fault!”
“How is it not your fault?!” Gen nearly yelled back, his voice breaking a bit at the end. It seemed his throat still needed time to recover fully.
Senku felt his own cheeks redden as he tried to explain. “I was - it wasn’t - agh! I was embarrassed to admit it!”
“More lies!” Gen accused. “Senku-chan never gets embarrassed about anything!”
“He’s also not supposed to fall in love!” Senku groaned. “I’m bringing the world back and going to space. I can’t give you my full attention every day or a house with a wooden fence.”
“Idiot, Senku-chan.” Gen pouted, flicking Senku’s forehead. “I know, and I don’t care.” Gen punctuated every word, making sure Senku got the message. “Besides, whoever said I was looking for a quiet life when I get old?”
Senku lowered his head and suddenly bored his vision into Gen’s blankets. “It’s the normal thing everyone wants…”
“You really expect me to want that after seeing all the insane things you can do and accomplish?” Gen’s voice lowered back to normal as he took Senku’s hand in his own. “I’ll go wherever you go, Senku-chan, because I’m happiest when you’re next to me.” Gen smiled softly as he leaned on Senku’s shoulder, letting a yawn escape.
“You should rest.” Senku sighed, lowering them both further down into the bed while Gen hummed.
“That’s the idea.”
“Still, a little warning that you were dying would’ve been nice,” Senku added, pulling a stray blanket over them both.
“Oh Senku-chan, would you have honestly told me you felt the same, had I confessed?”
“Had you told me the truth, I would’ve done anything to save you,” Senku stated, matter of factly.
“Would you have kissed me with love or just with the need to save my life?” Gen asked, leaving Senku frozen and silent. “Exactly.” Gen chuckled softly. “As much as I would have loved the kissing practice, it would’ve been futile.”
“Guess I’ll have to add this to the new world’s diseases,” Senku muttered, suddenly wondering what other viruses were out there.
“You’ll have to ask Ruri for the specifics then, I’m too tired to tell you now.” Gen murmured back, about to close his eyes when Senku abruptly sat up.
“Smallpox too. It was eradicated, but the labs it was being held in are gone now, not to mention the hundreds of other diseases they kept safe from human contact.” Senku started babbling with the telltale signs that he was going to spend the next few hours in the lab.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Gen snagged Senku’s tunic and pulled him back onto the bed, using his own weight to hold onto him and pin him there. “We just poured our hearts out to each other. I’m getting the past nine months’ worth of suffering paid back in full.”
“Fine.” Senku sighed with a smile on his face. “Sheesh, you’re so needy.”
“Oh, get used to it.” Gen giggled, letting his eyes fall closed.
“I already am mentalist.”
From there, they both stayed silent, letting the panic from earlier, drain itself from their systems. Senku was about to throw his pride to the dogs again and admit three more cringey words when a soft snore stopped him in his tracks. Senku tilted his head a little and looked at Gen’s content sleeping face, completely void of the pain he had seen him in an hour before.
Tomorrow, they would talk more and figure out what to really do. Maybe even tell everyone what had transpired as a weird way of getting together. Senku already knows Taiju and Yuzuriha will be more than ecstatic that he finally managed to get together with his crush.
Senku smiled wider as he snuggled under the blankets as well and held Gen firmly against his chest, not missing the delighted purr Gen let out in his sleep. Senku closed his eyes and pressed a kiss to Gen's forehead before burying his face into Gen’s hair, letting sleep and contentedness wash over him.
Maybe love wasn’t so bad after all.