Chapter Text
Senku would never confess to eavesdropping on Gen's conversations. Not ever. He was casually meandering through Ishigami Village's nearby forest with his pinky stuck inside his ear when he just so happened to hear a voice, and decided to go check it out. That was all.
"1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a thumb war! 5, 6, 7, 8, try to keep your thumb straight!"
He would also never confess to spying on Gen playing a thumb war game against Suika either, because he wasn't spying. No. He was... observing from afar, gathering information. The information in question being the result of the match.
In reality, Senku was bored out of his mind as he waited for Kaseki to finish making a new Claisen flask for distillation, since Kohaku broke the previous one. He wanted to see how the game played out more than anything else at the moment. Besides, Gen was there. The thought of him losing to a kid was delightful to imagine, and yet, he forced himself to use logic.
Under normal circumstances, there was a 50/50 chance of either participant winning. These, however, were not normal circumstances. Suika was a kid, and Gen was not. It didn’t take a genius like himself to spot how unfair the game was. Senku was 10 billion percent certain that Gen would win this. Either way, Senku felt inclined to make an assumption that he called probability: Gen would most likely lose if he were to finger wrestle against another adult.
The scientist crossed his arms from the commodity of his hiding spot, a tree some meters away, and watched their epic battle unfold.
Credit where credit was due, Suika gave it her all in those couple of seconds, and yet her fate was inevitable, she couldn't do anything more than accept the capture of her tiny thumb, pressed under the reign of that evil, cheating mentalist's finger.
The bastard even went on as to slowly chant his glorious victory. "One... two... three... four. I win the thumb war!"
"No fair. Again!" Suika begged to no avail.
The mentalist did fake consideration, but ended up shaking his head with that irritating smile plastered on his face. "I can't do that~ you see, I haven't lost a single thumb war match, not ever! It's impossible for you to beat me! But now that you know how the game works, you can go play with the other kids! Who knows, perhaps you'll win against them~"
Senku scoffed. That lying weasel. There was no way in hell he never lost a thumb war with those pretty, unworked hands of his.
"Can I... play this with Mirai-chan?"
Gen's stare softened, and nodded, placing his hand on top of her melon helmet. "Of course! She loves new things, doesn't she? Why don't you go right now?"
Suika smiled and nodded. "I'm off!" she announced, and before the mentalist could mutter a response, she was gone.
"Bye bye~" he ended up saying, even if no one was listening. Well, he was, but Gen didn't know that.
Gen stood up after a few seconds passed, smoothing his overcoat, slightly tapping on it to get rid of the excess dirt.
Right. Senku was aware that this was getting borderline creepy and figured that perhaps hiding behind a tree was not the best idea. But why did he hide? He could have approached them and watched their match right by their side. Oh well. He had to go and complicate things for himself, didn't he?
Senku wished to take one final look of Gen before he went back to see the current progress of the flask but then realized he was nowhere to be seen. As a frown reached his brows, he began to scan the area.
"Hello Senku-chan~"
Trying to ignore the fact that he was almost startled to death, causing him to nearly jump in place, Senku cleared his throat as he felt his heartbeat raising, pounding rapidly against his chest. He turned around, already knowing who he'd see.
There he was. Asagiri Gen, standing right in front of him, with his hands tucked inside his sleeves and that infuriating smile drawn onto his skin.
Senku mimicked him and smiled back, chuckling softly. "You sneaky mentalist. How did you know I was here?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets..." he answered, his grin stretching while his eyes sparkled with mischief.
There was something infectious about Gen’s facial expressions and the way they always seemed to shift from one emotion to another. Senku found himself mirroring the man facing him.
"Nor loses a thumb war either, or so I've heard."
There it was. That shift. Gen's face shifted, exuding an entirely different aura. His complexion lit up with amusement disguised as shyness. His eyes closed in preparation for his laughter, pressing a hand against his mouth as the sound left his lips. Even when extremely annoyed by his theatrics of playing dumb to his own lies, Senku still considered Asagiri Gen to be a very beautiful man, strictly coming from an analytical point of view.
"I see, I see~ so you've heard of yet another personal forte of mine..."
Senku had no intention to boost his egocentric nature any further. "A rudimentary polygraph could work nicely for my next invention. That way, you wouldn't feel so comfortable spitting lies left and right."
Gen froze in place, his once joyful demeanor turning into blatant confusion. "Whatever do you mean, Senku-chan?"
It was virtually impossible for Senku not to roll his eyes and scoff, staring at the man that once made Magma believe he was a sorcerer that came to stop lightning barely using a bunch of flowers.
"That I don't believe you. How many matches have you played?"
Gen pursed his lips as his gaze flicked away for just a moment. Senku’s eyes, however, dared to venture slower, stopping once his mouth was visible. It was a brief detour, but it lasted longer than it should have. Gen's lips caught the faintest sheen of moisture when his tongue peeked through, pressing them together in thought. That detail made his fingers tingle with excitement, that same feeling he got whenever he was about to use science for a huge breakthrough. He reminded himself it was just a quick detour, nothing more.
"Uhm..." Senku's attention immediately darted upwards, not before taking one final fleeting glimpse of Gen's mouth. "I used to play it all the time when I was a kid, so... more than fifty? Maybe a undredhay!"
"And you haven't lost once."
He nodded, that cheeky smirk of his turning unbearable. "Correct~"
"I don't believe you."
"You said that already!" Gen whined, but then, as some seconds passed, his expression morphed into something more sinister. "You seem particularly interested in this, Senku-chan. Could it be...? Hmm. I wonder..."
Senku was not in the mood for what he referred to as a merry-go-round attitude. He appreciated straightforwardness when talking to someone.
He crossed his arms, his patience thinning. "Spit it, mentalist."
Gen tapped his index against his lower lip, his smile completely undisturbed. "Perhaps you're bad at thumb wars? Fufu."
Senku was doing his best not to react at that, since he knew damn well that watching people losing it was Gen's equivalent to O2, he wouldn't give him the benefit of witnessing his emotional demise. "Huh? Are you dumb? Of course I'm not."
Gen took a step forward, his movements so effortless and fluid that if Senku didn’t know any better, he’d think the guy was floating. With a characteristic dramatic flourish, Gen pulled one hand free from his oversized sleeves, fingers flexing in invitation.
"Then how about you play with me? If I win, you owe me a cola."
It wasn't something he has never asked for before. It was doable. Either way, he sighed, his hand placed at the back of his head. "Fine. And if I win?"
He shrugged. "What do you want me to do for you, Senku-chan?" he asked in a tone of voice that was almost teasing, and sweet.
The question, however, felt like a sudden electric potential discharge sending a quick shiver through his spine that spread to the entirety of his body. Out of ten billion possibilities that came to mind, only one would actually satisfy him.
"Senku-chan? Are you feeling alright? Your face has gone red..."
Because he had imagined himself kissing Gen.
That has never happened before. Not ever. Not even with girls.
Interesting.
Senku forced himself to shake it off, masking his emotions behind his best neutral expression.
"If I win, you'll help me in the lab for a week without complaining."
Gen gasped dramatically. "Eh? But that's way more demanding than what I asked for!"
Senku offered him a challenging smirk. "If you've never lost a single match as you say, I cannot see why I should go easy with my reward..."
"Senku! The flask is done!" called Kohaku in the distance, probably hoping that he would hear her powerful gorilla voice.
He was about to wave goodbye to Gen when he caught the moment his smile stretched as he leaned in just enough to test the space between them. "That’s some big talk. Don’t disappoint me," his fingers brushed against Senku’s wrist as he moved past him. "After all, I only side with winners. Let's play later, when you're less busy. Bye bye, Senku-chan~"
Senku watched Gen walk away as tingles burned on the spot where his touch had grazed. His gaze moved down to his wrist, and chuckled.
So this is what a crush feels like.