Chapter Text
“You know, if my own son won’t come watch my interview after all these months apart, then the show's ratings are doomed!”
Senku glanced up from his book, treating his pouting father to an unimpressed look. “Because I’m unquestionably the target audience for a science-free puff-piece about a mission that I’m already intimately familiar with.”
“How can you be so sure that the interview was science free? Maybe I revealed some crazy new mission specs for my adoring fans,” Byakuya countered, his pout giving way to a teasing grin.
Senku closed his book with a snap, a smirk spreading across his face. “Because late-night talk show audiences are famously enthralled by research proposals. Tell me, which got them more excited: the plans for the cold atom laboratory or the next phase of the antimicrobial research?”
“The cold atom laboratory, of course,” Byakuya replied, his grin broadening. “They’ve been obsessed with that since it was first announced!"
“Well, one fan has, but he’d prefer to hear about it in a one-on-one environment where he can ask lots of questions,” Senku conceded, his expression softening. That softness only lasted for a moment, though. It was almost immediately replaced by mischief. “Or should I just write my question down and you can pass them on to the real scientists when you get back to NASA?”
Byakuya let out a bark of laughter. “Hey, have some faith in your old man! I’ve been studying hard to impress Professor Senku! Plus I do have to actually operate it, you know. Assuming they launch the damn thing before I get up there.”
“Has there been another delay?”
Byakuya shook his head, amused by the genuine fear in his son’s voice. “Nope! As of two days ago, it was still scheduled to go up on the next launch. I don’t see that changing since they already took the time to get it all packed up.”
“They did?” Senku asked, his eyes lighting up.
“They did,” Byakuya said, pulling out his phone and holding it up, his expression turning devious. “I got to see them do it, too. I even have pictures and video footage of the whole process just in case you want to see it.”
“You’ve been holding out on me!” Senku exclaimed, reaching for the phone, pouting when Byakuya pulled it away.
“Slow down, Genius!” Byakuya laughed. “There’s no need to rush. You’ve got me and my phone at your disposal for the whole week!”
Before Senku could reply, the green room’s door opened, admitting a young woman with an anxious expression. She immediately rushed to the room’s refrigerator, pulling it open, scanning the shelves. After a few seconds, her shoulders slumped in defeat. She quietly closed the fridge and made her way over to the nearby cupboards, opening them one after the other, her expression growing ever more resigned.
Byakuya watched this display with mounting concern. When the woman reached the last cupboard with no sign of relief, he spoke up, “Excuse me, Nakamura-san, is everything alright?”
The woman spun around, her eyes widening. “Ishigami-sama! I- I didn’t realize- Please don’t trouble yourself! Everything’s fine!”
Byakuya glanced at Senku, giving his son a questioning look, earning a small nod of approval. With permission granted, Byakuya turned his attention back to the young woman, giving her a wide grin. “Hey, can I tell you a secret?”
“A secret?” she asked, clearly startled by the question.
Byakuya’s grin widened as he stepped closer, lowering his voice to dramatically whisper, “One of my favorite things in the world is solving other people’s problems. Makes me feel like a superhero! Will you make my night and let me see if I can help?”
The woman let out a surprised giggled, her anxious expression softening. “I truly don’t wish to trouble you. I know that you were looking forward to dinner with your son.”
“Don't worry about that! The restaurant doesn’t close until well after midnight. We have plenty of time to help you and eat our weight in ramen!”
The woman pursed her lips, glancing between Byakuya, Senku, and the green room’s door. After a few seconds, she sighed and confessed, “It’s one of our guests.”
“Is someone causing you trouble?” Byakuya asked, all signs of playfulness vanishing.
“What? Oh no, he’s been lovely!” the woman gasped, holding up her hands, palms facing outwards in a placating gesture. “It’s just, well, before he went on stage I asked if I could get him anything and he said that he’d love it if I could have a cola waiting for him. Usually that wouldn’t be a problem. We keep a full stock of refreshments for our honored guests, but it seems like we’re somehow completely out of cola.”
“Well that’s not a big deal. I can run to the store for you,” Byakuya offered.
“If only it were that simple,” the woman sighed. “The closest convenience store is a 15-minute walk away. Even if you called for a taxi, you’d be hard pressed to make it there and back before filming is over.”
“How much time do we have?” Byakuya asked.
The woman glanced at her watch. “About 25 minutes.”
Byakuya winced. “Not much time, huh?”
“No,” she sighed, giving him a pained smile. “Unless you know how to make a cola magically appear, I’m afraid that I’ll simply have to apologize for not checking our supplies sooner and see if another drink will suffice."
“Make a cola appear?” Byakuya muttered, his expression turning thoughtful as he shot a glance toward his son, unsurprised to find Senku’s eyes glued to his phone, his fingers zooming across the screen. The determined look on his son’s face made Byakuya’s grin return at full force as he turned his attention back to the desperate woman. “I can’t magic up a cola for you, but my son and I can make one!”
“You- you can?”
“Of course we can! I’m an astronaut! We’re experts at solving problems with science! So don’t worry! Just leave it to us! Your cola will be ready by the time the show is over!”
The woman’s face lit up, her eyes shining with gratitude. Then she gave Byakuya a low bow. “Oh, thank you so much! I am forever in your debt.”
“Please, don’t worry about it. I’m just happy to help,” Byakuya assured her, waving her out of the green room’s door with a smile. Once she was gone, he turned back to his son. “Set me straight here: I didn’t just lie to that nice lady, right?”
“You 10 billion percent did,” Senku replied, making Byakuya’s heart sink. “You’re not making her anything. I - on the other hand - have this covered.”
“Well, I’ll be helping. That counts for something, right?”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Old Man,” Senku laughed, getting up from his seat. “Luckily we have everything we need right here!”
Byakuya watched as Senku moved over to the crafts table, grabbed a plate, and started gathering a seemingly random assortment of items. As he worked, he called over his shoulder, “See if there’s a hot plate in those cupboards. I can make due with the microwave or the coffee maker’s heating element, but this will go way better if I can actually control the temperature.”
“On it!” Byakuya replied, rushing over to the cupboards and beginning his search.
Twenty-five minutes later, the father-and-son duo were on their way to dinner and a tall glass of homemade cola was sitting on the green room’s counter along with a note reading: “For Nakamura-san! Enjoy!”
Asagiri Gen entered his dressing room with a sigh, letting his showman’s smile vanish from his face. He leaned back against the room’s door, closing his eyes, taking a moment to bask in the silence and just breath. As his racing heart began to slow, he opened his eyes, stared up at the room’s ceiling, and started to quietly speak to himself. “It’s all out of your control now, Gen, which means that there’s no point stressing about it anymore. Focus on the things you can be proud of. You had good chemistry with your co-star. You nailed every trick and every line. No one sane could ask for more.”
A knock at the dressing room door brought a sudden end to Gen’s self-directed pep talk. He immediately plastered on his showman’s grin and opened the door, smiling at the young woman standing there. “Nakamura-san! To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I have the cola you requested, Asagiri-sama,” the young woman replied, holding out a glass of dark brown liquid.
“Oh, yes, thank you!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together with feigned delight. “I was looking forward to this all show!”
He took the offered drink, expecting Nakamura to leave. Instead she just stood there, nervously watching him, clearly waiting for him to take a drink.
Gen bit back a grimace. Great. He thought he was done performing tonight. Now he was going to have to pretend to actually like the taste of this overly sugary crap. Might as well get it over with.
After a moment of silent preparation, he brought the glass to his lips, taking a deep gulp. As the liquid hit his tongue, his eyes widened and he pulled the glass away from his mouth, staring down at it in shock.
“Is everything alright, Asagiri-sama”
“What? Oh, yes, everything’s fine!” he assured her, quickly forcing a smile back onto his face, adopting a playful tone as he lied, “I just didn’t realize that I’d been craving my cola this badly!”
Relief spread across Nakamura’s face and she gave Gen a quick bow before excusing herself and hurrying off. As soon as she was gone, Gen closed the door and took another sip of the cola, shocked to find that it still tasted amazing.
“What brand is this?” he muttered, staring down at the glass, wondering if he should have asked. He quickly brushed the thought aside. He wanted to be remembered as a pleasant, low-effort guest, not as the weirdo who obsessed over cola brands. Besides, there were other, more subtle ways to get the information he wanted.
He quickly finished off his glass of ambrosia and gathered his things, swinging by the green room and opening the fridge, looking for an unopened can of his new obsession. To his disappointment, all he found were other types of soda and a few cans of seltzer water. A quick glance in the room’s trash found nothing but used plates, napkins, limes, and an odd green lump of some sort of garnish. Possibly cilantro? The recycling bin was equally useless, its dark lid making it impossible to see what lay within and there was no way that he was going to go digging through the trash!
His quest failed, Gen headed out of the building, texting his manager as he went.
Gen knew Hitomi would want to know how the show went, so he was unsurprised when his phone started ringing less than a minute after he sent his text. He wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk, but he picked up anyway, adopting an excited tone.
“Hito-chan! How are you?”
“Excited to hear how my star shone in his first special!”
“I can’t say for sure since we didn’t have a live audience, but I think it went well. The hosts seemed to agree and Shishio-san even stopped me after the show to say that he enjoyed working with me. I’m no expert on the TV side of things, but those seem like positive signs!”
“They are! Especially the praise from Shishio-san. From what I’ve heard, he’s not one for false complements. If he talked to you, then you made an impression for sure! Maybe he’ll even be up for another collaboration! It’s worth looking into. He’s incredibly popular right now!”
“Let’s see how this one goes over first,” Gen cautioned as he reached his car, throwing his bag into the trunk. “I want some hard proof that our audiences overlap before I waste days designing another trick that I’ll only get to use once.”
“Fair enough,” Hitomi conceded. “I’d still work on a few special tricks, though. If this special goes even remotely well, then I want to try to get you on some more TV spots where you actually perform. Interviews are great and all, but showing off your skills is the best way to build up hype for your book. Anyone can say that they’re a mentalist, but only a true one is willing to show it all on a recording people can watch over and over, right?”
“You’re right, of course. I’m so glad that I have your expertise to guide me through this book launch,” Gen agreed, forcing excitement into his voice. Before Hitomi could reply, he added, “Hey, Hito-chan, I’m at my car and it’s freezing out here! Give me a sec to turn it on and let the call transfer.”
Gen didn’t give her a chance to reply. He just hit the start button, giving himself a few moments to slump in the driver's seat and just relax. As soon as the call transferred, he was back on, all signs of exhaustion banished. “And we’re golden! What else do you have for me?”
“Not much. You’re right that we should wait until the special airs before putting out feelers on where to appear next. That way we can ride the high instead of having to force our way through the door. Anywhere in particular you want or don’t want me to book you?”
“I’ll leave the choices in your expert care. All I ask is that you do your best to avoid days when I’ve already got a show scheduled,” Gen replied.
“No worries there! If we do have any overlaps, I’ll make sure that you’re done filming before noon. We can’t have you late to your own show!”
“I appreciate that and I’ll be sure to have at least a dozen tricks ready to go,” Gen said, resigned to the fact that Hitomi was going to ignore his request. She was probably right to do it, too. Getting his name out there was far more important than silly things like sleep. “Before I hang up, is there anything else you need?”
“Just curious to know what spawned this cola request.”
“I’m glad you asked! You see, I just so happened to request a cola for my post-performance carbonation needs and - to my shock - it actually tasted good! I’d be ever so grateful if you found out what brand they buy. I’d like to start stocking it so my taste buds get the same relief as my poor throat!”
“I see,” Hitomi said, amusement coloring her voice. “Well, you know that I’ll do anything for my favorite mentalist, plus I need to send over a thank you note anyway. I’ll let you know what I find out. Drive safe!”
“Always do,” Gen replied before hitting the button to end the call, leaving him in silence. He glanced at his GPS, sighing when he saw his estimated arrival time, missing the days when he could take a train or a taxi without risking running into a fan.
“Yet another price of fame,” he muttered, turning on some music, wishing he’d been able to snag another can of cola on the way out the door. It would have been nice to have something to sip on the way home. Maybe he’d start keeping a can in the car once Hitomi got the brand for him. Something to make these long drives a little more enjoyable.
Gen stepped off the stage from his latest live show, gratefully accepting a damp cloth from his assistant, dabbing the sweat from his face. The sound of a familiar voice calling his name had him lowering the cloth and glancing around to find his manager standing there, grinning at him.
“Hito-chan!” he cried, feigning delight. “I didn’t know you were coming tonight!”
“I had a rare free night and figured I’d catch the hottest show in Tokyo. Plus I wanted to drop this off in person,” she explained, grinning as she held out a bottle of cola. “According to my contacts, this is the brand Tōi Studio buys for their green room.”
Gen took the gift, frowning as he studied the brightly colored label.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, I just could have sworn that I’ve had this brand before,” he confessed before shrugging and cracking it open, tentatively taking a sip, grimacing as syrupy sweetness hit his tongue.
“I take it that wasn’t the right brand?” Hitomi asked, looking disappointed.
“Unfortunately not,” Gen sighed, treating her to a bright smile. “Thank you for taking the time to bring it to me, though!”
“Of course,” she said, her disappointment turning to annoyance that thankfully didn’t seem to be aimed at him. “I’ll reach out to see if I can find out why they gave me the wrong brand.”
“Don’t worry about it!” Gen said, doing his best to keep his rising horror from his voice. “I’m sure it was more complicated than a simple lie and I wouldn’t want to bother them. Plus I bet that I can find the right brand on my own!”
“You sure?” Hitomi asked.
“I’m sure! Now that I know it’s out there, it shouldn’t be that hard to track it down. I mean, how many cola brands can there be?” Gen asked with a laugh, unaware that he was setting himself up for months of suffering. Show after show where he exited the stage with hope, only to find himself forcing down sugary disappointment. As his list of possible cola brands dwindled to nothing, he started to grow desperate. Then, salvation! Another appearance at Tōi Studio!
Gen arrived at the studio with genuine excitement, his plan already in place. As soon as the show was over, he was going to track down the woman who gave him the cola and find out where the hell she got it, public image be damned!
It was a simple plan. One that would have gone off without a hitch had a strange green light not flooded the studio, turning Gen and everyone around him to stone.
As his vision faded, leaving him trapped in darkness, Gen’s first thought was, What happened? Why can’t I move? Am I dying?
His second thought was, Wait, my cola! How am I supposed to get my cola?
His final thought was, Is cola really the last thing I’m thinking about? How epressing-day…