To Love In The 57th Century (sengen)

ch 2 \\ secret

"Ah... I'm beat," Gen said in exhaustion as he sat on the floor, next to his bed.

"How come you have so many boxes?" Senku leaned on the doorframe of Gen's room, still panting.

"Hahaha senku-chan still gets tired on minor physical activities," Gen thought.

"My mom is the one who has stuff, she still likes decorating the house with ornaments," Gen sighed as he rests his head on the bed, staring at the ceiling of his dark.

"I guess your mother didn't change,"

"I know right," Gen raised his head to face Senku, "Why are you being such a stranger? Come sit with me."

Senku entered Gen's room with its purple-painted walls, the only source of illumination was the slit of light from the hallway and a faint glow from his ceiling.

Stars protuded the blank surface whose purple paint slightly overlapped its outline.

"D'you remember the time when we stuck these?" Senku continued to stare at the them as he sat next to Gen.

Gen looked up at the ceiling where glowing star-shaped objects are stuck against the blank purple surface. It was such a wonder that they still work after years of neglect.

Gen opened his mouth to reply but before he could, a voice echoed from the lower floor, "Ah! Mr. Ishigami, what a surprise!!"

A series of happy chatter resonated throughout the hallway despite the slightly opened door.

Gen looked at the man beside him, whose face were still staring blankly at the ceiling. Half of his face was illuminated by the light outside the dark room.

"Say, Senku-chan... Can I sleep in your room?" Gen asked out of the blue.

"Of course not," Senku replied briefly.

"C'mon, how could I sleep with towering boxes in my room?" Gen pleaded while wrapping his arms on Senku's.

He's right. Gen's room was filled with boxes, even on his bed. But then again, sleeping with another man in his room seemed weird. They're not children anymore, it wasn't as simple as before. But...

"I won't tell anyone that you got tired after moving 2 boxes," Gen smirked.

"That would be unnecessary but I guess I have no other choice," Senku sighed in defeated.

"Yayy," Gen celebrated in victory as Taiju gathered the two to eat.

• • •

Senku prepared a futon next to his bed, "Sorry this is all I have"

"It's fine, at least I could sleep on it," Gen started positioning himself on the futon. He stared at the ceiling and there it was... the same decorations in Gen's old room but instead of stars, it was the space.
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.
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"Here you go Senku-chan," Gen gave him a popsicle they bought in a convenience store. Senku didn't accept it, instead he was looking at a poster on the wall outside the store.

['Morse Code Contest']

"Gen, let's enter the competition," Senku said, still looking at the poster.

"What?"

Senku was now looking at Gen.

His eyes glistened against the light of the blazing sun in hot summer. The sun left a bright yellowish glow on Senku's fair skin. Gen felt cold liquid run through his fingers. The popsicle is melting. They were 6 years old.

"Let's enter the competition Gen,"

"But we barely even know morse code,"

"We can just cram them up!" Senku exclaimed.
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.
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"You were really something Senku-chan," Gen continued to stare at the space ceiling, "why did you enter the competition again?"

"It was just for money that I want to use for my experiment," Senku answered, "I wanted to figure out how to send something to space."

"Wait- seriously??" Gen turned to face Senku whose hair was still wet from the evening shower.

His usual spiky hair tamed down and gently stood on his shoulders. The usual evergreen ends of his hair gave off a dark tone. Each strand of hair that stuck out held small droplets of water that carefully fell on his white shirt.

"I should definitely dry your hair for you," Gen said in resolution.

"Don't bother, it'll dry on it's own,"

"Fine then, you will catch a cold if you let it sit like that,"

Gen was right. Again. If Senku caught a cold, he won't be able to fix the music box on time. He also won't get progress on his researches.

"Fine,"

Gen grinned in victory and grabbed Senku's towel that laid on his shoulder. The two sat on the futon, Gen kneeled up to reach Senku's head to dry. He patted down the drenched hair and once it was dry enough, he pulled out a hair dryer.

Gen's hands moved along Senku's hair. Each touch he made glided through the soft and smooth strands. The quiet fade of the green ends grew brighter and brighter.

The noise of the hair dryer finally ended and Senku's hair was still dropped down.

"Eh? How come your hair's not standing up?" Gen wondered.

"It only comes back up after a while,"

"Shoulder-length hair really suits you," Gen bent over to look at Senku's face while smirking.

"Shut up," Senku replied to the playful gesture then stood up and continued working on the music box.

Gen continued to stare at the man in front of him, who is looking at the opposite direction. The room stood by with a bright light from Senku's desk.

"Why did you actually come back?" Senku asked, not looking at him.

"How'd you know I was lying?"

"I was 10 billion percent sure that your father didn't come back simply because he wanted to,"

"The reason is not something to worry about... my father simply decided to move," Gen briefly answered.

Senku slightly moved his body from the chair to get a good glimpse of Gen, his hair slightly blocking his view. Gen's gaze went up to Senku's.

The two locked eyes.

Silence was evident between the two men. The only noise that was present was the sound of insects outside the window. The back of Gen's neck suddenly became warm as their gazes compete for dominance.

Silence really does say a thousand words.

"...I'm tired," Gen broke their wordless debate and moved to laid on the futon. "Good night."

"... Night," Senku faced to his desk to work on the machinery with a preoccupied mind, nulling over the mystery on why Gen came back. "Why did he avoid the question? It wasn't like this before."

Senku turned to the boy behind him. His medium-length dark hair engulfed the frames of his face. Soft snores echoed through the walls of the room.

"Among the three of us, he's the only one who changed," Senku thought as he returned to fix the music box.

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A/N : I forgot how to spell night along the way lol