Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This is the story of how I died.

Don’t worry this is actually a very fun story, and it’s not even mine. This is the story of a boy named Senku. And it starts … with the stars.

A long time ago, a brilliant green light fell down onto the earth and planted itself into the ground. From it grew a green flower that had the ability to heal the sick and injured. Rumors of said flower spread across the land, yet no one was ever able to find the flower.

Well, decades passed and a hop, skip and a boat ride away grew a kingdom. Ishigami, a kingdom of science and prosperity. It was ruled by the beloved King Byakuya who was loved by his citizens, the only problem was the king had no heir.

Fortunately, one of his closest friends, a noble woman of the court, was about to have a baby. A deal was struck to make Byakuya the baby’s godfather and thus make the unborn child the new heir to the throne. But then she got sick, really sick. She was running out of time, and that’s when people usually start to look for miracles. Or rumors about a magical healing flower.

Search parties were sent in all directions hoping to find it, and by sheer luck they did. The flower was crushed up into medicine for the woman, and she was able to give birth to a beautiful baby boy with green hair that matched that same healing flower. I’ll give you a hint, that’s Senku.

To celebrate his birth the king launched a flying lantern into the sky. For that one moment everything was perfect.

And then that moment ended.

The reason the flower had been hidden for so many years is that one man kept it all for himself. He used the flower to stay young and healthy after he found out all you needed to do is hum a special song to activate its power.

Wanting his flower back the man snuck into the palace and found the baby. He started humming which caused the baby’s hair to glow, just like the flower. He tried to cut a lock off, but once cut it no longer held the flower’s power. The man attempted to grab the baby causing him to cry out and wake his parents. By the time anyone got to the room, the prince was gone and the parents were dead in their bed.

The kingdom searched and searched, but they could not find the prince. For deep within the forest, in a hidden tower, the man raised the prince as his own. He had found his flower again, and he was determined not to lose it. He filled the boy’s head with the dangers of the outside world hoping it would keep him inside forever.

But the walls of that tower could not hide everything. Each year, on his birthday, the king released thousands of lanterns into the sky. In the hope that one day, their lost prince would return home. And every year Senku looked out his small window, wishing to see them up close.

Senku was always a curious child, from the moment he learned to walk he wanted to explore the world around him as small as it may be. It didn’t take long for him to discover the many experiments and studies surrounding him. Which lead to the questions, What’s that? How does that work? And of course Why?

Thankfully his guardian always gave him books to read from all around the world, which while that did quench some of his thirst for knowledge at the same time it invigorated him to learn even more than before. He wanted to uncover every secret the world had to offer. Being able to read about how different substances interacted with one another was one thing, but seeing it with his own eyes was completely different.

There was always something being studied at the tower between both him and his guardian’s experiments, which meant that messes and explosions were commonplace. It was a good thing that burns and other injuries were easy to heal with a simple song.

Senku’s hair was the focus of a lot of his studies. The mechanics of how it worked were lost on him and he strived to find out more. The little he did know was it was something he was born with, when a specific melody was sung it glowed and healed anyone it touched, and once it’s cut it will never glow again. His guardian was very tight lipped about the origins of his hair whenever asked … That was fine though, Senku just needed to work a little harder for the truth.

He refused to believe that it was just magic, science had taught him that everything had reason behind it, even the most fantastical things. This was just one more phenomenon that has yet to be understood.

Life in the tower had its dull moments too, his guardian was often gone to gather supplies for the two of them leaving Senku to learn how to take care of himself from a young age. Sweeping, laundry, and cooking didn’t really compare to the effort it took to take care of his hair. After washing or brushing all 70 feet of it, yes he kept track of how long it was, he always felt exhausted and dreading the next time he had to go through the ordeal.

He had tried once to build a machine to do it for him, but it quickly turned into chaos when his hair got stuck inside. Once his guardian found him and rescued him, they were subsequently banned from the tower.

Even with his studies, the day to day was very repetitive, and it was time for things to change.

For eighteen years, this was his life, staying inside and wondering what it would be like outside his window. After years of wishing and waiting, it was time to explore the world around him, at the very least for a day. All he had to do was ask, and then his life could finally begin.

Elsewhere, three men sneak across the rooftops of a castle, making sure to not draw the attention of the guards below. The leader was a lanky man with asymmetrical hair followed by a burly blonde man and a spiky haired ginger.

They leapt around turrets and balanced thin ledges until they stopped over a trap door. While the two muscle heads set up a rope the first man moves to the edge of the roof and stares wistfully at the horizon. “Wow. I could get used to a view like this.”

“Asagiri.” The ginger hissed out, “Come on.”

“Hold on, Yo.” Asagiri holds up a hand, he takes a deep breath and says, “I’m used to it. Guys, I want a castle.”

"We do this job," the blond man growls, grabbing onto Asagiri’s shirt collar and hauling him over to the open hole, "You can buy your own castle."

After strapping him in, Asagiri is lowered into the room below right above a heavily guarded crown. Grabbing the crown is child’s play with all the guards facing away from the crown. He then decides to have some fun when one of the guards sneezes, “Ugh, Hay fever?” He sighs dramatically.

The guard nods in agreement and turns back around, but by the time he’s realized what happened Asagiri is already back on the roof.

"What? Wait! Hey, Wait!" A shrill voice calls out.

The trio book it out of the city quickly, making sure they're across the bridge before even gaining a tail. Asagiri laughs maniacally, "Can't you guys picture me in a castle of my own? Because I certainly can! Gentlemen, this is a very big day!"

A little chameleon slinks along a window sill looking for a place to hide. After trying a few she settles on a flower pot and tries to hide in the leaves. As soon as she’s camouflaged, holding her breath to stay quiet, the shutters burst open.

“A HA!” Senku looks over the window sill with narrowed eyes. He sighs, “Well … I guess Suika isn’t hiding out here.”

He starts to walk away, and the little reptile laughs at how sneaky she is. Suddenly, a lock of green hair wraps around her leg and pulls her up into the air away from her brilliant hiding spot.

“Gotcha,” Senku smirks.

Suika lets out a yelp of fright, but quickly settles when Senku untangles her and holds her in his palm.

It was a couple of years ago now when the chameleon snuck into the tower to escape a venomous snake. After she was healed by him, and seeing Senku so lonely, she stayed by his side. Thus giving Senku a companion to be by his side forever. He named her Suika after catching her sneakily trying to steal a slice of melon and in a moment of panic she trapped herself in the gourd.

Senku laughs with a false bravado, “That’s 22 for me. How about 23 out of 45?”

The chameleon shakes her head with a clear look of boredom on her face.

Deciding to humor her, Senku says, “Okay. Well what do you want to do?”

Suika looks down below them. Senku looks wistfully out at the lush greenery that surrounds their small grove.

“I know” Senku responds breathlessly. “But today’s the day! I’m finally going to ask him.”, he exclaims as he pets Suika on her head.

“And I know exactly what it’ll take to convince him.” Senku darts over to a curtain and pulls it back to reveal different equations and formulas. As well as a bullet point list of reasons. He grabs a few miscellaneous tools and beakers and sticks them behind the curtain in preparation of showcasing his grand plan. “Get excited Suika! This is it.”

“Senku I’m home!” A voice shouts from outside the tower.

Senku smirks, “He’s here. Don’t let him see you okay.” As he places Suika behind the curtain then closes it off from view.

“Senku!” The voice calls again. “I’m not getting any younger down here!” It yells up in a teasing tone.

Senku rolls his eyes as he opens the window. “Yeah yeah I’m coming!” He yells back down. He loops his hair around a hook letting the rest of it fall down the side of the tower. He hooks the rest of his hair into a pulley system and as soon as he feels the familiar tug jumps off the rafters to raise the person below up to the window.

Chapter Text

“Welcome home old man.” Senku grunts out as he collects up all his hair. 

“Hello to you too Senku.” The man replies as he shrugs his hood off and pulls out a pipe. 

“Really the second you get back you’re gonna stuff up the place.” the teen said with a scoff. 

Letting out a short chuckle the man huffs out “Cut me some slack kid, I haven’t smoked in almost a week and I’ve been looking forward to this all day.”

His guardian was a tall man with a muscular build and an intimidating presence following him wherever he went. Even though he looked to be middle-aged with graying blond hair and wrinkles sprinkling his face, the sharp look in his eyes was enough to unnerve foes twice his size. Even Senku could find himself intimated sometimes despite living with the man all his life, but that was just the type of person Stanley Snyder was.

Senku rolls his eyes before collecting himself and taking a deep breath. 

“Stan, I have something I need to talk to you about. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while now…”

Stan cuts him off before he can continue, “Before we get into that, would you mind singing for me. This old man is feeling a bit run down.”

Biting his tongue on a snide remark Senku mumbles out an irritated “Yeah of course.” as he grabs a chair, stool, and brush. The two sit and gather Senku’s hair in Stan’s lap, the boy then starts to sing 

“ Flower gleam and glow, 

let your power shine, 

Make the clock reverse, 

bring back what once was mine .” 

The words fly out of his mouth quickly as he tries to get the ordeal over with. Stan used this kind of blasé attitude simply grabs the glowing locks and brushes through them. With each stroke wrinkles disappear and gray hairs turn back to their golden blond. 

“Heal what has been hurt, 

change the Fates' design, 

Save what has been lost, 

bring back what once was mine. 

What once was mine."

They’ve participated in this ritual since Senku was young enough to actually need help with taking care of his hair. The song itself is a creation of his young mind when he had trouble remembering the melody that activated his hair’s power. Thankfully for his sanity, the song ends and Senku jumps up to propose his idea. 

“So Stan, as I was saying, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you. As you know, in two days it's a big day as it’s my birthday-.”

“No. No that can’t be. I distinctly remember your birthday was last year.” Stan teasingly says as he gets up to start putting his supplies away. 

Gritting his teeth Senku continues, “That's the funny thing about birthdays. They're kind of an annual thing! Look... Stan, I'm turning eighteen and I wanted to ask, what I really want for this birthday..."

Stan turns to Senku and gestures to get on with it. He tightens his hands into fists and blurts out, “I want to see the floating lights!”

Stan’s eyes grow wide as he chokes out, “What?”

"I was hoping you would take me to see the floating lights." Senku moves the curtains hiding his presentation, revealing a chart of the lights he’d plotted to his guardian. 

Stan sighs "Senku I thought I explained to you when you were five why we can’t go visit the stars."

The teen blushed a bit, embarrassed by the reminder of his childhood dream of going to space. “No Stan, I'm not talking about the stars. These lights appear every year on my birthday. Only on my birthday. I assume they’re for some sort of ceremony, but I can’t help but feel a connection to them.”

Trying to gauge his guardian’s reaction Senku looked him in the eye as he said, “I have to see them, Stan. Not just from my window, in person. I have to know what they are.”

Stan’s expression darkens, “You want to go outside?” he says as he approaches the boy. “You know why we stay up in this tower Senku.”

Senku tries to interrupt, “I know but … ”

“It’s to keep you safe from everyone out there who would try to hurt you. The people I interact with out there would do terrible things to gain the power you have.”

“But if you were out there with me … “ the boy tried again.

“And if we got separated, if something happens to me and I couldn’t protect you. You wouldn’t be able to defend yourself from all the dangers out there. The answer is no Senku.” The air surrounding the man growing dangerous as he glares at the boy

Stan goes to leave the room before pausing, “One more thing.”

“Yes?” Senku’s voice coming out smaller than he imagined it would be.

Stan’s tone grew even more serious, even deadly, “Don’t ever ask to leave this tower again.”

Senku looks down and replies, “Yes Stan.”

Stan’s expression softens ever so slightly, “I’m only doing what is best for you Senku.” as he leaves.

“I know.” the boy says to the empty room.

Deep in the forest three men take a second to catch their breath. Even far away from the city wanted posters still decorate the trees depicting the group in front of them. They read “WANTED: Dead or Alive” along with the names of each of the men. Asagiri, Magma and Yo.

Asagiri freezes as he spots the poster and swiftly pulls it off the tree. 

“Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! This is bad! This is very bad! This is really bad!" 

He then turns the picture toward the other two men, "They just can't get my smirk right! Look at that thing!" The depiction is quite accurate except for the cartoonishly exaggerated facial features.

"Who cares?" Magma groans.

"Well it's easy for you to say! You guys look amazing!" Asagiri grabs their wanted posters that depict the two almost perfectly.

Suddenly on a ridge above them the royal guard appears, having caught up to the thieves. The trio runs off into the woods, dodging around the foliage until they wind up in a dead end at the bottom of a small cliff. 

Asagiri turns to his companions "Okay, okay! Give me a boost and I'll pull you up."

Magma and Yo look at one another, and Magma says, "Give us the satchel first."

"Huh?!" Asagiri gasps with tears in his eyes, "I just! You don't trust me? After all we've been through?" The two just look back with stony, serious expressions. Asagiri dramatically clutches his chest, "Ouch." as he hands over the bag

They make quick work of hosting Yo on Magma’s shoulder’s and Asagiri is able to climb up no problem. Once he reaches the top Yo speaks up, "Now help us up, pretty boy."

"Orrysay," Asagiri smirks deviously, waving the satchel at them, "My hands are full." 

"What?" Yo gasps, checking his belt, and realizing that it is indeed gone. 

"Asagiri!"

The man laughs as he runs from his quickly caught co-conspirators. However, his victory does not last long as he runs into the path of even more guards. 

The one leading the charge is a young blond woman who shouts to her companions, “Retrieve that satchel at any cost!” Asagiri slides under a tree root just in time for an arrow to just narrowly miss him. He gasps and runs as fast as he can, dodging and weaving in a way he knows will lose some of the guards. 

With two left chasing him he forms a plan to finally shake them off. With a smirk he grabs a vine and uses it to swing around and knock the woman back and down a ridge. He laughs in celebration before getting confronted by the remaining guard who glares at him, spear raised right at the satchel.

“How’s about you let me go huh?” Asagiri asks hopefully. Those hopes immediately get crushed as the guard lunges forward and almost spears through the thief.

The two tussle for a bit when the satchel flings through the air and lands on the branch of a root that hangs off the edge of a cliff. 

They both pause for a second and just stare at the dangling bag before both try and push the other out of the way to get to the bag first.

Asagiri manages to reach for the bag seconds before the guard but quickly the root can’t hold their weight and the two drop down the side of the cliff.

The guard gets up from his tumble and scans around the grove he landed in, not seeing his target he quickly moves on to continue looking.

Asagiri shakily raises up from the bush he fell in with his satchel clutched tightly to his chest. He goes to brace himself on the wall behind him, but instead he falls through the ivy curtain. It looks to be some sort of tunnel, leading to where he doesn’t know. 

A sharp noise behind him makes his decision to enter the tunnel an easy one. The thief moves deeper into the tunnel until it opens up into a clearing with a seemingly abandoned tower standing tall in the middle of it.

Seeing no other option, Asagiri climbs towards the open window at the top, using the arrows shot at him earlier as climbing tools. Out of breath and exhausted he pulls himself into the window and collapses onto the floor. 

Once he catches his breath he sits up and checks to make sure his treasure is still tucked away safely. He gives out a villainous chuckle at seeing the pristine crown, ”Alone at last.” he sighs.

His body then suddenly seizes up in pain and everything goes dark.

Chapter Text

It worked. 

HAHAHAHAHAHA Yes it really worked!

He hadn’t been able to test it before now but the stun gun just passed all of them with flying colors. The evidence of this victory was currently unconscious. 

It was lucky that he had caught the stranger as they were climbing the tower so he could grab his prepared weapons. The stun gun worked great, but he should definitely try to find a way to make it more than one use. 

He waited a minute to see if the person made any sudden moves before he approached the figure. He was wearing a long purple coat that covered a rust colored vest, white pants, and a fancy pair of boots. Though granted Senku had not seen many pairs before, so maybe they were typical. 

He doesn’t look like the type of dangerous criminal that Stan would often talk about meeting on the road. Going in to get a closer look he brushes the man’s hair out of his face, one side was longer than the other for some reason, weird. 

Suddenly, the man’s eyes burst open and he looks around frantically. 

Panicking, Senku grabs the nearest object and slams him on the head, knocking him out once more. 

Alright so the stun gun is for temporary immobilization. Noted.

In other news, frying pans will do the trick in a pinch. Also noted.

Well now he has to do something with the unconscious body on the floor, if Stan finds him he’ll probably kill him for finding the tower. It takes a couple of tries to get him into an emptied armoire as while he doesn’t weigh very much he is taller and his gangly limbs kept getting in the way. Once the doors are shut he puts a chair up against the handles to prevent it from opening.

"Okay, okay. I have a person in my closet." Senku laughs out, "I have a person in my closet! Too weak to handle myself out there, huh Stan? Well! Tell that to my stun gun!" Senku waves his invention around until he accidentally shocks himself in the process. It apparently wasn’t completely out of juice.

Suika lets out a startled squeak and runs over to check on Senku.

“Don’t worry I’m fine it wasn’t that big of a shock” he groans out. Turning to face her he notices the bag the man was carrying had opened and its sparkly contents spilled out. 

He pulls it out of the satchel and inspects it. It's some sort of jewelry, with massive gemstones decorating a gold circle. These gems seem to be purely for decoration, if he had to guess what they were due to the clarity and the composition he’d say they were diamonds. Too big for a bracelet and too stiff for a necklace, he tries it on his head and it fits perfectly. Looking in the mirror it feels familiar … 

It looks like … 

“Senku!” the teen gasps, taking the jewelry off his head and stashing it and the bag in a pot under a table. “I’m home!”

“I’m coming!” he yells back down.

“I have a surprise for you.” the man yells up.

“Oh yeah.” Senku responds. He glances at the still secure armoire, well it can't be bigger than his.

Stan climbs through the window, “I got all the ingredients for ramen, I’ll make your favorite tonight.”

“Oh yeah.” Senku’s interest is peaked by the mention of his favorite meal, but he quickly shakes the thought out of his head. Focus damnit. 

Before he can speak Stan continues, “I wanted to make it up to you after yesterday. You know how bad my temper can be.”

Alright Senku this is it just say it, "Right. I've been thinking a lot about what you said."

"Oh yeah seeing the stars." Stan said distractedly as he put food away.

"Floating lights," Senku corrects, "And yes. I'm leading up to that."

"I thought I was clear that this discussion is over." Stan’s posture becoming stiff  

Senku inches towards the armoire, "I'm just saying, you think I'm not strong enough to handle myself out there."

"Oh, I know you're not strong enough to handle yourself out there." Stan turns to look at Senku with a cold look in his eye. 

Senku snaps back, "But if you just-"

"Senku, we're done talking about this."

"Trust me, I know what I'm-"

"Senku." the man’s tone becoming murderous. 

"Oh, come on! Will you just let me …"

Pain erupted from his cheek and Senku felt something drip down his cheek. Instinctually he wiped his cheek and saw a smear of red across his fingertips. He looks up and finds a crossbow pointed directly at his chest, 

Stan having appeared in front of him in seconds. 

"Enough! You are not leaving this tower! Ever!" The man shouts

Senku stood there paralyzed, thoughts racing a mile a minute yet not being able to form a coherent thought. 

Stan sighs as he packs away his crossbow in his weapons case. 

Looking back at the armoire it now has an arrow sticking out of it, he hopes the man wasn’t hit. He brings himself to look at his presentation, all the hard work he’d done going to waste before his very eyes. 

As long as Stan is in the way he’ll never get to see those lights. 

Hold on there, a plan starts coming together. It's a risky one, but if he plays his cards right Stan will never get the chance to find out. Taking a shaking breath he blurts out, "All I was going to say is that I know what I want for my birthday now."

"And what is that?"

"Tungsten. From that skarn deposit you told me about?" He hoped his tone was coming across as innocent. 

"That is a very long trip, Senku." Stan slowly turns to look at him, and Senku tries to keep his composure under his scrutiny, "Almost three days."

"I just thought it was a better idea than the..." Senku trails off despondently.

Stan sighs, "Okay, Senku. Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?" as he goes to collect his supplies.

Senku forces a smile on his face as Stan comes over to him, "I know I'm safe as long as I'm here." 

Stan smirks a bit as he walks over to the window, “I’ll be back in three days alright. For my own peace of mind, would you lock the window behind me.”

It was a request often made when the man had to travel long distances. Senku could still remember the harsh punishment the last time he left the window open upon his return. “Sure it’s no problem,” it’ll hardly matter soon anyway.

Stan looks back one more time before being lowered down the tower, 

“Senku, I do care about you. You know that right?”

Senku looks away to start lowering the man down, “Yeah me too.”

Once the man is on the ground and his hair is back in the tower, Senku closes the window and places a board across it. Now cloaked in darkness he fumbles around until he can find the candles. Well it will certainly add to the atmosphere 

He quickly runs to the armoire and opens it, causing the stranger to fall out directly onto his face. Senku winces in sympathy, and edges closer to him. An evil smile creeps across his face at his plan coming together

Asagiri wakes up to a sharp poke to his cheek, "Ow! What was-"

He tries to move his arm to discover what just poked him, but he can’t move. He looked down in a panic to see that he was bound to a chair by some green rope. Trying to struggle leads him nowhere as he is bound too tight, the rope however seems to lead up to the rafters of wherever the hell he is. Looking down at his restraints he realizes it’s not rope but something else? Hold on …, indignantly he blurts out, "Is this... Is this hair?"

"Struggling is pointless!"

"Huh?"

The voice is coming from the rafters and with a series of thumps a person jumps down, but he can’t see who as they are still shrouded in darkness. 

Causally the person speaks, "I know why you're here, and I'm not afraid of you."

"What?" Asagiri is definitely confused now. 

Slowly the person steps into the light, it's a boy with green hair the same shade as the one currently wrapped around him. He wears a tan tunic and brown pants, along with shoes that look very handmade. He seemed to be younger than Asagiri but not by much.

"Who are you?" the boy says, as he lazily approaches his bound figure with a frying pan, "And how did you find me?" He finishes his statement by pointing said pan at the man’s chest.

A small squeak is all that comes out of Asagiri’s mouth, fully unprepared for the situation he’s found himself in. He’s been in worse though and still managed to weasel his way out, he just needed to get control of the room.

"Who are you? And how did you find me?" The boy repeats, moving even closer.

Asagiri clears his throat, "I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I just say... Hi."

The boy looks confused as Asagiri pulls his best flirting face, "What?"

"How you doing? My names Asagiri. How's your day going?"

"I-" a disgusted face appears for a second before he schools his features and brings the frying pan closer to Asagiri's face, "Who else knows my location, Asagiri?"

Okay so that didn’t work, "Alright, greenie-"

"Senku."

"Gesundheit." Asagiri smirks, "Here’s the deal, I was in a ituationsay. Gallivanting through the forest, I came across your tower, and- oh! Oh no! Where is my satchel?!"

Now it's Senku's turn to smirk, "I've hidden it. Somewhere you'll never find it."

Asagiri takes a second to glance around the room, "It's in that pot, isn't it?"

He wasn’t expecting the familiar feeling of a frying pan meeting his skull to greet him once more, quickly falling back into unconsciousness.

When the poke wakes him up this time, he sees a small lizard on his shoulder, he shakes to knock the creature off, "Will you stop that?"

Suika jumps off the man’s shoulder and jumps over to Senku, where she rests on his shoulder. He smirks, "Now it's hidden where you'll never find it. So, what do you want with my hair? To cut it? Sell it?!"

"What?" Asagiri blubbers. "No! Listen, the only thing I want to do with your hair, is to get out of it! Literally"

"Wait. You don't want my hair?"

"Why on Earth would I want your hair?" Is this guy crazy Asagiri wonders, "Look. I was being chased, I saw a tower, I climbed it. End of story."

"You're telling the truth?" He studies the man closely to see if his expression will give anything away.

"Yes!"

Suika crawls down Senku’s arm and onto the frying pan to get a good look at the man. Giving him a glare as nasty as she could make it while checking to see if the man was being honest. Asagiri has never felt more intimidated by a creature no bigger than his fist, but his day has already been crazy.

Looking back to Senku the boy and chameleon seem to have a silent conversation. Yup this confirms it, this guy is insane. He needs to get out of here immediately. 

Before he can think of a compelling argument to get himself free, the boy finally speaks up. "Alright, Asagiri. I'm willing to offer you a deal."

"Deal?!" the thief squeaks out.

"Look this way." 

Senku pulls the chair with his hair but instead of simply turning to the side it spins and falls on the ground. The chair takes most of the fall, but 

Asagiri’s face gets squished between the floor and it, "Ugh!"

"Do you know what these are?" Senku says as he reveals one of the diagrams he drew of the lights.

"You mean the lantern thing they do for the prince?" His voice is muffled from his position 

"Lanterns …" Senku says under his breath as he jots a note down, glancing back at his presentation, "Well tomorrow evening they will light the night sky. You will act as my guide, take me to the lanterns, return me home safely. Then, and only then, will I return your satchel to you. That is my deal."

Asagiri laughs as he manages to shift the chair to its side, "Unfortunately, no can do. The kingdom and I aren't exactly sympatico at the moment so I won't be taking you anywhere."

Suika starts to puff up and starts to advance on the man before Senku stops her and grabs a beaker from behind the curtain.

“Let me ask you another question then Asagiri.” he taunts as he swishes the liquid in the beaker around, “Do you know what this is?”

Asagiri furrows his brow as he tries to recall ever seeing anything like that before. Unfortunately, chemistry never came up in his line of work as it just looked like water.

“It’s a compound I’ve recently been able to concocted called Sodium hydroxide,” the boy continues as he approaches the bound man. “It’s actually very interesting, it can be used to make cleaning supplies.”

Now looming over the man with the beaker close to his face. “But historically it was used to melt corpses.” His face breaks out into a menacing grin with malice behind his words.

All his thoughts are screaming at him in a cacophonous choir, but the only noise that can come out is a strangled “huh?”

The boy ignores him once more as he starts to tip the beaker forward, “I wonder what would happen to you if I were to-”

“WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!! Hold on there!” the man screams as he tries to squirm away. 

The beaker is quickly pulled away and the boy twists his face into an innocent expression, “Oh! Did you have a change of heart?” He tugs the man back upright.

Asagiri clears his throat and tries to regain his composure, "Let me get this straight. I take you to see the lanterns, bring you back home, and you'll give me back my satchel?"

"I promise."

The bound man looks at him suspiciously. 

"When I promise something, I never, ever, break that promise. And I'll also promise you this." Senku yanks the chair closer and suddenly the two of them are eye to eye, "You can tear this tower apart, brick by brick, but without my help, you will never find your precious satchel."

Asagiri stares for a moment and sighs, "Alright, listen, I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice. Here comes the smolder."

Senku is about to question him when Asagiri looks up at him. His features are formed in an expression that normally leads others to fawn and falls for him in an instant, with perfectly pursed lips and eyes that scream take me now. A look that he’s crafted over the years to be irresistible. 

Senku looks at him as if he was a crushed bug on the bottom of his shoe. 

Asagiri holds the expression, "This is kind of an off day for me, this doesn't normally happen. Fine! I'll take you to see the lanterns!"

"Really?" Senku grins, he lets the chair go in his excitement and gravity takes over. "Oops."

"You broke my smolder." Asagiri gasps painfully from the ground.

Chapter Text

The two make quick work of freeing the man from his confinement and gathering supplies for their trip, hoping to get a move on before the sun has a chance to set. When the man’s back was turned Senku made sure to grab the weapons he had prepared and stuff them into his bag. He doesn’t trust this guy, and if he steps one millimeter out of line he’ll make sure it never happens again.

While Senku was distracted plotting, apparently Asagiri had already started climbing down the tower the same way he crawled up it. When Senku peeks out the window the man calls out,  "You coming, greenie?"

Senku looks down at the long fall before him and has to take a deep breath. He loops his hair around his trusty hook and around himself, making sure to test that it can hold his weight. This is it, he just has to step forward. 

Anxiety suddenly fills his chest as he turns away from all he’s ever wanted to take one last look at his home. But settling his gaze upon his diagram of the lanterns he steels himself to his decision. As if sensing his mood Suika makes a small squeak from his bag; who is he to deny the chameleon a chance to walk amongst nature again.

“Here I go” He says with a confident smirk and jumps off the window still. 

With his fall slowed by his hair he can’t help but laugh as the rush of his descent fills him with pure joy.

Right before he hits the ground he stops his fall so he dangles above the ground, that same anxiety rearing its ugly head once more. Biting the bullet he finally touches the ground below him. It feels soft in a way the floor never did. He takes a closer look, and by that he means he starts digging his fingers into the dirt below. He’s felt dirt before, but the vastness of it stretched out across the meadow fascinated him.

A sparkle catches his eye and he spots the river that flows by the tower; he’s always wanted to take a closer look at it. He wasn’t expecting the current to pull his hand so strongly and slips in the cool water a bit, Suika slipping out his bag in the process. Before he can grab her back she starts swimming with the fish along the river and seems to be having the time of her life.

Before she gets swept away though he grabs her and starts running towards the exit of the clearing, not wanting to waste a second before seeing what the rest of the world has to offer him.

Senku grins, "I can't believe I did this. I can't believe I did this!" The boy spins around to see the tower behind him. With its window wide open, "Oh god. I can't believe I did this. Stan is going to be so pissed."

He shakes his head and marches out clearing. Asagiri finally catches up behind him, “no, this is something I need to do and he just has to learn to deal with that.”

Brushing away the ivy reveals a forest filled with trees and flocks of birds flying ahead. It’s just so vast the way the paths seem to stretch on forever. He’d love to explore all of it, but he has a mission to fulfill so he lets Asagiri lead the way.

The further they walk away from the only home he’s ever known, dread starts to grow in the pit of Senku's stomach, "oh god. He’s gonna kill me." His feet start to drag as he falls behind his guide. 

The man groans discontentedly, which snaps Senku out of his thought spiral long enough to notice a beetle crawling across a tree that he’d never seen before. He races ahead of the disgruntled man to observe the bug, Which type is this one? It looks similar to some that he’d read out before, but bugs had never been his favorite topic so he can’t say for sure.

Trekking forward to find something even more interesting, Senku utters to himself, “Well I guess he’ll just never have to find out.”

Along the way he keeps finding different interesting plants and rocks and trinkets, damn he should have brought another bag he’s gonna run out of room at this rate. Thinking back to where he could store all this in the tower snaps him back to reality, "No of course he’d find out. I have to go back."

Before he can turn around though he sees a hill up ahead and can’t stop himself from rolling down it. “I AM NEVER GOING BACK!” he shouts, getting tangled in his hair in the process. 

He can feel the judgmental glare Asagiri gives him for his antics, well he can deal with it. It’s his first time getting to experience this world he’s allowed to have fun along the way.

After walking a bit more the two pause at a grand tree to take a break after Senku climbed all over it. Senku can’t help but curl up on himself, finally letting himself feel the conflicting feelings he’s been pushing away.

Asagiri sits down on one of the roots and clears his throat, "You know, I couldn't help but notice you seem a little... at war with yourself here."

"What?" Senku questions, looking over incredulously.

The man continues, "I'm only picking up bits and pieces. Over protective father, forbidden road trip, I mean, this is erioussay stuff. But let me ease your conscience. This is part of growing up! A little rebellion, a little adventure, that's good! Healthy even!" 

Senku scoffs at the comment, “You think?”

"I know! You're way over thinking this, trust me. Does your father deserve it? No. Will this destroy him? Of course! But you just got to do it!"

Senku deciding to humor him, "Would it break his heart?"

"In half."

"Crush his soul?" 

Asagiri squeezes a nearby berry for emphasis, "Like a grape."

"Oh, he would be absolutely distraught. You're right."

"I am, aren't I?" The thief dramatically presses a hand to his chest. "Oh bother. All right, I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm letting you out of the deal." He finishes his statement by hauling Senku up off the grass.

"What?" Senku snaps as he jerks away from the man.

"That's right!" Asagiri grabs the frying pan he had put down and snatched Suika off the rock she was sleeping on. He ignores her angry squeaks as he shoves both into Senku's hands. 

"But don't thank me. Let's just turn around and get you home!" as he tries to shove Senku back the way they came, "I get back my satchel, you get back a father, son relationship based on mutual usttray and voilà! We part ways as unlikely friends."

"No!" Senku shakes him off, and shoves back, "I am seeing those lanterns."

"Oh come on! What is it gonna take for me to get my satchel back?"

Senku levels the frying pan with the thief’s face and reaches for his bag with the other hand, "Don’t forget why you agreed to this." The man holds up his hands in surrender and backs away.

The sound of snapping echoes towards them, Senku immediately grabs a small crossbow from his bag and levels it at the noise without even thinking about it, "Who’s there? What do you want from me? Show yourself!"

Out of the bush pops a small rabbit and Asagiri monotonously says, "Stay calm. It can probably smell fear." 

Senku huffs with embarrassment and puts his weapon away, "Sorry. I guess I'm just a little bit jumpy."

An idea pops into Asagiri’s head and a smile spreads across his face, 

"Probably be best if we avoid ruffians and thugs though."

"Yeah. That'd probably be best."

Asagiri swings his arm around Senku's shoulder, "Hey, are you hungry? I know a great place for lunch!"

"Where?" Senku asks skeptically.

"Oh don't you worry. You'll know it when you smell it!" As he pulls the boy along with him further into the forest.

Kinro has been in the royal guard from the moment he was allowed to enlist. It has been an honor to serve his kingdom and ensure that the rules always get followed. Rules are Rules and it’s his duty to uphold them no matter what.

All his diligence and experience though was not helping him apprehend a slippery thief who seemed to have escaped his grip.

Getting separated from his comrades and captain was not ideal but he must proceed regardless. He will turn this forest upside down until the thief is apprehended if need be. Asagiri had been a thorn in the kingdom’s side for too long and this has gone too far. Stealing the lost prince’s crown only a day before the festival is a cruelty that cannot go unpunished.

Speaking of the man, as Kinro scans the nearby clearing for his target he stumbles upon the man’s wanted poster. The evil smile painted on feels like it’s taunting him for his failure to apprehend the man. 

Unable to stop himself he rips up the poster and continues on his trek. Suddenly, footsteps echo from nearby and Kinro jumps to hide behind a rock. He let the thief escape once and he’ll never let it happen again.

Once the sounds grow closer, Kinro jumps out and levels his spear at the figure in front of him. It’s not Asagiri, it's an older man who jerks out of the way of his weapon. The man doesn’t look afraid, but instead defensive and intimidating; if Kinro cannot defuse this situation it could turn into a mess.

“My apologies sir.” Kinro shouts, lowering his weapon and giving the man a bow. “I mistook you for someone else.”

The man composes himself before replying, “It’s alright. No harm done.” He takes a look at the guard before him and says, “Are you a part of the royal guard?”

“Yes I am.” Kinro states. “We are here to apprehend a thief who has escaped into the forest. I would advise that you exit here as soon as possible until we can capture him. He is a dangerous criminal who you should not cross paths with.”

A darkness covers the man’s features before he turns, “I see. Well I will take my leave then.” He then starts to walk back the same way he came.

Strange that is not how to exit the forest, but perhaps the man’s house is in that direction. Regardless he must continue his search, he will stop at nothing until Asagiri receives his due justice.

One guard poking around the forest is bad enough, but a whole battalion combing through the forest. 

The chance of them stumbling upon the tower is too great to risk leaving it unguarded. So Stan sprints through the forest until the tower comes back into view. A tower whose window is wide open.

“Senku!” Stan stamps down the panic creeping up, Senku probably just left it open again.

“I’m Back!” He shouts as loud as he can without trying to draw attention from the intruders.

“SENKU!”

No response.

Shit.

Stan quickly moves to the back of the tower and starts ripping bricks out of the base, revealing a hidden door. As soon as enough are gone he yanks the door open and climbs up the staircase behind it.

Stan bursts open a boarded up door, the small relief of it not being discovered overtaken by the realization of just how quiet and empty the room is. 

“Senku, come out right now!” With no response, he starts to tear the room apart. With every blanket thrown, door ripped open and curtain yanked; the places Senku could haunt grow smaller and smaller.

This can’t be happening. He’d been so careful all these years. This can’t be the end. He can’t lose … 

His spiraling is interrupted by a glare shining in his eyes. Coming from one of Senku's latest machines is a beam of light coming from the reflection of something inside.

Reaching in he pulls out a bag hidden inside. With a frown he looks inside and sees its contents. Gleaming in the sunlight is a crown. The prince’s crown.

Stan drops the bag as if it burned him. It falls to the ground and a flyer flies out of it. Stan snatches it and sees it’s a wanted poster. Stan’s lip curls into a growl as he stalks to his weapon closet and arms himself to the teeth.

He will get Senku back, this Asagiri is a dead man if he thinks he can steal him away.

Chapter Text

"I know it's around here omewheresay... Aa! There it is!" Asagiri grins and dramatically gestures toward the building, "Cafe Francois. Don’t worry, very quaint place, perfect for you. Don't want you scaring and giving up on this whole endeavor now do we?"

Senku narrows his eyes at the restaurant, "Well… It sure sounds fancy."

"Oh absolutely” Asagiri smiles as he throws open the door, "Garçon! Your finest table please!"

Senku sucks in a sharp breath at the sight before him. The outside of the restaurant did not portray how dingy and hostile it was on the inside. The patrons looked exactly like the types of people Stan always told him to stay away from. With sharp weapons, mean faces, and scars covering every inch of them. Senku grips his frying pan with one hand and keeps a hand at the big on his hip in case things go south. This is what he prepared for, right?

"You smell that?" Asagiri grins, shoving Senku in front of him deeper inside the building, "Take a deep breath through the nose. Really let that seep in. What are you getting? Because to me it's part bad man smell, and the other part is really bad man smell! I don't know why, but overall it just smells like the color brown. Your oughtsthay?"

As Asagiri rambled on, the patrons of the bar started to stare at the pair, putting Senku more and more on edge. He feels a tug on his head as one of the burlier men grabs his hair.

"That's a lot of hair." He notes. 

Senku yanks it out of the man’s hands and backs away trying to collect as much hair as he can. God, why didn’t he think of a way to protect his hair while he was out here. That was so stupid.

Asagiri laughs, "He's growing it out. Is that blood in your sideburns? Greenie, look at this! Look at all the blood in his sideburns! Good sir, that's a lot of blood!"

As he backs up, Senku bumps into someone. He can’t see his face behind the mask he wears but the man looks pissed that he was interrupted.

Suddenly, Asagiri pops up right behind him, “You don't look so good, Greenie. Maybe we should get you home, call it a day. Probably better off. This is a five star joint after all."

He starts guiding Senku back towards the door, still talking his ear off, "If you can't handle this place maybe you should be back in your tower."

A tall woman slams the door closed just as they’re about to leave. In her hands is a wanted poster, "Is this you?"

Asagiri frowns and looks at the poster with his face plastered on it, they have even given him fangs this time, "Now they're just being mean!"

"Oh, it's him, alright." One says with a haughty smirk, stepping in closer to the pair. "Ukyo, go find some guards." A white haired man nods as he dashes out of the door. The arrogant man grabs Asagiri’s jacket and hauls him around like a scruffed cat. "That reward is going to buy me a new hat."

Another man grabs Asagiri from his grasp, "No. I could use the money!"

"What about me?! I'm broke!" Cries another, grabbing the thief.

They all start arguing amongst each other, fighting and pulling on the man to claim him as their own, "Hey!" he cries, "Guys, we can work this out!"

"Let him go!" Senku yells, smacking the man currently holding his companion with his frying pan, "Give me back my guide!" 

Unfortunately, it seems like he’s invisible to these people as he gets pushed back to the wall. What should he do? Quickly scanning around the room he sees a branch positioned above the mob and an idea forms in his head. Putting his fingers up to his temple he does a quick calculation of the angle and force he will need before looping his hair around several beams and finally the branch.

He hears Asagiri scream, "Hey, please! Not the face! Not The Face!" 

A big guy rears back to punch Asagiri, when Senku lets go of his hair. In turn the branch snaps down and hits the guy on the head hard enough to knock him out. "Put him down!" he screams.

The group freezes and then all eyes point towards him as he tries to look intimidating. He huffs in frustration, "Okay. I don't know where I am and I need him .” He points to Asagiri who in turn gives a little wave, “To take me to see the lanterns because I've been dreaming about them my entire life! Come on! Haven't any of you ever had a dream?!" Senku rambles out of desperation.

The first man grabs Asagiri and hangs him on a coat hanger before approaching Senku. He bears down on the boy and Senku backs as far as he can against the bar. The man looks wistfully off into the distance before speaking, "I had a dream once." 

He snaps his fingers loudly and shouts at Senku, “Francois!”. Senku cranes his head back and sees the bartender right behind them pull out an accordion and start to play. Senku peeks back at where Asagiri is hanging and the man looks about as confused as he feels. What the hell is happening?

" I'm malicious, mean and scary. 

My sneer could curdle dairy, and violence-wise, 

my hands are not the cleanest.”

The man starts to sing and dramatically act out his words, getting all up in Senku's space.

“But despite my greedy look, and my temper, and my cook ..."

He gestures back to the bartender who nods and changes their key. He jumps on top of the bar and plops a funny looking hat on his head. With the biggest grin Senku's ever seen spread across his face the man continues,

" I've always yearned to be a pirate captain, 

Can'tcha see me on the sea breathing in that pure air? 

Swabbing the decks until they gleam? " 

" Yes, I'd rather be called deadly for my killer shanty medleys ."

He pulls a saber out of its sheath and brandishes high above his head, posing like he was on the bow of his ship. “Ah HA!

'Cause way down deep inside I've got a dream! "

" He's got a dream! " The other patrons of the bar start to join in to Senku's shock. He didn’t realize that was a thing people did, " He's got a dream! "

" See, I ain't as cruel and vicious as I seem !" The apparent captain chimes in once more, 

" Though I do like breaking femurs,

You can count me with the dreamers! 

Like everybody else, I've got a dream !"

Someone else goes to approach Senku as he watches the performance and slings an arm around his neck. Seriously, none of these people learn about personal space. The boy is quite muscular with spiky black hair and jagged scars going down his face. He smiles friendly at Senku before he starts his verse.

 " I've got scars and lumps and bruises, 

Plus something here that oozes, 

And let's not even mention my complexion ." 

He sighs despondently, 

" But despite my stocky build, 

And my shouting, and my nose... 

I really want to make a love connection !"

Senku tries not to laugh as the boy tries not to obviously look at girl with short brown hair sitting at the opposite side of the bar, 

" Can't you see me with a special little lady? 

Rowin' in a rowboat down the stream? 

Though I'm one disgusting blighter I'm a lover, not a fighter !"

He tries not to blush as his dancing has led him right in front of the girl he was signing about, 

"' Cause way down deep inside, I've got a dream !"

" He's got a dream !" the girl joins in.

" I've got a dream !" He laughs back.

" He's got a dream !" The rest of the bar chimes in.

" And I know one day romance will reign supreme !" He smiles widely as he pulls out a crudely made paper heart and shows it off to everyone, 

" Though my face leaves people screaming, 

There's a child behind it dreaming. 

Like everybody else I've got a dream !"

" Nikki would like to quit and be a singer ," A woman with twin braids looks lovingly at a record player.

" Minami loves photography ," the woman who recognized Asagiri snaps a picture of the whole group.

A pink haired girl does an impressive flip, " Homura is a gymnast !"

" Francois’ cupcakes are sublime !" The bartender pops up behind Senku to hand him a cupcake. How did they get there while they were busy playing the music?

" Hyoga knits, Yuzuriha sews,” The man with the mask seems to be knitting with two spears instead of needles, while the girl next to him whips up a dress in record time.

“Chelsea’s little puppet shows,” A girl pulls out some puppets that are in front of a backdrop that for some reason says hell?

“And Tsukasa collects beautiful seashells !" The biggest man Senku had ever seen pulls out a necklace of seashells and gives a small smile. 

The group pauses and turns to Asagiri, "What about you?"

"I'm sorry, me?" Asagiri squeals out, still dangling from the hook he was left on. 

"What's your dream?" The lover from before questions him as he sets Asagiri back down onto the ground. 

"No, no, no. Sorry, boys" he states as he dramatically waves his hands in a placating manner, "I don't sing."

In the next second, at least ten swords are pointed directly at Asagiri’s face. Well if the audience demands a show, then he has no choice but to oblige. 

Hoping up on one of the tables he tries his best to keep a tune. 

" I have dreams, like you, no, really! 

Just much less touchy-feely 

they mainly happen somewhere warm and sunny !"

He snatches a deck of cards and starts to perform some basic tricks he remembers, 

" On an island that I own! 

Tanned and rested and alone,” 

From his sleeves flower petals rain all around his stage

“Surrounded by enormous piles of money !"

His table then gets bumped into and he topples off it as the bar’s attention is dragged elsewhere.

" I've got a dream !" Senku announces, jumping on top of the bar himself.

" He's got a dream !" The whole bar yells back.

" I've got a dream !"

" He's got a dream !"

There’s a fire in Senku's eyes as he continues, " I just want to see the floating lanterns gleam! 

And with every passing hour I'm so glad I left my tower!” He lets that line linger for a moment realizing exactly how much he means it.

Like all you weird folks, I've got a dream !"

The audience laugh as the song comes to its conclusion, 

" He's got a dream! 

She’s got a dream!

They've got a dream! 

We've got a dream! 

So our difference ain't really that extreme! We're one big team !"

Everyone starts trying to one up each other with different tricks and stunts they can perform. Unwillingly, Asagiri becomes a prop in many of them. Getting tossed around and put in dangerous situations left and right

" Call us brutal ,

Sick ,

Sadistic!

And grotesquely optimistic! ”

People pipe up throughout the crowd.

"' Cause way down deep inside, we've got a dream !

I've got a dream !

I've got a dream !

I've got a dream !”

Senku joins joins in at last, the building almost shaking with the power of every one’s voices., 

" I've got a dream !

Yes, way down deep inside, I've got a dream! "

Laughter rings out through the bar, and the joy is palpable. Until the door opens and a voice shouts,

“I found the guards!” a voice, presumably Ukyo, gleefully shouts out.

Senku feels a sharp tug as he’s dragged behind the bar with Asagiri. The thief looks panicked and curses under his breath. 

"Where's Asagiri? Where is he?" The leader growls as she steps inside, "I know he's in here somewhere. Find him! Turn the place upside down if you have to!"

She slams her fist down on the bar right above the two’s hiding spot.

Asagiri braves a glance over the counter just in time to see the other guards drag Magma and Yo in with them. He gasps and hides once more.  Of course, just his luck. How is he gonna get out of this?

The man wearing a pirate hat sneaks up beside them and shushes Asagiri. He motions towards the other side of the bar as he pulls a lever, opening a secret passageway.

“Go,” He whispers,  "Live your dream."

"I will." Asagiri responds.

The man laughs, "Your dream was terrible. I was talking to him."

Senku smirks as he slaps the man on the back, "Thanks for everything." The man smiles as he returns the gesture. Senku then crawls into the dark tunnel and once the two are inside, the man closes the door behind them.

Chapter Text

"I believe this is the man you are looking for!" Minami shoves the lover boy in front of the guards. 

The muscular boy grins and holds out his hands, "You got me.

The leader narrows her eyes at their antics, another guard descends the stairs and shouts, "Kohaku, there's no sign of Asagiri."

The door bursts open once more as another guard walks through, he seems out of breath but he still holds his spear aloft.

“Kinro! Where have you been?” The leader gaps in surprise.

Kinro composes himself and salutes, “My apologies, in pursuit of the suspect I was briefly incapacitated and was attempting to track him down. I believe he is in this bar.”

Kohaku sighs, “We just did a sweep of the place, no sign of him.”

Kinro looks around the bar and locks eyes with a lever. He pushes people aside in order to reach it.

“Kinro what are you …” he pulls the lever, and the hatch opens up.

Kohaku smiles, "A passage! Come on, let's go. Ginro! Make sure those two don't get away."

The guards pile into the passageway, leaving only one meek looking guard behind. He shakily raises his spear at the two prisoners. 

It takes Magma ten seconds to disarm and knock him unconscious. He takes the guard’s spear to free himself and his companion.

Yo smirks at his now freed hands, “Play it safe, or go get the crown?”

The two chuckle at each other before hopping into the passage themselves.

A sudden commotion had drawn Stanley to the crummy shack masquerading as a restaurant. Thank god it had, for not only was Asagiri trapped inside but his rebellious charge as well.

Thankfully Senku seemed to be unharmed, but with all the people’s attention on him the risk of someone seeing him snatch the boy away was too high. He’d just have to wait for him to leave. 

He was a fool thinking he could stifle that kid’s curiosity, he’d have to find a new base of operations now. Preferable one with no windows this time.

The guards infesting the place through a wrench in his plan, but granted he can adjust once he finds out where that passage leads. 

A short balding man stumbles out of the bar, seemingly having one too many drinks. Stanley is silent as he grabs the man and holds a knife to his throat.

"Where does that tunnel let out?" he growls.

"Knife!" Is the only eloquent word the man can utter. This is going to be a fun interrogation.

The tunnel was dark, dreary, and cold. Thankfully, Senku had a small light from his bag to illuminate the way, but it mostly just lit up the various cobwebs and bones littering the way. Senku ignored the shiver going down his spine, still too high on his adrenaline rush from upstairs.

"Well, I've gotta say, I didn't know you had that in you back there." Asagiri says amusedly, tucking his hands into his sleeves. "That was actually... Impressive."

"I know!" Senku exclaims, his eyes are burning so bright it looks like there are stars within them. He realizes how excited he is and collects himself, "I know." He says more composed.

Asagiri lets out a small smile at the display. For how mature the kid acts, it’s nice to see his naivety every once in a while.

"So..." Senku pipes up, "Where are you from?"

"Oh no, greenie. I don't do ackstoriesbay." Asagiri shakes his head frantically, 

"However, I am becoming very interested in yours. Now I know I'm not allowed to mention the hair." He gestures to the several feet trailing behind Senku.

"Nope."

"Or the guardian.”

"Uh-uh."

"Frankly, I'm too scared to ask about the frog." 

"Chameleon." Said chameleon is currently snoozing in his pocket, having been given too many treats from the patrons at the bar.

"Nuance. Here's my question though. If you wanted to see the lanterns so badly, why haven't you gone before?"

Senku pauses for a moment, unsure of how to respond, "Ah, well..."

Before he can come up with an answer a rock hits him on the head, “ow.” Then the floor begins to shake violently, and a light grows closer to them.

“Uh, Asagiri?” Senku shakes the man’s shoulder. His eyes widen as he sees who’s coming down the tunnel.

“Get Back Here!” shout the guards as they run towards the pair.

“Run.” Asagiri pushes Senku in front and starts grabbing his hair. Senku follows suit as the guards get even closer, “Run!” he agrees.

They sprint down the dark tunnel as fast as they can, thankfully not tripping despite their lack of vision. Seeing the light at the end pushes them even further, and they are finally able to escape their confinement.

Only to come face to face with a dammed up canyon and a sheer drop right in front of them, with only a rickety rope ladder to help them descend it.

Before they can even attempt to start climbing, one of the boarded off exits at the bottom of the canyon splinters open. Magma and Yo rush out and immediately sneer at Asagiri.

"Who is that?" Senku asks apprehensively.

"They don't like me!" Asagiri whimpers.

The guards catch up to them and block their path. Senku jumps and shouts, "Who is that?!"

"They don't like me either." The man whines backing away.

One extremely pissed off looking guard steps in front of the others. "Who is-"

"Let’s just assume that everyone here doesn't like me!"

Senku huffs in frustration, he throws his frying pan at Asagiri and hears the man groan in pain. As he digs through his bag he whispers behind him, “Keep your eyes shut.”

Senku pulls out a weird looking contraption made out of glass and throws it at the guards. It makes a sharp crack and then a blinding light explodes out of the device, the guards who couldn’t keep their eyes off of it getting the full effect of its power.

With their assailants incapacitated, Senku throws his hair at a nearby beam and lets it loop around. Checking to make sure it’s secure first, he jumps and swings across the chasm to a ledge on the other side. He makes it look like a practiced trick, but really it all relies on his knowledge of trigonometry. 

Unfortunately for Asagiri, it means he’s all alone to fend off against his foes, whose blindness definitely seems temporary. He backs away as much as he can as the group approaches. The leader scowls at him, "I've waited a long time for this."

Asagiri’s eyes dart between his dinky frying and the huge swords and spears aimed at him. He gulps as the leader goes in for the kill, he just barely manages to duck away before swinging his own weapon. He hits her right in the face, knocking her helmet off as she crumbles to the ground. With the rest of the group stunned, Asagiri takes the opportunity to swoop in and take out the rest of the guards in front of him. Parrying their blades and making sure his heavy pan takes them out of commission.

When none make a move to get up he laughs victoriously, "Oh mama! I have got to get me one of these!"

He only gets a second to react as a spear grazes his cheek, and he comes face to face with the guard who chased him throughout the forest. The thief laughs guiltily and gives the man a small wave, “Heeeeey.”

The man does not return the sentiment as he lunges forward, putting Asagiri on the defense. The man fights crazed and violent, he’s probably still mad from earlier. Great, that's just great.

All he can do is block the numerous blows and try to think of a plan. Well he can always rely on his silver tongue, "You should know this is the strangest thing I've ever done!"

It backfires dramatically as the guard takes the opportunity to disarm him. The frying pan falling delicately into the chasm right behind them. Asagiri turns back and smiles sheepishly, “How about two outta three?”

He gets a spear in the face for his efforts and he quickly puts his hands up in surrender. Not a second later, something wraps around his freed up hand. The green hue in his peripheral and the shout of, “Got it!”, clue him in onto what’s going on. With a sarcastic salute, he leans back and lets gravity take over. 

Thankfully, there were many beams and pillars for Senku to anchor his hair to in order to allow for Asagiri’s quick escape. Doing a quick calculation he predicted what the best angle and velocity would be needed for him to reach the ground safely.

Not so thankfully, the two mean looking criminals blocking the path through that plan out of the water. “Asagiri, look out!” He shouts as the man looks down. He shrieks and scrambles higher up Senku's hair just in time for two swords to miss him.

“Ha! You should see your faces!" Asagiri gloats loudly, "Because you look-”

While the thief was busy boasting, he failed to see or hear his companion warning him of the rickety channel he was about to crash into. So he swings right into it, the ledge jamming into his stomach. "Ridiculous!" he wheezes.

Senku winces in sympathy, but before he can do anything to help a loud cracking noise echoes across the canyon. The guards have knocked down one of the pillars in order to bridge the gap to his ledge. As the guards approach Senku looks for an escape, Asagiri gets his attention having tied his hair to the channel he was perched on, "Come on, Senku! Jump!"

Without hesitation Senku jumps, seconds before a hand goes to grab him by the hair. He swings under the channel and lands as gracefully as he can on the wet ground below. Being on the ground level means that he is now in reach of Magma and Yo who run straight towards him. He grabs as much hair as he can and runs towards the nearest opening he sees, hoping it's the way out.

Asagiri quickly slides down the channel in order to catch up to his companion, the drizzle of water flowing in it letting him slide down with ease. The structure is unstable though and begins to crumble beneath his feet. When he gets close enough to the bottom, he jumps and lands next to Senku and tugs the rest of the boy's hair into his arms. The two sprint as fast as they can trying to outrun the men, just a little further until they can get to safety.

Water rushes out of the dam, the pillars supporting it finally crumbling and destroying the structure underneath it. All within the canyon get swept away by the harsh current, as well as the tall stone structure who start to fall directly on the two companions. There’s an opening in the wall close enough to dive in, so the two grab Senku’s frying pan and jump. The water rushes in, closing off their opening permanently.

The tunnel is pitch black and the sealed opening does not help with the visuality. Before they can get their bearings though, water begins to rush in and fill the surrounding room Senku turns to venture further into the tunnel to escape the rapids when a wall stops him.

There's no exit. They're trapped.

Asagiri looks up and comes to the same realization, he squeals in panic and starts frantically scraping at the impenetrable wall of rock in front of them. The water is waist high now, so the man dives down to frantically look for a gap in the rocks. He flops around like a fish in his panic to find the way out and also catch his breath.

Think Senku, THINK. There has to be a way out of this. There is no way to go back the way they came, maybe they can plug up gaps but with what? What does he have on him? Nothing that could chip away at the rock. The water just continues to rise.

Senku gets snapped out of his train of thought when water splashes over him as Asagiri resurfaces once more. He tries to climb up the wall to try up there but slips back down with a pained hiss. An ugly cut now runs across his palm gushing blood.

He dives down for one last desperate attempt, but quickly resurfaces as the water reaches their necks. Asagiri pants as he tries to regain his breath and keep his head above the water. He turns to Senku, "It's no use! I can't see anything!"

No it can't be, there has to be a way out. Senku tries to duck down and get a look for himself, but Asagiri pulls him back up before he can get too deep.

"Hey! There's no point! It's pitch black down there." Asagiri tries to placate the boy as he pulls them both further up the wall to keep above the choppy waves.

"Sorry for dragging you into this Asagiri." Senku says his voice barely above a whisper.

"Gen."

"Huh?"

"My name is Gen." The thief lets out a huge sigh, "Someone might as well know."

Something sparks inside of Senku and he gains a second wind. "Tch. Don't give up just yet, I've still got one thing left to try."

"EH?" Gen exclaims beside him, but Senku is too focused on thinking through his plan. The only way it works is if they can find a crack in the rocks, and the only way to do that is if they can see.

The water is rising too fast though so before they have no more air left he grabs what he needs and prepares it as quickly as he can, barking out orders as he does.

"Okay, when we have no more room to breathe, I want you to dive down and find any gap in the rocks that you can. Once you do, shake this vial violently and place it on the crack." With that, he shoves the vial into the thief's hands.

"What is that going to…" He doesn't let the man get another word in as there's no time.

" Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine- " is all he is able to get out before the water covers both their heads. For a moment, he worries that he wasn't able to sing enough of the song, but the tunnel before him illuminates with a greenish glow emanating from him.

His companion lets out a shriek, eyes bugging out of his head, before remembering their situation and covers his mouth to save as much oxygen as he can. Senku ignores his freak out and directs the thief towards a piece of hair that is being pulled towards the rocks.

Gen quickly swims towards the walls and does as he was instructed. He backs up a bit as the vial lets out a small explosion, shifting the rocks just enough that the powerful current of the filled cavern is able to break through the impenetrable wall.

Now with an exit the water flows freely into a river below and spills its two trapped companions with it. The river is not deep, so the two are able to pull themselves onto the bank and take much needed gulps of air.

Once he's done gasping and coughing water out of his lungs, Senku lets out a victorious giggle. "We made it!"

"His hair glows!" Gen raps out, his eyes are so wide they seem to be escaping his skull.

"We're alive!" Senku exclaims as he pulls himself up on the shore, letting Suika out to give the little reptile a chance to breathe.

"I didn't see that coming." the thief lets his head fall into the ground below him grabbing fists full of his hair.

"Gen." Senku calls out behind him.

"His hair actually glows."

"Gen."

Suika tries to give the man a comforting pat, but the man is too wrapped up in his own panic to do anything but shout at the chameleon, "Why does his hair glow?!"

"Gen!"

"What!?" Gen looks over to see Senku pulling out the rest of his hair out of the river. 

"It doesn't just glow." the boy says with a smirk.

Gen glances down at Suika only to see the chameleon looking back up smugly, "Why is she smiling at me?"

Chapter Text

Stan waits patiently outside the not very well hidden trapdoor that whimpering mess of a man promised was the exit of that tunnel. If that’s true, then Senku sure is taking his time traversing through it, though he doesn't let those thoughts linger too long. Nothing has happened yet to his wayward charge and once he sees a glimpse of that green hair he will whisk him away back to their safe haven.

Someone starts to bang on the door to force it open, so Stan drops down into position ready to strike. Instead of his intended target however, two soaking wet men crawl weakly out of the opening, sputtering and coughing as they try to catch their breath.

The bigger man growls out, "I'll kill him. I'll kill that traitor!"

"We'll cut him off at the kingdom and get back the crown," his companion retorts, "Come on."

Stan goes to leave before he recognizes the two thieves. If their traitorous companion is the same man he's hunting, then can use this to his advantage. He steps out of the shadows and whistles at the two.

"Hey. Perhaps you want to stop acting like wild dogs chasing their tails and think for a moment." He dangles the satchel in front of them.

The two go to grab their swords, but Stan only chuckles and tosses the bag to them, "Oh please, there's no need for that.” 

The two tussle for a moment, scrambling for the crown inside of it, smirking when the stones finally gleam in the sunlight. Stan turns and starts to walk away from the two. "Well, if that's all you desire then be on your way. I was going to offer you something worth one thousand crowns, it would have made you rich beyond belief, and that's not even the best part!" he lights a cigarette as he waves the men off, "Oh well! Enjoy your crown!"

The men approach him suspiciously, "And what's the best part?" 

Stan spins around with a certain thief's wanted poster. "It comes with revenge on Asagiri." His voice drips with venom and he can see the men share the same sentiment. He's got them eating right out of his hands; Asagiri is a dead man walking.

Fishing themselves out of the river and building a fire takes long enough that the sun begins to set. Thankfully, the two are able to find enough firewood that it's roaring and dries their clothes and belongings quickly. 

Once they are settled down, Senku takes the man's wound and wraps his hair around it.

"So you're being rather cryptic as you wrap your magic hair around my injured hand." Gen pipes up after just staring for a while.

Senku responds by wrapping his hair tighter around the hand.

"Ow ow ow ow." The man hisses and cradles his hand into his chest.

Senku rolls his eyes at the display, "Just, don't freak out, okay?"

Gen still looks slightly freaked out, but hopefully he can compose himself long enough that the wound can close up. Senku closes his eyes and starts to sing.

" Flower gleam and glow,

Let your power shine."

Gen watches intently as the boy's hair starts to glow, beginning at the roots and trailing along the strands. Lighting up the night as the glow grows stronger.

“Make the clock reverse,

Bring back what once was mine ."

The ethereal glow finally reaches Gen's hand and he fights back the flinch before he realizes that he doesn't feel any different. Suika crawls down Senku's arm and points eagerly at the wrapped hand.

" Heal what has been hurt,

Change the Fates' design,

Save what has been lost ."

When Gen looks up the boy in front of him is surrounded by the green glow giving him a haunted look. Senku, noticing the eyes on him, slows down just to make sure the wound is fully healed by the end of the song.

“Bring back what once was mine,

What once was mine ."

The song is over, and the glow dissipates just as quickly, the clearing having gone still and silent. Gen hesitantly starts to unwrap his hand and sees absolutely nothing, no blood, no gash, no scar. It's like the wound was never even there.

His breath hitches and he can feel the panic start to build. Before it can explode out of him, Senku appears in his personal space and hisses, "Don't freak out!"

"Aaaaah- I'm not freaking out! Why would I be freaking out? Are you freaking out? No, I'm just very interested in your hair and the magical qualities it possesses." He starts to twist himself into a pretzel, "How long has it been doing that exactly?"

"Uh," Senku chuckles at the display, "Forever, I guess? When I was a baby, people tried to cut it. They wanted to take it for themselves."

Senku tugs on one of the strands that fall in front of his face, "But, once it's cut, it darkens at the tips and loses its power."

Gen starts to unfold himself and leans forward to listen intently.

"Something like that..." Senku says looking off in the distance and absentmindedly plays with the strand, "It has to be protected. That's why my guardian never let me… That's why I never left and..."

Gen leans in realization flashing across his face, "You never left that tower?" Senku just gives him a sad smile. "And you're still going to go back?" Gen asks, confused.

"No!" Senku replies immediately, but quickly his expression becomes conflicted, "Yes. I don't know. It's complicated." He lays back against the log he's resting and buries his head in his hands. Suika paws at him from his lap, Senku gives her a smile and lets her curl up on his shoulder. 

After a minute Senku decides he's done talking about himself for the night, "So, Gen huh?"

Gen leans away with a nervous chuckle, "Yeah, well, I'll spare you the sob story of poor orphan Gen Asagiri. It's a little bit of a... Well it's a little bit of a ownerday."

Senku motions to get on with it. 

Gen huffs but continues, "There was this book! A book I used to read every night to all the younger kids, The Adventures of the Asagiri! Mentalist, the richest man alive, smooth talker, not that he brags about it, of course."

"Was he a thief too?" Senku questions.

"Uhm... Well, no." Gen trails off with a sad look on his face. "Actually, he had enough money to do anything he wanted to do. He could go anywhere he wanted to go! And for a kid with nothing? I don't know, it just seemed like the better option."

Gen schools his expression back to normal and spins back to Senku, "You can't tell anyone about this, okay? It could ruin my whole reputation."

Senku chuckles and lets a playful grin spread across his face, "We wouldn't want that."

"Well a fake reputation is all the man has." Gen feels his grin grow to mirror him.

They both burst out laughing, almost leaning on each other for support as they lose themselves to the giggles. Gen looks across at Senku and tries to compose himself, looking a bit nervous. He clears his throat and stands up, "Well I should- I should get some more firewood."

Before he can get too far Senku calls out, "Hey. For the record, I like Gen much better than Asagiri."

Gen has a small smile as he turns around, "Well, then you'd be the first, but thank you."

"Though in my opinion Mentalist would have been a cooler name than Asagiri!" Senku shouts as the man disappears into the forest.

"HA HA!" Senku chuckles at the dry laugh he received and relaxes back by the fire.

"Well, I thought he'd never leave." A very familiar voice echoes behind Senku.

His heart stops as he turns around, "Stan?"

"Hello Senku, you're far away from home."

"But I-I-I don't-" Senku shudders as Stan walks closer to him, "How did you find me?"

"It wasn't hard. You've made quite the commotion out here. I just followed that." He stops, standing in front of the boy. 

Senku tries to keep calm, "Stan."

"We're going home, Senku. Now." Stan snatches Senku's wrist and starts to pull him away. 

"Wait Stan you don't understand!" Senku pleads as he tries to tug his wrist back, "I've been on this incredible journey... I've seen and learned so many things about the world already! I've made friends."

"The wanted thief? Yes. I'm so proud." Stan bits back sarcastically, "Come on Senku."

"Please just listen to me!" Senku flings back as he wrestles out of the hold, "Despite all the world has thrown at me I've been able to overcome every obstacle. I can do this, I know I can."

"Please Senku, you've almost died multiple times in one day. The only reason you're still safe is sheer luck." Stan laughs.

"But Stan, I-"

"This is why you never should have left!" Stan bites back, "Senku this just proves you're too naive to be here."

Senku stares at the ground, the fight leaving him.

"And don't even get me started on your little companion that you've found. You do realize that he's playing you for a fool right? As soon as he's gotten exactly what he wants he'll abandon you," he snaps his fingers, the sharp sound pierces the forest, "Just like that. Now come here."

Senku clenches his jaw and stands his ground, "No!"

Stan's eyes widened in shock, "No? Oh. I see how it is! One day outside and suddenly Senku knows best. No, don't listen to the man who's cared and protected you all these years. You clearly know what you're doing."

With no response Stan continues his rant. "Fine, if you're so sure of your great decisions, why don't you give your little friend this." He pulls out the satchel that Senku had hidden away.

The boy gasps, "How did you-"

Stan just plucks the crown from inside, "This little thing right here is the only reason he's stuck around this long. If you really think he's here for you, give it to him and see what happens."

Stan flings the crown at Senku who catches it clumsy, "I will!" Senku tries to not let the doubt swirl inside of him as he hides the crown in the satchel that Stan has dropped onto the grass.

"Go on, put him to the test. See exactly the kind of person he is really. And when he shows you the real vile version of himself that I know he will be, don't come crying to me.”

Stan stalks back into the forest leaving Senku all alone in the clearing. 

"Stan, wait!” The call echoes into the trees, but the man doesn't acknowledge him at all. He's just left all alone in the dark. He slumps back onto the log he'd been sitting on, staring a hole into the satchel on his lap.

"So!" Gen's voice appears from the forest his arms full of sticks, "Can I ask you omethingsay?"

Senku shoves the satchel in the log below him before the thief can see it.

"Is there any chance that I'm going to get super strength in my hand? Because, I'm not going to lie, that would be stupendous." Gen pauses noticing how tense his companion is. "Hey, you all right?"

Senku turns around and tries his best to compose himself, "Oh. Sorry. Just... Lost in thought I guess."

Gen looks like he wants to press the issue further before relenting and continuing his rant, "I mean cause here's the thing, super human good looks? I've always had them! Born with it! But super human strength? Could you imagine the ossibilitiespay of this!"

Senku just tunes him out, trying his best not to look at the hidden treasure he's sitting right on top of. He'll figure out what to do in the morning, he just needs some sleep. 

Meanwhile, far enough away so that the two don't see them, Stan rejoins the bullheaded criminals he'd recruited. Hearing Asagiri sparks one of them to jerk out of the brush they've hidden themselves in. Stan just lays a hand on his shoulder, "Patience, boy. All good things to those who wait."

Chapter Text

Gen wakes up to something heavy crushing his chest, as well as drips of water falling onto his face. When he finally manages to peel his eyes open, he sees the form of one disgruntled guard, soaking wet and currently pinning him down to the ground. "Well I hope you're here to apologize." the thief responds sleepily.

Suddenly, Senku wakes up to Gen screaming. He shoots up from slumber to see Gen getting roughly dragged away by the guard. "NO NO NO! Put me down! NO!" the man squeals as he tries to wriggle and claw out of the grip on him.

Senku scrambles up in time to grab onto Gen's arms, tugging them as hard as he can. Unfourcently, it ends up just turning into a game of tug of war with the opposing guard, poor Gen getting the brunt of it from both ends. He shouts in pain as neither party is willing to give up, until Gen's boat slips off his foot and the guard's grip goes along with it. Finally free, Gen tumbles into Senku and they both end up in a pile of limbs on the ground.

The guard advances on the two once more, but before he can do much Senku pulls out his crossbow and aims it straight for his chest. "Don't come any closer!" Senku grits out, trying to catch his breath to keep his aim steady.

The guard halts his movements but doesn't seem too threatened by the weapon. He squints at the two in front of him before speaking. "I suggest you move out of the way, you are interfering with royal business. This man is a dangerous criminal who needs to be punished for his crimes."

Senku cocks his head in fake confusion, "What crime did he commit?"

The guard huffs, "He stole the prince's crown. I have direct orders from the king that I am to apprehend him and retrieve the crown at any cost."

"Well I think you have the wrong guy cause there's no crown here, isn't that right Gen?"

Gen laughs nervously as he hides behind Senku, "Absolutely, I've never even seen a crown before."

"Nice try Asagiri, but you were seen at the scene of the crime. Now, where is the crown?" The guard unsheaths his spear.

"Wait wait, I swear I don't have it. I lost it after we fell off that cliff." Which isn't a lie, it's just not the full truth.

"I swept that area top to bottom afterward and never saw anything. How do I know if you're telling the truth?”

Senku pipes up, "You can check our belongings to confirm for yourself that we're telling the truth."

The guard seems to think it over before relenting and starts to check their belongings. Senku holds his breath when he gets near the log hiding the very crown he's searching for. Thankfully, the man doesn't see it and Senku tries not to let the relief show on his face.

"Well you seem to be telling the truth," the guard relents and turns back to the pair. "But regardless, I still need to take him in for questioning."

Senku jumps in front of the guard once more, "Hold on there, let me strike a deal with you, uhhh." His eye catches a badge on the guard's chest with hopefully the man's name, "Kinro."

Kinro raises an eyebrow in suspicion, "Deal?"

"Yep," Senku walks back over to the embers of their fire and stokes it back up. He grabs his frying pan to heat up over the flame, "Look, today is kind of the biggest day of my life, and I need you not to get him arrested." Kinro sputters in indignation, but before he can protest Senku continues, "Just for twenty four hours! Then you can chase each other to your heart's content, okay?"

"Hey don't I get a say in this!" Gen whines, but his cries get ignored.

"And why would I break the rules for you? I am duty bound to follow the orders of my King."

Senku starts to pull out some of the various rocks he had collected along his journey. "Heat up some cinnabar to get mercury and melt some gold dust in as well", he mumbles to himself as he adds his ingredients to the pan. To his audience he responds, "Well the best way to ensure that we don't try and escape is to accompany us during the festival and make sure we're not doing anything nefarious."

Kinro just stares perplexed at the negotiation being presented to him, so it's understandable that Senku is able to steal his spear with ease. "Let me just borrow this for a moment." Senku runs back to the fire before the guard even realizes what just happened. He coats the spear in the strange concoction and holds it over the fire. When Kinro steps forward he shouts out a warning, "Don't inhale the smoke or you'll die!"

Once it's ready, Senku pulls out the newly golden spear and offers it back to its owner, "And as a treat for you, a golden spear for a golden guard." Kinro tries not to look in awe of his spear as it glistens in the morning light.

Senku offers the guard a hand, but he is still hesitant. Gen sneaks up behind Senku, "Plus it's his birthday, just so you know."

"Fine," the guard grits out, "but just until the end of the festival".

"You've got yourself a deal then." Senku smiles and enthusiastically shakes the other's hand.

Senku gathers up all his belongings while the Gen and Kinro try their best to be comfortable in each other's presence. The two are distracted enough that they don't notice Senku sneaking the satchel under his shirt. 

"Well, let's get a move on. Chop chop." Senku barks out, which sparks the two into motion, but it doesn't stop Kinro from tripping Gen and causing the thief to fall.

After a small trek through the forest, a grand castle appears in the distance. Senku can barely hold back his excitement as he speeds up to burst out of the trees and make his way towards the magnificent bridge that leads to the central island of the Kingdom.

"Wow." Senku stares in awe at the intricate craftsmanship before him. He must have stared for quite a bit, as Gen and Kinro are waiting with vastly different levels of patience. Once across the bridge they are welcomed through the gates, the city is jam packed with people and decorations showing off the celebration about to occur.

The banners are decorated with stars and some sort of long object in the center that Senku doesn't recognize. He goes to ask Gen if he knows what it is before his head gets thrown back due to various people and carts trampling all along his hair. Gen notices his plight, and they try to grab as much hair as they can before it can get yanked out again. It would be hard to walk around the city like this, but neither had ever needed to tie up their hair before, so they look around lost on what to do.

"Oh wow, your hair is gorgeous!" A black haired woman walks up to the pair, "How did you grow it so much? Please share your secret."

"Well, it's a long story …" Senku trails off, trying to keep the mass amount of hair from spilling out of his arms.

Gen pipes up with a grin on his face, "and he'd love to tell you it, if you could help us keep it from dragging along the ground."

She giggles, "Don't worry I've got you. I'm Ruby by the way," She whistles to a group behind them who were braiding each other's hair. "Girls, we have a challenge!" She exclaims as she drags the pair over to the excited gasps. Kinro doesn't follow, but Gen can still feel his eyes piercing through the crowd.

Senku gets sat down away from the horde of people bustling throughout the city, while the girls form a plan of action. "Alright, let's split it into three braids that get turned into one big braid. Me, Sapphire, and Garnet will each be in charge of one braid, and kids you can help wherever you can. Sounds good everyone." With shouts of agreement the group gets to work.

For how much labor they did, the group made efficient work and Senku’s hair was all woven up into an intricate braid. It still almost trailed along the ground, but Senku couldn't be happier with the freedom of movement it gave him. The kids had even woven sparkling gems into the braid to make his hair shine more than it normally did. "Thanks, I owe you one." Senku says with gratitude.

"No worries, we had fun. Just go and enjoy the festival." Ruby waves him off as she goes to join her sisters, who seem to be gossiping about the people who walk by.

Senku looks around for where Gen had hidden from the various guards who wandered the streets. What he finds is Gen surrounded by a sea of children as he performs magic tricks to the delight of his audience. He makes a gem appear behind a little girl's head and then ties it in her hair, which makes her squeal with happiness. Senku calls out, "Oi mentalist, let's get a move on."

Gen gets up from where he had kneeled down, "All done Senku-chan? That definitely looks like a ulytray impressive feat of hair styling."

"Senku-chan?"

"Well, if I get a nickname surely you deserve one as well. Now time’s a wasting and we need to make sure we explore the kingdom to its full extent."

With that, the two are off and look at the various wares people are selling. Produce, flowers, and festive decorations are displayed on the various stands, and Senku flits between all of them, getting to see things only ever previously read about. He gets Gen to buy a small flag that resembles the ones flying throughout the streets. It's small enough that he can hide it from Stan so it's perfect.

Further into the city, Gen spots people drawing with chalk on the street and goads Senku into joining. The two are not artists by any means, but they have fun with Gen drawing what looks like a self portait and Senku depicting his favorite constellations. Getting covered in chalk dust is a small price to pay for getting to add to the collage of drawings spreading across the plaza.

Gen manages to score them some pastries once their stomachs start to growl. They are delicious even if they have to hide in an alleyway as a patrol crosses through the crowd.

The highlight of the day has to be when Gen takes Senku to the library, seeing the shelves upon shelves of books is overwhelming in the best possible way. He bounces all over the room until his stack of books is as tall as he is. No one else is in the library today, except for Kinro who is trying his best to look inconspicuous, so he spreads out all his books around the room. He jumps between all of them every few minutes, trying to absorb all the information as quickly as he can.

He keeps going back to one book in particular, it contains maps of the entire kingdom and someone has lovingly written notes in the margins about the best places to find raw materials and spots with the coolest views. He tries to store as much as he can in his memory so he can check out said places one day. When Gen told him he couldn't keep the books he was disappointed but understanding.

As much as Senku would like to stay here for the rest of the day, if he wants to see the lanterns tonight he knows they have to leave soon. Reluctantly, Senku starts to put the books back where he found them, trying not to leave the room in the tornado like state he had turned it into. He holds on to his favorite until the end and is about to put it away with the others when he hears someone clear their throat behind him.

He turns to see the elderly librarian who had welcomed them in, "You've taking quite a liking to that one, haven't you?" He lets out a small chuckle, "Quite a few have loved that one too, sometimes they've loved it a little too much. I was planning on getting a new copy to replace that one, so why don't you keep it?"

"Really?"

"Why not?" the man shrugs, "It should be with someone who'll appreciate it rather than sit in the dusty back room."

A wide grin spread across Senku's face. "Thank you, I'll make sure it gets appreciated." Senku puts the book in his bag and joins Gen outside into the heart of the city.

Chapter Text

Gen goes to wait in line for something that caught his eye, leaving Senku to his own devices in the main plaza of the city. People are bustling around to and fro, going from shopping to chatting with one another to listening to the festive music playing in the background. Senku enjoys watching how these people live their lives here in this grand city.

Out of the corner of his eye Senku spots a large mosaic painting, its impressive scale and technique draw Senku towards it to get a closer look. It depicts a man wearing fancy clothes and a crown holding a baby, he has grey hair that darkens on the ends and a kind smile on his face.

The baby has green hair and red eyes…

"It's for the lost prince." Senku's eyes flick down to a girl demonstrating how to place a flower below the painting for her baby sibling. Many other flowers decorate the bottom as it looks to be some sort of memorial.

A mechanical grinding sound snaps Senku out of his train of thought, the music grinds to a halt and a bunch of smoke pours out from the other side of the plaza. Senku pushes through the crowd to see what is happening. A couple of musicians are crowding around a clunky machine looking panicked. Senku approaches them curiously, "What happened here?"

The violinist turns his attention away from the machine, "The darn thing broke down again, and now the crowd won't be able to hear our music."

"So it amplifies sounds." Senku mutters as he takes a closer look.

"When it works, yeah." The horn player answers snarky. "Of course it happens today when the shops are closed"

"I can take a look at it, if you don't mind that is." Senku offers.

"Knock yourself out kid, thing can hardly break any more than it already is." The violinist responds.

With that permission, Senku cracks open the machine to see what could have caused it to malfunction. It seems like a small part got loose and jammed up the mechanism. It would be best to replace the part entirely, but seeing as he doesn't have all his tools on him, just placing the piece back and giving it a good clean should do the trick for at least the rest of the day. It takes a bit of time, but the machine starts running again. The musicians cheer once their sound comes through once more.

The horn player claps Senku on the back, "Oh my god I can't believe it. You did it!"

"It was nothing." Senku brushes him off as he cleans off the grease on his hands.

"Hey you saved the day kid. That's not nothing." The violinist gets the others to ready their instruments, "This one's for you."

They begin to play festive music that draws in the nearby crowds who clap and dance along. Senku watches the crowd's joy and feels a strange sense of accomplishment that he's never felt before. He's always made things for himself and for the pursuit of knowledge, he never really had the chance to make something that made others feel a little better. He likes this feeling.

A couple of people start to link arms and dance in a circle, it seems like it's something everyone but Senku is familiar with. One of the dancers beckons Senku to join them, but Senku just shakes his head. He's never really been a graceful person. Unfortunately for him, one of the musicians pushes him into the circle and he's immediately pulled into the merriment. Sensing his hesitation the people on either side of him guide him through the dance as best they can, trying to work around his two left feet.

Senku spots Gen across the way and sees the man trying to hold back his giggles at his current predicament. Senku scowls at him. How dare he laugh at his misery. Coming to his rescue, Kinro subtly hip checks the thief causing him to tumble into the circle as well and join Senku's fate. And if Senku laughs at the instant karma, then who can blame him?

The circle breaks, but the dancing is far from over as pairs break off and Senku gets tugged along by a stranger he tries his best not to step on the toes of. Senku tries to get to Gen so the two can make a quick exit, but every time he gets close enough, someone else swoops in to bring them back into the fray. The music starts to pick up speed and intensity as it reaches its end, and as a final flourish Senku's partner tries to give them a spin. All it did though was cause Senku to tumble into someone else, quick reflexes being the only thing saving him from a face plant.

He looks up to see Gen smiling down at him, and with a roll of his eyes he smiles back. Gen rights Senku as the crowd claps and cheers the ending of their performance.

"To the boats!" A voice rings out and sparks a mass exodus from the plaza. Gen leads Senku down to the docks where a small rowboat waits.

"What's this?" Senku eyes Gen suspiciously as the thief starts to climb into the boat.

"Best day of your life?" Gen gestures for Senku to follow him, "I figured you should have a decent seat."

Before Senku can though, he feels a presence behind him, Kinro clears his throat. "And just where do you think you two are going!"

"Elaxray. We're just going on the water to see the lanterns. We'll come right back afterwards." Gen tries his best to placate the guard.

"You know there is no way I can trust you, right?" Kinro glares down. "What's to stop you from fleeing the minute you're out of my sight?"

"You really think we could outrun you in this dinky rowboat?" Gen asks incredulously. Kinro doesn't seem to budge though.

"I have an idea." Senku pipes up. He digs Suika out of his pocket where she had been hiding. "This is Suika, she's been my friend for a long time and there's no way I'd leave her behind. If she stays here with you, then you know we'll have to come back."

Suika looks a little panicked at the idea, not wanting to leave Senku's side. "Hey it'll just be for a little while alright," Senku reassures her. "You'll be safer over here too. Don't want you falling off the boat." Suika understands and jumps onto Kinro's shoulder.

The guard looks like he wants to protest, but ultimately gives up. "Fine, but as soon as those lanterns are gone you come right back here."

"You got it!" Senku exclaims as he hops into the boat, trying his best not to laugh as Gen flusters about to make sure they don't end up overboard.

But with that they're off as Gen rows them towards the middle of the bay. From here you could see the whole city with the castle decorating the top.

It's magnificent, but Senku can't stop the pit in his stomach from growing larger the longer they float along the water. Clearly it shows on his face as Gen asks him nervously, "You okay?"

"I'm terrified." Senku utters, his voice barely a whisper.

"Why?"

"I've been looking out a window for 18 years, dreaming about what it might feel like when those lights rise in the sky." Senku shakily admits, "What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?"

Gen gives him a reassuring smile, "It will be."

"Tt." Senku lets a grin slip out before this thought darkens once more, "And what if it is? What do I do then?"

"Well that's the good part, I guess." Gen looks thoughtfully across the way, "You get to go find a new dream."

Senku lets a small smile grace his face as he also takes in the view in front of them. Now all they had to do was wait.

Byakuya stares at himself in the mirror, adjusting his clothes for the tenth time in that many minutes. He never really did care for the gaudy ceremonial garbs, but a night like tonight demanded a certain amount of decorum. And the more he fused with them, the more distracted he could make himself from all the emotions threatening to spill out of him.

It's been eighteen years of this, eighteen years of hope, eighteen years of grief, eighteen years of releasing a lantern into the sky and wishing it would become a guiding light home.

He wonders if this is even worth it after all these years, if his son has ever seen the sky light up with calls to come home. If he did, would he even know it's for him?

But the festival isn't just for his son, it's to give the people of this kingdom hope. So the show must go on.

Byakuya startles at a knock sound coming from further inside the room, the door opens and a woman with long flowing blond hair steps in.

"Lillian!" Byakuya can feel the relief pouring out of his chest, "I thought you weren't able to make it this year."

Lillian rushes over to his side, "Me too, but thankfully I was able to sneak away last minute. You know I would never want to miss it."

Byakuya can feel his eyes well with unwanted tears, "Thank you Lillian, that really means a lot to me."

"Of course, now let's get this started, everyone's ready."

Just like they do every year, they join hands and walk outside onto the balcony that overlooks the whole city. A grand lantern awaits them, decorated with the kingdom's symbol, a ship sailing among the stars. Lillian squeezes Byakuya's hand as he approaches the lantern. He takes it and releases it into the sky.

Who knows, maybe this year will be different.

Senku lazily creates ripples in the water, watching as they expand with nothing to impede their path. Just sitting and waiting was doing nothing to quell the nervous energy bubbling up inside of him, so he figured this was better than staring a hole into the boat. It was pretty intriguing to get to see how the ripples interacted with each other in this huge body of water, the tests at the tower and books he'd read never quite explained it as well as seeing the real thing.

He was glad he was staring down at the water though as, he sees a glow within the water's reflection. His head snaps up to see it, a lone lantern lighting up the sky. Not too far behind it dozens of lanterns follow its path.

Senku rushes towards the bow of the boat, not caring that he almost throws his companion overboard. His only thought is trying to get as close as he can to the objects of his desire he'd been dreaming of for eighteen long years.

He's mesmerized by how they light up the night sky brighter than even the stars, that he almost misses the hundreds of lanterns that start to pour out of the various ships and from all corners of the kingdom. There are so many that they fill up the sky and blanket the bay with their warm glow.

Watching from his window year after year is nothing compared to this, getting to experience this beautiful sight is just as awe-inspiring as he imagined it would be. No, it's even better than he could have ever imagined, there's nowhere else he would rather be than in this moment.

The lanterns float closer to the boat, and Senku can start to see them clearly. They all have different shapes or designs on them to make each of them unique, a detail he was never able to notice before. It makes Senku think of all the people he met today, what did each of their lanterns look like. What would his lantern look like?

A strong glow from behind him causes him to peek back, and he sees Gen holding two lanterns. One has little flowers decorating it while the other has a more geometric design to it. Senku sits back down across from him and takes a closer look at the craftsmanship of them, when a thought crosses his mind.

"I have something for you too." Senku pulls the satchel out from its hiding place.

Gen looks at Senku in shock, eyes darting between him and the satchel.

"I should have given it to you before, but I didn't feel like I could trust you. And the thing is," Senku can feel the anxiety melt away from him. "I don't think that matters anymore. You know what I mean?"

Gen reaches out for the satchel, but instead of holding it greedily like he might have done yesterday he just places it on the floor. "I think I'm starting too." he replies as he hands Senku one of the lanterns.

Together they release their lanterns and watch as they twirl and dance around each other as they join the wave of oncoming lanterns. As some lanterns start to lose their altitude, they glide across the water and circle the boat coating Senku in their warm glow. It's funny how much it reminds Senku of the glow he creates, except this one feels so different from the green he's used to. That always feels unsettling, haunting, and powerful. This however feels warm, comforting, and safe.

One lantern floats dangerously closer to the edge of the water, and Senku reaches out to catch it lifting it back up where it belongs. The design on that one was the same one that was on the kingdom's flag, it looks beautiful on the glowing fabric that Senku has decided it's one of his favorites.

Senku is so captivated by the scene in front of him that he doesn't even realize that the only other occupant in the boat glaze lies directly on him. As magnificent as the view around them is, Gen can't quite take his eyes off Senku. The amount of joy emanating from the boy now is juxtaposed with the cynical first impression he had. It's a good look on him. The way his expression minutely shifts every time something else catches his attention is so fascinating.

Gen had never really felt this way towards other people, never cared so much about how another person was feeling. People had always been something to manipulate, to exploit. He never knew how it felt to have someone that you want to make happier every time you see them, but now he does.

Senku manages to peel his eyes away from the sky to look back at Gen. He hesitates for a second before saying, "Thank you for all of this Gen. I never would have made it here without you."

A small smile graces Gen's face, "It was nothing. So was it everything you ever dreamed of?"

"Better than anything I could have imagined. That was probably the closest I can get to walking among the stars without actually going up there." Senku pauses for a moment, his eyes following the lanterns still as they start to head towards the forest. "Everything feels different now. It's almost as if I've been blind my whole life and didn't even realize it till I could finally see."

Gen looks contemplative for a moment, "I think I understand. When you've been living the same way for so long, it can be hard to imagine anything changing. But hopefully this change is for the best."

Senku chuckles, "Yeah I think this is for the best." The two just exist in each other's presence for a few minutes watching as the lanterns finally make their way across the bay. With their glow dissipating it bathes the surrounding area in the typical darkness of the night, except for a sickly green glow creeping up the edge of the forest.

The strange light catches Gen's eye as he looks a little closer, and he sees a figure. No two figures, two very familiar figures. They vanish quickly into the brush, but it leaves Gen unsettled to have that loose end still out there. He needs to do something to fix that.

Senku notices the nervous look on Gen's face, "Is everything okay?"

"Huh?" Gen's head snaps up as he looks between the boat and the forest behind them. "Oh yes. Yes, of course. I just-" The satchel next to Senku catches his eye. He grabs the ores and starts to row to the shore, the worried look never leaving his face.

Senku tries to get his attention again with a confused shout, "Hey what are-"

"I'm sorry. Everything is fine." Gen hops out of the boat, the satchel now on his hip. "There's just something I have to take care of."

Senku looks like he wants to argue, but relents with a distrustful look across his face, "Okay."

Gen smiles slightly before turning around, "I'll be right back."

Gen takes a deep breath, and suddenly Asagiri takes a step toward. Right now, he needs to be the confident thief that takes control of the situation. Pushing through the brush he sees Yo on the other side sitting on a large rock, he is whittling a stick with a very sharp knife.

"Ah! There you are. I've been searching everywhere for you guys since we got separated!" Asagiri makes sure to add a little extra blubbering to really sell the act, "Is that a new eye patch? It really accentuates your features."

Yo just glares at him in place of a response.

Okay so that didn't really work. "Anyway, I just wanted to say, I shouldn't have split. The crown is all yours."

He tosses the satchel at the man's feet, the crown falling out and glistening in the moonlight. He starts to slowly back away, "I'll miss ya, but I wish you all the-" His back hits something solid and a quick turn reveals Magma cutting off his escape "best."

Yo finally pipes up, "Holding out on us again, Asagiri?"

Asagiri looks at the man in confusion, "What?"

"We heard you found something. Something much more valuable than a crown." Yo hops off the rock, kicking the crown out of the way as he approaches, "We want him, instead."

Before Gen can even process what was said, the world goes black for him once more.

Chapter Text

Senku had started exploring the shore next to the boat, knowing that if he stopped for a minute that the dark thoughts clouding his head would fully take over. He'll be back soon, it'll all be fine.

In the foggy distance he sees a silhouette coming towards him. At the sight he's able to exhale all of his worries. He steps forward towards the figure, a teasing remark on his lips, "Oi Mentalist, I was starting to think you ran off with the crown and left me."

Behind the figure appears a much bigger person. Senku's heart drops as the two thieves who were after Gen step out of the fog, on their faces were malicious smiles. "He did."

"What?" Senku doesn't want to believe them, "No! He wouldn't."

"See for yourself." The taller one points behind Senku.

Hesitantly, Senku turns around and can see a boat on the water with a very familiar person at the helm. "Gen?" Senku shouts in surprise as he sees that the thief is even holding the crown in his hand. "Gen!" Senku shouts even louder, but the man doesn't even turn to acknowledge him.

"Fair trade." Senku is in such a state of shock that he doesn't realize how close the man had come until he brushes his hand across the large braid that cascades down his back, "A crown for the boy with the magic hair."

Senku shivers as he turns to look at the pair. His hand goes to his hip, only to remember that he left his bag in the boat. He has no way to defend himself.

"How much do you think someone would pay?" the one-eyed man smirks at his companion, stepping closer to further corner Senku, "To stay young and healthy forever?"

"No, please! No!" Senku runs as fast as his legs can carry him. There's no way he'd be able to outrun the pair, but if he could just find a hiding spot. Senku trips, falling hard onto the ground. Looking behind him he can see that his hair has gotten caught on a tree branch, but no matter how hard he tugs on it he can't get himself free.

The two men are fast approaching, and Senku is truly panicking now. Before they can reach him though, a sound echoes across the way and the man in front stumbles for a moment before collapsing. His companion follows close behind, and Senku understands the reason for their collapse as he can see the arrow lodged into the man's back.

"Senku?!" An all too familiar voice rings out.

"Stan?" Senku's voice barely comes out above a whisper. Able to think clearly he frees himself and looks to see his guardian standing there. His crossbow is out but the bolts are missing, as they are now sticking out of the two bodies in front of him.

Stan throws the crossbow down and runs up to Senku, "Senku! Are you alright? Are you hurt?" His hands run up and down the boy to check for injuries.

Senku backs up from the fretting man, "Stan, how did you-?"

"I was so worried about you," Stan grips Senku's shoulders so tightly that it'll leave a mark, "So I followed you, and I saw them attack you! And- let's go, before anyone else sees!"

Stan turns to pick up his crossbow, giving Senku enough time to look out across the water. The boat is so small now that he can't even see Gen anymore, 

Senku can feel his heart shattering as the man sails even further away. He thought that he had gotten through to the man, but he thought wrong.

Senku turns to see Stan, illuminated by a lantern his guardian looks old and withered. But Senku still runs to the only comfort he's ever known, "You were right, Stan. You were right about everything."

"I know, Senku. I know." Stan gently leads the boy away.

-

Kinro was cursing at himself for being so foolish and allowing Asagiri to escape. The boat had docked on the opposite shore and the two were probably long gone by now. Kinro was pulling his hair out as he prepared to give chase once more when the reptile on his shoulder tugged him the other direction. Before he was able to reprimand the creature, he spots a different boat approaching the docks at a fast pace.

He gets closer to investigate the strange vessel as it slams into the wall of the docks. One of the guards posted there shouts out, "Look! The crown!". And sure enough, Asagiri is aboard the boat with the crown in hand.

Something is wrong though, as Asagiri seems to be tied to the wheel and the mast. Most of all he doesn't seem to be conscious. How did he navigate the boat? The jolt of the boat stopping does slowly wake him up, and he mumbles out something Kinro can barely hear, "s-ku"

He notices his bound hands and tries desperately to free himself, "Senku!" he seems to panic realizing the boy is not with him.

The other guards finally make it to the boat to detain Asagiri, the man tries his best to resist but cannot manage to break free, "No, no! Wait! Guys. Guys!!!"

Kinro watches as Asagiri gets dragged away, the man furiously struggling to get back to the boat. "Senku!" His last shout sounds anguished as he is finally pulled into the city away from where he is desperately trying to get to.

Kinro should be celebrating that the man is finally getting the judgment he deserves, but something isn't adding up here. Kinro doesn't have all the pieces to put it together, but he knows where to go to find out more. Taking a glance at the terrified reptile curled up and shaking, he makes his decision to investigate.

Gen hadn't slept at all last night his mind seeming to jump to the worst conclusions every time he sat down and stopped moving. What did those two meat heads want with Senku? What were they doing to him right now?

It was naive to think he could just toss them the crown and be done with them forever, but no he should have known those greedy basters would never be satisfied. He should have dropped Senku back off near the castle instead of taking him right into danger. At least then he would have been safe.

He grips the bars in the window and takes another look around, nothing to help him escape once more. He needs to get out of here as soon as possible, Senku needs his help.

With a bang the door opens and the Captain of the guards walks into the cell, other guards wait just outside the door. "Lets get this over with, Asagiri" she growls out.

"Where are we going?" If he's being moved then that's the best time to slip away.

The Captain just averts her gaze away from him, her expression is unreadable.

The realization hits him like a brick and he can't help but bring a hand up to his throat, "Oh."

I'm so sorry Senku, you'll have to save yourself, is Gen's last thought as he is dragged out of the cell.

"There." Stan announced as he tugged the last braid out of Senku's hair, the decorative gems sit in a pile on the bed waiting to be thrown away. "It never happened."

Senku doesn't bother to respond, his gaze focused on the clasped hands in his lap

Stan signs as he get up, "Now, wash up for dinner. I'm making ramen."

The promise of his comfort food should be raising his mood, but the pit in his stomach just twists itself into a tighter knot as he tucks his knees under his chin. He still can't bring himself to meet his guardian's eyes.

Stan hesitates at the doorway, "I really did try, Senku. I tried to warn you what was out there! The world is dark, and selfish, and cruel. If it finds even the slightest ray of sunshine, it destroys it."

Once the man leaves, Senku allows himself to relax and uncurls from the ball he has twisted himself in. Reaching into his tunic he pulls out the small flag Gen had gifted him. He slowly unfolds the fabric to look at it's design once more, the only chance he'll ever have to look at the kingdom it belongs to. He falls back onto his bed and tugs the fabric to his chest, but it doesn't heal the deep ache inside.

His room is in disarray, Stan must have ransacked the place when he found out Senku was missing. Sheets and blankets are thrown across the floor and his meticulous organization of his blueprints and project ideas is now gone as the pile is now scaddered around the whole room. Maybe getting everything in order will help center himself.

Gathering up the papers close to the bed he notices that they seem to be his earliest ideas from when he was still a young child. All he wanted to do back then was go to space and walk among the stars, seeing his younger self's ideas of how exactly that could happen always made him let out a chuckle.

Instead of laughing though Senku suddenly stills as his eyes gaze on one particular picture. A stick figure representing himself ridding on the back of a machine with stars surrounding the image. Before he'd brush the picture off as a childish fantasy, but now when he lifts the small flag up to the image it's clear that the two are a perfect match.

Suddenly everything he's been trying to ignore, all the clues that were practically screaming in his face, all come rushing to the surface. The crown, that mosaic, the lanterns…

His first memory that he always brushed off as unimportant. A mobile with stars and a ship decorating it. A man with a kind smile holding him close.

Unforcently there's only one logical explanation.

Gen gets frog marched through the endless halls of the prison, each cell they pass bringing him closer and closer to his doom. A passing glace leads him to see some familiar faces behind the bars, ones he thought would be half way to the next kingdom by now.

He slips out of the guard's lazy grip and kicks him away, perhaps a little too harshly as the guard skids away. In the next second he jumps up to pull his arms in front of him and then grabs Yo by the collar and slams him forward into the bars. Barley holding back his rage he snarls out, "How did you know about him? Tell me, now!"

"It wasn't us!" Yo whimpers out, "It was the old man!"

"Old man?" There's only one person who could possibly fit that description while also knowing about Senku's existence.

Before he can do anything though, the guards come back to grab Gen and start to pull him away. Gen struggled as much as he can while he pleas, "Wait! No, no! Wait! You don't understand! He's in trouble! Please!"

The loud sound of shuffling alerted Stan to the only other occupate in the tower. "Senku?" Stan shouts up, "Senku, what's going on up there?"

The curtain the Senku's room slowly opens as the boy steps out. His expression is unreadable as he takes a shakily breath.

"Are you alright?" Stan asks. 

"I'm the lost price." Senku says as if he himself still cannot believe it.

Stan freezes in place, "What?"

"I am the lost prince. Aren't I?"

Panic crosses Stan face for only a moment but he quickly recovers, "Oh, Senku. Do you even hear yourself? Why would you ask such a ridiculous question?"

Stan takes a step forward but Senku dodges around him, "It was you! It was all you!"

"Everything I did was to protect you." His expression is as cold as ice as he advances once again

Senku sneers as he starts to rush down the stairs, "I've spent my entire life hiding from people who would use me for my powers?"

"Senku!" Stan shouts out.

"When I should have been hiding from you!" Senku tries to get to his inventions before getting interrupted by Stan.

"Where will you go?" Stan quirks an eyebrow up, "He won't be there for you!"

Fear creeps up Senku's spine, "What did you do to him?"

"That criminal?" a malicious smile creeps across Stan's face, "Is to be hanged for his crimes."

Senku feels his heart sink as he struggles to take a breath in, "No!"

"Now, now, it's alright." Stan goes to grab at Senku's hair, "All of this is as it should be."

Senku snatches Stan's wrist out of thin air, "No! You were wrong about the world. You were wrong about me! And I will never let you use my hair again!"

Stan breaks out of Senku's hold, and as he stumbles back a mirror falls to the floor and shatters to pieces. When Stan looks back up Senku is grabbing his things and shoving them into a bag. Only one thought racing through his head, he's going to need to be quick if he wants to save Gen.

Stan feels the shimmering rage building up inside of him. "You want me to be the bad guy?" he grunts out as he approaches Senku, "Fine. Now I'm the bad guy."