After shouting your joy in celebration, you, Senku and your friends gathered in Chrome's shed for a strategy meeting. Gen staid outside because Gen wasn't part of the Kingdom of Science and also he wasn't your friend.

"So then this Tsukasa-person is a bad guy?" Suika asked after you and Senku explained the situation.
"Yes," Kohaku nodded. "he's the one who killed Senku."
"Heh, I'm not dead though." he smiled.
"But we can't allow him to kill Senku twice." Chrome added.
"I told you, I'm not dead."
"And that's why we need to defeat him." you said with a big smile. "To avenge Senku's death."
"Oh my god." he groaned and rubbed his eyes while you laughed.

"So if Gen is one of his friends..." Suika continued. "Then that means Gen is a bad guy too right?!" she paused. "But hang on... Gen saved everyone from Magma didn't he? Then is he a bad guy?"
"Neither of those actually." you sighed.
"He's just a superficial opportunist through and through." Kohaku folded her arms.
"Whether he's good or bad," Senku said. "we have no choice but to recruit him in the Kingdom of Science, in order to have him deliver the fake information of my death to Tsukasa. That is the only way we can attain victory."
Chrome suddenly stood up and walked to the doorway. Leaning over to look at Gen.

"Oi! You saw it too didn't you?! That crazy insane light of science! Whoever in gonna win among Tsukasa and Senku, does that really matter?! It's fricking interesting!" he smiled. "Without a doubt, the Kingdom of Science is gonna be insane!"
A moment of silence passed before you heard Gen speak.

"The passion of a young man sure burns hot~! But unfortunately, mine does not Chrome. As the world's most superficial man, the only thing I look after are my own interests."
You sighed again as Senku tried to stop Kohaku from going after him.
"Do you think he'll join us?" Chrome asked, sitting back down.
"Honestly? Yeah, I think so." you said. "If we picked his interest with iron, we surely got his attention with electricity."

Suddenly you heard a loud crashing noise.
"What was that?!" Kohaku prepared her weapons.

Not wasting any time, the five of you ran out searching for the source of that sound. As soon as you saw a pool of red liquid, your blood went cold. You grabbed Suika's wrist and pulled her close to you, pressed her head against your chest.
"Don't look!"
"What's going on?!"

You didn't respond, pale as a sheet. You were shook to the core as you saw Gen's body laying on the ground. His face was beaten and bleeding. A spear was piercing his chest into a bloody mess. He wasn't moving.

"Are-Are you alright Gen?!" Chrome kneeled down by his side.
"He's gone..." Kohaku looked down at him. "Just look at him. He must've died instantly. Who would've done this...?"
You turned your head away from this sickening scene. It felt like a punch to the stomach. Then, you felt a hand gently placed on your shaky shoulder, lightly squeezing as if to comfort you. You looked up to see Senku.
"Wait!"

He walked over to Gen's body and removed the spear. The gushing sound it made made you and Suika flinch. Senku opened his shirt and searched for something inside. He got some kind of little bag out. He sniffed it.
"It's a bag full of resin's juice." he said. "It protected him."
You let out a long sigh of relief before letting go of the little girl. You staid on the ground to calm your fast beating heart as Chrome and her looked at the blood bags.

"He's got them all over his body!" Suika exclaimed.
"These are crazy!" Chrome looked closely at one of them. "From the moment he entered the village, he was prepared for the worst! And he went all out protecting himself with these!"
Senku chuckled.
"Not bad at all!"
As you listened, you stood up and walked over to Gen. You didn't realize it, but you felt a new found respect for the young man.
"He's still in bad shape though." you said. "We gotta tend to him fast."

Senku used the plants in Chrome's shed to make some kind of healing paste. Using this and some bandages, you gently placed them on Gen's injuries, who was breathing deeply. His painful and exhausted expression made you feel so bad for him.

"Damn it!" Chrome gritted his teeth. "We'll definitely catch whoever did this!"
"Before that, we got a much more important problem to deal with." Kohaku said. "In his current condition, we have no idea when he'll be able to walk back. But if Gen doesn't return to Tsukasa, then he'll believe he's been killed, or worse, killed by Senku."
For a few seconds, nobody said anything. You looked outside.
"It's getting late." you stood up. "I'll walk you guys to the bridge."
"Are you sure?" Kohaku asked.
"Yeah, you know, gotta sleep on it."
You turned over to Senku, offering him to join, but he shook his head, too busy preparing more of that paste. You smiled and walked out with the others.

You glanced behind you one last time. It looked as if Gen was very quietly calling for him.

"One of us has to stay with him." Senku explained once you got back. "The bandages must be replaced right before going to sleep, and as soon as you wake up."
"...I'll do it."
He looked at you.
"You sure about that?"
You nodded.
"You need plenty of rest anyway." you smiled.
"You need rest as much as I do."
"Well, it's different. You're-"
"It's not."
"But..." your voice died down.

Looking into his eyes, which looked back at yours, you could tell it was a statement he won't let you disagree with. But you still disagreed with it in your head.

He sighed and stood up.
"Sorry you'll have to sleep on your own tonight." you said.
"I was on my own for six months before." he walked out. "This is nothing."
'And he's proud of it too!' you softly chuckled.

Your expression became a bit gloomier when you turned back to Gen.
"It's our fault you were put in this situation." you kneeled down beside him. "On behalf on the Kingdom of Science, I sincerely apologize." you bowed down. "I'm sorry..." you repeated, less professionally and more sincerely.
You then began replace his bandages. The only thing that could be heard was the sounds of birds outside.

"You know..." you spoke again. "When Senku made electricity, it reminded me of how truly amazing he is... And I know you saw it too." you paused. "One day, he told me that electricity was the most fundamental power in the universe. The root of science he'd call it." you looked at him in the eyes. "Which means that, now that he acquired it, the sky's the limit now."

You didn't speak for a second, even though you didn't want Gen to talk with his injuries. You sighed and started to remove and replace the healing paste, it was a slower process.
"Well, it's not like you care about what we make." you said. "You only care about what you can get out of it."

You were looking down at the bowl in which you put what you removed, then something clicked.
"Cola!" you turned back to him. "You want cola right? There's gotta be a way to make it."
Gen puffed a chuckled as a response.
'You sure get me.' he thought.

"It's a shame I'll have to leave..." he whispered in a rusty voice.
"Mmh?" you leaned closer, not hearing what he said.
"I would've like to hear you sing."

Your felt your chest squeeze by what he said. You shook your head.

"No. No I'm not a singer." you smiled as you went back to your task. "I mean I'm decent at it, but I mostly just play music. I'm not a songwriter either, I tried but it was just soooo basic and cringy." you laughed.
"Then...what do you play?"
"Stop talking~." you paused, seeing that he pursued his lips. "...But yeah the first instrument I played was my grand-father's violin, and it holds a special place in my heart. That's how my family found out about my little knack for music. At family reunion, kind of a funny story actually! I was seven, I was a real brat and my parents hated me for it!"

You then went on about how you discovered each instrument you've ever encountered, the story of those encounters, and how much fun it was to play. You thought you may have gone a bit too into it though...

Gen clumsily stood up and put his clothes back on. The sun hasn't even came up yet. Everything was dark. Everything was quiet.

He turned over and gazed at you, sleeping in your corner.
From the way you talked about music, he could tell it truly was your passion. You usually don't talk much expect of course to make a joke whenever the oppotunity presented itself, good thing or not (he'll never accept the weassel-thing). But this time, talking about something you really cared about, you went on and on. He could feel a fire behind your words, and because of that, he actually enjoyed listening to you. Such a shame you were holding yourself back. It was one of the few times he saw genuine emotions openly expressed by you in front of him. The last time you did that was when you laughed. It was...cute.

A smile formed on his face.
"Such a shame." he said. "Insecurity doesn't suit you Darling."
Then he walked out.

When the sun rose, you woke up and told everyone Gen was gone. The others panicked, but you and Senku knew there was nothing to be worry about.