Chapter Text
Asagiri Gen had never really planned on becoming a celebrity, but his fame hadn’t magically fallen into his lap either. A lot of hard work and practice with magic tricks and learning how to properly use words and body language to manipulate anyone into doing anything he wanted was all it took, though he paid the price of losing the respect of his family and friends when he claimed he was going to become a professional magician. Naturally, he hadn’t expected it to pan out as well as it did, but with the fame and fortune he received for his success, he decided the complete lack of people who care about him in his life was mostly worth it.
By the time he was 17 he had made a decent name for himself doing magic shows and such, and by the very next year he had put out a book and was appearing on television and large-scale stage shows, he even had a tv show of his own for a few seasons before he decided to abandon that project to better focus on getting a college degree.
Of course, he wasn’t one to complain about this newfound fame, even including the ever-increasing loneliness and exhaustion that comes with it, because after all, what kind of (now) twenty year old egotistical idol would he be if he complained about becoming rich and famous practically overnight?
Then again, being a sudden celebrity when one still isn’t fully used to the entirety of the country’s population following their every move certainly has its drawbacks, and despite having been in the spotlight for a few years now, it still slips Gen’s mind on occasion that he’s constantly under the watchful and highly judgemental eye of the public.
So, of course he wasn’t thinking when he did it. He hadn’t thought about the fact that thousands, if not millions of people see everything he does on social media the very second he does it. He certainly hadn’t considered this fact when he was scrolling on twitter that morning.
It was just a meme. A stupid meme that had made him breathe a little harder out of his nose than usual.
It’s not that it’s completely unusual for Gen, or really any celebrity, to like posts that aren’t their own. This mistake was more based around the fact that the meme in question was a joke about being gay.
And he had liked it.
On Twitter.
For everyone to see.
Within the hour his name was trending on just about every social media site there is. People were freaking out nearly as hard as they had when Lillian Weinberg brought up her space expedition three months ago, and she didn't even leave until last week!
The posts and comments flooded in, everybody latching onto the opportunity to cancel him, write as many homophobic comments as they could think of under his posts, or to aggressively support him despite the lack of any actual evidence that he might in fact be queer.
-Does this mean Asagiri Gen is gay??-
-If he’s gay why hasn’t he said anything?-
-If he’s not gay it’s pretty homophobic of him to go liking posts joking about gay people.-
-OMG!! He's gay?!?! Does he have a boyfriend I bet they're so cute together aaaaa-
Gen can only stare at his phone blankly, feeling his face pale more with every new addition to his rapidly fluctuating reputation. This is not going to go well for me, he groans, squeezing his eyes shut as if blocking the sight of it all from his field of vision will be enough to make it disappear for real. He knows that his manager is sure to call any minute now to yell at him, something he can only dread in anticipation of the harsh words he knows he is about to receive.
Sure enough, Gen’s phone rings and his manager’s name lights up the screen. He braces himself and picks up reluctantly.
“Hi~” he coos through the phone in his best attempt to sound collected and not like he is ready to throw himself out the nearest window.
“Asagiri! What the HELL were you thinking?! If people start thinking you’re gay and you haven’t confirmed anything pubically, theyr’re going to riot. You’ve seen how the public reacts to this kind of shit, so why on earth would you think this is acceptable behavior?” The man’s voice is rough, angry, and way more than Gen thinks he can handle at the moment.
“Ehhh? But I am gay. Well, bi anyway… Listen, I’m sorry! It was an accident, and I didn’t realize it would be such a big eal-day!” He switches to pig latin out of sheer nervousness.
His manager sighs; Gen can practically hear the guy burying his head in his hands. Of course, his manager had never liked him very much to begin with, so he can only imagine how much deeper the distaste runs now that he’s caused a controversy.
“Okay Asagiri, lucky for you this is a relatively simple fix, at least on my end. All I have to do is make sure people know you’ll make a public statement soon, which you will.” He adds venomously. “On your end, well, it depends.”
“What do you mean? If you’re telling me I have to publicly come out, I don’t really care. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever been particularly subtle in regards to my sexuality.” Gen knows his sexuality has been up for public debate pretty much since he made his debut. He’s never really cared enough about what people thought of that aspect of his life enough to confirm anything, but he also has no real problem with coming out. If coming out is all I have to do maybe this won’t be as horrible as I thought , he tries to reason with himself.
His manager frowns audibly, sending Gen’s self-assurance out the window.. “That’s the least of your problems. You knew you’d have to come out after this and I know you don’t really care about that. The main question is: are you dating someone right now? Preferably a man for this situation, but I guess anyone’s fine if that’s not an option.”
The question catches him off guard, and it is not one he particularly wants to think about the answer to. “What? No. I’m not dating anyone… unless you count a one night stand from two weeks ago.” He grimaces at the memory, they guy had been otally-tay boring and had ended up being a weirdo fanboy in the end to boot. That was not what he would consider his best moment by any means.
His manager continues, his voice growing more annoyed with every passing word. “Well you’re going to have to get a boyfriend. I’m sure you’ve seen what happens to celebrities who come out without being in a relationship. They get torn to shreds with accusations of being attention-seekers or liars. If you want your career to survive this, you’ve gotta get yourself a boyfriend to show off by the end of the week.” The exasperation in the other man’s words is palpable.
Gen feels all the color drain from his face. “But that’s impossible! I don’t even have any friends, and you expect a full relationship?!”
A suppressed but still very audible groan precedes the next words. “It can be fake. Isn’t that what you’re best at?" Gen bristles at the latter comment, though he bites back the many harsh replies he has waiting on the tip of his tongue.
"Maybe for a month or so.” His manager continues. “Just hire someone, or find some desperate-for-experience theater major at that college of yours. Just have a boyfriend by Friday, and make a public announcement by Saturday, or you can kiss your career goodbye.”
With that, his manager hangs up without leaving room for any debate in the matter, leaving Gen to face the silence of the room with only the pounding of his own heart and the dread rapidly pooling in his stomach.
Where the hell am I supposed to find someone insane enough to pretend to date me? He whines and flops over face first onto his couch, hoping that burying himself under a mountain of blankets and pillows will be enough to keep him safe from the day’s misfortune, or at least enough to suffocate him so he won’t have to worry about any of this anymore.
---
The following day was Tuesday, and Gen was beginning to worry. It was already four pm with the sun starting to hang low in the sky. As low as my hopes to figure this out , Gen grumbles. He had finished his classes for the day but instead of going home as soon as possible like he usually would have done, he found himself wandering around campus trying not to let his anxious thoughts completely engulf him.
How am I supposed to find someone to pretend to date me? If I follow my manager’s advice and ask a theater kid and they say no, I’ll be a laughing stock. Hell, if I ask anyone and they say no it’ll be posted on the internet within minutes and everyone will know how pathetic I am!
He was so deeply ingrained into his worry that he didn’t notice the person walking directly into his path until it was far too late, with Gen looking up only at the last second as his peripheral vision caught a figure moving towards him at a rapid pace. The two crashed together, knocking the other student to the ground and leaving Gen in a daze as the folder of papers the student had been carrying flew open, sending its contents fluttering around him to the floor.
Gen immediately drops to his knees and starts picking up the fallen papers, figuring his reputation is already circling the drain as it is, so he doesn’t need to come across as a self-centered jerk while he’s at it.
“I’m so sorry!” he apologizes “I wasn’t atching-way where I was going.”
If he wasn’t in such a sorry mental state, Gen probably would have laughed at how ridiculously cliché the whole situation was, like it was straight out of a cheesy teen romance movie. But for the moment, all he could do was try to not let the situation go to his head and add yet another line to the list of ways his life is going wrong.
“It’s alright”, the casual voice belonging to the other person responds. “I wasn’t exactly paying attention to my surroundings either, so I can’t really blame you.”
With all the papers now stacked in Gen’s arms, aside from the ones that the other student had picked up, he stood and held out a hand. The other boy took it and pulled himself off the floor, allowing Gen a better look at him, rather stupidly finding himself at a brief loss for words when he does so.
The guy was, well, incredibly good looking. He had a cocky, lopsided grin, sharp eyes that Gen would have sworn were red if that wasn’t biologically improbable, and stark white hair dyed green at the ends that stood straight up aside from some loose strands hanging across his face.
“However,” the pretty boy begins, a mischievous tone to his voice, “since you knocked me over and all, I think you owe me.”
“Eh?” Gen questions, the admiration of the guy’s looks quickly fading to regret as he realizes what’s going on. Is he trying to extort me because he knows I’m famous? Gen sighs, thoroughly annoyed at how awfully the start to his week has been thus far. “Alright, how much do you want?” He asks, trying to mask the disappointment in his voice at running into yet another person who wants to take advantage of him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” the stranger asks with a furrowed brow. “Just come with me.” And with that, the white and green haired student starts walking away with quick steps. Gen pauses for a moment, confused about what just happened, but delighted at the realization that the guy doesn’t seem to want to take his wallet. Gen notices then that he is still holding half of the stranger’s papers, so he regains himself and follows, speeding up to keep pace, honestly more curious about the stranger’s attitude than annoyed.
The building they stop at Gen recognizes as the main science hall on campus, a building he’s only had a few classes in, none of which he enjoyed.
“So what exactly did I follow you here for…?” Gen asks, trailing off to leave room for the student to fill in his name, which ;luckily he does..
“Ah right. Ishigami Senku.” he responds. “And you are?”
Gen introduces himself, still a little thrown off by the fact that this guy, Senku, rather, has made no indication that he even remotely recognizes who Gen is.
Senku continues, unaware of Gen’s internal confusion. “Okay then Gen, you’re here to be my lab assistant for the evening.” Gen raises an eyebrow but allows Senku to continue without interrupting. “Seeing as you didn’t run away the second I asked you to follow me, you must not be aware of my reputation for kidnapping anyone who looks like they can be of use- that or you don’t care about that reputation- which makes you perfect for helping out.” He says this like it’s completely normal to make strangers do labor without warning. Gen wonders briefly if Senku is always this blunt or if he’s just acting that way in an attempt to convince Gen to help him.
Gen tilts his head, still trying to figure this guy out. “Well actually I followed you because I’m still holding your papers.” He gestures with the stack still in his arms. “Do you really do this so often that you’re known for it?”
“Ha!” Senku chuckles, “Clearly not enough if you don’t know about me.”
Senku begins walking inside, and Gen follows, more curious than ever about the strange other student and increasingly desperate to know more about him.
The two walk into what is clearly a lab, though Gen hasn’t set foot in once since he completed his one and only lab credit requirement nearly two years ago. Senku digs around in a supply closet and hands Gen a lab coat and some protective goggles before grabbing some for himself. Gen puts the supplies on without arguing. Who knows? This could be fun. It’s not every day one gets swept away like this and made into an unwitting lab assistant, even if it’s not exactly his idea of a perfect afternoon.
Senku starts opening different cabinets looking for whatever else he needs, talking as he does so. “Normally I’ve got Chrome with me, but since the start of this semester he’s had evening classes every Tuesday and Thursday. I’m glad I found you, it’s hard to come by someone I can exploit for physical labor these days.” He doesn’t really look at Gen when he speaks, seemingly easily drawn in by his surroundings and the scientific equipment around them.
“Chrome?” Gen questions, eager to learn more about his strange new cohort.
“Ah, just a friend of mine. Why, jealous that someone’s gonna steal me away from you, Asagiri? We just met, you know, it’s a little cringy to get jealous this quickly.” There goes that playfully crooked grin again, shooting a quick jolt into Gen’s stomach.
“Just curious.” He shrugs. “And surprised someone as trenchant as you has friends.” Gen adds as a teasing afterthought.
Senku rolls his eyes but doesn’t argue the point further. He turns towards the lab bench and starts setting up some equipment, only half of which Gen barely recognizes from high school science classes and his very minimal-effort gen-ed science classes from his first year, the other half of which is completely incomprehensible to him.
“Hold this for me, would you?” He hands Gen a flask halfway filled with… something. Gen decides not to question it.
Senku’s attention seems to be fully on whatever it is he’s doing now, and although Gen wouldn’t be able to begin to understand it, he finds himself captivated by the other boy’s actions.
The celebrity watches with curiosity, and listens to the scientist mumble to himself about chemistry or something like that. He hands Senku different things when he is asked to, and holds things when they are handed to him, but other than that, Senku doesn’t really acknowledge that Gen is there.
Gen finds it to be a surprisingly enjoyable way to spend his evening anyway, even if he’s still unsure of what he’s doing there.
He does manage to sneak in a few questions to Senku, learning in the process that he is a first year masters student despite being only eighteen years old. Apparently he completed his bachelors in his free time during high school. Gen is thoroughly amazed, but doesn’t fail to tease him about being a huge nerd. He also learns that Senku is an astrophysics major, only confirming in Gen’s mind that he’s a certifiable genius. Gen in turn reveals that he is a third year psychology major, though it feels far less impressive than Senku’s accomplishments.
Despite the huge gap in their skill levels, Gen still feels that they’ve fallen into an easy conversation, and decides he rather likes talking to Senku.
I wonder… maybe I should ask him about the relationship thing. He doesn’t seem to have any preconceived opinions on me, and he would probably think of it as some sort of fun experiment. Gen stares at the scientist idly as he works, thinking more about his situation in general than about asking Senku for help specifically. Not that it wasn’t crossing his mind.
I probably shouldn’t. He’s actually cute, and fun to be around, at least so far. I can’t go ruining the poor boy’s reputation by making him play house with me for social media.
Eventually, Senku lets out a short breath and steps away from his station, stretching his arms behind his head, the sudden movement making Gen jump a little, pulling him out of his wistful stupor.
“Alright, I guess I can stop here, but only because I’m sure you’re hungry and definitely bored of this by now, and hungry, bored people make far less effective workers.” Senku says, turning to face him for the first time since entering the lab.
Gen laughs at the blunt statement, “I can’t tell if you’re joking or not, Senku-chan.”
Senku raises an eyebrow at the sudden nickname, but says nothing about it.
“Besides, I’m not bored. Though I can’t claim to understand what you’re doing, just as I can’t deny that I am hungry.” Gen continues.
Based on the way Senku’s face lights up, Gen knows he must not be given the chance to explain his experiments very often, or at least he must not be given the chance to explain them to anyone who will listen.
“Ah, well I’m testing the erosion rate of different metals under a variety of atmospheric conditions, as best as I can in a random college laboratory rather than in the field, anyway.” He goes on to spout out enough scientific terminology to make Gen’s head spin, but Gen nods along and listens as best as he can manage. While it’s all confusing, he decides he likes listening to Senku talk. He can tell the guy is very passionate about his research, and it makes his words entertaining to listen to, not to mention he has a nice voice, it being lively and confident, but at the same time patient and smooth. Yeah , Gen muses absently, I could get used to listening to this voice.
---
They walk outside as Senku talks, until they reach the parking lot of the school. Gen is so caught up in listening to the stream of science mumbo-jumbo being rambled on about that he barely even registers that they’ve moved from the lab.
“Do you have any plans right now, Gen?” Senku asks suddenly.
He blinks back his surprise. “No, not really, I suppose. Why?” Gen responds a bit too eagerly, feeling almost giddy at the thought of spending more time with his new acquaintance.
Senku gives him a look that seems to question if Gen has a single brain cell in his head. “You said you were hungry, didn’t you? I did drag you into my lab for hours with no real reason, so I guess I ought to try and pay you back, so I figured we could go get food.” He laughs in a rather conniving way, as if he’s devising an evil plan as he says it, but Gen can tell he’s being genuine from the look in his eyes.
Never able to resist a free meal, especially when it’s being proposed by someone as intriguing as this guy, Gen agrees without much further thought.
“Okay! That sounds nice. As long as the place serves cola I’m happy to go!”
“Great, do you drive?” Suddenly the conniving laugh is starting to make a little more sense.
“I have my license but I don’t really drive anywhere except for school and back. Usually when I need to go to more important places my manager sends someone to drive me.”
“Manager?” Senku questions, the look on his face showing that he’s using all his brain power to think of why Gen would have someone like that.
Has this guy really never heard of me? I can’t tell if I should be offended or if I should jump at the opportunity and ask him to marry me right now. Hold on-
“Oh!” Senku interrupts his thoughts. “I remember now. I knew your name sounded familiar. You’re that mentalist! The one who wrote that shitty book. What was it? Magic Psychology or something like that?” Senku grins as he talks, clearly proud of himself for remembering.
Gen pushes his face into an exaggerated pout. “That hurts, Senku-chan. My book might not be your cup of tea but you certainly don’t have to call it shitty.”
Senku laughs in that strange way again, although this time it seems friendlier. “Yeah whatever. Guess I’ll have to read it and see if it’s better than it looks. Hopefully you don’t disappoint, mentalist.” Gen isn’t sure what to think about the nickname, but it doesn’t sound very derogatory coming from the scientist’s lips; if anything it sounds perfectly natural, even sociable, if someone as blunt as Senku seems to be could manage something as friendly as ‘sociable’.
“I hope I won’t. I wrote that at the beginning of my career, though, so I’m sure I could do better now, but it would be nice for you to give it a try despite that. Anyway, why did you want to know if I could drive? I’ve got a sinking feeling you want a ride to wherever we’re getting dinner and you expect me to provide it.”
Senku smirks. “Clever. I guess I should’ve expected a mentalist to figure out my ulterior motives.” he says, winking with the statement and causing Gen’s chest to constrict for a moment.
He turns the tables and stops himself from getting worked up over a single wink by rolling his eyes, quickly following it up with a playful grin of his own and a hand on Senku’s shoulder. “I hope you’re okay with motorcycles.”
Senku returns the look, though the shine in his eyes betrays his excitement. “I’ve never been on one, but I’m ten billion percent excited to try.”
How adorable, he’s like a kid getting ready to ride a rollercoaster.
“Great! Because there’s something we should talk about over dinner, if you agree to my offer.” The words spill from Gen’s mouth before he can stop them. He’s always been one to talk his way out of a situation with ease, but now he’s quickly talking himself into one instead. Senku seems to have that effect on him, making him speak more than is necessary.
Senku raises an eyebrow. “And what offer would that be?”
He can’t help it. Gen panics. Oh God what am I thinking?! I can’t ask him to fake-date me! I just met him! He’ll think I’m a total weirdo! Besides, it would be a shame to destroy a perfectly good chance at a normal friendship for something as strange as this.
“Ah, nevermind. It’s too much to ask of someone I just met.” he waves his hands in front of him defensively.
At least, that’s what he was going for. But that isn’t what comes out of Gen’s mouth. What really happens is something that surprises both of them. His defensive hands reach out and grip Senku’s shoulders desperately.
“Will you pretend to be my boyfriend for the internet?” The words come out in a rush, and Gen almost doesn’t realize he said them before the look on the other man’s face tells him that yes, he did in fact ask that ridiculous question to someone he met only a couple of hours ago.
Senku blinks at him, his expression unreadable aside from obvious confusion flickering across his face.
Gen claps a hand over his mouth and immediately begins to backpedal.
“Ahh that’s definitely too ange-stray!” The pig latin takes over his words yet again, as always seems to happen when he’s nervous. Not that he’s nervous, it's just that his heart is going rabbit-pace and his stomach feels like it’s trying to escape through his throat. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-- You don’t have to-”
His frantic apologies are cut off by a single “Sure.”
“... What?”
“I said sure.” Senku pushes the loose strands of hair dangling across his face back with one hand, a smirk playing across his lips.
Gen can barely process the answer, distracted by the combination of his shock and the way his face heats up as he notices not for the first time how stupidly pretty Senku is.
“You’ll have to give me more details over dinner but, I’ve never met anyone who had something as exhilarating as that to say to me, so, sure. I’ll be your fake boyfriend.” Senku laughs again, his amusement at the whole situation shining through the sound clear as day.
Gen genuinely isn’t sure how to react to that, so he simply ushers Senku onto the motorcycle and starts driving.
Okay…? Maybe this will go better than I thought. He tries his best to convince himself, gripping the handles of his bike far more tightly than he needs to. But the churning in his stomach and the flashes of the image of Senku grinning at him that cause his traitorous heart to skip a beat seem to be telling him otherwise, not that he plans on listening.