"You don't screw up as often as you're making it sound," Gen said lightly, but he's more worried now, than he had been before.

Senku sometimes didn't get when he said something awkward. He was direct, blunt, and social nuance bored him. But he cared about how people saw him. Sure, he did that thing that all boys in their culture did and pretended he didn't care - Senku might not call that a macho thing but it kind of was. But that's why he did things for the village, for the children, for the people on this train.

He cared about other people, and wanted to make a good impression, and Gen knew he'd sooner to get Senku to admit he liked astrology than he was concerned about how other people's opinions.

"What happened?" Gen asked again, softly. He was looking at the drawing they'd made so far, instead of staring at Senku, if that helped.