#so yeah I really headcanon the gero poison family as Absolutely Messed UP

[purple-petrichor]

Gero and Scars

MarriageToxin Theory Time: Gero is horribly scarred. Specifically, on his torso.

Let's explore this:

>>Already has a facial scar

Gero is a bit unique among romcom protagonists for having a visible facial scar. And that one looks CHEMICAL. We know that Gero's upbringing was rough--was it due to his harsh poison training? If so, there's no way that treatment didn't leave other lasting marks elsewhere on his body.

>>Clothing as cover

Through the series so far, Gero tends to hide his body. He's shy to begin with, leaping away from nudity (with Kinosaki in chp 1, and with Ushio chp 91). But this also applies to himself as well. Gero is largely conservative about his own clothing.

He wears big, baggy clothes. Never goes anywhere without his coat either (although the character profile notes this is due to his job--lots of poison compounds hiding under there). It's relevant to note that we haven't seen him shirtless yet, despite other male characters (Sound User, Ushio's gym-obsessed uncle) stripping down.

Furthermore, when on the Ocean date with Himekawa, Gero wears a FULL WETSUIT. He really covers as much of his body as possible.

>>Hesitance around physical intimacy

Although this is a smaller point, it could perhaps be relevant. We know that Gero is very anxious about touch. Over the course of lots of character development he's become much more comfortable (such as being on Arashiyama's lap) with it, but in early chapters he used to physically flinch away and duck out of reach (Kinosaki, Ureshino). This could hint at a deeper discomfort with touch and physical intimacy--maybe he's subconsciously afraid of what people might 'discover' if they get too close.

>>All for the family

We have heard Gero speak about his childhood upbringing, and it was not a happy one.

The Poison Clan has no problem abusing their children if it means competent heirs. We see 'sensei' hitting him to the point of internal injury. And we also see him as an older boy, trembling as he works with chemicals.

Furthermore, when it comes to facial scars, his cousin Teruaki has one as well, at one eyebrow. It runs in the family, being a trauma that leaves marks both seen and unseen. Come to think of it, it's a bit strange that his sister Akari doesn't have one? If she does, where is it? I swear to god if that was because of some twisted sexist reason like 'don't ruin the girl's face so we can marry her off' ughhh Either way, in the Gero clan, there's no way you get out unscathed. Literally.

>>Survivor of a death game

This has not been fully elaborated on in-canon, but the implications have been fairly strong. The Poison Clan appears to select (or perfect) their heir by having children go through a set of trials. The survivor (?) becomes the official heir. Gero himself refers to this as essentially a death game.

It would be impossible to get out of this kind of Hunger Games without receiving some nasty injuries. Especially given the kinds of chemical substances that these potential heirs may have played with. Not to mention, the scene with him in kimono is the first appearance of that incredibly suspicious scar around Gero's eye, which I suspect may have a dramatic reveal later on. Really, I wouldn't be surprised if his body is littered with scars and/or other chemical burn marks.

What if Gero takes his shirt off and we just see a battlefield.

EDIT: slightly jossed by this counterpoint:

>>Arms

We do see a bit more skin than usual in his cat cafe date! Arashiyama really has a way of loosening him up. Here, the front of Gero's arms are visible, all the way to the mid-biceps. And....there's no scars. No suspicious chemical burns or missing fingertips. Hmm. Maybe he's a miracle heir and managed to avoid all damage except his eye? Or there are scars, just hidden around where the T-shirt covers instead?