Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After saving the village Unnamed from Ibara and his vicious intentions, the Kingdom of Science headed to Ishigami's village.

Senku was standing face to the sea, letting the wind brushing his hair. He gazed at the treasure between his fingers with a grin appearing on his lips. Medusa joined the Kingdom of Science. The night was peaceful. The sound of the waves was relaxing. And for once, the scientist let himself relax on their victory. Under the full moon, everything felt calm.

His eyes were watching the stars, some memories came back to his mind. Tired as he was, Senku turned away and joined the others below deck.

Senku pushed the door and observed with his crimson eyes the scene that was presenting to him. Ryusui was piloting the helm with expert hands, Ukyo was focusing his mind on checking dashboard vibrations. Gen was in a deep conversation with Yuzuriha. While some group was made and discussing between them, the scientist noticed that Taiju, Chrome and Suika had an animated chat.

Senku stepped forward and handed Medusa to Kohaku without a word. He put his hands on his hips and turned toward the group to speak.

"We've still got work to do. Science doesn't wait."

His tone was decisive and sharp. Everyone turned to look at him, except Ukyo and Ryusui too focused on their tasks, though Ryusui wore a sly grin.

"What's the next step, Senku-chan~?" asked Gen with a smirk, approaching him.

"America." replied Senku. "We're heading to America."

"America? Are you sure, Senku? Isn't that... kind of far?" asked Yuzuriha, concerned about the sudden declaration.

"What's America?" Chrome tilted his head, before looking for someone to explain to them.

"It's a country really far away from here, Chrome-chan." answered Gen with a chuckle, letting Senku take over.

"Don't worry. I already have a plan-"

But before Senku could finish his sentence, Ukyo tensed, his eyes narrowing.

"Senku, I'm picking up a frequence."

The room went silent.

"What do you mean, Ukyo?" asked Kohaku, frowning.

"It's faint, but it's here. A broadcast. Something... is being heard."

Senku strode toward the speaker, adjusting the device as everyone gathered around him in suspense.

"It might be Why-man!" said Gen dramatically, panic in his voice.

"It’s a high probability." affirmed Ryusui, with a serious tone and having left his post to listen closer.

Senku leaned in, filtering through the static until a strange voice broke through.

"1 second, 12 800 000 km'

The voice was distorted and mechanical, definitely non-human. Everyone froze on their spot. Kohaku instinctively moved back with Medusa, avoiding the disaster. Senku immediately shut off the connection to prevent any signals from reaching it.

"Kukuku... That's impressive." murmured the scientist, intrigued.

"What was that!?" asked Chrome, shaken.

"That's the diameter of the Earth." explained Senku, scratching his ear. "It means that Why-man is planning to repetrify the entire world."

But why ?

Ukyo kept an eye on his board. Something felt wrong... His instinct screamed that it wasn't a simple broadcast.

"Senku... Do you know where this signal came from?"

"With that range and artificial tone... It's coming from the moon."

Everyone went silent.

"The moon!?" Gen's voice cracked with disbelief. "Senku-chan, are you serious?"

"10 billion percent. We'll find out."

Ukyo glanced toward Gen, noting silently how quiet he had become. He always had the feeling that Gen was hiding something... But the mentalist was too skilled at keeping his cards close.

Senku crossed his arms, his voice determined.

"Now that we know Why-man is on the moon, we'll go to the moon."

"WHAT?!"

Everyone cried out in unison. But before anyone could complain at the scientist project, Ukyo flinched again, returning to his equipment.

"Wait... There is another signal."

"Huh?"

The tension grew heavier. The scientist frowned at the ancient marin.

"Why... you betrayed... us.."

The speaker cracked again. A different voice came from it, trembling, broken and... Human. The air in the room dropped several degrees.

"That's... That's not Why-man?" noticed Taiju with fear and a confusion growing in his stomach.

"It definitely sounded human..." confirmed Ukyo, also confused.

Senku clenched his jaw, listening carefully. Trying to analyse and figure out any possibilities of the source of the voice. The voice became louder and clear, repeating over and over.

"Why did you betrayed us?"

A chill ran down everyone's spine.

In the corner, Gen stood frozen. He hadn't moved since the voice came through. He wasn't looking at anyone. His eyes were lost in thought... Or perhaps in memory.

The scientist finally straightened up from the dashboard, his eyes gliterring.

"I traced the origin of the voice. We're not the only ones alive on this island."

Gasp rang out.

"Survivors?" Asked Kohaku, suspicious.

"That's impossible..." muttered Chrome, "We've never found anyone else."

"That's about to change. But first..." grinned Senku, darkly. "We revive Tsukasa. We're going to need backup."

The scientist's expression turned intense, the same wickedly brillant look he always showed when an experiment was about to begin.

Few minutes passed, plans were forming rapidly. Supplies, preparation, exploration. A new mission was growing before heading to America.

As Senku finished his explanation, Ukyo nodded, half listening... Couldn't keep his eyes off Gen. Unusually, the mentalist hadn't said a word since the second voice ended. He was curiously noiseless.

Finally, Senku clapped his hands to bring everyone's attention.

"Alright. Get moving, people! Science isn't going to wait around while you daydream!"

Everyone moved out of the room. Murmurs and whisperings were drawn away little by little as the tension eased, for everyone except Ukyo, who kept watching at the man in purple coat walking toward the door.

Senku's red eyes also tracked Gen.

"Mentalist. Where do you think you're going?" asked Senku, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, Senku-chan! I just wanted to step out for a bit of fresh air!~" declared Gen, with a forced smile.

"We still have plans to discuss."

"Don't worry about me, Senku-chan!~ I'll be back soon!"

And he just ran away, not letting Senku reply. Silence settled once again.

Chrome was the first to break it.

"What's up with him?"