Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Vibrant confetti and glitters scattered on the wooden floor of the apartment. 

The window showed a smokey night sky. 

The clock says 2:57.

The date has been changed to January 1st, 2019. 

The room was still kept warm, despite the pouring pieces of snow outside. You find yourself awake in an ungodly hour, but maybe the arrival of the new year was more than enough excuse for it. 

You were seated on a wooden chair at the table. It wasn't your house, but it felt homely to you. A second home. Perhaps a better one. 

A key chain was held in your hand, fondling around the metallic satellite charm that hung from the ring. Alongside was a similarly built charm of the planet Saturn. 

The steel cold stars always clinked together with the others as you moved it, creating a rather endearing sound of the metal that reminds you of sparkly things twinkling alongside each other. 

On your other hand was a glass of water, reminding why you had awoken at such a time in the early morning. Your throat was parched, you remember not having drank much prior to your sleep. 

You weren't alone. 

An all too familiar man stood on the corner of the kitchen, similarly holding a glass of cold water. He watches as you smile at the key chain a little too affectionately. Perhaps thinking of the boy who gave it to you. 

The man didn't occupy the other seat around you, telling you that he doesn't intend on staying for a longer while. You confirm when he passes by you to set the glass on the sink. 

"Say, can I ask you a favor?" He asked. 

You nodded. You were the only one awake in the room, it wasn't confusing to tell that he was talking to you. But you guess that it wouldn't have mattered who it was. 

As if he felt you nod your head, he looked over to the living room, spotting the boy asleep. "Promise you'll be there for him."

It was an odd word; promise. 

A lot of people find it easy to say, usually losing its true meaning in an ocean of falsehood and wasted anticipation. It was also easy to snap, never had a word felt so fragile or delicate to you. Even a single wrap of the pinky can birth the tiniest crack around it. 

You follow his eyes that turned soft, to his son. Fast asleep on the couch with a blanket over his cold body and an empty spot beside him, the same spot where you had woken up from. 

His hair was disheveled, more and more strands falling down to his face as he silently snored away. A rare sight it was for the passionately, crazed scientist to be so deep into slumber. 

It was a bit funny—how a smart guy like him could confuse the term "sleep" with the word "nap", he always needed to be reminded of it.

Without waiting for your word, the older man makes his way back to his room. Either to go back to sleep or continue his work. If it were anyone, they'd find it unusual that he didn't await your response. That he didn't need to hear what you have to say. 

It's because he thinks you have already answered. You already have way before he could ask. 

So you make your way back to the resting genius, setting aside the key chain on the side table to avoid awakening him with the noise. You make your way back beside him, under a shared woolen blanket with your shoulders touching. 

Immediately, he shuffles. He had always been a light sleeper so you intended to move as feathery as humanly possible to avoid interfering with his rest. This time he continues to sleep, only moving to shift his position to rest his head on your shoulder and his weight on you. 

It was a lovesome gesture. You could almost melt to have witnessed it; Senku being vulnerable. 

But you don't doubt that he'll probably defend his action as a way to preserve body heat during this cold weather. You slip a small chuckle at the thought of it.  

When the thick blanket finally shielded both of you from the cold, only did you realize the mess splattered on the floor. Putting the confettis aside, it was the glitters that bothered you. It's going to be a pain to clean up. 

But you can't help but love the way the glitters submit to the seeping light of the moon from the outside. It shimmered beautifully. 

It looked like a mess. It looked like splatter of reachable stars.

You'll have to help Senku clean up when the sun arrives.

Chapter Text

Senku was five years old when he last remembered going to a summer festival with his dad. 

"The science of gunpowder lives in the hearts of many, and gives hope for the future." His dad said. He only said it because of the firework display that they were watching that night. 

Byakuya intended Senku to have some childish fun at the festival, but he was presented with nothing but his son piecing on how the fireworks came to be. Senku thought his dad was having more fun with the way his person carried a bunch of ornaments and trinkets from the different festival booths. 

"I guess. But gunpowder gives hope for the future? that's so sentimental it icks me.'' Senku complained, almost confused. 

"You know Senku, NASA just found a planet where parents are allowed to have fun, bonding moments with their kids." This gets the kid's attention. "It's called Earth."

Senku grumbles at this, almost annoyed by how he fell for his dad's teasing while the older man snickers at his annoyance. 

"I just don't see the point in this." He huffs and gives his back towards his dad. "Can we go home early? if we stay any longer, it'll add more probability to the apartment getting caught on fire since I left my capacitor bank on the floor, still plugged."

"You what?!" Senku unknowingly grinned mischievously, watching his dad fall for his trap. Of course making something like that and leaving the house would make Senku check twice to unplug it before leaving it unattained. Though the possibility still stands if the capacitor bank still contains some electrical charge, setting the apartment on fire for a second time doesn't feel needed. 

"Yeah, and it'll be pretty bad if it catches on fire—“

"Oh, Mr. Ishigami!" A stranger, senku notes. They call out for his dad, removing his old man's worry and directing his attention to the newcomer. 

"Ohh, it's you—!” His dad calls out before they lose themselves in catching up on whatever, Senku felt bored from their conversation. 

It was laughable at how easy it was to distract his dad from something like possibly having their apartment burned. 

Senku watches as his dad and his co-worker get a chance to share in idle chatter. But for him, he takes this as a chance to get away from the crowded space. 

And so he runs off into the forest. Not too far, not wanting to risk being lost and alone with only the weird phenomenon following him. That weird phenomenon being the moon. Only far enough for the sky to not be blinded with the lights of the festival. 

Only the moon held the night apart. If it were to let go, Senku would be walking in an endless abyss with a few trails of light behind him. There was barely anyone around as well. It only saved him from talking to any worried adults that would send him back to the noisy celebration. 

He sneezes at the abrupt cold brushing his cheeks, the grilled squid his dad bought for him had gone cold already.

The cold suddenly reminded him that he was all alone in the forest. 

The child in him felt a bit scared. He only intended to leave to have a quiet walk alone, but maybe he should turn back. His dad is probably worried and looking for him. 

Before he turns around, his eye catches another kid his age, slumped facing a tree bark. Weird. And creepy. The feeling of alone and fear was overwhelmed with curiosity and wonder. 

Senku approaches silently, seeing that it was a girl playing with the shadow of her hand caused by the moonlight. 

A weird sight. Why do something like that when a literal summer festival is being held a few walks away? Senku almost thought he was wrong and the girl was actually a bit younger than him considering her genuine interest in her amateur shadow puppetry. 

First you did a bird. Then you made a dog bark. You made a rabbit hop. You made the crab crawl. Then an elephant honk. And…is that a moose? He thinks the best one you did was either the goat or the wolf. Then the next one you did was—oh you turned around. And caught him. 

He was so sure that he hid fairly well in the bush and barely made any noise. He almost felt embarrassed for getting caught and catching himself being interested in something so silly. 

But you were alarmed. You were stiff when you turned around to see him. It almost felt like you were shivering, either from the cold or by seeing a random kid just watching you. Kinda creepy if he was in your position. 

"Um," You drag out something weak, not knowing what to do in a situation like this. Senku wonders if you're here for the festival. He thinks it's possible despite noticing the way you dressed like you had just ran away from home. 

"The festival is over there." Senku pointed at the direction where he came from. He knows that you can tell as much from the faint chatters and light. 

You still didn't say anything, rather just looked at him. In a way that Senku would describe as off-putting. His stare was too rigid, it was tense as if you were gonna launch at him with a pair of venom filled fangs. And yours was entirely different from his or what you had before. 

You stared at him as if he was the first face you had seen in the darkness. Which, in this case, Senku thought would be likely. 

But two kids having a stare down in the cold woods at night? Pretty creepy. 

Especially with the way you widen your eyes at him, as if amazed. Somehow, the two of you looked at each other a little too long to just be strangers. 

But you are a stranger. A strange one, Senku notes. 

"Senku!!" Both you and Senku flinched at the voice, but you seemed to be more affected by it than he was. It's his dad looking for him. 

"What?" Senku turns around as he calls out, he returns to you, supposedly, but you were nowhere to be found. The shuffling of the bushes ahead of him probably indicates your sudden escape. 

It wasn't long before his dad found his way to him, still carrying the stick of cotton candy that had caught a bunch of leaves and twigs to be considered edible. "There you are! Why'd you escape all of a sudden?! And why here of all places?"

"You ask too much. I didn't want to listen to you and some guy talk about something that I have no inkling interest in." Senku faced the man. 

"Really now? Are you sure you weren't sneaking out to meet a girl?" Byakuya teases and, predictably, gets an irritated and disgusted look from the kid. "C'mon now, don't you wanna gush about her to your old man?"

"It's dumb that that's what grown-ups ever think about." Senku baffles, starting to talk back with his dad trailing behind him, a bit dejected. "And despite all that, you're still single."

"What, you want a mom all of a sudden?!"

"Don't need one."

"Just what kinda kid are you…”

It had been a few days ever since your random meet with the weird kid that had the harshest stare a five-year-old can have. Or what you prefer to call; A chance encounter. Your very first one. 

It sounds delusional, and you feel as if you're ruining the term "chance encounter", ironic since you find it quite annoying when people would ruin or misuse a rather endearing word. 

What does it mean again? Unplanned meetings that might lead to meaningful events. Recounting the definition, you really do seem delusional. 

But you feel like you can't help yourself when remembering his sharp stare. They say that the eyes speak more than the mouth, and you like to think that you believe in that. You remind yourself that when you remember the words you got just from his eyes. 

You recall how his eyes seemed maroon in the dark, it makes you wonder if it really is that color, or if it's more of a vibrant scarlet more than anything. You wished that the moonlight didn't shy away from his face. 

The boy you saw seemed like the kind who would be willing to stand alone. To grow alone. To be alone. It felt like the thought of it didn't seem like a bother to him, as if he would be willing to get to know the word "alone" as he grows. 

But at the same time, it felt as if he didn't want to have to. 

When writing, you read somewhere that foreign or unfamiliar words should be italicized to indicate something dissimilar and different from anything you were used to. You think that if you were to put his name in a story with a bunch of complicated english words, his would be the only one that is italicized. 

But you can't do that because you don't know his name. 

You walk along the pavement that follows the river from below you, admiring the paper and the words that were written on it; Just a few things you thought about earlier. 

The paper, which you have made and recycled from the old ones that no longer held any meaning to you, was now filled with something new and fresh from your emotions and thoughts. You wonder if it'll end up the same fate as those papers you used to recycle. 

The peaceful rustles of the grass were replaced with the sudden clanking of chaotic materials. 

You immediately stiffen at the very familiar sight of your first chance encounter. This was your second one now. With the same kid, you remember. 

But instead of seeing the familiar eyes, his back was facing you and the only notable quality telling you that it was him was his crazy hair. Is it genetics? Or gel? Does he seem like the type of boy who would trouble himself with something like gel though?

Your reservedness was replaced with curiosity and interest. Without thinking twice, you silently walked down the grassy slope, nearing him and his little experiment. You say "little" when in reality it's truly chaotic. 

What… what is that? There's a bunch of red, blue, and yellow wires neatly organized and connected in a box filled with cylinders that remind you of oversized batteries. The case that held it all together reminded you of those electrical things that are mounted on poles, although the one he's working with is larger than normal. 

"Huh?" The wonder and interest returned to stiffness and rigidness when the boy notices you and turns around. Amidst your sudden panic, you take your time to appreciate that he wears a lab coat and protective goggles that rests on his forehead. "It's you."

He briefly returns back to his work but still minding you some attention, "Um,"

"Don't you have anything else to say other than that?" He seemed a bit on edge and maybe even a bit nervous. You can't tell, he's too focused on his work. 

"What are you…" You clutch the pen and paper in your hands, "What are you working on…?”

You really believe in the saying that the eyes tell more than the mouth because when the boy turns back to you, his eyes gleamed in a way an excited child would. Along that was a warm grin that was failing to hold back on saying what he wanted to say. 

"This is a capacitor bank! It has a bunch of capacitors that store ten billion electrical energy in an electric field, only when voltage is applied to them." He gently patted the hard casing that housed these so-called capacitors. 

"Oh, I think I've read about them! Those are the things that are on those poles right?" You point out behind him to the pole-mounted equipment that highly resembles what he was introducing to you. 

"No."

You wanted to hide. 

He seemed like a smart kid—genius in fact, and who were you, a kid who learned from books and articles, to tell him misinformation that you bubbled in your head. You were embarrassed, beyond embarrassed. 

And you were sure he could tell by the confused look he's giving to you. You wanted to run. What did he think of you? Someone dumb? Probably. A dumb kid who spreads misinformation like it's a proven fact. 

"I mean, they're not really the same. Their purpose serves a similar power distribution system, but the one I have is usually installed in utility facilities." He corrected you, confused as to why you were so mortified as if you were asked to refine Einstein's theory of general relativity under time pressure. 

"Ah, I see," You feel dumb and dejected. 

Somehow, the boy notices this. "You were a millimeter off the mark, relax."

“Yeah…” Your dejection and sudden stupidity was once again replaced with the returning feeling of curiosity and interest. "So what do you need them for anyway?"

The boy grins mischievously before answering your question. "I'm making pulsed plasma thrusters for my rocket to go to outer space!"

"Oh! That's great—wait, space?! Plasma?! Thrusters?!" The paper in your hand had already been far too crumpled and ruined. You were starting to question if you're still talking to a five-year-old. 

"Yup, I'm going to space as soon as possible."

"…Isn't that illegal?"

He doesn't answer, he just goes back to working on his plasma thrusters. 

You return to your thoughts when he doesn't say anything else and just works. You realize that his eyes, the ones you thought looked maroon in the dim, appeared to be a bit of a tangerine color when the last few lights of day hit his face. 

It was amazing, you think, how his supposed dark colored iris can change into a vibrant shade of vermillion in a different light. 

You wonder what it would look like under normal lighting. Would it be burgundy? Scarlet? or just simply Red? You think those colors say a lot about him. 

"What are you staring for? It's creepy." 

You were caught off guard by his sudden complaint. instead of being embarrassed and stiffening from it, you simply stare at him until he forces himself to look back up to you from your lack of response. 

When he did, he only wished he stopped himself before he could. He wished that he just continued on working with the equipment he was handling. 

At that moment, he realizes that he's nervous. Nervous on what could be fueling that nerve wrecking stare of yours. Because he wants to extract it out of you so you won't be able to look at him the same way ever again. 

You smile. "Your eyes are really expressive."

He's confused. Is that a compliment or a tease? Are you saying that you can somehow read him so easily? 

"You're really weird. Are you an aspiring literate or something? Either that, or you're just a really really weird kid who stares at anyone passing by and tells them nonsense." 

"You're not too far off the mark." You giggle, and he realizes. "What's your name?"

In simply that week alone, you realize that Senku Ishigami seemed like someone who can do anything—and that even if he can't, he still tries to.

Chapter Text

Senku was ten years old when he last remembered talking to his dad about something silly called love. 

He thought it was a shallow reason to visit his son back home from the United States just to talk about something like that. 

“What do you mean you don’t like love?!” His dad childishly argued over dinner like a lovesick girl who was willing to defend the term against anything. 

“It's just… dumb. It doesn't get me excited. Why think of that illogical nonsense when you can think of anything other than that?” He stubbornly refused the way his dad is trying to drill the term into his head. He knows about it, but that’s all it was to him. “It’s just a word.”

“Now that’s nonsense!” Byakuya carefully ate his food before continuing. “At some point in your life, you gotta learn to love, kid!”

“Then I'll be sure to skip over that point when it comes.” 

“C’mon now, don’t you love me?”

“I see you as an inspiration.”

Byakuya stops, recalling his son’s words as the kid continues to eat his dinner and is seemingly unaware of the effect of his words on the older man. He was almost brought into tears. 

“S-Senku! you really mean that?!” Scratch that, he was brought into tears. Who wouldn’t when your never outwardly affectionate son started showing affection through simple words?

“Yeah. When you failed the astronaut candidate selection exam, it pushed me to do ten billion percent better.” Byakuya's joy was replaced with despair at the sudden reminder. 

“Anyways… back to the topic at hand,” Senku silently pouts at this. “You know, it’s not you who gets to choose whether or not you’ll fall in love.”

“I hate that.” Senku mopes. 

“It may seem silly to you now—“

“Falling is an accident. I don't like it.” Surprisingly, Senku’s words catch his dad unsuspected and confused. “I'd rather walk into it willingly.”

His dad stays quiet at this. Maybe Senku hadn’t understood his point and lost the ability to think it through. Senku’s point would have only gotten a “duh” from Byakuya, followed by “that’s what I’ve been trying to say”, but he doesn’t say it.

Because he understands that Senku grows baffled when handling anything that can change with no computed proof on why. Perhaps something like people’s feelings. He'd rather not indulge in it. 

Senku knows his dad is a romanticist (despite the fact that he is still single) and that maybe he only wanted a normal interaction between father and son, but all of these are devoid of logic. Devoid of something he is sworn and used to abide by. 

“Yeah yeah, finish your food and be sure nothing dangerous is related with your latest experiment.” His dad continued on, “Oh and go see Y/n, she’s been asking how you’ve been through the telephone.”

Oh right, Senku hasn’t seen you in a week. 

With five years of friendship, Senku had grown to learn more about what you do and who you are—mostly. 

He learned that you like poetry. Something sappy and sentimental, something he isn’t really a fan of. And he confirms that when he tried reading poetry from the limited books in the local library or the one at school. 

Nothing really sparked when it comes to him and anything related to literature. You reminded him that. 

Senku also thought that you might just be a polymath. 

He realized whenever you would join him when he’s in the library gathering some information or doing his usual experimenting.

You always shared everything you know about a subject Senku isn’t familiar with, you may not be as much of a Science enthusiast as him, but he likes it whenever you expand his understanding on something he isn’t versed in.

Senku has grown to realize that he likes that feeling of not being alone when it comes to learning. Sharing and standing on the same grounds with another person his age makes him feel accompanied. You reminded him of that.

He also noted that you were handling a bunch of sports. At first, Senku wondered why. 

You were already good with the brain, but why still bother with the brawn? He agrees that you need both in order to function and do things more proficiently, but he’d rather look for the other in another person rather than rely on that himself. 

But you told him that your mother wanted you to excel in a lot of sports. The excuse being that “it’s a backup if everything else goes downhill”, which somehow scratches Senku’s brain in the wrong ways possible. 

He’s always bothered by it whenever you would come to school with bandaids and bruises all over your exposed skin, somehow he knows that there are probably more underneath your clothes. 

When he finally decided to ask about it, Senku found out you were trying out a defensive martial art. It explained why you were always bruised; no other sports are able to give such contusions after all—none that he knows of at least.

You described your time with martial arts as if it was a lighthearted experience, ironic as to how the art of Aikido is quite dangerous. Senku realized your words were honeyed, as if you’re used to making them sound safe and assuring to avoid worry. You reminded him of that.

But then Senku soon learns that your reasoning on approaching things is rather shallow and unexpected. 

When he asked why you wanted to try spear fighting when you grow up, you replied: “I want to fight in a cool samurai armor”. And when he asked why you did track and field, you answered: “the wind feels nice”, flat and brief. 

Something tells Senku that you don’t need a deep reasoning in order to do something, you reminded him of that. 

He also picks up on the nickname that the students gave you at school. 

Senku recalls the time you first saw him in the forest, the way you stared at him as if he had grown another head. Apparently, you learned how to use it to your advantage. 

By that he meant intimidating other people to side with you. It’s funny, he never thought that a girl like you would do something so threatening as that. All it takes is for you to widen your eyes and stare straight into the other person’s soul to the point they’d freeze in place. 

Maybe that’s why the others always compare you to Medusa. A little girl, being compared to a mythological monster. 

Senku thinks it’s very, very dumb. 

But he thinks it’s amusing when you do it to the grown-ups to persuade them to let you and Senku use the school laboratory for a little longer.

But more than anything, you got along with anyone who was willing to get along with you. 

Senku knows that when you and Taiju meet. Two of his first friends meeting and getting to know each other the same way they have with him. Having friends around made Senku feel occupied.

Anything that has nothing to do with alone. You remind him of that. 

You've been reminding Senku a lot that he never thought he would be thinking about. He wonders if he reminds you of anything similarly close. 

But you remind Senku that these aren’t thoughts that a ten-year-old should be troubling about, nor are these the kind of thoughts that he should be troubling himself about.

You weren’t the first to realize that Senku isn’t a normal kid. 

Instead of being troubled with plastic toys and daisies, Senku troubles himself with the laws of physics and nature in general. You know that. 

But he still gets troubled, albeit for a different reason than any other kid would. 

When you finally visited Senku's place after being busy last Sunday, you noticed his behavior as he sat in front of his computer. He doesn’t say anything, lost in thinking in that ingenious mind of his. 

You resisted the urge to ask, feeling as if you’d ruin his focus if you utter a sound. So you give him time to solve things himself, to figure it out by himself. 

When he gives in and leans back on the chair with his arms crossed and his brows furrowed, that’s when you choose to intervene. 

“You know, they say time solves most things.” Senku turns to you as you speak, putting the tray of two cup noodles on the floor as you sit by it, away from any equipment as it bathes in hot water. “And what time can’t solve, you’ll have to solve yourself.”

“This again? You really do speak in flowers." Senku sighs, but he doesn’t stop you with his words. After a while, Senku hesitates to speak once again. “…what if you can’t solve what time can’t solve?”

You draw out a hum as you look out the window and at the passing clouds. “Then I guess it’s time to look for people who can.”

You look at Senku’s face, blank and thinking. He follows where you looked before, out the window and at the passing clouds. Clouds alongside other clouds, perhaps denser and bigger. 

Like him, and maybe other people like him. 

And with the all too familiar glimmer in his cherry eyes and a grin that formed because of an idea, you realize that he understands your flowery gestures better than anyone. You watch him turn back around towards his computer, typing away something you could barely understand from that far. 

So you stand up and make your way beside him, seeing him in… Public inquiries… NASA?!

“Aha… when I said that, I didn't think you would reach out to scientists from NASA, Senku.” You drop a sweat, he seemed to be typing in a document about all of his questions and concerns regarding what left him stumped. When he reached a thousand characters did he realize that people working in NASA are mostly English speakers. 

At first he thought that it didn’t matter, he could just finish writing up his email and putting it in a translator before shoving it in the association’s internet. But then Senku recalls a lot of people complaining about online translators’ horrible way of interpretation. 

He remembers watching a dumb episode of a Matchmaking TV show with you. The woman ended up choosing a man who doesn’t speak the same language as her, Senku ridiculed the show and how the two needed a translator to even communicate.

It wasn’t long until news broke out about the two’s relationship failure. 

A singular word is more accurate to translate using that engine. Unless he intends on putting every character he typed down one by one in the translator, then he’d better get a translator in the form of a person instead. He himself can only interpret so little English at his level. 

So he turns to you, the bilingual girl whose English has since been leveling up as the years go by. 

“Can you translate this?” He almost hesitates, and you wonder why. 

You always feel a sense of accomplishment whenever Senku asks something of you. You smile, “Tell me when you’re done.”

You didn’t give a specific answer yet Senku smiles and continues typing, this time assured and not limiting himself. 

When he finishes typing his entry, you take his spot and switch the language to English and begin translating. Senku watches you while slurping on his cup of ramen, noticing that you don’t type the same way he does. 

It was a simple observation and seemingly unneeded, but you were smooth with it. Your fingers barely scratch the surface of the keyboard. In a way, he finds it a bit refreshing to watch.

There were moments when you would feel stumped at a word or two, Senku gives you all the time you need, you appreciate him for that. Doing this for him gives you a chance to read what he had typed down. You silently chuckle to see that he had also typed down some words of habit of his. 

“I can’t get my hands on the right components, I’m not progressing even one millimeter here.” 

Finally, when the sun was starting to set, you finished typing all his words. You turn to your side to see that he had just returned from the kitchen, “I'm done.” You say as you get off the chair to give Senku the space to see both of your work. 

“Then I'll attach all of the files and research with results I've conducted and then—sent!” Senku celebrates, not only to the people of NASA but also a bunch of space associations from all over the world. It’s only a matter of time, luck, and appreciation that someone sends a reply back. 

You look at Senku in surprise when he raises both of his hands up towards you, his way of showing accomplishment. Your palms bump against his, it was a sweet gesture of a charming word called teamwork. 

You hope that there’s at least one other genius that is willing to help with Senku’s roadblock.

“Oh yeah, your ramen got cold after a while. But I added some more hot water to it.” Senku gestured towards the lone ramen that is placed on a table, a pair of disposable chopsticks on top of the lid as it still steams. “I also added some potassium chloride and calcium carbonate for the taste and texture of the ramen, so they don’t feel lame.”

Normally, a person would’ve coward away at the mention of minerals placed in their food. But then again, it was Senku. Plus those minerals he mentioned are safe for consumption.

But Senku notices you hesitate. Do you not trust his knowledge? No, surely that isn’t it. He knows you would know these things. So what's stopping you from eating it? 

“Senku, I have to go home.” You lost track of time. 

“Hm? Do you have lessons this late?” 

“…Something like that.” You sweat, packing up your things into your little bag, “See you tomorrow, Senku.” You rush outside his room and into the entrance to slip your shoes back on. 

You were about to leave through the door but he stopped you, “Eat this along the way.” Senku gives you the steaming ramen, the chopsticks now placed inside as he wraps the container in a cold thick towel to avoid it burning your hands. “It's still a bit hot so be careful.”

“Thank you,” You smile, his gesture was precious. You could never refuse anything he says or does, so you take it from his warm hands. 

“Thanks for your help. Get back home safely.” He felt a bit awkward saying it, but it was needed.

And with that, another Sunday has passed by all so quickly. 

Monday was tomorrow, he still gets to see you at school, but won’t be able to talk to you as much taking into consideration your schedule. Monday… Mondays are usually scheduled for your art classes. 

He felt the cold breeze sneaking in from the slightly opened door from where you left. It was cold outside. Hopefully that ramen is enough to keep you warm until you get home. 

The next day, Senku wakes up earlier and more excited than usual. 

He can tell by the way he quickly slips into his uniform as if he’s in a hurry. He hurries to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast before he sets out to school with his bag. Why was he so excited? 

A scientist from NASA immediately gave him a response from the entry he sent the previous night. 

And he can’t wait to tell you. Which was weird. 

Normally he would only keep this to himself, only telling anyone if they ever bring up the topic to him. But he’s never one to deliberately tell someone about something so important.

But isn’t his excitement justified since you were the one who made it easy for him to type down everything into something coherent?

You were there to help him reach out to other scientists. Senku thinks that’s more than enough excuse to want to tell you. 

So he finds you, not in the classroom but in the art room. It was far too early and Senku knew better that you would waste your time just sitting around without doing anything. 

As if to prove himself right, he sees you in the art room preparing a blank canvas. 

“Y/n,” You turn around to see him, and he can tell that you already know he was there, somehow. It’s weird how you do it, he almost forgets that you’re both just ten. “Someone from NASA replied.”

Senku notices a rare glimmer in your eyes when you fully turn to him with a smile, “Really?!” 

Almost as if you were infectious, he catches your smile. “Yeah, a scientist called Dr. X,” Senku tells you more about this scientist, how he finished his reply with the phrase “science is elegant”, which you and Senku appreciate.

“Dr. X? Sounds like a mad scientist villain.” You muse and hear Senku stifle a laugh, perhaps agreeing to your statement.

Senku relays what the reply said, about some expensive equipment he needed in order to progress further with his experiment. Five hundred thousand yen. You can only think that Senku will have to snatch the thing he likes to call “the magic card” from his dad in order to get ahold of this machine. 

Though you lose yourself in his musings, you can’t help but feel glad that someone else was able to see Senku’s brilliancy and decided to aid him.

You felt happy for him that someone was able to get him back on his feet and get him to look in another perspective. 

Though you like to think that you were one of those people to him. 

Since then, Senku always wakes up with more things to tell you. 

Chapter Text

Senku was fourteen years old when he last remembered his dad going on a talk about things he finds beautiful. 

The boy never used that word, it doesn’t seem like it was appropriate to be used to describe average and unadorned sights from everyone’s day to day life. if he were to use that word, it would just feel wrong. 

But there are beautiful things that he can somewhat agree to an extent. 

For one, he agrees that science is beautiful.

Though that isn’t his word, it was another’s that he is simply agreeing to. Science serves as the basis of all life, and from what he can tell from others; life is beautiful. The fluttering of the flowers by the motherly spring breeze can be beautiful, the same way that the sun can be a sight to look at when it sits in a particular position. 

But lately, Senku starts to notice other things that can be seen and described as beautiful. All thanks to a book you lended to him that he prefers to read during his spare time. It consisted of verses of poems that he needed to think hard on in order to understand its meaning. 

There were some he appreciated, some he tolerated, and some he doesn’t just can’t understand no matter what he tries. But he chooses to not dive deep into it, these flowery words are your thing, not his. And he prefers it to stay that way. 

As he went on with his tinkering, he couldn’t help but let his eyes stray towards the book. It was the one thing you gave before you temporarily left for China. 

Apparently you were to see a relative who had been wanting to meet you for quite a while. But Senku remember you say that it was most likely nothing personal but rather something related to your future. Your, already laid out, future. 

He doesn’t think it’s bad to have your future already planned out, in fact he thinks it’s an advantage. 

But if Senku puts himself in your shoes, which path would he take? You had quite the options, but Senku knows that ultimately, you’d only get to pick one despite expressing how much you enjoy most of it. 

Are you conflicted? He wonders if he should give you his take on it. But he doesn’t feel entitled to giving you a piece of advice that could affect something so important like your future.

But if you were to ask him, he thinks verses suit you the best. 

Then again, you were pretty good with science. Definitely not as good as him but still better than a normal teen your age. 

Although wouldn’t it also be better to have you continue with physical practices? It would feel like a waste if you’ve spent all those roving and running for nothing. 

He wonders if your art would be appreciated by everyone if they were to see it the same way he has. 

The title of “musician” doesn’t seem so bad for you either, Senku thinks. He hasn’t personally heard you play, but maybe one day you’d ask him to listen. Or maybe he could be the one to ask.

What—no. 

It feels wrong of him to think about something so personal like asking someone to play an instrument for him.

In that moment of being alone in his room only did Senku realize; he might be missing you.

Only a little. 

He remembers a poem that he read from the magazine of verses, you mentioned it to be one of your favorites. Of course it was, how could you not like a poem about a promise being kept? It just seemed like the kind of one you’d love.

The funny thing is that you didn’t even explain the meaning to him.

Senku chuckles, he’d never thought literature would ever get to his head. 

Senku hasn’t felt alone in a while. And by a while, he meant for around nine years or so. The truth is, he could never be lonely. 

He was surrounded by someone like his dad who supported everything he wanted to do. He was always surrounded by Taiju as well, someone who is willing to aid him when it comes to brawn. 

And you were there too. He doesn’t exactly remember how you came to be part of his life. All he remembers was meeting you in the woods, talking to you for the first time by the river, and suddenly he didn’t feel alone anymore. 

He wonders what you think about his thoughts. Maybe you would tease him for being sappy, something he swore to never indulge in. 

But Senku can’t help but feel something that is reminiscent to that of being sentimental. 

He feels it when he walks alone from school as the day is already over. By this time you would have already been making your way back home so as to not worry your parents, or so what you always said. 

Senku always thought that there might be something more going on in your life than just schedules after schedules. What do you do when you have nothing to do? He questions things like that.

He passed by the river when you two first talked by chance. The first time you tried indulging in his level of knowledge and slightly failing to the point of embarrassment. 

Senku huffs out a smile at the memory. 

“Is Senku reminiscing?” By chance, he faces you. 

What did you use to describe your first meeting with him again? Chance encounter? Ah, but Senku thinks this no longer counts as one of those since you two already know each other. 

Perhaps just a reunion is best suited for now.

“Back already huh?” Senku smiles in a way you find endearing, and in a way, you realize that you miss him. 

“Did you miss me?” You say in an almost kidding tone, already knowing that Senku wouldn’t take it seriously. You trail towards halfway down the grassy slope, lying down on the ground as Senku mirrors your movement.

“Not one millimeter.” You both know that was a lie. 

There was quiet between you two, it was too comfortable to break it. Senku wished to risk a glance at you, thinking that the few seconds he first saw you again wasn’t enough. 

It's like he forgot that you had only been gone for a week. But he wishes he could look at you for a little while longer. 

You save him that craving when you look at him instead. Senku looked back, then he realized that you have quite an expression on you. 

What was the word that they used to describe in some literature?

Melancholic. 

A foreign word that Senku rarely ever thinks about. He had only learned about it when he read one of your works. 

You felt melancholic, even with that smile he knows too well. He hears you say something. “I miss you.” Senku stares.

Then he finds himself no longer doing so, wondering if the warmth on his face was because of the setting sun or if there was something else at play. Senku wishes he could risk a “me too”, this time he ponders if you would be the one to save him the trouble of it happening. 

Instead you say something else, “The night sky in China was surprisingly clear; I saw an unaccompanied cloud passing by though.” You recall, “It kind of reminded me of you. Hm, I should have taken a photo.”

Senku immediately chuckles, he finds your mimes to be rather silly. A cloud of all things. “Does a cloud really remind you of me that much?”

This time, you were the one to giggle. “I guess not only clouds, but everything I see when I look up. Even the ones far away.”

He finds it scary how the heart can beat so rapidly but then stop all of a sudden before continuing to pump, he finds it scarier how you were able to control the pulsing of his.

But Senku follows your words and looks up, up where the stars have shown themselves from hiding. 

This shit is so sappy he could cry an ocean and recreate the Cambrian explosion—which scientifically, would not make sense.

“Can I ask,” You remain your eyes in the sky, “Do I remind you of anything?”

Senku finds that question scarier than anything else.

It feels sensitive that he doesn’t feel like himself if he ever responds with an answer that isn’t “nothing”. And he wishes nothing more but to allow himself to say that in response. 

You remind him that he’s not that athletic, you remind him that he doesn’t really mess around with literature the same way you do, you remind him that he’s not really all that crafty, you remind him that he doesn’t know more than an ounce of knowledge when it comes to music, and you remind him that he really enjoys standing in the same footing with someone else.

Though he gets caught in the moment and finds himself choosing the best answer for the best outcome; he says nothing. Not the word, but rather the silence. But he knows that, in your mind, it had meant something. 

He confirms when he notices a satisfied smile on you. “Have you wished on a satellite before?” You ask again.

“No,” And this time Senku answers, because he finds the question to be simple and straightforward. And maybe a bit ditzy but he’s not going to admit that because he should already have gotten used to your musings. “Have you?” Instead, he indulges in your trance, though rather awkwardly.

“Well… I wished the world would end.” 

“What?” His voice spiked after having heard you. “Why wish something like that?”

You felt amused, “Suddenly you say it as if wishing on a satellite could ever make it come true.” You turn to him with a bit of a teasing manner which gently shakes him to awareness. “It won't come true, at least that’s what I know. If it ever happens, I'll know that wishing on a satellite would be better than wishing on a star.”

“Sounds like you just mistook a satellite for a star and started wishing.” You let out a cheeky laugh at his words, realizing you might just have been caught.

You felt tired. Senku notices that when you lay your back on the ground, ahead of you are stars. Billions of stars, and just you.

He thinks that staying here any longer would cause some trouble. He thinks that your parents would nag you if you return late into the night. He thinks that a security guard will probably scold the two of you for staying out too late if you happen to lay down for a little too long. He thinks that the most logical thing to do is to head back. 

But Senku stops thinking and lays down, facing the billions of stars alongside you. Right now, the two of you were in the middle of engraving a memory.

Something Senku wishes you both will remember. Not just him. Because he finds it terrifying to be the only one who remembers. 

It’s almost cruel; being the only one who cannot forget. 

But he knows you’ll never lose sight of the memories you shared. Somehow he knows that you’ll also engrave them all over you, the same way he had engraved all of the things you remind him of in every corner of his consciousness.

“Senku,” You whisper his name, eyes closed. “If I were to ever rip your body open, you know I'd never find your insides unsightly.”

“What the hell are you saying?” It felt unhinged. 

You were silent for a while, perhaps muddling over the words you had uttered. “Sorry, that was weird. I just read a poem about it.” He hears you laugh.

The following silence felt awkward, you don’t know what to say after having said such an unnerving thing. 

But Senku saves you from breaking it.

He chuckles, “Patch me back up, maybe I’ll even name my scars after you.”

Maybe literature has really gotten to him.

Senku realizes why flowers grow. 

Mecha Senku was created from the sudden loneliness that Senku felt when you were gone.

He had nobody to join him during the week you were gone. His dad was at NASA, Taiju needed to attend extra classes to not fail, he wasn’t that close with Yuzuriha yet and figured she wouldn’t come without Taiju.

Anyone else didn’t really matter much to him, he just didn’t like their company.

The only thing that occupied him was this stone swallow research, doraemon, and building a mini mecha of himself. 

Mecha Senku was unintentional, created from a feeling of illogicality such as loneliness. But here you are, awing the robot as if you had just adopted a new pup. 

“This is amazing… What do you call him?” You asked and turned to him in genuine interest. An interest that probably exceeds more than your interest in him, he bitterly thinks. 

“Just Mecha Senku.”

“That’s it?” You mope, “I thought you would’ve given him a deeper name…”

“Yeah? Like what?”

Senku looks at you, wondering if you’re going to bring up a word that has a literary reference to anything remotely related to artificial intelligence. But instead you say something different, “Mechatronic Exoskeletal Senku Ishigami, MESI for short.”

He sweats, “Yeah I’m ten billion percent sure I will still call him Mecha Senku.”

You sulk at his words but figured you wouldn’t have been able to change his mind, “So what does Mecha Senku do?”

“Brainteasers and instructions, ranging from ramen recipes to medicines.” You already felt like you should’ve seen that one coming. You hear Mecha Senku’s voice, a more robotic version of Senku’s, you wonder how he did it. 

“Yo, I’m Mecha Senku!” You melt at the little robot’s voice, very similar to that of the original. 

“It has a speech synthesis chip in it, It’s connected to the algorithm of the computer. Programming this thing kept me occupied for a while,'' Senku recalls as he lays his eyes on the wires that connected Mecha Senku to his PC unit. “It mainly operates off of my search engine with a text to speech function programmed into it.”

“Really?” You drag out in amazement, but suddenly you remember something. “Oh by the way, about that book I lended you.”

“It’s still here.” He grabs the book from one of his shelves. 

You smile, “Did you read it?”

“Not a millimeter of it.”

“Yo, I’m Mecha Senku! Here are results of your search about: more epistle poems!”

Oh how much of a snitch Mecha Senku can be. 

Chapter Text

Senku was still fourteen years old when he last saw his dad. 

Christmas had just passed and his dad was visiting Japan to spend the holiday with him. Senku somehow convinced himself to stop working on his research about the whole petrification workload and celebrated winter with his old man. 

Apparently, Byakuya will be boarding the Soyuz Spacecraft and entering the International Space Station when spring comes. Meaning he won’t be able to visit his son for quite a while, so it wasn’t a surprise that Byakuya went all out for the holidays.

This includes the new year’s celebration. 

If anyone were to hear about his dad’s work, they would probably think Senku will feel a tiny bit sad knowing he won’t be able to see his dad for a long, long time.

But Senku likes to think otherwise. He wouldn’t be really gloomy about it; if anything, he’s slightly jealous.

Plus, it’s not like he won’t see his dad again. He’ll just have to wait, he can do that.

Senku thought of himself as independent enough to live alone. He knows what’s needed around the house, he knows how to cook his own food, and he knows how to handle money.

He doesn’t want to admit it but Senku thinks that, with enough time, he’ll grow to miss his dad. 

So then he headed to town, a few hours before the arrival of a new year. After learning that his dad would return to the US right after new year, he figured that he might as well buy him a gift. 

He thought of making something, but with the holidays making everyone too busy, he doubts he’ll finish in time. So Senku just walks around the streets, glancing every so often at the shops and stalls that might interest his dad. 

Buying a gift for him wasn’t so difficult, after all the man likes a lot of things. He ended up buying that American songstress’s holiday collection dvd. It had just been released and Senku remembered his dad mentioning about buying it when he first returned.

This saves him from staying out in the cold for too long. Senku wanted to get back immediately, the temperature felt like it’s hitting its lowest at every passing second he remained outside. 

Just when he was going back, Senku saw a bunch of kids with their parents pointing at some shop. It's a typical gift shop that families and friends would buy from during the holidays. He watches through the window as the shopkeeper wraps a product in a gift box before giving it to the purchaser. 

It didn't take long before Senku also found himself inside the store. But he likes to think that it was because he needed warmth before he made his way back, and there was still a lot of time to spare before the clock strikes midnight. 

So he takes a look around without the intention of buying anything. 

But he looks at a foreign keychain hanging from an empty hook.

If someone were to take it out, it would leave the hook completely empty. He wonders if the product was popular, or if it didn’t really meet a lot of people’s demand that led to the staff stocking up less on it. 

He takes it out to have a proper look at it, a metal that was shaped into what seemed like a satellite. Beside it was the famous planet of Saturn. There were also three metallic stars that made an irritating sound every time they collided with each other. 

He looks to the side to see a bunch of people buying presents then gifting them to another. He wonders if he should buy you one too. 

Senku feels really silly. 

Despite lying to himself that he only entered the store for warmth, it ended up saving him from freezing to death when he continued walking back home. Senku grunted, feeling his body heat depleting so drastically whenever a breeze would pass by. 

He really just wants to get back home. But clearly, something stops him. 

If it were anyone, Senku would have grumbled and put up a poor excuse to escape the likelihood of a small talk.

But instead, he sees you. 

You, being enveloped by the cold temperature as Senku notices your bare hands trembling; well every part of you were. 

Senku notes that you were dressed as if you had just ran away from home.

“Hey.” Senku calls out to you who seemed to be looking at the other side of the busy street. There was a hint of worry in his voice, but he thinks no one will be able to notice it with all the noises around.

When you turned, that was when Senku realized something was wrong. You were practically freezing, your fingers were stiff, there was redness around your eyes, your nose was stuffed, and your hair was unkempt. 

Now it really looked like you had just run away from home. 

“What happened?” Senku asks, not bothering to ask why you were there. Have you been crying? Or was it simply the weather? Something felt terribly wrong. He confirms that when you don’t follow with your typical smile the moment you see him; like how you usually do.

But he sees you try. In the end, you simply press your lips together as you quiver weakly. Senku begins to think that it wasn’t simply because of the cold. 

“I don’t want to go home.” You chuckle as your voice breaks.

Despite the amount of people that could drown out your voice from him, Senku hears the way your voice weakens. He only thinks of one thing: you need to warm up. 

But Senku doesn’t wait for you to do it yourself, instead he walks closer before he warms you up with his arms. It would have bothered him to do something so intimate in such a public space, but there was nothing else that occupied his mind other than to give you warmth. mostly in a literal sense, but maybe also in another way. 

He hears your muffled breaths from his coat, he feels your trembles, and he feels his warmth seeping onto you. 

It was the first time that Senku held you this close, the closest he got was sharing an umbrella with you under a rainy day. It’s the first time Senku has seen you so raw. 

When Senku held you for the first time, he realized how broken-down you were. It terrified him. 

He doesn’t know how to hold someone so worn out.

Before the two of you started freezing together, Senku dragged you towards a cafe and sat beside you in a random booth. He really felt like scolding you for leaving the house in such light clothing as if it was springtime. 

“What happened to you?” Senku asks once again, this time watching you warm your hands with the piping hot drink the waiter had served you. You lean into his coat that you were now wearing, leaving him with only his scarf and a pair of gloves. 

You don’t reply right away, instead you heave out a heavy breath. “I should’ve stayed quiet.”

“So what's that gotta do with leaving your house bare naked?” He asks, something that makes you slip out a small laugh. 

“I wasn’t bare naked,” you inserted. “I just left in a hurry, I suppose.”

“Where were you headed?” Senku asks as he watches you ponder on that question far longer than you should have. 

If he remembers correctly, this would be the second time he has witnessed your runaway from your house. 

The first time was during that summer festival, when he had stumbled upon you playing with the moon’s light. the second would be this—during the coldest time of the year, and one where you don’t do your little puppet shows. 

You didn't really have a destination in mind, you weren’t necessarily thinking straight when you left your house. Maybe you were heading to the bridge. 

It was filled with Christmas lights, yet there weren’t many people there. Unlike the road, it was surprisingly quiet. If you looked down from the bridge, would you be able to see your reflection?

That thought feeds something in your mind.

“Y/n.”

Senku breaks you out of your silent musings, and you realize there was a small tinge of worry in his eyes. Not that you would point it out aloud, he might just deny it.

You smile at him. “Don’t worry.”

Weirdly enough, that was the only thing you said. There wasn’t anything to follow your assurance. You were planning on heading to the bridge for some quiet, but Senku has beaten you to it; he was the one who provided the silence you needed. 

“Why are you out here though?”

“Gifts.”

You blink at this, it was uncommon for Senku to be out to buy gifts.

“Dad will board the Soyuz spacecraft.”

You blinked at this, mustering a genuine smile that Senku questions. “Really? That's really  great for him!” He hears you giggle, sounding as if your face wasn’t reddened and flushed from crying. “You must be a bit jealous, aren’t you?”

“…Maybe.” Less and less people were occupying the shop, and Senku eyed the clock hand that was nearing its destination: midnight. “He would be pestering me if I didn't try to invite you over to celebrate—“ He hesitates for a bit, “You know, with us.”

Senku thought he would be coming up with poor excuses to avoid a conversation to get home early, instead he muttered a half-assed excuse to have you be with him for the night. 

It's also because you don’t have anywhere else to go if he leaves you here, the weather was already getting worse than earlier. 

You muddle over his words; simple and a seemingly innocent invitation. Normally, new year’s eve would be spent with your own family, something that sounds very tempting for you. But intruding their place and interrupting their family time sounds rude to you. 

The boy beside you seemed to have noticed, “You wouldn’t be intruding. If you don’t want to go back yet, you’re always welcome in our home.”

His words make it seem like he’s talking about some big-shot place; but he laughs at the thought that it was just a simple apartment.

Just a simple apartment where a bunch of expensive science equipment were being held in. It was a space that was simply occupied by a son and his father. It was somewhere usually empty, but the presence of a young scientist always made it almost feel full. 

It’s what Senku calls home. You wonder if he’d let you call it that too.

“I’d love to.”

Byakuya would be lying if he said he’s surprised to see Senku coming back home with you, hand-in-hand. The only thing that surprised him was that his son’s winter wear had now been fully on you. Senku was freezing himself to death. 

“I’m so sorry, I told him he didn’t need to—“

“You were out there with a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.”

He had a point, but you know Senku is more vulnerable to the cold than you could ever be. “I was only out there for half an hour…”

You lead Senku to the couch, watching as he places a plastic bag on the table before sitting down and attempting to preserve his remaining body heat. 

“Alright, here ya’ go.” Byakuya then engulfed Senku with a wool blanket, a relieved sigh left his mouth. You stand beside Byakuya as Senku leans into the cover, almost melting at the comfort it gives. 

“I'll go make him some hot tea.”

“Big thanks Y/n,” The older man said when you turned to the kitchen, he then sat beside the freezing teenager. “I thought you were only out to buy a few things, hm?”

“I was, then she…” Senku brought the blanket to cover half his face, recalling what had happened outside as he felt the warmth of his breath. “Can she stay here tonight?”

“Of course she can,” Byakuya responds immediately. “What happened though?” He whispers.

“Not sure.” Senku sneaks a glance at you, your back facing him as you pour hot water in three mugs. 

Byakuya looks at his distracted son, noticing the tip of his fingers are dangerously pale. It surprised him, did his kid really offer you his coat and scarf—even half of his pair of gloves? He follows his line of sight; you made him do that, not because you forced him to or that he felt obligated to do it, but maybe because of something simpler. 

Maybe Senku did that only because he wanted to. 

Not all things needed a reason to be done. Byakuya can see Senku standing alone, with enough time he can even grow alone; but he knows Senku doesn’t want to have to.

So you stand there with him. 

And maybe, he thinks, you do only because you want to. 

At first, Byakuya thought his son might have finally fallen into something—not particularly love—but he cackles at the idea, thinking that Senku would have given him the deadliest stare he can muster up if he ever heard the word used in that way. 

But Byakuya is a dad at the end of the day; how could he not be proud of his son for something like this?

It was different from when Senku would show him his latest work. 

It was a warm and assuring thought knowing that his son is capable of feeling something deep for another person; that he doesn’t wholeheartedly reject the idea.

“I’m glad,” Senku felt his dad’s heavy hand on his head, “This gives me less to worry about.” Byakuya smiled, confusing Senku even more. 

It wasn’t long after you came back with a tray of piping hot beverages. “Here,” You offer one to Senku, hearing a small “thanks” as he adjusted his stiff hands around the hot ceramic. 

“Good thing I ordered a bunch of food before the stores closed!” Byakuya said in relief as he accepted the mug from you. “We usually go out for ramen during the new years, but I thought we’d do something different this time.”

“I’m really sorry for showing up unannounced.”

“It’s really no big deal—the more the merrier, right?” The man cackled, turning to nudge Senku who was silently drinking from his mug. “You know, Y/n, Senku here always dips right after midnight.”

You smile as Byakuya playfully pokes at Senku, who was indulging himself with the hot drink.

“Let's play a bunch of games after watching the fireworks!” It was a humorous sight, seeing the dad more excited than his kid for new years, and that’s even considering Senku’s birthday will be four days after. 

“Games?” You question, looking at Senku who now had a bothered face. 

“A bunch of activities he forces everyone to play; by everyone I mean me.” Senku huffed, watching his dad shuffle to find something—then nearly choked on his drink when the man had set off a party popper, the glittery kind. 

“All right kids, let’s head to the balcony to watch the fireworks!” Byakuya then opened the balcony door, ignoring the freezing Senku who jittered at the breeze. 

He would argue to wait until he can feel his fingers again but the fireworks don't wait for anyone.

“Let's go?” You stood beside him, “Or do you want to stay here? You might still be cold.”

The new year doesn’t really wait for anyone.

“I'll watch.”

Chapter Text

Senku was about to pass out in exhaustion. 

It turns out that Byakuya had a lot of things he wanted to do right after the fireworks had stopped making noise in the midnight sky. Though it didn’t take more than an hour for the man to get tired enough to sleep. 

But he ushered you all to play some board games he had bought from the US, learning its mechanics took longer than the actual game itself that Byakuya and Senku got sick after a round. 

You laugh at how it was one of the few things they have in common. 

Go Fish was something the two enjoyed, but Byakuya stopped playing when Senku was winning a bit too much.

Playing charades was confusing, especially whenever it’s Byakuya’s turn. You and Senku weren’t sure whether he’s purposely confusing the two of you or if he’s actually bad at it. 

The last thing that you did before Byakuya went to sleep was a simple trivia quiz. Despite its simplicity, it was still chaotic. The two would argue on which one is correct, you were left to silently watch them bicker.

When the clock stopped at 1:04, Byakuya finally decided to retire for the night, leaving you and Senku in the living room. 

It had been half an hour since the small party died down, you were seated on the couch, closely beside Senku. He was surprisingly kind enough to share the wooly blanket with you. 

There was a random movie that was playing on the television, but Senku treats it as background noise while he listens to your voice. 

You were telling him about your recent gymnastics lessons that your mom had signed you up for. He listens as you complain about your strict instructor and how competitive the environment was.

But you tell Senku about a friend you made there.

A nice girl who happens to be your senior, someone who was kind enough to help you with adjusting to the place. Even though she had the blankest expression there is, she was still nice. Senku somehow felt assured by that.

You didn’t really find gymnastics exciting, the atmosphere simply felt too intense. 

“My mom used to also do gymnastics.” You recall the old pictures of your mother when she was your age, you wondered why it was hidden away.

“Sounds like your mom just wants you to follow her footsteps.”

You laugh at Senku’s words, because you know that your mother will absolutely lose her shit if she ever hears that phrase again.

Your mother was a confusing woman.

She had a bright future when she was young, athletic and smart; she was exposed to a lot of opportunities for her to freely grab. 

But you recall her words when you asked her why she suddenly gave up on everything she was good at. Her reason was simple; your father. 

You knew your mother didn’t have a good relationship with her parents, they would always argue and your mother was left to sit amongst their cries and yells. 

She went out after one night of arguing, you don’t know why but she eventually met your father that time. You felt like a little kid again when you remember how your mother would tell you about her and your dad.

Like a normal girl hearing her parents’ story for the first time.

You remember your mother’s words about it: how she desperately needed what your father was able to give. Your father was simple, he’s a carefree man, though maybe a little too obsessed with his passion. 

There was a saying that you become the person that saved you when no one else could. 

And you think that your mother became someone like your father when they met; she felt free to decide for herself. 

And maybe, in a way, she also became a bit obsessed. 

Your father was a passionate poet and novelist. He was Japanese yet he had the heart of an English literate. 

Instead of bedtime stories, he would read you his favorite poems and the poets behind it. It became a bit complicated when you were young, but you loved the funny words that he would read out loud.

You always knew your father loved your mother, it was obvious from the poems that he would write. 

It was all about her. 

Your father’s muse was your mother. It was simple and endearing.

And knowing that as their daughter, you were simply starstruck.

But as you grew older, you began to realize that your father’s job was difficult. Apparently, his works started to become stale and prosaic for the critics to enjoy. 

You wonder why. 

Wasn’t his muse enough to let him create something beautiful? Wasn’t your mother enough to be his muse?

It happened earlier.

The night when you were supposed to share dinner together and wait for the clock to strike at midnight.

Your father had just returned from work, having just submitted his draft for his hundred page poetry collection. 

You sneaked and managed to snatch a copy of it without your dad’s knowledge; he said it was still being reviewed by the others, but it was weird when you saw a mark that indicated it was already published.

You remember being so excited to read it.

Then you started to find some things unusual. 

You were excited to read a poem about your mother, to read the familiar way your father would describe her eyes, her hair—her everything. 

But as you turned each page, you wondered if your mother had changed her appearance or something. 

When you looked up from the pages to observe your mother preparing the table, she still looked the same. 

When you stumble upon an acrostic poem, it doesn’t spell out your mother’s name anymore. 

Then it started to focus more on the idea of infidelity. 

Perhaps your father must have the idea that muses are something that needed to be changed regularly.

When you asked him about it over the dinner table, you heard your mother crack. 

Then they started shouting. Then they started hitting each other. Then your mother started crying. 

That time, it was really loud.

The food looked good though.

You wonder if you’ll still be able to taste it with all the fighting.

You suddenly recall your father’s words, “Three qualities cause martyrdom; greed, renegade, and treachery.” You didn’t understand it at first, but when they started fighting, you might have just understood. 

Your father was the three, and your mother was the martyr. 

“Aha, wouldn’t this technically make me a martyr as well?” You muse loudly. “Since me and mom are practically similar and all.”

Suddenly, you take in Senku’s expression; he just looked like he had just heard something that he shouldn’t have. 

Ah, did you blurt out your entire situation to him out loud? It seemed like it.

“You…” Senku trails off, “Martyr doesn’t suit you.”

You blink once, then twice, then smile nervously. Was that what he thought about all of this?

“Really?”

Your mother wasn’t at fault, she just wanted to have your father. She even gave everything up for a life of what could have been. You wonder if she regrets it sometimes. The reason why she wanted you to do a lot of things like she did was simply a different story.

You weren’t sure about your father. Maybe he’s just too passionate about his work, maybe a different muse must have sparked his desire for poetry again. Though you really wanted it to still be your mother.

“Now that I think about it, they’re both opposites.” You muse and Senku listens. “Mom gave up her passion for dad, while dad gave up mom for his passion. It’s kind of funny.”

“Are you really finding all of this funny?” Senku grins and playfully nudges your head.

You both laugh at this, finding a screwed up thing to be funny isn’t one that Senku expected. There was a sudden silence that Senku broke.

“You’re neither your parents.” Senku assures. 

You really want to believe that. 

And for the night, you do.

“And feeling better starts with a good sleep.” Senku says rather awkwardly, he’s still unsure on how to handle these sorts of things. 

“How are we supposed to do that on a couch?” You snicker at him and notice that he already started to sleep. “Psst, Senku…”

“Huh?” He opens his eyes, you almost forgot how pretty it was when it’s dim. Maybe that’s why you needed to be reminded again. 

There it is; the same shade of maroon that only the leaking light of the moon can give. 

It was reminiscent of the first time you’ve seen the color of his eyes in such lighting. But at this moment, the moonlight didn’t shy away—it lightened them enough. Enough to see how glossy it was. 

Would it be too cheesy to say that you love his eyes? Yes. He’d say that if you were to say it aloud. 

They were rigid and sharp, sometimes you wonder what they would look like if he were in love, the thought makes you sigh.

“Your stare is creepy,” He says, ignoring the way he noticed the redness around your eyes, the same way he ignored the lingering softness in them as if you looked like you were in love. “You’re more or less still a Medusa.”

“Really?!” You thought that nickname would have died back in middle school. “I'm not that scary…” You only hear Senku hum, noticing that he’s basically half-asleep at this point. 

You give in from his lack of response and lean into the blanket, this time feeling a bit too warm that you forgot it was winter. 

And this time, it was really silent. 

There was no more film playing on the television to fill in the quiet void when the conversation stopped, and there were no words said after that either. 

There was only the faint noises of Senku’s breath and the gentle rustling of the breeze outside wanting to join in. 

It was dark and silent. But your hands were warm, you felt accompanied, you felt him beside you. 

You want to know if he can feel you too.

You only slept for almost two hours; it had just turned 2:57.

You didn’t expect to wake up parched. It was uncomfortable whenever you’d swallow and feel how dry your throat was. 

More so, you jitter at the feeling of something cold inside your hand, but also the feeling of something warm encasing it. 

Looking down, the sleeping Senku had swathed one of your hands. Pondering as to why, you feel the same metallic coldness in your fist. 

Retracting your hand from Senku’s proved to be a bit difficult for you. He didn’t have a strong grip or anything, you just find it hard to pull back from such a rare and endearing act. 

But your curiosity was overbearing. 

Though you feel it justified when you see what he had sneaked in; a keychain.

It was of a satellite and Saturn, alongside a few jangly stars. 

When you move it, the star muses in harmony. Immediately, you silenced them when you felt Senku slowly shuffling beside you. 

Right, a light sleeper the scientist was. You shouldn’t let the stars get too noisy to wake him. 

So you brought the raucous bunch with you when you subtly exited the blanket and made your way to the kitchen. You silently grabbed a glass and filled it with water, sitting down on a chair and admiring the object as the king ring hooked on your finger while the ornaments hung. 

Did he buy it for you? Though the idea of him making it was still a possibility. Both of them still make you feel giddy, like a child opening up one of Santa's presents, which her parents actually bought. 

Your moment of admiration distracted you from the anticipated presence of Byakuya, who you guess had also woken up from thirst. “Oh? Why are you awake at this time?” He went to the cupboard for a glass. 

“Woke up really cotton-mouthed.” He chuckles at your words, but quickly silences himself when the slow breathing of Senku catches his attention. 

“He must have been really boring to hang with,” Byakuya teases, already imagining how the two of you must have spent time earlier when he had gone. He sighs, no matter how much he can notice Senku’s sentiment for you, the boy can never properly know how to talk to girls. “It's been a while since I've last seen him sleep so soundly.”

“I can only imagine,” You ponder, “He sometimes confuses napping from sleeping, despite how smart he is. It’s ironic.”

“Right?” The man cackles, thinking how Senku can be sloppy at times. “Remind him of that once in a while, yeah?” That makes you think. “Just like how you also remind him of other things he’s not used to.”

“I wonder about that.” You smile, remembering Senku’s lack of answer when you had asked him that intimate and sensitive question that it didn’t feel like it should have been asked between two friends. “If I remind him of other things.”

Byakuya smiles, he’s quite certain you do.

“I want him to know that he reminds me of a lot of things too.” Not just the sky, clouds, stars, or the moon. 

The cold trinket on your hand felt so sunny, maybe you should consider wishing on the hanging metal stars this time instead of a satellite. 

“You two should let each other know that.” Byakuya passes by you to place the now empty glass in the sink, noticing your silence at the bauble you held so treasured; likely thinking of the boy who gave it to you. “Say, can I ask you a favor?”

Shaking away from your daze, you turn to the man and nodded promptly. You felt a bit embarrassed that you were so distracted at the ornament you held. 

You feel Byakuya’s hand ruffle the top of your head, “Promise you’ll be there for him.” He says tenderly, as if saying it would wake his son. 

Right after, he went back to his room, whether to work or to sleep, you don’t know. 

All you were left with was his favor, and one word that stood out from it; promise.

An odd word.

A misinterpreted word it was. 

You've seen works in literature ruining the term for you, how they made it seem so breakable and dainty. You didn’t like how they made the word to be so frail that it would break when two pinky fingers would wrap around it. 

But this time, you were the one whose finger would wrap around it. The favor seemed so heartwarming, it made you forget how terrifying a promise can be. 

Perhaps you’re willing to risk it.

You make your way back to Senku, still asleep in a way you’d consider to be a comfortable position for when sleeping on the couch. 

The keychain was now tucked on the table alongside the glasses and plates you and Senku didn’t bother cleaning up. 

Every time you’d try to get back to his side, Senku would follow with a shuffle or two—you had to hold your breath and hope that he wouldn't wake up. 

But the moment you return back to his side, he rests on your shoulder, sighing like he’d been looking for the sudden loss of something to lean on. 

He would likely defend his action to be a way of creating more warmth for the two of you. You risk the silence and slip in a small giggle at the thought. 

The moment when the wooly blanket covered the two of you once more, you noticed how messy the floor was. 

You remember Byakuya setting off a party popper earlier, though it consisted more of glitters than anything else. You remember Senku’s annoyance when it happened, though you think that, in some part of him, he enjoyed the mess. 

The scattered cards on the floor, the champagne bottles that his dad brought from the US, the instruction manual of the foreign board game, the printed pictures of a younger Senku that Byakuya showed you, the disk that Senku bought for his dad, and the camera used to capture a picture of the three of you…

Maybe it will be a sight he’ll grow to miss.

You’ll have to help him clean up when daylight comes. 

Chapter Text

Senku was fifteen years old when he last remembered you in his memories. 

It started out as a normal day supposedly, Senku even tried to find you before heading to the science laboratory to have his time be used for something worthwhile. He only saw you when he had to return back to his classroom before the bell rings. You were accompanied by Yuzuriha, someone whom you’ve also been friends with since middle school. 

Your arrival came with a certain jangling sound, an annoying melody it was. No matter how much he claims that he hates how the stars always clanked and bumped into each other, Senku can’t deny how much he wants to smile whenever he hears that familiar tune; maybe because it was him who gave it to you. And you always kept it ever since.  

Senku only heard a small bit of your conversation, he can make up some sort of invitation that Yuzuriha accepted. He thought about what it could be. 

He wonders if you’re going to invite him too, or if it’s exclusive to only the two of you. Perhaps it sounds intrusive. Who knows; you two could be talking about having a girls’ night together. If it were the case, Senku would have felt stupid and embarrassed to have hoped for an invite as well. 

A smile was what greeted him that morning. He wished he could smile back at you too, not that he could. Whenever you’d smile at him, he never seems to smile back; because he didn’t know how to. 

Smiling is something Senku is used to. It’s his innate reaction when he has an idea, when he’s putting that idea into action, and when he succeeds. It’s supposed to be easy given that it’s a natural response. But when you’re in the picture, he really found it hard that it sounded so foolish and cheesy.

In the end, he doesn’t smile at you. Instead, the bell rang and sat you down. 

Senku thinks school is important. But he doesn’t really need it. He can learn on his own at a faster rate than any given curriculum can. During class, he spends it reading about a different subject, or brainstorming on a new or current project. And even sometimes, you.

Sometimes he marveled about you, stared at you, and occasionally dreamt about you whenever he’d fall asleep. It didn’t help that his seat had a clear view of your back. You were busy writing the lesson down on your notebook; something he knew that you didn’t need, but you still wrote it down, not for the sake of yours but for the sake of others who would likely borrow your notes during exam week.  

He wondered if you found any subject in school difficult. Probably not, considering you do advanced reading yourself before the actual lessons. But if you ever did, maybe you would have come to him for help. He wouldn’t mind. 

He stared at how your hand held a pen, you guided it to glide on the paper. softly. It's been a while since he last saw your handwriting. He never had a reason to. You never shared your notes with him because he never needed it. 

Senku's own musing was only disrupted when the teacher tried to get a skittish reaction out of him by a seemingly random question, he doesn’t like this specific teacher at how they always try to ridicule a student. A mistake it was. It didn’t take him more than a glimpse at the board to get an answer. The teacher felt spooked, it didn’t help that they basically asked a question within Senku’s field; mathematics. 

He snickers at that. The reason this particular teacher was bitter at him was because he pointed out a mistake in their lesson plan yesterday. Perhaps it was enough to hurt their ego.

When the teacher tried to hide their jitteriness and went back to write on the board, Senku sees you turn back to him. You didn’t have anything on your face, Senku wondered why you turned to him. 

Only when you faced forward did he notice a small smile on you. What were you thinking about?

That was what occupied his mind during class.

It was only after school did you and Senku talk. Despite having known each other for years, you two never usually talk within school. It was because of your advanced studies or whatnot, Senku started to forget about what you’re trying for at this point.

What was it? You had just finished with art. But he remembers you saying about picking up sculpting—can you take a break from trying to learn a new skill for a while?

Senku was alone in the school’s laboratory, the other members seemed to have been a bit busy. 

He perked up when he heard the familiar clattering of aluminum stars. You’re here.

“Ah, I thought I was being sneaky.” You chuckled, gently sliding the door back and facing Senku.

“You’re gonna have to get rid of those noisy stars to do that.” Senku watched as you made your way beside him, pulling up a stool and placing a notebook on the empty counter in front. 

“I’m not doing that.” You said while taking the hook and swinging it around your finger, which makes enough noise to have clicked something in the scientist. He's glad that you like it—he really is, but God forbid if you don’t stop swinging it in his ears. “What’re you doing this time?”

“Gonna run a nuclear magnetic test,” Senku grins, inserting a thick cable in each hole found in his machine. “I can have a ten billion percent accurate read on the physical properties of the swallow.”

You hum curiously at the mention of a swallow, was he still researching that? It's been going on for months now and Senku was determined to keep investigating on his own. You don’t doubt other professional scientists have most likely paid attention to this situation, though their results will probably be kept confidential for a while. 

“Can I see the swallow?” Your voice was curious, Senku turned to you before unwrapping a whole stone swallow. 

It looked beautiful. 

“I cracked it open and its petrified organs fell out.”

Never mind.

You sweat at his comment but for a moment you think about how it could be even possible to carve even the organs of a swallow. The answer is that it isn’t. 

It only added more fuel to the fire. 

“Oh this reminds me, have you heard of the myth of Galatea's statue?” You asked while still admiring the stone bird. 

“Faint idea,” He replies and it didn’t surprise you much that he had a gist of it. “Must be something related to a sculpted stone.”

“You aren’t too far off the mark. It’s from a roman poet, Galatea is the name of the ivory statue and the sculptor, Pygmalion, fell in love with it. If I recall it correctly, I'm pretty sure Aphrodite heard his prayers and brought Galatea to life.”

“You think the one behind all this petrification is deeply in love with swallows?” He flouts. 

“Who knows.” He hears you laugh, “I'm more or less talking about the morals of it. Not entirely flattering if you read too deep into it—but it’s about a statue’s soul.”

“Souls are subjective, it’s philosophical and belief oriented—“ Wait, do you mean its consciousness?

“I'm wondering if it’s still alive there.”

In a way, Senku thinks that of course it isn’t—he already smashed one up with a hammer and it’s covered in pure stone from the inside out and through. But has he used an electroencephalogram or an oscilloscope? No. He’s been focusing on its physical properties more. Of course… He has yet to check its brain activities, if it has any left. 

“Looks like you just thought of something.” You mused, putting down the stone swallow on the cloth ever so gently. 

“Yeah,” He chuckles, “You’re right, I haven’t checked out that possibility yet. I can borrow an EEG from NASA on behalf of my old man. But I’d have to ask him permission and a letter if necessary…”

“Oh did you know? Lillian Weinberg is also in the ISS.” You remember watching the livestream with Yuzuriha yesterday. 

“Yeah he sent me a picture of them before they sent off.” Senku then recalls the image his father sent of him along with Lillian Weinberg and a Russian crew member.

“I wonder what kind of gifts your dad will bring back for you,” You look out the window. “A moon rock!”

“He's only boarding the spacecraft, he won’t land on the moon.” Senku reminds you, seeing you awkwardly remember with an “oh right”. He forgot how rattled you can be whenever you were wrong. “I'm betting that he’ll bring down some space ramen, the one that’s actually been in space.”

You let out a string of small laughter at the thought, he did seem like the type. But you were genuinely curious as to what Byakuya had in mind when he promised Senku to bring him “space gifts”. 

The two of you will have to wait until you see him again.

It didn't take long before the others started to enter the club room, mostly taken by surprise when they would see you inside. Some felt nervous and watched whenever they would work, some felt excited with the possibility of you joining the club, while some greeted you casually as if it was normal for you to be seated beside the president.

“Why are you here anyway?” Senku finally asks as you watch him filling a glass bottle with gasoline. 

“Actually, Taiju said he’s going to tell us something important here. Though, he could be running a bit late—“

“Senku! Y/n!”

Everyone in the room shrieked, including you. Senku remained focused on his task. 

“This is it! this is the day I’m going to tell Yuzuriha about these feelings I have had for the past five years!” The boy practically talked in exclamation points, and you were sure that Yuzuriha would have heard him if he continued shouting. 

“Oh? That’s great Taiju! I've taken you already mentally prepared yourself?” You clap your hands in delight as Taiju walks towards the two of you with the biggest smile.

“It’s like what you said, Y/n! I'm going to be vulnerable and open to her about my feelings. I prepared myself for the past years—I'm not gonna waste this day any longer!”

You marveled at his passion. “That's interesting, truly.” You and Taiju turn to Senku. “I'm gonna cheer on you so hard until my vocal cords explode.”

“That's an exaggeration.” 

“Really Senku?! Thanks!” Taiju, as simple-minded as he is, ignores the sarcasm and exaggeration in Senku’s words. He was about to say something before you beat him to it. 

“We’ll cheer you on, okay? Remember to be genuine. Not that you aren’t already, Taiju.” your friend almost felt like being brought into tears. He feels like a kid having been dropped by his parents on his very first day of preschool. 

Taiju nods heavily before Senku scoffs, “That sounds incredibly cheesy.” He turns to you with a teasing grin. “I'll give you a logical solution for this, big oaf.”

Everyone turns to Senku, wondering if he’ll really give some romantic advice to his friend considering it was truly out of character if he will. Though, you knew how the boy usually is. Senku returns his hand up to show Taiju a round flask filled with… the gasoline he was working with earlier. 

“You can speed up the release of your pheromones with this liquid right here,” Senku, if you didn’t know any better, looked like a mad scientist. “It’s a love potion, if you will. You’ll have a ten billion percent rate of succeeding with your confession if you drink this.”

Taiju takes Senku’s offering. You were ready to snatch the glass if Taiju believed his lie; to which he doesn’t. You can almost hear everyone’s distressed grunts. 

“Thank you, Senku. But I'm going to be honest!” Taiju poured the gasoline down the drain. You smile as he makes his way out of the laboratory and off to find Yuzuriha. 

“How earnest,” You comment proudly. “And how devious of you to lie about that, Senku.”

“Not like he’ll actually drink it.” Senku snickered, “The closest thing the fool would do is believing it.”

“Wait, so it’s not a love potion?” One of the members asked. 

“Nah, just gasoline—as if such a thing actually exists.” Senku lights a match and throws it to react to the spilled gasoline. 

“That's a fire hazard.”

“It won’t spread.” 

You sigh and notice the others panicking about the fire, saving them from the trouble, you spot a fire extinguisher before clutching on the handle as the fire depletes. “You really have to be mindful of your members, look at how panicked they were at the fire.”

Senku ignores your words and continues to whistle while continuing his unfinished experiment. On the other hand, the others sighed in relief at your actions.

“Also, it’s not that hard to give a bit of assurance to Taiju.” You place the fire extinguisher down. “You've been his friend for practically all his life, he would have reached higher if you gave him a little push too.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He picks at his ear, seemingly uninterested in the topic. You sparked. Immediately, you latch your hand onto his sleeves and gently pull him out. “What—where are we going?”

“The least you can do for Taiju is to cheer for him quietly.” 

“Can’t I do that inside the lab?” It was too late for him when he’s met with an open window. Looking down, you both can see Taiju approaching Yuzuriha. You all watch when you hear the girl’s name. You don’t exactly want to intrude on their private moment, but you can’t help your curiosity and anticipation, wanting to know what they will say to one another.

“I bet a hundred yen he’ll get dumped.” You bore your eyes at the member who said that. Immediately, they retract their statement from your unpleasant gawk. “I-I mean—! Ogawa wouldn’t be mean to Taiju! They’ve known each other for so long, so…”

“Right?” You smile, Senku finds the whole exchange comical that he forgets about the confession for a second. 

Senku grins, “If we’re going to start betting—“

“We’re not.”

“if we’re going to start betting,” He continued, ignoring your interruption. “I bet ten thousand yen that it doesn’t end up happening.”

You question his words. “How come?”

“Just considering the likelihood of it.” Senku said. “Someone might interrupt, the big oaf might hesitate for too long, someone ends up calling in their phone, or something.”

You look at the two below, it was taking Taiju quite a while that you’re almost going to believe Senku. 

You suddenly feel conflicted. You start to feel something wrong, not entirely sure what it is. 

Then you remember something else. 

“Oh right, there was another reason why I went to the lab.” This gets the attention of Senku from his idle musings. “How can I say this…”

“What, you’re confessing too?”

“No, not really. I've always wanted to invite you to one but I never thought of you as the type to really be into this sort of thing.” 

Senku stands from his leaning and faces you. Was this the thing you were talking about with Yuzuriha earlier? And why would you hesitate to ask him? You may have given him a valid reason that he won’t be interested, but it’s you.

“I have a live piano performance this Sunday.” You smile, and Senku likes to think that he knows where this is going. And plainly, he already has a reply, though he knows you have something more to say. “This isn’t the first time actually, I wanted to invite you since we’ve already known each other for years. It felt wrong to not ask.”

“Yeah? Who else did you invite?” 

“Just you.”

He silently chokes at this. Surely you would have invited your other friends too. Weren’t you talking to Yuzuriha about it earlier? Unless it was about something else. 

“Am I that special?” He slyly brushes off your response. 

“Very.”

Fuck. 

He really didn’t need to hear you reply to that. He was only teasing. Actually—he doesn’t even know why something so simple has gotten him so flustered. Compared to hugging you in public and sleeping on the couch with you, it’s really no big deal. 

But it felt like it was. 

“My mom usually comes with me, but she’s… busy. I wanted to have someone there so I can be less nervous.” You fully turn to him and Senku hears the clattering of the keychain. It gave him a harder time to say no; not that he planned to in the first place. 

You turn your eyes to look at him, “Can you be there?”

His red eyes stared at you with disbelief. It wasn’t a stained maroon nor was it flashing vermillion—just simply red. 

When another second passed in silence, you saw the slightest change in Senku's sharp eyes. You notice the presence of something more beautiful. Something soft.

You wonder what he’s feeling to have his eyes be filled with something so tender. 

“I’d…“ He stops. 

Then something was wrong.

His red eyes were tainted with something cold and bitter. You turn behind you to see that a bright color of green has overcome the sky and everything in its path. 

Everything. 

For a moment you felt fear. “W-What’s—“ You turned back to Senku, whose eyes went back to its sharpness. He looks at you, and says nothing. 

Or perhaps he did. Maybe you just didn’t hear any of it. 

You no longer feel yourself moving, you can’t feel anything at all.

It looked like it was night, except the moon had completely given up on keeping the darkness apart and had engulfed everything in its abyss. 

It was terrifyingly quiet. 

Chapter Text

It was quiet. 

All Senku could hear was one side of his brain counting, while the other side was left to think. He would muddle over what happened when that light had reached him, but what's there to question without anyone to answer.

He's around a hundred billion seconds by now, and it's nearing spring once again; it's time to get moving. 

That's what Senku kept telling himself. That's all he can do. Count, wait until it's spring, then force himself to wake up. Sounds way easier on paper, but he had 3717 chances to wake up in the middle of spring. He lost every time. 

Weirdly enough, he doesn't feel dejected—just challenged. Right now, the only thing he needed to do was stay conscious. He needed to keep thinking.

So he thinks, what will he do once he finally gets up?

Probably yell at the top of his lungs and start celebrating for a job well done. He laughs at that, mainly because it's what Taiju would have done.

Oh right, that makes him wonder what happened to the rest of the world. 

What happened to you?

The last thing he remembers of you was when you invited him for your piano performance. If the outside world is still intact and he's the only one encased in stone, he probably missed your performance by now. 

Only about a hundred billion seconds late. 

Though the idea was highly unlikely; you might have turned into stone too. A shame it was. He didn't even get the chance to take your invitation before all of hell broke loose. 

He would have loved to. 

The sudden petrification made him rethink his supposed response. Was it too unlike of him to use the term "love to"? Yes. It more or less seemed like a response coming from you. 

It was the first time Senku felt relief in this frozen state, knowing he saved himself from saying something corny. He laughs at the thought of this. 

Maybe once he frees himself out, he'd get another chance to reword his response in a better way that seems like himself. Easier said than done, the world must have separated the two of you already, in a literal sense. 

Nature can be scary, and the probability of violent floods washing you away from his position is quite high. Nature can do a lot of things too. it can send out thunderstorms, burn itself, and ruin what is remaining. 

If you're stoned, what are the chances that a lightning strikes a tree nearby and causes it to fall down on your vulnerable statue? 

Or perhaps you're near a mountain and the land had just happened to give in after all these years, leading to a cluster of boulders making its way down to your position.

Did you ever consider yourself as lucky?

The only thing that can go against his sentiment was luck. Hopefully you're lucky enough to be all in one piece by the time he gets up and finds you. 

Hopefully? Senku never used that word in an optimistic manner before.

What would you think if you ever heard this side of him?

It was mortifying. 

You're stuck in darkness, the same color appears whenever you close your eyes; except in this case, it's all you can see even with your eyes open. 

It was a weird phenomenon you're under.

Your eyes are open, yet you can't tell much of a difference from when it's closed. 

Your brain is active, but it doesn't let you feel or hear things. It's just bare, and dead silent. 

The scariest thing is the quietness. It leaves you a lot of room for you and your thoughts to be alone. Something you consider terrifying. 

With every passing second stuck in this silence, the more you find yourself afraid as to what it can make you remember. It gives you room to remember a lot. 

When the same memories keep coming back to you, you realize that you've been stuck in this for too long.

Your thoughts made you remember what happened when you were seven. You had just been tucked to bed by your mother, yet you were still awake. Suddenly you heard a sound indicating that your father is back. 

The car engine stopped, the opening and closing of the car, the front door, the clinking of keys, the footsteps—you memorized every sound whenever your dad would return. You know it by heart.

But you don't remember your mother's cries and yells being part of it.

It was the first time you saw such an emotional fight between your parents. You don't even remember why they fought. But your mother was definitely upset; she was never one to confront your father about anything that would weaken their relationship, the guiltiest look would be on her face if she ever did.

Something clearly broke that night. You weren't sure if you were referring to the shattered vase or your mother.

You remember your dad's words when he tried to fix everything. "I love you" was what he said to your mom. You wonder if he meant that to be true or if it was only a weapon to use against her. But it seemed to work on her, whatever dad said, your mother would always trust. That's just how she was. 

The next thing you remember was when you were twelve. You were out with your mother for groceries, something you find really special at how normal the chore was. You were forced to sit beside her in a cafe when she stumbled upon an old friend of hers and decided to catch up. 

The lady didn't mean any harm to you or your mother. But something in your mother cracked when her friend brought up her son, who happens to be just the same age as you.

It didn't take long before your mother answered on your behalf; telling the lady that you're too young to even think about it. You remember the way she snatched your wrists then promptly left the cafe with a disturbed face.

Somehow, you still feel her stressed grip on your arm even until now.

Your mother was a careful woman when it comes to her daughter, yet so careless when it came to herself. 

In some way, you would have loved to loathe your father. To hate what he had done to your mother when she gave everything she had for him. The thing that resulted in that was the fight that broke out during new year's eve. 

It was a shame, the food even looked good displayed on the clothed table. Too bad it was only used as a display. 

You would have preferred to stay out of your parent's affray. No parent should ever include their kid in their own mess. 

But you contributed something to their argument. You provided them a small trace of smoke, and they took it to themselves to start burning the wood with a violent fire. 

You could feel the smoke burning your eyes, how difficult it was to even keep it open whenever tears would pool in. The sound of crisp wood popping and snapping was loud. 

During that night, even the walls of your room weren't enough to stop the shrieking of voices from downstairs. 

You started telling yourself that maybe it's the neighbor's dog, barking, hoping you were smart and naive at the same time in order to trick your mind. 

Clearly, it didn't help. Even if you were to lose your sense of hearing, it would still not be enough. 

Your last ditch effort was to leave.

You didn't think it through, you left the place with light clothing while it continued to blow frozen breeze in your direction. 

The worse case scenario is that you'd have to go back.

Even in the bustling streets and the laughter of people, you can still hear them. The dashing of cars and your parent's screams sounded the same. You wanted to throw yourself into the riot to attempt to stop them.

Maybe that way, it would be quiet. 

When you heard manmade stars jangle, everything around you became a bit more bearable. 

It was night again, only this time the moon was still there, holding the complete darkness apart. 

You were slumped facing a tree bark, your nerves were struck when you started to hear something. The bushes behind you were ruffled. 

A young boy who resembled Senku—though your consciousness tells you that it is him.

Has your state of thinking finally gotten to the point that you would hallucinate your own memories? Just what kind of phenomenon were you under?

Little Senku didn't say anything, only stared at you. He only did it because you figured you were staring at him as well. If anyone were to pass by, the sight of two toddlers having a stare-down in the middle of the woods would not be seen as a pleasant one. Pretty creepy. 

You look down at your hands; stubby and weak. 

You had light clothes on, and you can see faint traces of light from the summer festival. Little Senku was wearing the same outfit he had worn the first time you two had first encountered, you stifle a laugh at the sight of him still holding a cold, grilled squid, probably too cold and tasteless for the little boy to consider eating.

"What are you laughing at?" The childish voice of the kid was heard, compared to Senku's voice right now, it still had softness in it that you find really endearing. It was still wary, but maybe a bit less than what he has now.

You don't respond, instead just smile. What you usually do whenever he's looking. It wasn't forced or anything, it just felt needed.

You don't even remember why you ran away that night, your parents were still all lovey-dovey when you were five. 

Maybe you didn't want to study anymore? Your mother was always so stubborn to mold you into someone like her younger self; smart and skilled.

You wonder what happened to your mother.

You want to break out. 

You can't keep remembering all these things. It's not good for you, you might just end up wanting to toss yourself into a cliff. 

You fathom the idea; you didn't want to have to come to that. 

With every passing memory, you feel your heart being held by grief itself. You fear it'll start tightening its grip around it, not very pleasant to think about.  

It was dangerous for every thought to be forced inside one mind. You might just self-implode if you continue to stay like this. Something needs to change, if it does; then maybe you can find yourself living once more.

Something cracked. 

You feel your eyes open, you feel something cold and wispy brush against your lashes. The noise of something stiff shattering continued, and with enough time, you find yourself covered in stone. 

You sat up, it was the same night sky you saw in your memory the first time you saw Senku. 

Perhaps your ability to remember has evolved. Maybe your mind started to make you feel the memory instead of just witnessing it, and that the stone fragments around you are just an added bonus for more emotional impact.

For a moment you believe that. 

You really do believe that. Until you see Senku beside you.

It wasn't little Senku anymore, this time he's all grown up to a teenager. It was obvious by how sharp his eyes had gotten. Did he get tattoos on his face? That might explain the twin trails of black markings that went over his eyes. 

He isn't wearing his usual uniform, namely a lab coat that always held his pen. It almost felt wrong at how he didn't have the one thing you associated him with. You chuckle at it.

"What are you laughing at?" Senku smiles, who would have thought that that would be your first reaction the moment he breaks you out of stone.

"Nothing," you reply, everything around you was covered in greenery that had been tainted by the night's darkness. The moonlight didn't shy away from any of it though, and underneath it, you realized that you had missed him. "Mind if I hug you right now?"

"Well, so long as you're okay doing it while—"

You don't hear the rest of it when you hug him. 

It was quiet once more.

This was the kind of silence you've been waiting for. One that isn't entirely devoid of noise. It was one that maybe only Senku could bring you. You feel yourself smile even more when he hugs you back.

It was the kind of silence that drowned out your thoughts.

It was the one you hoped to last for a while.

How maudlin.

Chapter Text

The moment Senku broke free from the stone, he realized that everyone had already gone. There wasn’t much left of humanity—if not any at all. 

It was only him. 

He doesn’t get overly emotional about it, rather he starts working. He’s going to rebuild everything from the ground up; just like what he did when he was a kid. 

A kid, who once barely knew how to spell a scientific term, will now be attempting to revive humanity and all its glory and faults. No exceptions. 

How righteous of him, you would have said that about his plans. 

When a month passed by, Senku started to familiarize himself with the new landscape. Whenever he would pass by to get a few materials in the forest, he would be greeted with a couple of stone statues. 

Some he found familiar, like one of his members in the science society back at school. And he’s also quite sure he had just stumbled upon the school principal’s petrified body.

It wasn’t long until he had found Yuzuriha as well. Taiju was buried down beneath a bunch of dirt. They were there. 

So where were you?

Senku knew better than to panic. He’s not sure how lucky you can be, but if he remembers correctly you shouldn’t be too far off from his position. It won’t be long until he stumbles upon your figure.

He kept telling himself that.

When another month passed by, the nitric acid he was saving up was almost full. Yet still no sign of you. Senku argued that he should try reviving Taiju for now, that it would be a lot easier doing chores with someone capable.

But aren’t you also that? Not as much as Taiju, but you’re a good all-rounder. He wasn’t really a picky guy, but maybe Senku just wants a bit of assurance that you’re still out there. Somewhere. 

He felt like he needed to find you whenever he passed by a broken statue. 

By the time another two months have passed and he saved up nearly two pots filled with nitric acid, Senku has yet to find you.

He started to pour some of the miracle fluid on other statues like Taiju, but they won’t wake up. It wasn’t until he hypothesized that they needed to be conscious inside, to think, and maybe even to wonder.

Senku knows you’re the best when it comes to that. Surely staying still for thousands of years would have given you enough time to think about a lot of things, be it good or bad. 

The thought only fueled his urgency to find you. 

It wasn’t until dusk when he finally found you alone. 

You were alone in the forest, there were barely any statues there aside from a few remains. if he hadn’t known better, he would have thought you were star-gazing at how seemingly placid you laid. 

So all along, you were waiting here. 

This made him remember that book you lended him; a poem of Henry Rago. They were always there, for our returning.

It was one of the poems he enjoyed, though in truth it was one of the only poems he understood.

Relief was an understatement, Senku felt every nerve in his body to soften by the time he had removed any moss on your statue. You were still intact.

When the nitric acid had covered your entire figure, Senku was left to wait. He wasn’t sure why he was waiting. It takes time to unpetrify someone, it even took him years to do so. The best solution for this is to drag you to the cave and let the liquid drop onto you continuously. 

Senku didn’t know whether he just didn’t feel like carrying you all the way back, or if he was hoping you would have woken up by now. He could just be lazy. 

Something cracked.

He was about to pour another round of nitric acid all over you, but hearing that familiar sound nearly made him drop the ceramic bottle.

The first thing he saw of you were your eyes, fluttering at the sudden cold that would brush against you. Then he watched the stone fragments fall off of you when you sat up. 

You didn’t say anything, you just stared at the trees in front of you with eyes that made Senku reminisce about the first time you looked at him when he was a little kid.

You were stiff when you turned to see him, he saw you shiver. Whether from the sudden cold of the night or that you didn’t expect him to be there, he wasn’t exactly sure.

But you still hadn’t said anything yet, you just looked at him in a way that Senku would describe as off-putting. Until your rigid stare softened. 

You stared at him as if he was the first face you had seen in the darkness. Which, in this case, Senku could almost laugh at how true it is. 

He hears you laugh instead. You really are strange.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing.”

Your laughter died down, Senku could have declined your permission to hug him; you’re naked after all. He really wouldn’t be bothered by it, it’s just skin, he’s more or less bothered if you’re the one uncomfortable. 

That doesn’t reach your head though, you hugged him anyway. It felt nearly impossible to not hug back. 

Somehow, he felt soothed that there was somebody else.

Senku was the first face you’ve seen after thousands of years. Amusingly enough, you were the first for him as well.

You really thought that you and Senku should’ve spent more time together. 

Like doing something sweet and thoughtful. 

But no, the guy basically gave you a basket and a sad sheet of leather to cover you before sending you out to find food. 

Even 3700 years wasn’t enough to make him so emotional. 

It took half a day when you returned with a basket of edible berries and mushrooms, ones that you remember from a wilderness guide you had read about. When you returned to an empty base, you were left to admire what he had done.

Senku built a treehouse and a lab with tools and necessities in just two months. 

It wasn’t that you didn’t believe he was capable of doing all of it, it’s quite the opposite. He wasn’t born a genius, he had to work hard to know everything he wanted to. Knowing that, you didn’t spend a single thought doubting him. 

He worked hard. And in a way, you want to do the same as him.

He was the one who broke you out from spending any more alone time with your thoughts after all. 

“Senku,” You called out once you had placed down the basket and decided that later would be a better time to sort it. 

When you set foot in his laboratory, you were met with Senku and his bloody hands.

“What happened?! Why are you bleeding??” 

Your panicking was drowned out by Senku’s laugh, “Don’t worry, I was just about to write something.” Instead of just using charcoal, the boy just bit the skin off his thumb to use his own blood as ink. 

“…Couldn’t have you used anything else? Charcoal would have been useful instead of… blood.” It wasn’t long until Senku wrote down a known formula just under his left collar. “And writing that down does what?”

“It’s a reminder.”

“I doubt you’d forget.”

“You’re right,” Senku laughs, and now he’s left with more and more blood dripping from his hands. It makes you worry. “But it’s an extra precaution if I happen to.”

“Right, come here.” You take his bloodied hands, to which he didn’t expect. 

“Where are we going?”

“You can’t just walk around with a bloody thumb, Senku. An infection might happen.”

This quiets Senku, he stays like that the whole way you lead him to a nearby stream to cleanse his wound. It was weird, but watching you made him realize that there’s no more schedule to make you busy. No more parents to leave you bothered, and no more home to have to get back to at the end of every Sunday.

Though he was the one to hurt himself, Senku doesn’t take pain quite well. He feels himself shake whenever you dry off his hands with nothing but fabric from plant fibers that you made sure to dust off any dirt. 

The moment you slid in some crushed herbs and wrapped it around another piece of fabric, you knotted it in a way that Senku finds satisfying to watch. 

“Is it too tight?” You ask while placing excess materials in a better container, namely a ceramic pot because that’s the only thing you two have.  

“It’s just fine, guess I didn’t revive you for nothing after all.” Senku admits, admiring his treated injury. 

“Thank you for that.”

This catches Senku’s undivided attention. “For what?”

“For breaking me out,” You smile. “It’s scary having to spend every second with your own thoughts.”

“Really now? You know, I don’t accept words as a token of gratitude.” Senku slyly brushes off. “You’d have to work hard for it.”

“I will, I'll be here for you.”

The sun was about to set, exchanging the clear sky with spots of stars that made you distracted. You find yourself smiling at how you haven’t seen the sky for over thousands of years. 

“That's so… sickeningly sentimental.” Senku cringed. 

“Hey, you’re being mean! These are my raw feelings and you’re rejecting them?”

“I'm definitely not rejecting them, I'm just describing.” He argued. 

“Fine, if a pride of hungry lions comes chasing you, don’t come running to me for help.” It was childish banter, but Senku hadn’t felt truly amused that he started to indulge in it. 

“I thought you said you’ll be there for me?” He wasn’t even sure if there were lions in your area. “It’s not like you can fight them off too. You’ll ten billion percent get mauled the same way I would be.”

“Then I’ll…” You drag off, something that tells Senku that you’re unsure as to what to respond with. “Anyways, it’s already night time.”

“We haven’t cooked dinner yet.”

The whole bickering thing died down the moment your stomachs complained how empty it was. You were left to sort through the basket of mushrooms and berries you gathered earlier while Senku prepared the fire. 

You really had to give it to Senku, you wouldn’t know what to do if you were to always eat unseasoned food with every meal. 

“Hey,” You called out as Senku was sprinkling a pinch of salt on the mushrooms skewered on a stick. “What did you feel when you realized you were alone?”

You must have been referring to when Senku first woke up. 

“Nothing really, I just wanted to rebuild everything as soon as possible.” He replied in a nonchalant tone that makes you think that he probably didn’t have an existential crisis about it—to which seemed really like him. “Everything. All its flaws and good deeds. It’s gonna be exhilarating.”

“Hm, how righteous of you.” Senku laughs at your words. “What?”

“I was ten billion percent sure you’d say that, guess I wasn’t far off the mark then.” He ignores your questioning look and continues to talk. “Anyways, time for a pop quiz: What do we need right now in order to start reviving everybody?”

“Oh, oh! Let me think…” He chuckles at your sudden thrill as you look around to get an idea. “You already have a laboratory, uh… more food?”

“We need that, yeah, but we’d only need more of it to supply the people after we revive them. But we have something more important to prioritize to advance.”

Something that helps progress further. “Manpower?”

“Right on the mark, ten billion points!”

“Ohh! What can I do with ten billion points?!”

“Absolutely nothing!”

You sweat at his response, you guess it’s true that Senku can’t really do anything with the current stage you are in this stone world. 

“We have to revive that big oaf if we want to get more things done. As of right now, I'm in charge of research while you keep check of our supplies.” 

“Taiju? You found him? How about Yuzuriha?” You ask hastily at the mention of your two friends. 

“Don’t worry, both of them are in perfect condition.” This makes you relieved. “It won’t be long until I finally get a formula for a revival fluid. I’ll just have to… continue with all this trial and error.”

“But before continuing, you should sleep first.” You stood up with a now empty stick before placing it on the ground near a bunch of other baskets. “You seemed at a loss earlier, you can continue working once you’ve rested.”

Senku was about to argue, but was left to muddle over your words when he saw you head inside the tree house. 

He remained to clean up and put out the fire. It was a bit dark but the moon’s presence helped him to navigate his way up to the treehouse. 

Before he had a chance to, he eyed the basket you used to scavenge for some food earlier. Mushrooms and fruits, namely grapes. 

Wait, grapes?

His eyes widened when a sudden thought crawled to his head. He can make nital with this, an enabler to etch the surface of the statue, corroding it. 

The bundle you got was perfectly ripe too. It could be the only lead he can try further experimenting on as of now, and it doesn’t work; he’ll just have to look for another way.

He places them back on the basket before making his way to you. 

“Y/n, where’d you get the grapes from?“ Senku stopped the moment he saw your back turned to him, you were just standing there, looking inside the room. 

Your stare wasn’t off-putting, the only thing that made it creepy was the lighting. But rather, your stare was something he hadn’t seen before. It seemed foreign. 

“Did something happen?”

“No, nothing.” You break out, “This will be home from now on, right?”

The house looked normal, there were no piled books on the side, no stacks of papers, not even a door to slam. It seemed to be normal, even if it was a bit less. You can’t help but find it a bit endearing. 

Maybe it’ll be a sight you’ll grow to miss. 

Chapter Text

Making wine was absolutely exhausting. No wonder Senku wanted to revive Taiju. 

Ever since Senku found the bundle of ripe grapes in your basket, he had ordered you to go back and forth to take a lot. This leads to your basket sometimes being too heavy that you could barely make it back to camp before sundown. 

After that comes the most aggravating part of it all—having to squash the tiny bits of grape into a slush. It sounds easy on paper, but Senku intended to have all the harvest be mashed into liquid. 

Working with marbled shaped fruits is irritating, sometimes they would slip between your fingers and roll far, far away from your position, or maybe they would even squish some juice in your eyes and it would sting. 

Sometimes you wished that you could just throw away your decency and just started trampling over the pot of berries. That would have been very efficient, though not as much as hygienic, so you don’t do it in the end. 

When every star you’ve known has appeared in the sky, you were left to lay your back on the ground and stared up in exhaustion. Your hands were growing numb, probably unable to crush another batch of fruits. 

Being alone in the wilderness with Senku is more taxing than you would’ve expected. 

You hear the young scientist cackle at your sudden collapse before approaching with a poorly built clay pot. “Tired already? I thought you would have lasted longer than a couple hours.”

“I’ve been doing this for more than half a day, Senku.” 

“Right.” 

“Can we switch places? I think I’d do much better with pot making than wine.”

“We could switch places,” He implied in a tone that gets your hopes up. “But think about it effectively; if I take your place, I’d lessen the speed by ten billion percent.“

“You just don’t want to do it!”

“That’s also a reason.” Senku bluntly admits. “On a side note, you’ve already got a bunch of food for us to last about a few weeks. I wouldn’t have to worry about you coming back whining just because you have to kill a rabbit again so we could survive.”

Senku expected to hear your reasoning on why feeling such a way about a rabbit makes sense, but he doesn’t. When he looked, you were busy stargazing. 

But from his perspective, it felt as if you were just having an existential crisis.

“That’s odd.” You murmur. “The little bear isn’t there.”

It looked as if you were in mindless reveries. It wasn’t long until Senku followed your eyes and saw the North Star. “Nothing odd about it.”

“No, that constellation looks off.” You point out that what Senku could only say was the tail of the constellation called Ursa Minor. “Polaris is supposed to be over there—“ He thinks it’s useless trying to literally point it out considering he won’t be able to follow as much, but he lets you be. “I remember it being there because they call it a bear when it doesn’t even look like one.”

Senku stays quiet for a while, because you’re right. It does look odd. 

“It more or less looks like a sperm—not a very flattering imagery actually… Well it looks more like a kite than anything.” You complain to whoever named the alignment of stars as if they can hear or do anything about it. “Now that we’re in this stone world, I should get a chance to rename some of the stars, Senku. But I’d probably keep the North Star as it is; Polaris has a nice sound to it.”

Suddenly, this makes Senku realize. 

“Of course…” You turned to Senku, thinking it was weirdly quick that he responded to your sudden demand. Though his sudden revelations were of something else. “The Earth’s axial tilt is different… that’s why the constellation is far off.”

You sit up as you watch Senku grin at himself, probably berating himself for not being able to notice. Which doesn’t make sense considering he had been too busy to stargaze to even notice.

“There goes my plan on making a sextant, it’s absolutely useless at this point.” He cracked his neck, “Good thing you noticed.”

“I don’t think making one would do any harm, It just needs a little adjustment,” It is going to take a long while to feel normal about this. “And a little bit more to get used to.”

“I sometimes forget 3700 years isn’t just a four digit number.” 

You stay quiet at his statement. It made sense that he would lose track of how long thousands of years really is, he counted to billions of seconds after all. Somehow, the sound of years passing made you realize that almost everything had really gone. 

You wonder what happened to your nice neighbor. Or the sweet lady that runs the flower shop near your place. What about the books that have already risked becoming eroded way before the petrifaction? Those have probably been ruined by now—all gone. 

What about your mother? Where is she? How is she doing?

What about your father?

“Damn,” You sigh, staring at nothing while Senku gently settles the fragile pot down. “We really need Taiju to get things done faster.”

“Told ya’,” Senku huffs as he sits down. “I’ve already placed his statue in the cave to bathe in nitric acid. All we really need to do is wait and experiment. If we’re lucky, maybe the big oaf won’t really need Nital and just wake up on his own—“

Something cracked. 

The next thing you both knew, the pot that Senku made crumbled down into shards on the ground. You smile warily. 

“Told ya’, I should’ve done the pot making instead.” 

Senku grumbles.

“Ta-da!”

“What am I supposed to look at?” A day has already passed but the bitterness in Senku’s tone is still present after his clay pot had fallen.

“I finally made myself decent clothes! You know, since somebody couldn’t be bothered making another set after reviving me.” You eyed Senku, seemingly not having the reaction you wanted him to have, which is something more guilt driven. 

“In this age? I doubt anyone would care as much.” He had a point. “If we were to revive a fashion-obsessed diva for efficiency, then maybe I’d care a little.”

“Yeah but look!” You bring out a set of thick clothes for the both of you. “It’ll help a bunch for winter right? I even wrote down the equation you have on yours.” You’re right, Senku takes notice of the rapid dropping of temperatures and dry leaves.

Yuzuriha would have been proud of you for making such clothes, you would have to thank her for teaching you the basics of it all. You always enjoyed making clothes with her back then when you had the time, but it was a shame that you never got to make any of your own.

Your mother was always the one picking it out for you, it was one of things she was paranoid about when raising you, aside from smarts and skills. 

Senku hums, “You’re right, but already making clothes for both Taiju and Yuzuriha? You’re way ahead of the curve.”

“Maybe they’ll break out on their own, just like you said.” The thought isn’t entirely impossible. “Now that I think about it, I have a theory.”

“Let’s hear it.” Senku says as you sit down and make yourself comfortable. 

“What if there are other people who have also broken out of the petrification just like us? The probability of the same thing that happened to us happening to them is close to none, but not entirely zero, right?”

“Right, well we’re gonna have to search every nook and cranny of this planet until we find a genius who has broken out and managed to stay alive by the time we find them.” Senku seemed convinced by your theory, though he wouldn’t really indulge in it too much for now, he’d rather focus on your current predicament. 

“I call it the “break-out human theory”, or maybe “the solipsist theory”, minus the whole self-centered thing.” Senku doesn’t have a clue on what you just said.

“The hell is a solipsist?” 

“Someone who thinks that they’re the only one existing.” You explain in a way that sounds simple and compliments your idea. “Maybe I should rename it to… The Unilateral Solipsist Theory, TUST for short.”

“Wow, you have the heart and soul of a theorist.” There was a lingering tone of satire in his tone, he can’t really stop your thoughts and ideas from wandering all over the place. He finds your musings to be absolutely appalling, but what’s new. 

“Oh I have another one!”

“Yeah?”

“What if… the cause of our petrification is either aliens, or…” You drag out, somehow this catches Senku’s attention that he stops shaping the clay. “It’s part of us human beings, but it was just triggered randomly and turning to stone is actually just part of human behavior but we don’t know yet because no one has ever really known about it until now—“

“I’ll bet a billion yen more on the alien theory.” 

“Really? Then I’ll name the alien theory… Stone Alien Perpetrator Theory—“

”A SAP theory? Yeah I catch your drift.” You laugh at his words, the clay pot long forgotten as he started to entertain himself in your mindless ponder. 

“What if it wasn’t aliens though?” You continue. 

“Then let’s go with a doomsday theory, Day of Lamentation Theory; DOLT for short.” Now both you and Senku laughed at the sudden game you’re both playing, he thinks it’s really dumb. 

“Do you even know what dolt means?”

“It’s a word?”

“What if it’s actually a virus?” You managed to say while slipping between a few laughs.

“Then,“ Senku breathed out once he regained himself from the chain of laughter. “Then we’ll name it the Stone Hypertension Infirmity Tribulation Theory,”

“That’s a shit theory…!” The two of you finally break into a tapestry of sweet laughter with your little harmless shenanigan, something that rarely occurs even before the stone world. “Literally.”

It wasn’t until nightfall when you and Senku finally regained composure. 

If he had continued to laugh longer, Senku could have sworn he would have lost count of the seconds in his head—which would be annoying.

Now accompanied by the fire that you’ve started, empty sticks were now placed inside a hard clay pot. You two had just finished dinner while Senku was almost done with his clay pot purification tool for the alcohol. 

“Hey, I have one more thing in mind.” You mindlessly say while watching Senku work his hands with the pot. 

“You still wanna keep going at it?” He slips in a laugh, but after having seen your face, Senku thought that you had something different in mind. 

“What if I wasn’t here?”

There was no silly made-up theory to follow.

“If you hadn’t revived me, what would you be doing right now?” 

“But you are here.”

“If I wasn’t?”

The movement of his hands halted, Senku found it really useless to delve deeper into these sorts of philosophies, but he still finds himself thinking about it. 

“If you weren’t here, I’d still be able to figure everything out myself with enough time.” It sounded unpleasant, but you don’t doubt his words. “Then again,”

He continues to work, somehow not wanting to look at you.

“Time is really troublesome.” Senku says, “Even if I get to figure it all out on my own, not knowing beforehand can cause a bit of miscalculation in the long run. Like the North Star, I would have figured out its new placement if I took the time to look up.”

You remain silent, indulging yourself in his words.

“Time is probably one of my worst oppositions; It doesn’t care about anyone. But, you…”

Senku looked at you, and you met his eyes.

“You—well…” He could never win a staring contest against you.

He can’t continue.

“This is so sickeningly sappy.” He shakes the topic off his mind. 

“Hm, you have a very different approach when it comes to flattering words, Senku.” You giggle at his awkwardness, to which he tried to skittishly ignore. 

“I told you, I’m not fit for that kind of sentimental behavior you poets practically bathe in.” He strokes his nape before cracking it, something you found new about him.

“You were very close though.” You silently pondered his attempt at something sentimental. “You were almost making me sad with your tone.”

“Yeah? What if I was the one who wasn’t here?”

“Then there’s no reason for me to be here either.”

You stared at the clay pot that Senku molded. It was still hardening up over the fire and you were in charge to watch over it while Senku decided to head out for a while. 

Which almost seemed like the other way around, shouldn’t you be the one to head out for a few things while Senku is the one who keeps watch over the fire?

Then again, you don’t even know what he’s out for. 

With very limited tools, your choices are sharpened to a few. 

It can’t be food, he was the one to say you two have more than enough for a couple of weeks. 

Is it more tools? But wouldn’t he have asked you to do all the hard labor while he sits around thinking? 

What if he accidentally finds himself facing a hostile animal? Are there even such in the newly formed Japan? What are the chances he gets bitten by a snake—or a tiger for that matter. No. Lions bite worse than tigers. Are there even lions there?

Your sudden paranoia made you stand up all of a sudden, leaving the cooking clay pot here would ruin Senku’s work, something he worked tirelessly to do. 

But what’s more important, his safety or his dedication? 

You were really about to bolt your way to the direction where Senku had gone, until—

“Y/n! Got a big surprise for you here.”

Your shoulders sag in relief at the sight of Senku, free of any wounds or struggles. He’s also carrying some firewood, was that what he was out for?

Wait what’s the surprise?

“Ohhh!!!!! Y/n’s awake?!”

You see Taiju behind Senku.

Chapter Text

“Then all of a sudden he told me he was just counting in complete darkness for over thousands of years!”

It hasn’t been a day since Taiju came back to being awake, but the guy’s loud voice and exaggerated gestures were one of the things you missed in the old world.

“Like… Can you imagine that?!” Taiju asked you. 

“Yes, it is Senku after all.” You chuckle at how the camp was seemingly growing livelier by the second. “What about you? I doubt you weren’t thinking of anyone while frozen in place.”

“W-Well, yeah…” Taiju suddenly became bashful at your nudges, suddenly remembering the stone statue of Yuzuriha. 

“Don’t worry, once we finish the alcohol, Senku will start experimenting with different ratios and we’ll be able to un-petrify Yuzuriha.”

“In theory.” Senku cuts in, settling down the firewood he had gotten earlier. “The pot is nearly hardened, we can start the distillation process and get our alcohol to make Nital.”

“Distillation? Nital?” Taiju asks. 

“We need to heat, cool, and drip the alcohol, basically concentrating it. Nital was commonly used for etching metals.” You tried to keep the explanation simple.

“Oh, cool! Got it—what’s etching?”

“To simply put it; corroding the surface of something.” 

“Oh! I get it! Senku plans to use alcohol and this… liquid, to corrode the stone fragments of someone’s body!!”

“Yes! Pretty much!”

“Never thought you would actually take the time to understand that. But like I said; in theory.” Senku clarifies yet again. “We still need to experiment with it to know if our hypothesis is correct. If not, it’s only a matter of trial and error.”

“I don’t think it’ll take too long before you find results.” You said.

“Yeah! If we all work together, we can revive Yuzuriha in no time!”

Senku stared at the two of you, perhaps you two really are the best choices to revive first in this situation after all. 

“All right, if you have that kind of mindset then start working!”

Having Taiju around the camp made it a billion percent easier for you. Is this what Senku felt when you ran errands for him? Sitting around, watching the pot harden further while Taiju ran around for materials and food? What a cycle. 

“Want a taste of the alcohol?” Senku slips in, sitting beside where you sat while watching Taiju drop off some firewood before returning back to grab some more. 

“Aren’t we underage?”

“Oh come on, we’re practically thousands of years old!”

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Senku, but sure.” You sigh with a smile, taking the hardened clay, molded into a fancy wine glass, from his hands. You never tasted alcohol before, not only because you weren't the right age back then, but also because your mother doesn’t want you drinking any—probably even if you’re of age.

“Not bad…” Senku twirled the glass (supposedly), eyeing the liquor. “Still worse than the ones you can buy in stores.”

“You drank before?”

“Only out of curiosity, nothing crazy.” Senku chuckles, you turn to him as he once again popped his neck. 

Without thinking twice, you gently lowered the back of his collar, a small patch of stone fragments were still clinging onto his nape. “Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

“Ten billion percent yes, but can’t do much about it until we get this revival fluid going.” He’s right, who knows what might happen if you start scraping it off—the skin might have stuck to the stone like an industrial glue. It would be painful for Senku. “It’s not a top priority, so don’t worry about it too much.”

“Still…” You hesitate, perhaps he’s right. Maybe someday you’d pour a working revival fluid onto his nape to save him the hassle. 

You suddenly hear Taiju’s heavy footsteps coming back to the both of you along with what seemed like a battle cry. He placed the basket filled with an abundance of foods, ranging from mushrooms to meat.

“Who the hell gave you a cheat code for stamina?” You hear Senku as he approaches the basket. 

“What are you two drinking?” Taiju asks, getting a look and a whiff of the drink. “Is this alcohol?! You two are committing underage drinking?!”

“Senku said we’re technically a bunch of thousand-year-old teenagers, so it should be fine” You reply, welcoming him to try out the alcohol if he wanted. 

“Exactly, plus it’s not like there’s anyone out here to arrest us or anything. We already committed a crime just by making liquor without a license.” Senku then sat by the basket. “Now let’s see…”

“I doubt these are new grounds for Senku. Underage drinking isn’t really a comparable feat against building a rocket ship unauthorized.” You and Taiju cackle at the memories before turning to what Senku is up to. 

“Hm. Toxic, safe, toxic… The hell are you randomly picking up?” You watch as Senku throws away a few plants that are basically inedible just by its looks.

“What?!”

“These things are only suited for Mario to eat.” Senku raised a mushroom that looked like it came from that game you once saw Senku and Taiju play. 

“That’s an oddly fitting way to describe it.” You ponder, putting the things that Senku threw aside and figured you’d get rid of them later.

Taiju watches like a kid while the skewered mushrooms cook themselves by the fire, it wasn’t long until Senku sprinkled a pinch of seasoning on the food, thankfully. 

“Oh wow, is this salt?!” Munching on his food, Taiju’s words were muffled.

“Yup, salt I got from seawater. You can practically enjoy anything with a sprinkle of this. We can try pickling too, a primitive way of preserving some food.” The moment Senku finished his explanation and started eating, Taiju had already finished his portion. 

“Thanks a bunch Senku! I’ll bust my butt working as a thank you!” You watch as Taiju stands up then wears the basket on his back. “I’m gonna try looking for more on the other side!!”

“Don’t eat everything you see!” 

Taiju was too far to hear your voice, and also his yells were far too deafening for him to hear anything else. You might as well feel lucky that no one else was there to complain about it.

“I bet he’ll still do it. He eats before thinking.” 

“On the bright side, we have a lot of food supplies to last for a while. Maybe a bit too much,” You worry.

“We can try preserving the meat if we have to.” Senku then stood up. The two of you then eyed the pot with the raw alcohol inside; it’ll take a long while with the distillation process, as well as the experimentation of the right amount of doses for the fluid. 

Senku stands up, “Where are you headed?” You call out. 

“To that cave where the nitric acid is, we need to start experimenting as soon as possible.” You watch him throw away the burnt stick, heading to the direction where Taiju had run off to. 

“Will you be okay on your own?”

“Hm?” He stops to turn to you. “Aren’t you coming with me?”

It didn’t sound like a question, but more of an assurance. 

And you take it as that.

“You gotta stop worrying every time I’m out, there’s really no one out to kill me or anything.”

“You don’t know that, Senku.”

You’ve been too scared to ask Senku for a while.

It wasn’t until late into the night that you were left alone with your thoughts once again. It was scary, yes, but you didn't have any choice when you realized that you weren’t able to fall asleep. 

A normal night it was, not being able to sleep so late. 

Maybe that’s why you tried changing the environment, now finding yourself sitting on the thick branch of the tree the house was built on, just right outside the house. 

Winter is already knocking on the door, you can feel it with every whiff of cold wind coming your way. You swear you just saw a dot of white flying by.

Even though you’ve done it a lot of times the past few months you’ve been conscious, you stare dead straight into the night sky.

Though some parts are covered by clouds, it’s still the same billions of stars. 

Though this time, you wouldn’t be able to mistake any of them as a satellite. 

Which makes you wonder; where is Byakuya?

Did Senku ever think about it? Surely he has. 

You were sure that Byakuya was in the International Space Station when the petrification happened. Did the light ever reach them? Did it petrify them? 

Either that, or they managed to escape it being in space and all. But what comes after that… you’re not entirely sure. 

But if the petrification reached them up in space, an endless scope of unpredictability and risks, would they still be up there? Their stoned body waiting to be discovered and brought back to their home planet. 

Though both scenarios are very bleak.

Would it even matter about what happened if the outcome would be the same? You wonder about that. 

You sigh, you really just want to fall asleep.

You shaken the moment you hear footsteps. They weren’t too heavy to be Taiju’s; Senku has woken up. 

“Don’t just sneak out like that at night… you really gotta get rid of that habit of yours.” Senku finds you seated, carrying a cup with drinkable water in it. 

“I thought I was extra sneaky…”

“We usually think we’re something we’re not.” He says as you aid him up the branch to sit beside you, making sure you two stayed as quiet as possible to avoid waking Taiju up. “Like how you think you’re not scary.”

“I’m really not,” You sink at his words. You thought that idea would have died a long time ago.

It was silent, not the kind that you usually feel when Senku’s around. It was different, it was heavy. Perhaps for you only. It felt something similar to worry.

Senku seemed to have caught up. “So what’s up with you tonight? It looks like you have something you want to talk about.”

“Well,” You think twice whether you want to bring the idea up or not. 

If you do, who knows what he would feel by the time he finishes thinking about every possible outcome? He overthink things, more so in a logical sense, and every direction you look into this matter leads into the same thought. 

Who knows how much hurt he’ll feel. You don’t have the heart to see him like that. 

But even if you don’t mention anything, it’ll eventually reach him, leading into the same thought once more. 

Or maybe it already has, he’s just staying quiet. 

You really don’t know how to approach this.

Senku saves you the hassle. 

“You seem a lot more carefree.” He says, fiddling with the lumps on the clay cup he was holding. 

Has he noticed? Perhaps the freedom of it all came with the sudden petrification crisis, though you hate to think of it as like that. But it was true, you wouldn’t have stayed with him for this long if the old world hadn’t gone. 

“Aren’t you sad about it?” He asks once again. “About everything.”

“I feel like I should be.” You reply honestly, because the thought of everything you’ve loved being taken away is quite somber. “But not really.”

You sound a bit fervent about it. 

“Maybe because I don’t have to leave you whenever the day ends.” 

You both stay silent at this. 

“How about…” You drag out when you notice his lack of attentiveness. “How about you?”

You really do believe in the saying that the eyes tell more than the mouth the moment you get a glimpse of Senku’s eyes. Tired, and seemingly having thought about a lot. About everything. 

You suddenly realize; maybe the thought of his dad had already reached him.

He hums at the question. “I’m not really sure. Rebuilding everything sounds exhilarating, getting a chance to experience primitive inventions while slowly upgrading to newer ones? Sounds fun.”

There was something else. 

“But you know,” It takes him a while to say it. “Sometimes I prefer illegally making a rocket ship while eating store-bought ramen at home.”

“Really?”

“Only sometimes,”

“Sometimes,” You repeat his words, somehow convinced.

“But even if the damage had already been done, we can still do something about it.”

Senku can do anything—even if he can’t, he still tries to.

“Senku,” You call. “Have you ever thought about your dad ever since you woke up?”

He looks at you for a moment with a familiar inkling in his eyes. “Of course I have.” There was a hint of bittersweet in his words. No matter how much he doesn’t seem like the kind of person to, he is still a kid. A son.

“Oh, then…” Senku looks at you, as if he had just understood what has been troubling you. 

“Aha, is that what you’ve been worrying about? About my dad?” He chuckles, the tiredness suddenly masked with sly. “Though I don’t know his exact location; whether he's still up in space or not, I can tell you as much that he’s not the type to just sit around picking daisies.”

“I knew that much.”

You try your best to think better about this situation, but everything could go wrong in an environment such as space. 

You’ve only ever had time to talk to Byakuya whenever he was home back when Senku was still young. It started to disappear when the man got the job from NASA. The last time you talked to him was on the new year before everyone turned into stone. 

What he asked for still remained in your head. How could it not? It had an odd word that you always wanted to keep; promise.

You think that promises should only be used once in a lifetime. A promise is only once, but maybe once is enough if it’s kept.

“I suggest you don’t think too deeply about it.” Senku takes a quick drink of water. 

You take his word for it and stop thinking. Mostly because you were starting to feel tired to even continue thinking. You turn up to the starry sky, now bare of any man made creation.

You wonder if you should continue wishing. 

Maybe not in this season, you might just mistake a snowflake for a star instead.

Chapter Text

When the alcohol has been fully distilled, Senku didn’t waste any time mixing different doses of it with the nitric acid. 

Heavy snow was already falling by the time he was growing closer and closer to obtaining a precise formula for a revival fluid.

He can feel it, every time he watches the mixture drip onto the stone swallow, he can feel parts of it reacting with whatever mineral it was made out of. 

But none ended up breaking out.

Senku was growing restless. 

He watched in anticipation as the stone swallow remained still, the supposed revival fluid coating it; nothing had worked again. 

His lips pressed against one another in failure, every time he felt like he’s close, it led him to a path of another unclimbable brick wall. It makes him retrace his steps just to go back and repeat this trail of misstep.

In truth, Senku isn’t the kind of person to show his troubles through physical means. He thinks it’s quite useless displaying anger, the least it can do it blind your perspective on things.

He never saw his dad truly angry before, the most he saw was when Byakuya got irritated the time he kept losing to a bunch of games during new years eve. He didn’t even see him get overly irate when he failed the astronaut selection exam, only a bit down—but that was it. 

Senku doesn’t feel like he should be angry when he never really saw anyone in his life display the kind of defeat he’s feeling. 

Senku doesn’t get angry, he just gets a little bit frustrated. 

He’ll get over it.

He kept telling himself that. 

But when the stone bird breaks into two on the floor, he starts to believe otherwise. 

A wing separated from the body.

He really didn’t mean to. 

Maybe it was his lack of sleep, but he didn’t mean to send the stone bird collapsing against the ground and breaking into two. 

Senku could only feel relieved that it wasn’t shattered into countless pieces. But it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

A bird without a wing can only go so far.

“Maybe it’s time for a quick break?” 

Senku eyes you, dragging his sight from the stone bird and up to the entrance where you stood with a bowl of what seemed like stew. It was perfectly hot to combat the cold climate.

The moment you enter, Senku could feel the warmth spreading throughout the small laboratory, more so in a literal sense. 

He was about to urge you to leave it by the table, about to assure you that he’ll eventually eat it. But the moment you saw the broken stone wing near your foot, Senku saw you with a familiar expression.

“Here, sit down.” You ushered to him, giving him the bowl before he sat himself down on the floor. It isn’t really safe to drop down and have a lunch break on the floor of a laboratory, but Senku lets it slip considering that the most dangerous thing there was the nitric acid found in a container by the opposite corner.

Not that he would rather eat outside though, even if the snow had stopped falling there were still piles taller than him.

But Senku doesn’t feel like eating. He isn’t really hungry yet, and the stew was so hot that he would burn himself trying to eat it. 

So he sets the bowl on the side, and he lays down on the floor in silent defeat. 

Again, not really a preferred way to rest in a laboratory. But he does it only because he felt like he needed it.

To just lay down. 

When he did, Senku realized how heavy his eyelids felt. Only then he realizes how obnoxiously cold it was, even being indoors with the thick clothes you made. The doorway was covered with a large, and heavy piece of leather. He can’t really see how bad the snow condition is outside. 

But he does still see you though. 

From the corner of his tired eyes, you were still shuffling beside him. What were you doing? He can’t see well from his position, and he doesn’t really want to move. 

He’s really tired. Physically. 

Just when the comfort of dozing off was getting to him, Senku felt something warm and cozy all over him. 

“How does it feel?” You asked as he observed the wooly blanket over his nearly frozen figure. Senku can only muffle something up, the blanket went up to cover half his face from freezing; it was really warm. “Figured I’d make one considering we don’t really know how bad winter would be after thousands of years.”

Senku wants to say you’re a genius for doing so. 

“It’s really cold… must be January by now, right?” You comment, managing to gently lift up Senku’s head from the ground to slip in a cushion as you hear him confirm your statement with a drowsy hum. “But it’s worse than back then.”

“It’s likely La Niña.” This time, you hear Senku. When turning to him, you melt when he starts to bury himself in the blanket you made and made himself comfortable. “Cold waters from the south gathered warmth to the Pacific ocean, and then…” Senku huffs tiredly.

“I think I understand.” You ended the topic rather quickly, not wanting to disturb Senku’s newfound peace with the blanket and pillow. 

You think he would want some silence for the time being; and you provide just that. 

Taiju was out hunting for food, it was supposed to be your turn this week but the boy insisted he’d go in your stead, especially in such weather.

Senku was still silent when you sat beside him, the thick clothes you had on was enough to keep a lot of the cold away from you. But you wonder if Senku would be willing to share the blanket with you.

It was still quiet when you held the stone bird in your hand and its broken wing, cleansed from the acid and alcohol that was previously poured onto it. You wonder if it could still be fixed with a little thread to hold the two pieces together.

When you looked over at Senku, his eyes were half-open, though not necessarily closed. He’s busy looking up at the ceiling, lost in thought. You want to ask him to share his mind, but you wouldn’t want to ruin his focus. 

Even Senku gets troubled, you already know that.

You knew that when the two of you were around ten years old, it had been one of the few instances wherein you saw Senku so bothered. 

It was also the first time you managed to help him out with an obstacle of his. You wouldn’t ever forget how allayed he was when he broke down that brick wall he was facing.

Maybe you could do the same this time. 

The next time you look at Senku, he was asleep. Rather, you guess he is. His eyes were completely shut, the familiar slow breathing was then heard. 

Senku fell asleep. 

“Feeling better starts with a good sleep, was it?” You smile, turning away to the now unconscious scientist and turning to his work tables. 

You have quite a few things to catch up on if you want to help. 

Senku always considered the thought of becoming a rock. Ever since he heard one of your self written poems about it, he started thinking what it would be like. 

A rock was the first thing you described. It’s not the best choice to be. If he were to be a rock, he’d get wet and slippery every time it rains heavily. Or maybe he’d get too arid and dry once the season becomes too hot. Maybe he’d even be used as a tool by some animals, or get kicked around by some loud teenagers, not very pleasant if Senku were to be one. 

In a way, Senku already got to experience being a rock. He’d say it wasn’t the best experience.

The next you brought up was a cloud. It wasn’t a rare sight, it’s quite ordinary compared to many things in life. Some people would often grow tired of seeing clouds everyday. What makes them unique is their form and how much weight they carry. No one would really think of them unless they’re perfectly shaped or if they bring relentless storms.

Clouds also disappear over time, Senku remembers you saying that.

Then the next one; trees. Senku didn't like the idea of being a tree when he thought about it. He won’t be able to move, he won’t be able to grow the way he wants to, and people will eventually find him and cut him down if he’s growing too big. And the thought of not being strong enough to withstand cruel storms and wild winds is really bitter.  

He doesn’t like the idea of being a tree.

The last thing you told him was a mountain, a very tall mountain. He remembers your words about it quite well, maybe because it was kept short and simple. 

“You’d still break apart, but would it be worth it if you’re still standing in the end?”

He starts to wonder which one you would likely pick. 

Senku realized he was awake when he started to think about this. 

The wooden ceiling looked the same as they were when he fell asleep.

Is he still in the laboratory? He must have fallen asleep for a few minutes considering that there was still light peeking from the outside.

When he got up, Senku found out he was no longer on the laboratory floor. He had been brought back to the house. 

Taiju must have carried him all the way when he fell asleep. Though Senku started to question himself why he didn’t wake up from it. If it really was Taiju who carried him, surely he’d get woken up by the unpleasant shaking. 

Maybe Senku is just that tired that he didn’t wake up? He doesn’t really know a whole lot when it comes to his sleeping behavior. 

There was a little mounted bonfire in the middle of the room that acted as a sort of indoor heater. 

When Senku finally forced himself out of the comfort of the wooly blanket, he immediately went down the house. 

It was quiet, he wondered if Taiju hadn't come back yet. Where were you as well?

Suddenly Taiju showed up, and it was no longer quiet. “Oh!!! Senku, you’re awake!”

“There was no need to carry me all the way back to the house, you big oaf.” Senku chided, feeling a short-lived relief after cracking his petrified neck. “I appreciate the sickeningly charming gesture, but it was a waste of time when I just woke up a few minutes later.”

Taiju appears to be confused. 

“Senku, what are you talking about?” Now it was Senku who was confused. 

“Didn’t you carry me all the way back to the house?” The scientist recalled. “I accidentally fell asleep in the lab a while ago when Y/n was there.”

The taller guy seems to be thinking, something that Senku finds to be really uncommon that it started to seem weird. 

“Y/n was the one who carried you yesterday.”

“Hah?”

Senku was completely lost. 

“Yeah! I remember her carrying you while you were sleeping! She even told me to keep quiet so I wouldn’t wake you up.” Taiju explained. “That was yesterday though, I got worried when you took so long to wake up!”

So he has been asleep since yesterday. And he didn’t even wake up a single time? How long was that? Around twelve hours?

“But guess I have nothing to worry about now that you’re awake!!” Taiju laughs loudly, something he was told to avoid the past few hours. “Y/n said you must be really tired if you were sleeping for so long.”

“Wait, Y/n carried me?” 

“Yeah! She said I might wake you up if I did it.”

This makes Senku laugh. 

So he lost track of time and mistook more than twelve hours for a few minutes. He’ll have to analyze the time later, surely he must have lost count by now. 

“So where is she?” Senku asks. 

“Dunno, she didn’t say.” Taiju simply replies. “Oh! But she said something about the laboratory when you wake up.”

Senku perks up at this. He almost forgot about his dilemma yesterday.

He didn’t waste any time before reaching the laboratory. He would need more nitric acid to continue with this process of trials and errors. Good thing he had slept, or else he would have gotten agitated just by the thought of it.

But Senku stops when he sees a few things laid upon a tree stump that was used as an experiment table.

There was a small clay bottle, the one he usually uses to store the supposed Nital mixture. Then there was a note. And finally, a stone swallow. 

It wasn’t a random one that littered over the shelves of the laboratory, rather it was the one he broke yesterday. 

It was carefully patched up by a tight fitting of fabric that sticks the wing back to the body. 

Did you really mend the bird?

What he had failed to notice was a feather that sat amongst pieces of shattered stone. 

His eyes widened. 

He reached over to the note, wanting to know if what he’s thinking is true.

“3:7 = HNO₃ to EtOH”

Senku chuckles madly. Did you really take over his research and found out the exact formula of the revival fluid?

He finds the thought funny, how could he have been outdone by someone when he was the one who knew this experiment the best? It’s almost uncanny how quick you learn things.

What makes your gesture funnier was the little greeting under the piece of paper (which is actually just dry leaf). 

“Happy Birthday”

It took him a while to calculate the date of today. 

He eventually discerned that it was, in fact, not his birthday today. 

Senku laughs even more. 

Of course you wouldn’t get the date right, you’re three days early. 

Without even thinking much about it, Senku grabbed the bottle and poured half of its contents on the stone swallow that you’ve patched up. 

Senku counted. 

When he reached three seconds, Senku thought you might have done something wrong. 

When it was five, Senku was debating whether or not he should pour more fluid onto it. 

But at eight, something cracked. 

He marveled at the way the swallow started to unpetrify. When one of the wings broke free, it started to flap aggressively. 

It took eight seconds before the swallow was released from stone.

Senku watched as it flew around the room, noticing its supposed broken wing now fully healed. As if he didn’t actually break it.

Fuck fantasy, Science won. 

This has got to be one of the best birthday gifts he has gotten.

Chapter Text

Trots was an annoying bird, that’s what Senku thinks whenever he watches the bird fly everywhere inside the house. 

Who is Trots? It’s the swallow that Senku broke before you fixed it which ended up being the first living creature to have the complete revival fluid be used on. 

As for the name, it was you who chose it. 

Senku remembers you say it’s a poem or something by a poet or someone, he’s starting to lose track of your naming comprehension.

Okay, in short; swallows are not meant to be kept as pets. 

They survive in the wild, nurtured by themselves to catch insects while on flight in order to have something to eat. 

But of course you had to baby it. 

Birds don’t hibernate, they migrate. If Trots were to fly out to look for a warm place, it probably wouldn’t make it in time. 

Senku assured you that you can just unpetrify another swallow whenever considering they aren’t extinct anymore with the revival fluid, but of course you just had to grow attached to this particular one.

“Really?” Senku tusks, watching as you fix up a nest for the bird inside the house. It wouldn’t have been a problem at first, but swallows use mud for their nest. And you’re building it in a corner inside the laboratory.

“I swear I’ll clean it all up when spring comes and we can let Trots fly away—or should I say, let Trots trot away, huh?” You snicker which does not impress Senku. 

“When spring comes? Sure, only if you don’t get too attached to it to let it go.”

“Come on, you know I let go of things when needed.”

“Right, you’re about to make this sound way emotional that it should be. You only knew the bird for a day.”

“Two days; the other was when I was patching it back up after a certain someone broke it.”

“Your statement won’t work, I didn’t feel guilty when I broke it.”

You gasp almost offendedly, “Senku, Trots can hear you.” It’s almost funny how you whispered it as if the bird could understand. 

The two of you then went to look at Trots, who found its way inside the nest of dried mud, its head peeking through the singular hole.

“Isn’t it so cute?” 

“It’s a bird.” Senku snickers at the way you threateningly eyed him. “How do you plan to feed it?”

“Insects.”

“Yeah but how—“ You brought up a pot with a lid on it. Senku doesn’t want to take off the cover once he hears the buzzing and tittering inside. “Ew.”

“It’s Trots’ food.”

“Yeah no shit.” Senku moves away when you settle the pot of insects aside, near the nest as the bird watches it.

“Don’t worry, I already fed it for today.” You say, “As long as we don’t alert Trots, all will be fine.”

Senku huffs, “Spring. If Trots is alive by springtime, let it go.”

“Deal.”

“So we’ve got ourselves a revival fluid; we checked out two major findings.” Senku lays out, it’s currently breakfast and the three of you were outside by the campfire eating skewered meat. “First, 30% of Nitric Acid and 70% of Ethanol creates a perfect mixture of the un-petrifying liquid.”

“This is amazing! Now that we have a working formula, we can start reviving as many people as we want, right?” Taiju exclaimed excitedly, though not as much as he usually would after finding out there’s a little birdie inside the house that doesn’t want too many loud noises. 

“Exactly, the only thing that limits us is probably the Nitric Acid itself and the production of alcohol.” You comment. 

“That’s right. Even if we want to revive everyone on this planet, time is still our worst opposition.” Senku confirms. 

“I’d guess we can revive around a hundred every year.”

“That seems like a decent number for now.” Senku hums at your guess, “But we still found something else. The second discovery; even broken statues can still be revived once it’s put back together.”

Taiju gasps loudly before shutting himself up to avoid alerting the bird inside the house. “I-It can?! Is this still Science?! It sounds like a fantasy!”

With the mention of fantasy, Senku laughs. “Fantasy? We’ve already beaten that when the revival fluid was made. If it follows a specific set of rules, it’s still Science. It’s not the least bit invincible.”

Taiju then hesitates for a bit. “So… who do we revive first?”

“Does it matter? We’re going to revive everyone eventually.” The scientist says before throwing away the used stick on the layers of snow on the ground. “But it’ll be a real shame if we revive a ruthless murderer right from the get-go.”

Once again, Taiju went silent for a while. You turn to Senku before motioning at the usually boisterous guy. Senku then realizes. 

“It’s troublesome to decide on who gets to be revived first.” Senku stands up before grinning. “Taiju, your choice.”

“I—” Taiju hesitated at first. “Shouldn’t you also ask Y/n? I mean, it was you two who mostly did all of the work for this revival fluid.”

“I wouldn’t completely say so.” You assure the guy. “Even if I were to choose, I’m quite sure you and I would have ended up with the same person in mind.”

This makes Taiju smile. 

“Thank you, Y/n, Senku.” Taiju huff determined. “You’re right, I already have someone in mind.”

And with that, you three were off to where Yuzuriha’s petrified body stands.

For Senku, traversing in winter is relatively annoying. You and Taiju didn’t stop to build a campfire for a short break, and Senku wonders how the two of you manage to do it. 

Ideally, Senku would have brought up the idea of possibly reviving Yuzuriha after winter to avoid having to travel this far on the snowy ground. 

He would have managed to convince Taiju to wait a bit longer, Senku has that kind of thoughts. But he doesn’t know if it would work on you. 

In the end, he just grumbly follows the two of you throughout the snow. He might as well cut his friend some slack, it’s been thousands of years ever since he last heard of his little crush’s voice.

“WAIT!!!”

This makes Senku jump slightly. “What?!” He wonders if Trots was able to hear that.

“I forgot to bring clothes for Yuzuriha!” Taiju shrieks. “Not only will she be naked, but there’s also nothing for her to use against the cold—!”

“Taiju, relax.” You chide in as you pull out a set of thick clothes for Yuzuriha. “I brought these for her.”

“Phew! Thanks a lot Y/n! Nearly got a heart attack there, haha!!” 

“You’re the one giving us a heart attack.” Senku complained before continuing on.

“Oh no…” Taiju and Senku look at you. “I forgot the revival fluid.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Senku pales. He genuinely does not want to go back. 

“WHAT?!”

“No wait, I have it.” You smile after feeling the bottle in the little bag you carried. 

“Don’t ever do that.” You and Taiju laugh at Senku’s words.

To the tired scientist’s relief, the three of you finally manage to reach the tree that holds Yuzuriha’s petrified body.

“I’ll put on some clothes before we pour the fluid.” You started to make your way up the tree, admiring how it perfectly protected Yuzuriha. 

Taiju replies loudly, holding the bottle of revival fluid before turning away as you dressed up Yuzuriha. Senku would have argued to do it after pouring the fluid, but with the cold in mind, it’s understandable.

“Do it quickly, we don’t want to be here all day.” The complaints of Senku were already starting.

“Senku! You shouldn’t rush ladies when dressing up!!”

“You make it sound like we’re waiting for them to go to a special occasion or something,” Senku grumbles, feeling more and more unsteady on the snowy ground. 

“Do we really just pour this liquid to unpetrify Yuzuriha?”

“Yeah,” Senku recalls. “I used the other half of the first batch Y/n made on a broken piece of statue, it turned into a bloody corpse right after.”

“That’s too evil!!”

“Just wanted to find out in the name of Science. It’s a glorious sacrifice,” Senku shrugs as Taiju shudders. “Pray for it—“

Senku stops, hearing rigid rustling from the back of where the three of you stood. 

“Senku, Taiju.” You hear something roar. 

It didn’t take long before the three of you realized you were face-to-face with the king of the jungle. A lion. 

“A lion?!”

You ditch the clothes and go to pick up Yuzuriha’s body. Before it was too late, Taiju managed to help you before you three started running away with the roaring king behind.

“Why are there lions in Japan?!” Taiju screamed as he carefully clutched onto Yuzuriha with his life depending on it. 

“They escaped from the zoo—the zookeepers…!” Senku breathes heavily. “The zookeepers must have left the gate open before being petrified! Without people to look after them, they must have eaten the other animals as well as the pets on the streets!”

“But isn’t it winter?!”

“Lions don’t hibernate.” You huff, somehow the lion hasn’t caught up yet. It’s being cautious and observing you. “Looks like we’re not on top of the food chain anymore.”

“We can’t do anything about them—this is just a game of running away before they eventually catch up!” The snow combined with running away in fear of your life was a cruel duo.

“It’s being careful.” But you see an opportunity in front of you. You notice the lion getting faster and faster. “Senku, Taiju, get ready to swerve.”

“Swerve?”

The two didn’t get to see the cliff in front of them before you dragged them by their arm and turned their direction to the side, changing courses abruptly which caused all of you to slip to the side. 

You looked back, seeing as the lion failed to do the same and ended up slipping off the cliff. 

You were left to catch your breath on the snow, taking in what had just happened. 

“We lost it…” Taiju grunts, taking in Yuzuriha’s statue if there were any new cracks.

“For now. Who knows how long it’ll be until it finds us again.” Senku stands up, turning to you before chuckling at the near death experience. “Good thing the rest of the pride didn’t come along—“

You hear many heavy footsteps and hungry growls.

A lioness joined the hunt. 

Then followed by another, and a couple more, until there were a total of four more lions faced against you three. 

“What a jinx…” You laugh nervously, watching as the animals approach with full alert.

The running continued, it was only a matter of time before the lions caught up. “Can’t we do something?!” Taiju asks.

“With our level of equipment, we wouldn’t stand a second against them! The only effective weapons for beasts like them are guns.” Senku sweats despite the winter. “It’s game over right from the start…”

Taiju becomes quiet at this. When you saw his grip on Yuzuriha tighten more, you already had an idea on what he’s thinking. Somehow, you don’t like the look he had on his face. “Then—“

“We can buy time for a strategy.” You reach out your hand to snap off a lengthy branch off a tree, you lessen your speed before using the wooden rod to scatter the snow in front of the lions. The snow was still soft enough to work as sand and got into the animals’ eyes. 

Another sharp turn was made by you three, creating more confusion for the lions, who had lost their momentum but regained their perfect sight. 

“Don’t even think about it, Taiju.” You warned.

“Thinking of sacrificing yourself? You’ve done stupid things but that idea takes the whole cake.” Senku chides, catching Taiju’s guilty expression for thinking about it. 

“Plus, what would Yuzuriha think?” 

Taiju frowns, “You’re right… I can’t let any of us die!” 

You were starting to notice the speed of the lion accelerating. You ended up having to drag Senku by the arm to create more assuring distance between him and the lions. “This snow is hell.”

“I saw someone when I was out gathering food back then.” The two of you turn to Taiju as he slightly changes directions. Ahead of you two sat a petrified man. “Let’s take our chances with the strongest Primate high schooler!”

“Primate…?” You ask.

The three of you eventually came to a stop in front of the said Primate. You didn’t waste time before pouring the liquid over the petrified man, but the heavy growls override your short-lived relief.

“They’re here!” Senku warns, left to stand back as all of you were weaponless. All you really had was that long branch you picked up, you know it wouldn’t do anything against the beasts in front of you.

You’re going to have to rely on this guy. But there was a part of you that is telling you it felt wrong.

Something cracked.

The two guys turned to the statue that was crumbling while you remained your eyes on the lions. 

“Sorry to wake you up after thousands of years, you must be confused—“

“What’s the situation?”

It felt weirdly unsettling, it wasn’t the cold that sent shivers down the back of your neck. You’re sure that Senku felt it too. 

“You’re completely covered in stone, we’re surrounded by lions by nine o’clock.” Senku reported, though you don’t miss the hesitance in his tone.

“Okay.” 

The sounds of cracking eventually evolved into heavy sounds of smashing. You were quick to pull both Senku and Taiju away as the stone remains that coated the Primate were sent flying towards the lions.

You almost don’t believe it when the man punched the pride leader with his bare hands. 

Was the guy even a high schooler like what Taiju said?

When the leader collapsed, the followers were left to retreat in feeling threatened. 

You wonder if humans were back on top of the food chain, or if it was just the man himself.

You were left to smile nervously as he glared at the retreating lions. He was still bare but there was no sign of shivering from the cold.

He was cool. He looked cool defeating a lion with his bare hands. It’s terrifyingly cool.

“As for the details… I’ll listen to you.” You watch as he approaches the dead lion. “But…”

There was a certain hint of softness whenever he speaks, but you wonder how drastic of a turn it can change.

“I promise that you will never be in danger again.”

You never thought this would be the first time you’d hear that odd word after thousands of years. 

Promise.

“I suppose a self-introduction is needed.” The Primate smiled. “I’m Tsukasa Shishio. Tsukasa is just fine.”

A couple of minutes have passed since the newest recruit was revived, Senku still couldn’t believe Tsukasa's ability to slaughter a lion, completely weaponless. 

What surprised the scientist more is that Tsukasa doesn’t seem the least bit affected by the cold even if he only had the skin and mane of the lion he had killed.

“Yeah, I doubt a surname would be useful in this world.” Senku turned to Tsukasa after having undone the bags around his waist. “I’m Senku, the science nerd. He’s Taiju, the simple-minded.”

“Hi! I’m Taiju, the simple-minded!” Taiju takes Tsukasa’s hand in the form of a handshake. “If you need any help that requires brain power, Senku is the best person to go to! Or Y/n as well!”

“I take it she’s the girl from earlier?” 

Senku hums in response, “Where is she?”

“I’m here.”

Taiju shuddered at your sudden presence, appearing behind Tsukasa with a dead beetle in your hand. 

“What’s that for exactly?”

“Trots.”

“Should’ve known.”

There was an instance wherein Tsukasa looked at you weirdly. In his eyes, you looked very out of place in such a setting. That you didn’t really seem fitted to bathe in bright light. 

Perhaps he’d understand you more if you’re drenched in absolute darkness. But right now, he can’t read much about you. 

You turn to Tsukasa. “Hello, it’s great to meet another person free from stone!” You grab one of his hands with both of yours, shaking it up and down seemingly excited, Tsukasa could feel the unmoving body of the beetle as you continued. 

Tsukasa doesn’t seem to mind your energy. But he takes note of the way your eyes turn up to look at him in an off-putting way.

There was no sense of threat, only an ominous one.

“You have quite a stare on you.” Tsukasa comments, seemingly unbothered at how you would react.

“Really? A lot of people mentioned that about me in the old world too.” You laugh sheepishly, taking note of his indifferent expression. “Don’t worry, I do everything with goodwill.”

Tsukasa takes this as a sort of success that he didn’t mean to offend you. “Y/n, right? What do you do for the team?”

“Nothing.” You stop shaking his hand, the stare you held earlier was now accompanied by a smile yet again, the dead beetle still kept warm in your hands. “Just a freeloading philosopher.”

Chapter Text

You have never tried dedicating a lot of your time to philosophy, Senku knows that. 

He remembers the time when he mistook philosophy with poetry, and he had to sit through quite a while as you explained the differences to him. 

Philosophy focuses on understanding the truths of everything, poetry is a way of expressing one’s emotions through words; they technically have a particular difference. 

You lean more into poetry—a lot more. So Senku already guessed you have mixed feelings when it comes to the newest member of the group who has seemingly taken over your spot as the food scavenger.

Not that Senku thinks you would mind, you did say to Tsukasa that you are now a “freeloader”. Maybe he’ll play along with your little deception and see how things go. 

Because he also has a bit of indecisiveness with Tsukasa. 

“The snow is starting to melt,” Senku notes, taking in some greenery that’s finally starting to come out after a few months. “We can start progressing our way back to civilization a lot easier.”

“Where’s Taiju and Tsukasa?” You ask with a tone that sounds curious and a hint of worry, but Senku knows that it’s quite different, it sounded more cautious to him. 

“They’re both out for food, they probably won’t be back after a while. You can spill your little hoax, Miss freeloading philosopher.”

“It’s not a hoax,” you say, though it’s quite close to what you’re acting out. “I'm just adding more stuff to the truth, like little accessories.”

“So I take it you don’t really trust Tsukasa then?”

Senku takes in your silence, looking down at you as you sit on the ground most likely pondering about the man in question. 

“I promise that you will never be in danger again.”

He hears you repeat Tsukasa’s words from when became unpetrified. “That’s what he said. How much do you believe that, Senku?”

Senku doesn’t answer your question. “How much do you?”

You ponder for a short while, “He sounded really genuine.” Tsukasa really did, you wonder if he would stay like that if he grows to know more about the three of you. “It isn’t about whether he’s lying or not, it’s about the thought of him undergoing change.” You lightly heave at the thought. Other than thoughts, change is also a terrifying thing. “And how long it would take for him to make up his mind.”

“Right.” Senku sighs in relief with a crack of his neck, “He could either be lying, or his little promise will turn into nothing if he doesn’t agree with the direction of our goal.”

“That’s the thing.” You insert, nervously laughing when you recall Tsukasa’s terrifying ability to almost end anything with his bare fists. “And the only thing we can use against strong people like him are guns and laws.”

“Well, we’re only speculating but…” Senku also slips in a chuckle. “We've put ourselves in quite a hard place already.”

“I think we should hide the information about the revival fluid from him, for now at least.” You then reach out to a small leather pouch before Senku watches you pour white powder all over your arms and shaking off any excess powder. “If anything bad happens, I'll be prepared to go against him.”

“With that strength of his, I doubt you’d land a single blow on him. The most you can do is dodge.” Senku lowers himself to examine that white powder you had. “Calcium carbonate?”

“Mhm. It’s not the best substitute, but it’s sort of the chalk used by gymnasts when doing uneven bars. Magnesium carbonate would have been better, but I don’t really wanna go mining for that right now.”

“You’re gonna swing on bars and pray you’ll hit Tsukasa while doing so?”

You laugh at his words, “Not necessarily. I can use the things I learned back then to prepare myself if anything bad occurs. Might as well put the hard work into good use.“

Before you continue, you turn to Senku in a way that seems way too amenable. “I don’t doubt you also have your own distrust, Senku. Surely you’re starting to formulate a drafted plan in your head on how to avoid any unnecessary dispute if Tsukasa does turn out to be what we speculate.”

There was a different ambience when you smiled this time around, it was sort of submissive. 

“Use me as your weapon if you need to.” The words were cruel, but you make it out to be like a softhearted vow. 

“Really?” Senku finds it funny how you manage to do it every single time. “Then if I were to tell you to kill him right now, would you?”

“I would.” Even if you’d die trying.

This whole deal sounds unhinged and dangerous, Senku thinks. He wonders what he must have done to you to have such influence on your actions. 

He laughs, it sounds absolutely manic. “Then don’t. As of right now he’s doing nothing threatening towards us, we’ll have to wait if this whole theory about him is actually true.”

You felt a slight tinge of worry at his words. Senku isn’t a violent person. Unnecessary fights are just that; unnecessary. It’s quite a simple ethos for a guy like him. 

What is irrelevant should stay irrelevant. 

You respect it, you respect him. So you do what he thinks is best; avoid fighting for now.

“But even so, we should at least tell Taiju to keep the fluid a secret.” You remind Senku. Right now, the only one that has the could slip up about the existence of the revival fluid is Taiju himself. 

“I’ll let that big oaf know. It’s all on him if he’s able to keep it quiet.” Senku then gets up from the ground, dusting off any snow that stuck to his coat. “So I’m guessing you’ll hide your little talents from Tsukasa to avoid his suspicions of you?”

“Hopefully I won’t have to do it for long.”

“Suit yourself, have fun freeloading.” Senku bids before going off somewhere.

You never thought gymnastics was very fun to do. It wasn’t really hard or anything, but the environment was always filled with competitive people and an instructor who definitely needed a day off or two. 

But in this stone world, you find yourself learning at your own pace. 

The calcium carbonate really helped your grip on the small branches of the trees. Not so much for the big ones though, you tend to slip when you’d grip on them. The cold wind of winter felt refreshing whenever you’d swing from a branch to another, you started to enjoy this kind of gymnastics. 

Jumping from tree to tree is also a lot easier than you would’ve thought. There was a lot of it in the area, which leads to their clumping. Now you have a set of choices for moving. Running, swinging, and jumping.

There weren't any real threats yet, hopefully you wouldn’t have to use it for anything dangerous.

“Y/n, get your ass down here!” You hear Senku’s voice, you look down from the treetop you were on and see him. 

You make your way down. “Did something happen?”

“Not really, you just missed dinner. And also, we’ve already progressed a lot faster earlier. While you were out here swinging we already made cement and soap.” You start to follow Senku’s path back to the camp. “The house is ten billion percent looking sturdier.”

“You renovated the house? What about Trots?!”

“Oh yeah I moved it to the laboratory, it seemed less stressed there so I figured it’s a better place.“ Senku then snaps to his senses. “Wait—you should be releasing it right now!”

“But there’s still snow!”

“Yeah tiny bits of it! Y/n it won’t live long if it stays inside.” 

“Fine, I’ll release Trots tomorrow.”

“Good.” It was a short lived moment with Trots. 

You see both Taiju and Tsukasa the moment you and Senku were nearing the camp. It’s quite amusing how the two get along so well, maybe it’s just a brawn thing. 

Taiju starts to explain to you about Senku’s plan with the three uses of calcium carbonate, something that slips through your mind at the thought of already knowing it. 

Both you and Tsukasa don’t talk much together, but you see the way he looks at Senku. They were locked in a conversation but you can’t hear anything they were saying from a distance.

But Senku’s expression is very visible to you, and with the sudden change of it, you start to form words in your mind. He’s likely realizing that Tsukasa has something against rebuilding civilization. 

There was suspense around them, so you approached. 

“Is that a soap you’re making, Senku?” 

Tsukasa looks at you, noticing how he hadn’t seen you throughout the day ever since he went out to hunt for food. You weren’t even there for dinner.

“Yeah, we can fight off the bacteria and avoid getting sick in this world without proper medicine. I’m thinking of naming it “Dr. Stone” or something.” 

“You should definitely brand that soap once civilization is restored.”

Your words received a silent reaction from Tsukasa, though it was enough to make you conclude something about the man. 

Ever since that night, Tsukasa has been quiet whenever Senku would start explaining a few things that involve the progression of rebuilding the old civilization back. He doesn’t help much with the labor, he focuses on securing more than enough food for the four of you. 

You and Taiju were usually the one helping Senku out when it regards to labor, though you do it in a way that still makes it believable to Tsukasa that you’re a clueless girl about anything related to science. 

It didn’t take long before you helped Senku create a crossbow if things start to get a bit messy. Whether it’ll be enough against Tsukasa or not is a crippling anticipation bubbling in the pit of your gut. 

Your last line of defense would be your Aikido, you hope it’ll be enough to at least steer clear of Tsukasa’s dangerous blows.

The remaining snow on the ground has already melted, indicating the full arrival of spring. 

You were making your way to the beach where the three were currently at. In your hands was a very eager bird. 

“Hear that, Trots?” You gesture to the other tweeting birds all around you. “Spring is here. It’s time for you to fly out.”

It was useless talking to the bird when it can’t understand you, but you like to think that you and Trots had a little thread of connection considering it stayed with you for the remainder of winter. 

“I don’t want you to be lonely, so don’t go fighting against anything that isn’t your food.” You continue your path towards the peaking lights of the beach through the forest trees. “If all ends well, I’ll remember to bring a friend of yours back.”

The moment you reach the sandy grounds of the beach, free from any snow, you open your hands and watch as the bird flies away. 

“Ah—I should’ve taken that off,” You sweat when you notice the small piece of cloth that hangs from Trots’s feet. But it seems like you can’t do anything about it as the swallow continues to soar through the clear sky. “Oh well, you’ll eventually learn how to take it off.” It didn’t take long for Trots to soon disappear into the sky.

One day, when Senku produces enough revival fluid, you would want to unpetrify every last bit of swallows on Earth. That way, Trots wouldn’t be alone. 

But for the time being, you hope Trots can still find a friend out there. 

“You should’ve said goodbye to Senku.” 

Your daydreaming was briefly cut off when you notice both Senku and Tsukasa conversing by the shore.

There was a thick layer of tension between them as you start to build worry for Senku, realizing he had placed himself in a tough spot. You don’t take too long to make your way towards him. 

“Senku,” The two turn to you. “Tsukasa, have you guys had breakfast yet?”

There was still a small tinge of tensity between the two, but Senku seemed less stressed than earlier so you take it as a success. 

“We were just about to cook Tsukasa’s catch for the morning.” Senku smiles, loosening up at your presence. “Why don’t you go and start a fire so we can have breakfast cooking.”

“Where’s Taiju?”

“You can’t expect Taiju to do everything.” With that, Senku gave you the wooden tool to start a fire with and sent you off. 

Collecting firewood and starting the fire wasn’t necessarily hard thanks to the primitive tool that the scientist made. You notice as Taiju soon arrives with a heavy basket of seashells and converses with Senku. 

You don’t see Tsukasa—

“You don’t complain a lot.”

You freeze at his sudden appearance, Tsukasa takes the spot on the sand beside you, bringing in the piles of fish. “What do you mean by that, Tsukasa?”

“When you claimed to be a freeloader, I would have thought you were just a spoiled girl who was raised without having to do anything laborious.”

“Ah, really? I don’t usually help out since I might do a few things wrong.” You sweat at his assumption, he worded it rather bitterly. “Even if I keep complaining, Senku would eventually call bullshit on it and force me to work.”

“Are you close friends with Senku?” Tsukasa brings up, stopping his hands to look at you. 

“I wonder about that.” You drag out a hum, continuing to play with the fire using a stick. “An honest answer is all up to him.”

Tsukasa seems to not like your crooked responses. “Y/n, you consider yourself an aspiring philosopher,” You cringe at this, recalling how you barely covered any grounds about philosophy back then. “Can I ask you something?”

“That is?”

“What do you think of civilization back then?” He asks, suddenly you recall his hostile reaction last night when you had brought the word up. “In this stone world, nothing belongs to anyone. If Senku were to bring back the old world along with its people, he would also bring back its violent nature.”

“Nothing is no one’s, I’m with you on that. But,” You stare at the fire. “If there’s something that sees, feels, or moves, violence will continue to thrive on that something. You can’t kill it overnight.”

Violence is not only a complicated concept, but also nature itself. To end it would be purging everything as well.

Tsukasa then realizes that you share the same beliefs as Senku. Before he pushes more out of you, the said scientist includes himself. 

“Now that that’s outta the way, we need to continue with our progression.” Senku sits beside you. “As I told that big oaf over there, we’re still in step one currently.”

“The first step of many, right?” A nervous laugh came from you.

“That’s science, I fear.”

“Senku, I have a question.” Tsukasa speaks up once more, the three of you then turn to him. He’s been asking a lot of questions lately, and that feels rather dangerous. 

“If this is about earlier, I already told you—“

“How did you break us out of the stone?”

You silently turn to Taiju, making sure he won’t accidentally blurt out the existence of nitric acid. But then once you look at Senku, you start to think about how he will respond to Tsukasa’s question. 

Tsukasa’s curiosity was inevitable. The longer he stays with you three, the more he will grow curious as to how Senku’s plan would be executed. It was only a matter of time, but you didn’t expect it to be this early on. 

Perhaps Senku will just lie about the existence of the revival fluid—

Senku sighs. “There’s a fluid.”

You sweat nervously. 

“A fluid?” Tsukasa wonders out loud.

You try to hide your reaction, will he really reveal the formula right away?

You hear Senku laugh, almost as if trying to lure something in. “It’ll be a waste of time to explain it, it’s better off showing and admiring the science behind it.”

Apparently, Senku had already ordered Taiju to grab the ceramic bottle of nitric acid that was reserved for the revival of Yuzuriha. 

When the four of you finished breakfast and returned back to camp, Tsukasa watched as Senku opened the bottle and poured its contents through a primitive purifier.

“Is Yuzuriha all dressed up?” Taiju turned to you as you were left to check up on Yuzuriha’s clothing on her statue.

“All ready.”

Taiju smiles, gleaming with excitement like a little kid about to receive his gift on Christmas. “Yuzuriha, after all these years, we’re finally going to free you—“

“What the hell? This is hardly enough to revive one person.” Senku complained, setting aside the bottle and turning to Taiju. “Did you grab the wrong container I placed?”

“What?! I was so excited that I didn’t even notice! If that’s the case, I’m going to grab more!” 

“Be quick, you big oaf.” Senku stands up and eyes Tsukasa from the side. “I don’t wanna stay here all day playing charades while waiting for you.”

You catch up to Taiju. “I’ll come along too—“ 

Almost immediately, you feel Tsukasa’s hand gripping the back of your collar, you turn to see Taiju in the same position. 

“If you’re in such a hurry, I can be the one to grab it for you.” Tsukasa’s hand still remained on your collar, if he wanted to, he would have lifted you up from the ground without much effort. “So this fluid, where is it?”

“Take Y/n with you, she has a good memory, she’ll show you the direction.” Senku urges, earning a surprised look from you. “Y/n, remember the cave Taiju woke up in?”

“I do.” 

Tsukasa seemed doubtful about this. “You’re chasing time, right? If she tags along, it might take longer—“

“I can catch up.” That off-putting smile of yours makes its way up on your face as you stare at Tsukasa.

In the end, Tsukasa finds himself agreeing. 

Before running off, you turn to Senku, seeing as he subtly brings up his hand, motioning at the front of his wrist: Buy time.

“Though I won’t stop if you tell me to, Y/n.” The moment Tsukasa runs towards the direction you and Taiju were heading earlier, you immediately catch up to his pace. 

Tsukasa notices the way you swiftly avoided any hurdles in front, you have good technique with running, even if you were lagging behind him a bit. That was when he started to realize that he had built a wrong image of you. 

“Left—“ And the way you manage to easily swerve and change directions while keeping momentum, Tsukasa starts to think that you aren’t just a philosopher. 

Your breath was still steady, another thing that caught Tsukasa by surprise. He realized one more thing: You’re really good with how you control your body. He wonders if this is the only thing you’re hiding, and just how wrong he really was. 

You two stop just by the cliff. You point down to that familiar cave. “Over there, that’s where the fluid is.”

It didn’t take long until you two made your way down the cliff, you used the branches that stuck out to swing your way down. Tsukasa observes at the familiar stance of a falling position as your feet come in contact with the ground. He recognized it to be gymnastics. 

Once you entered the cave, you were left to pour the few remains of the nitric acid into a small bottle that Senku had left inside the cave. 

The bat guano was enough to tell Tsukasa what the revival fluid was. “This… It’s nitric acid?”

You stand up, holding the bottle that housed a few drops of the acid. “Yeah.”

When the two of you left the cave, you were starting to wonder if Yuzuriha had already been revived by now, and what Senku intended to do after. If he chooses to run away with the two, you’d waste no time in catching up to them before Tsukasa does. 

“Y/n,” You stop once you hear Tsukasa, you then see him looking at a petrified family of four. “Has anyone ever wronged you before?”

“No,” You answer. There were harsh people you’ve stumbled upon back then, and then there was your mother who always pushed you to newer things without waiting for your approval, but you think none of them really wronged you. 

“If someone were to hurt your family, make your mother cry, make your father feel pain,” You fiercely scowl at the way he says his words. “Would you still want them to break free from the stone?”

“No,” You face him. “I wouldn’t.”

Tsukasa lets out a proud smile. “I knew it. I knew you and I would eventually share a common perspective, you shouldn’t hide your thoughts like that. This stone world is an opportunity to cleanse the old world of greedy people that reeks of corruption and booze.”

You watch in silence as he crushes the parents of the petrified kids.

In a way, his beliefs almost sound tempting. But you’ve already accepted long ago that it wouldn’t be that easy. The existence of evil cannot be relieved.

“We would only need to revive the younger generation, the ones who are free of atrocities. If we could only get Senku to stop with the evolution of science—“

“I don’t plan on joining you, Tsukasa.”

This makes Tsukasa glower at you once more. If you were helpless, you would have kept your mouth shut. 

“With this plan of yours, I take it your only target is Senku, right?” There was a hint of hostility at your words. “That’s a bit of a solipsistic perspective.“

From his expression, Tsukasa doesn’t seem to understand your direction though. 

“Tell me, what are the chances of another genius like Senku to awaken themselves from the stone? Another genius who doesn’t share Senku’s morals, for further clarification.” But you answer in his stead. “Very, very low. But not quite low enough to be considered as impossible.”

Tsukasa’s silence grew more and more apparent as you continued on. 

“Even if you get Senku to stop from dealing with science again, this unnamed genius would have taken his place without you even knowing.” It sounded like a stretch, but you were willing to stall more time for Senku and the others. “Do you see my point?”

“You’re taking this possibility in an exaggerated sense.”

“Perhaps.” You admit. “Though it’s quite simple really. Seven billion petrified people, and only four high school students breaking out of it? The numbers just don't add up.”

Tsukasa seems to have taken his attention away from the statues and started to approach you instead.

“Have you ever truly mulled it over? Staying put in one place when there are billions of people out there is a thought that I always think about. Maybe there have been even a few who broke out of the stone. And maybe they have evolved using science, reaching to the point of creating weaponry.”

His sneer starts to grow sharper at your musings. 

“That’s your limit, right? Tsukasa.” You grin provokingly, you bring up your hand, mimicking a gun. “Just one bullet through the head is enough, then… Bam—“

For a split second, you see Tsukasa’s fist swinging towards you.

Your eyes widen in surprise, only having a few moments to jump up and tumble your way up a branch to dodge the attack. 

He’s getting violent. 

“Hm, I should’ve known. You aren’t a philosopher, are you? You’re quite good at dodging.” 

Hopefully that’s all you ever plan to do. 

You toss the ceramic bottle of nitric acid as Tsukasa briefly catches it. “Get that to Senku, will you?”

He widens his eyes. “Are you serious about that plan of yours?”

You bathe in his confusion, offering a simple smile that you know he can see. “You shouldn’t let people mess with you.”

Then you fled. 

After a few seconds of hopping, you don’t see Tsukasa trailing you. You make a long detour back to camp while mulling over the fact that you had just managed to confuse Tsukasa that you’re about to flee the country. 

As far as you know, he probably thinks you won’t show face back at camp. 

You hope Senku’s plan will complement your ruse. 

Chapter Text

When you finally reached camp after the extremely far detour, you were greeted with the sight of an un-petrified Yuzuriha worriedly hunched over Taiju, who seemed to be bleeding by the head. Thankfully, Senku is still fine though.

You decided it was safe for you to approach them as there wasn’t any sign of Tsukasa close. 

“Y/n!” Yuzuriha called in surprise, watching as you engulf her into an overdue hug. “You’re all right!”

“Yeah, I am.” You pull back. “Welcome back, Yuzuriha. Sorry it took us nearly a year to break you out.”

You then hear Senku scoff behind you. “It wasn’t even half a year yet, I thought it would have taken a longer time to develop a revival fluid.” 

“Thanks to you.” 

“And you.”

Yuzuriha watched as you and Senku stared at each other, starting to wonder about what’s going on with your sudden stare down. But there was no ill-intent with the way you gaze at each other. 

Then Senku suddenly remembers why he could never win in a staring contest against you. He broke his stare and went over to Taiju before kicking him awake. “Oi, wake up! Come on, as if a blow like that would be enough to knock you over!”

“S-Senku! Didn’t you say Taiju needed a few days to recover?!” Yuzuriha panicked as the unconscious Taiju started jerking awake. 

“Yeah, in front of Tsukasa. Surely this big idiot isn’t this weak.” 

“Yeah!”

You and Yuzuriha flinched as Taiju immediately stood up, ignoring how his head was completely bleeding. You then asked what had happened to get him that injury. “Taiju took a blow against Tsukasa.”

“Yeah, you won’t believe what this guy said.” Senku baffles, relaying what had happened earlier when Tsukasa was here. “He said that Tsukasa can hit him all he wants, as long as he doesn’t destroy any more statues.”

“Eh… uhm, how righteous of him? I guess?”

“Don’t encourage him.” Senku looked at both you and Taiju. “So what happened when you were stalling?”

“Oh, right. We were worried when Tsukasa returned without you! He said that you had already left or something!” Taiju turned to you in anticipation, worried that something else might have happened when you were alone with Tsukasa. 

“Ah, well.” You sweat, wondering if the stunt that you pulled off was believable or not. “I think I might have confused Tsukasa into thinking I was fleeing the country.”

You hear Senku laugh in distraught, “Y-You managed to confuse him by what?!”

“You said to buy time!” Senku continued to laugh at this, it took a couple of seconds before he calmed down. “After he told me about his plan for the stone world, I brought up the idea that there might also be other geniuses out there like Senku who have woken up, then I kinda used that to scare him, I think…”

Senku hums, “So basically you told him about TUST and he believed it. You really got the guts of a theorist to make him believe you.”

“TUST?” Yuzuriha and Taiju both looked at you and Senku in confusion. 

“Y/n here had a theory that we aren’t the only ones who have broken out of stone,” Senku explained, before the two could expand on the subject, Senku directed the attention to something else. “We have to start progressing civilization if we want to stand a chance against Tsukasa. There’s one invention that can fully stop his reign.”

“Is it a smartphone?!”

“You must really like smartphones. But no, I’m talking about guns.”

Guns? 

“We’re going to make gunpowder!” Senku grins evilly, something akin to that of a mad scientist. “Starting from now, we’re warping our civilization ahead millions of years, this is exhilarating!”

“Very exciting.” You smile nervously. So you were resorting to violence, cool. You’ll gladly support what Senku decides on. 

“We have to make Tsukasa think we ran off with our pants down at how scared we are.” Senku explains as you three follow him up the tree house. “Time to start ruining a few things!”

“Are you sure?!” Taiju panics. 

“It’ll be a waste!” Yuzuriha’s argument makes sense, you spent time making the house really comfortable. 

“Don’t worry, we only need to break the pots to make it believable—“

“Or…” You stop Senku’s hand from reaching the pots at the side. “We can leave it be.”

The three looked at you, Yuzuriha and Taiju agreeing almost immediately while Senku went quiet and listened. 

“Wouldn’t it be more believable if we didn’t purposely break anything? It’ll cause more confusion for Tsukasa whether we left temporarily or not.” You explain to them. 

“You sure that’s the only reason you have?” Senku grins while putting down his arms back to his side.

“That, and also because…” You look inside the house. From the sleeping area to the curtains that were covering the window to keep the cold out, and even the remains of Trots’ mud house, you only did it so you would all feel homely inside. “I wouldn’t want the house to be messy.”

You could already tell that Taiju was about to yell before he could even do it. “Y/n’s right!!! We shouldn’t ruin the same house that sheltered us!!”

“I agree! Even though I didn’t really stay here, a home is still a home!” Yuzuriha followed in pursuit, though not as loud as Taiju, she was still lively. 

Senku looked at you three in bewilderment. “I never meant we were ruining the house itself.” Though his words were left unheard. “Fine, start packing you three! We’re going on a trip to get the materials for making gunpowder, just eight kilometers away!”

“Oh!!! Where are we going?!”

“Hakone.”

“Hakone!!! Hot springs!!”

“This isn’t a road trip.” Senku watches as you three celebrate. “Make sure to pack only the needed items. We’re walking all the way there.”

“I really think I should carry you.” You say as Senku heaves tiredly, it wasn’t even that far off from the camp yet. 

“I told you, there’s no need—“ Senku was then interrupted when he tried to catch his breath once again. 

“Maybe it’s time for a quick break,” Yuzuriha sweats as the scientist was on the brink of collapsing. She then looked around to see you were all in a spot near a cliff. “This seems like a good place for one.”

“Yeah, it gives us more time for Senku to explain the details!” Taiju excitedly turns to the heaving Senku. “Not that I would understand any of it though! But once we get to Hakone, then we’ll be able to make gunpowder, right?”

“That’s quite a long walk. It’ll take us a day or two if we include rest hours.” 

“Y/n, if it comes down to it, we’ll carry Yuzuriha and Senku on our backs!” 

“I agree with you, Taiju.”

“Guys, I think we’re able to walk all the way through.” Yuzuriha sweats as she watches you two agree simultaneously. 

“Only endurance-filled people like the two of you are able to run two marathons at once.” Senku finally got up, pulling out a wooden sextant. 

“What’s that?”

“A sextant.” You answer on behalf of Senku. “So you still made one?”

“Yeah, but it’s total shit with its accuracy. And with the axial tilt having changed, it’ll take a while for me to get used to it…” You hear Senku sigh. “It’s been 35,980 seconds since the sun rose today…”

“He really spit out something amazing!” You and Taiju laugh at Yuzuriha’s reaction, you forgot this would be the first time she had first seen Senku’s counting abilities. Taiju started to explain to her how Senku counted to a hundred billion seconds, and Yuzuriha expectedly reacted like how a normal person would. That meaning, she couldn’t quite comprehend how Senku was capable of pulling it off. 

“We’re around Kamakura, if only there was a landmark or something. Then I’d have an accurate read on our current latitude and longitude.” With the swing of his hand, the wooden sextant returned back to Senku’s bag. 

“There should be at least a landmark around here!” Taiju started to look around, relying on his eyesight to see anything. 

“Landmarks, huh?” You wonder for a while. You and your family didn’t really get to explore a lot of Japan together, the last family trip you remember is probably the funeral of your late grandfather (it wasn’t even a family trip, it was just the last event that you remember going to as a complete family).

You look at Yuzuriha, who started to run towards the trees. “Yuzuriha?!”

The three of you followed her, far ahead was an open field, completely derived from any trees and grass. You run past the new variant of cherry blossoms, and eventually you enter the small field to see the Great Buddha of Kamakura that you kept seeing from images online. 

“Heh, I know exactly where we are.” You start to blur out Senku’s words before turning to Yuzuriha as tears fall from her eyes. 

“Yuzuriha?!” Taiju panicked at the sight of the crying girl. You didn’t waste time to bring out a piece of clean fabric from one of the bags you were carrying and wiped the girl’s tears. “Did someone make you cry? Was it me?!”

“N-No, it’s not that! I’m not crying—well I am but,” You laugh at Yuzuriha’s fluttering, confusing both herself and Taiju. “Thank you, Y/n.” The girl sniffed.

“You’re welcome, I understand how stirring it is.” The girl smiles at your assurance, taking the piece of cloth from your hands as she wiped her own tears. “But at least we’re all together, you know?”

“Yeah,” Yuzuriha nods, her mouth forming a smile once again. “I just woke up and everything that had happened doesn’t feel real at all,” She looks back at the statue. “But seeing the Great Buddha still standing, it made me realize that this was Japan.”

“Once we beat Tsukasa, we’re going to save all of humanity,” Senku assures the three of you, drawing closer to your little huddle. 

“Yeah! I mean, even the Great Buddha has shown us the way! Even after thousands of years have passed, it’s still standing until today!” It was always nice seeing Taiju cheer up Yuzuriha. “Doesn’t that symbolize—uh, it symbolizes… Tentaclecity?”

“Has Y/n rubbed her sense of words on you or something? It doesn’t fit you one millimeter, big oaf.” Senku cringes as you and Yuzuriha are left to giggle at Taiju’s attempt. “It’s tenacity! And also the statue is made out of bronze, scientifically, it just doesn’t corrode.”

“And that’s supported by the lack of grass around here, it’s been exposed to the bronze ions which is usually toxic.”

“Oh! Bronze can help with more accuracy for the sextant!” Senku then rushes towards the statue with a stone hammer. “Excuse me Mister Buddha!”

“Senku! No!! You’ll anger the heavens!!”

“You’re extremely fired up today.” Senku looks down as Taiju struggles with pulling the raft upstream of the river. 

“Here, let me help you Taiju.” You grab one of the ropes tied to the tied logs and jump into the water beside Taiju. 

“Eh, Y/n your clothes are all wet.” Yuzuriha points out. 

“It’s fine, I can always dry off.” Before pulling with all your strength, you notice a part of Yuzuriha’s feet that’s still encased with stone. “Yuzuriha, you still have stone on you.”

“Ah, I just left it be since I didn’t want to be much of a bother.” 

“What?! Yuzuriha is still petrified?!”

“Does it hurt if I do this?” You start to put pressure on the petrified part, hoping you can just slide it right off. But you ditch the idea when Yuzuriha nods hesitantly. 

“The revival fluid!” Taiju stopped his pulling to turn to Senku.

“Once we get out of this raft. For now, keep pulling you big idiot.” Senku then urged Taiju to continue with his labor before turning to you. “You too Y/n. Pull.” You break out of your focus when you feel Senku nudging you with his makeshift oar. 

“Yes, your highness.” 

When you all got off the raft, Taiju didn’t waste any time and snatched the bottle right off of Senku to pour it on Yuzuriha’s foot. 

“Woah! It’s cold, but the parts that were sore are fading away!” You listen as Yuzuriha admires the fluid in amazement. 

“Huh, it is?”

“Does the revival fluid also help recover from fatigue too?!”

“Nah, how could it have such an effect?” Senku says as you stand up beside him. “It’s only when you’re out of the petrifaction state, minor damages are repaired. That’s why we’re completely fine even if we have cracks all over us.”

“Cracks?” You thought loudly, so the tattoos on Senku’s face weren’t actually tattoos, but literal cracks. 

“We were all left unprotected as statues for thousands of years, there might have been instances when we’re hit by something. Like here.” You shiver at the sudden touch of Senku’s cold hand tracing over the cracks you had on your exposed skin.

You hum. “So that’s what it was.” Senku has still yet to retract his hand from your skin, you were thinking if you should break his focus away or not. His hand was a bit cold though, you wonder why.

After a few more seconds, Senku seemed to be really lost in deep thought when he still hadn't taken his hand off of you. You only assume he was lost at thought in his mind. 

“So Senku,” Taiju broke Senku out of his sudden trance, immediately snatching his own hand off of you in a hurry that made you start to question why. “Which way are we headed next?”

“Huh—right. I mean, straight, forward.” Senku stumbled, eventually sighing and failing to regain his composure. “You already know where we’re heading to.”

“Hot springs?!” Both Taiju and Yuzuriha gleam excitedly. 

The remaining walk to the top of the hot spring was relatively easy for anyone who wasn’t Senku. 

In the end, the guy ditched his little pride and landed himself on your back. Something that made Senku realize why he hadn’t succumbed to this effort long before. You were carrying Senku on your back, and at this point of his exhaustion, he doesn’t care anymore. 

“Hot springs!!” You hear the two in front of you celebrate in joy and go into awe at the amazing view of Mount Fuji. 

Before Taiju could finish constructing a wooden barrier to separate the hot spring, he already found you and Senku in one of the bigger pools of warm spring water, only a small space separating the two of you. 

“Y-Y/n?!?” Yuzuriha blushes madly at the sight of you and Senku, beside each other, you know… naked and all. Though, anyone who knew Senku would know that he genuinely does not care. 

“S-Senku! You should at least wait for me to finish the wall before jumping in with Y/n!” Taiju shrieks, starting to fasten his pace with building the wall that he eventually finishes. 

“But Senku is tired.”

“I’m tired.” 

“Y/n was the one who carried you all the way here!” Taiju then gently dragged Senku to one side of the hot spring, away from you before slamming down the wooden wall between you two. “There!”

It wasn’t long before Yuzuriha joined you, the exhaustion from all the hiking started to dissipate all completely. 

“Even now, Y/n still spoils Senku a lot.” Yuzuriha laughs, remembering a lot of times when you would always submit to Senku’s demands whenever you had the chance. 

“Really? I’m just giving him what he asks for.”

“That’s spoiling…” Yuzuriha smiles as you slip in a chuckle, finding her words to be accurate. Perhaps the words just didn’t feel right in your head. 

“Oh! Remember when the school had this limited curry bread that everyone wanted?” You both hear Taiju’s voice from the other side, Senku was surprisingly quiet, likely taking in the hot spring. “Senku didn’t have a chance to get it before another student!”

Yuzuriha giggles, “Isn’t that when Y/n threatened the student to give it to her so Senku can have it?”

“Hey, I didn’t threaten him! I kindly asked to pay for it, but the guy just gave it to me and ran away…” You recall the confusing situation from the past. 

“He froze and peed his pants.” Senku comments. 

“Everyone started to call Y/n as Medusa again right after it happened!” Taiju glees at remembering the rumors.

“You’re one to talk, big oaf.” You finally hear Senku’s voice that somehow seemed to have softened. “You tumbled down the stairs and ran over a teacher just to get to the cafeteria line first.”

“Because I didn’t want any of us to run out of the curry bread! It was the last day they were selling it for!”

“Yeah but why did you buy a dozen…”

“So we can all have three each!” When Taiju said this, all of you were shocked. 

“Did you just do basic math?” Senku asks in utter disbelief, as if Taiju was never capable of doing such a thing.

“Good job, Taiju!” You hear Yuzuriha clap. 

“Aww, did you remember all of the math lessons Senku taught you?” You grin fondly.

“Hey! It's basic division!”

“He even knows what kind of operation it is!” You all lose it at this, breaking out into fits of heavy laughters and sweet mirth. 

“Now that I remember, I didn’t get a chance to pass my paper before the bell rang—It’s still blank!”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure your recent skill at division will be enough to make you pass.”

“It was an English quiz.”

For the entire evening, the four of you filled the foggy night with laughter and pleasant reminiscence. You find joy every time another person brings up a seemingly random memory to make fun of.

For the night you pretend that everything was normal, that there was no murderer out to get you, that there was school the next day, that you were all just normal teenagers that are sharing the same kind of levity that you wish would last just a little longer. 

For the night, you just forget. 

Laughter is a sticky word, if you try getting it off it’ll eventually rub on you and you’ll find yourself laughing.

The night started to feel just right again. 

Chapter Text

The four of you immediately dried off and went slamming against your sleeping bags, heading straight off to sleep. But the moment you wake up, Senku didn’t waste any more time and started working. 

“Fortunately, Japan is a country with lots of volcanoes. It’s an all-you-can-grab shopping spree on the core material for gunpowder,” Senku grins excitedly as he mined a spot near the hot springs, revealing the minerals. “Sulfur!”

“You’re very excited.” You feel fond of Senku’s expression as he mined for the minerals that dropped down to a bag.

“I’ve never had this much sulfur before!” You smile at Senku’s enthusiasm for making something explosive.

“I wonder if Tsukasa noticed that we’re gone,” Yuzuriha says aloud, you figured that Taiju must have already caught her up about everything that happened. 

“He’s been breaking the statue of those people that are still petrified.” Taiju fists his hands. “We have to put a stop to him!”

“Don’t forget that that’s what we came here for.”” Senku then drops down a bunch of charcoal on the ground. “We’ve gathered all the needed ingredients for the gunpowder, all we have to do is mix!”

So then you combined the three ingredients together in one bag. First came in the sulfur, then the pieces of charcoal that were snapped into shorter sizes. What caught you scared you for a moment was when Senku brought up saltpeter, something that takes a stupidly long time to make. But all your worries disappeared when Senku pulled up with a decent sized bag of it; prepared in advance. 

“That’s about the right balance…” Senku finishes adding the necessary materials as you continue to stir the minerals together. “Well-behaved kids should never make this, ever.”

“Then you probably landed yourself on Santa’s naughty list.” 

“Do you guys think Santa was turned to stone too?” Taiju asks, earning a scoff from Senku. 

You nudge Senku to stay silent. “Most likely,” You reply. 

Finally after stirring, all that’s left is to hit it until it hardens. A job Taiju took over at. 

“Leave the heavy lifting to me!” What made you think twice was the massive boulder that Taiju was holding. 

“W-Wait Taiju! Let’s think this through!” Yuzuriha, smartly, stops the guy. “If you hit it really hard, won’t the gunpowder ignite—you know, like flint?!”

“No, actually, you can’t get a spark by hitting two of the same rock.” 

“Yeah… about that.” You hum, before you could even realize, Senku had already paled, and Taiju was already smashing the iron pyrite onto the bag of gunpowder.

“Oh shit—“ You grab Senku’s arm before the sparks from the bag eventually turn into an explosion. 

His heart rate just spiked. Because of the gunpowder, not you.

“What a success!” The crazed Senku admired the smoke from the gunpowder. 

“We’re going to fight Tsukasa with this?” Both Taiju and Yuzuriha turned to Senku, who snapped out from his trance with the explosives. 

“We’ll make an exchange.”

Taiju and Yuzuriha seemed to be a bit relieved. 

“Really? I was ready to fight him off using this.” You insert. 

Senku chuckles, “Tsukasa is not much different from a soldier. He isn’t a killing machine once you get past communication. He even mentioned an exchange when he fought Taiju.”

“Ah, so negotiation.” You stare at the gunpowder. “But Senku, let’s—“

“Let’s look at it from different angles? Yeah, way ahead of you.” You giggle at this point. “Well, there’s really only two ways this can go about: it ends in a good way and we all build civilization as one big happy family, or Tsukasa kills us.”

His way of phrasing it took a dark turn. 

“If Tsukasa has already decided before we could negotiate, we’re game over.” Senku relays, you turn to him with a worried glance, but something behind him caught your eye. “For now, let’s put out the fire and—“

“Senku,” You point behind him. “Look.”

Behind him, from afar, smoke was starting to come out from the forest. A signal.

“I-Is it Tsukasa?!” Yuzuriha asked in a frenzy. 

“Maybe a forest fire?!”

“Tsukasa wouldn’t reveal his position, and it’s the opposite direction.” You explain all possibilities. “A forest fire isn’t possible, winter just ended.”

“That means…” 

Senku was still silent as he gazed in bafflement at the smoke that was starting to become more noticeable. You started to wonder if you should shake him out of this sudden crisis he’s caught up in his head. But you find yourself not needing to when Senku grins. 

“That theory if yours must be in full swing,” He chuckles, before motioning over to you three. “Light up the fire!”

You notice Taiju and Yuzuriha hesitating at first, but none of the suspicion of it being Tsukasa lined up, and so you all follow his instructions. You were going to have some allies, hopefully. 

The fire started to become bigger and brighter, creating more black smoke that floated right up the sky. You started to think whether this was a good idea.

When the gunpowder was starting to run out, you were ordered to gather some wood to continue the fire. But Senku stops you. 

“Y/n,” You turn at the call of your name, noticing that Senku is still staring off into the smoke. You hear him whisper something under his breath. “It’s reachable.”

“Senku?” 

Senku finally turned to you with an expression that had a mix of troubled and reliance. “With your speed, you can reach their position in time.”

You then look down at the forest, noticing another smoke signal that was starting to arise. That makes two. 

“No doubt they’re planning on setting another smoke signal after our gunpowder exploded thrice. Everything we’re doing is a gamble, I don’t know if Tsukasa has already noticed our position or if this person behind the signals isn’t all screwed up in the head…” He lets out another nervous smile that might be on the brink of collapse. “I trust you’ll be able to handle—“

Senku stops when he turns to look at your expression. Eyes widened in bitter realization. 

“You want me to run to this mysterious person, risking you alone against Tsukasa?”

“No, Tsukasa wouldn’t catch on.” You worry. “You told me we shouldn’t leave any obvious tracks for Tsukasa, that’ll be enough to confuse him from the start.” Somehow, none of his words felt convincing. “We just have to make sure to get that person on our side.”

You sweat at his orders.

“You don’t have to do any confrontation with them if you feel like they’re dangerous, you can just take a look and come back immediately, okay?”

You doubt everything about this. “Okay.” But you still follow his instructions. 

With hesitation, you start to head off to the pointed mark that Senku told, where the mysterious person might be heading to in order to light another smoke signal. 

As you run, you leap over any roots or rocks that might hinder your momentum. You feel the air against your face, normally it would have felt nice, but it was humid. Rain might follow soon. 

You feel like you’re underestimating the entire situation a bit too much. 

You’ve been running for some minutes now. It took longer than anticipated, you had to change directions when you realized you strayed too far off the given path. 

Your location was now further away to where Senku and the others were. You see the smoke from the openings of the trees ahead of you. You’re close. 

You switch to hopping on the trees, hoping to avoid startling the person you might come across. 

Suddenly, you see a spot of yellow—or blonde in this case. You stop, staying still and quiet on the tree you’re on, watching the unknown lady throwing more sticks onto the fire.

She was staring off into the distance, to the fire that you and your friends were creating. She was equipped with weapons, you see the two handles of daggers behind what seemed like a circular shield. 

Maybe a confrontation wouldn’t be bad. It would help much more rather than just taking a look. 

So you drop down to the ground, still quiet enough that she doesn’t seem to notice. You knock loudly on the wood as you approach her, “Excuse me—“

You felt like you were reliving your experience with Tsukasa as you see the blonde suddenly launching at you with the one of the daggers now unleashed from her back. 

All you did was jump up and tumble backwards, the same way you did when Tsukasa first attacked you. You would have used your Aikido, but you figured pushing her face on the ground would be a bad first impression. 

But you were surprised at how the girl seemed to stare at you in awe, as if she hadn’t seen anything similar to your moves. 

You raise both your hands, showing your back to her. “I’m unarmed.”

It was true, Senku had sent you off in a hurry that you didn’t bring anything else with you. 

The girl was still cautious though, you don’t get offended by it. You turn to face her again, looking at the fire behind her. “My name is Y/n, and me and my friends saw the smoke you set off.  You’re really smart for setting up three signals.”

“Huh… were you the one who made the mountain roar?” 

“Roar?” Does she speak in a metaphorical manner?

“That black smoke.”

“Ah… that’s from gunpowder.” It was a long story to explain it to her, so you figured you might just tell what you were making. 

“Gunpowder?” Now this really catches you off-guard. “You mean sorcery!?”

“Um,” You sweat, you might as well start to question her like you would a normal person for interrogation. “May I ask—how were you able to break free from the stone?”

You see her widened her eyes—they were really beautiful ones too. “Stone? Those stone statues around the forest?”

“Yes, did you break free from the stone?”

There was a flash of hesitance in her eyes. “No.”

This time, your eyes were the ones that widened. 

If she didn’t break free from the stone, then maybe her ancestors were the one to do so. 

Other people in the past who have broken out of the petrification state might have bore children, but didn’t pass any of their knowledge about breaking out of stone. It didn’t make sense.

“Three of my friends and I were once one of these statues, we broke free and found our way here. We’re planning on restarting civilization back from the modern age.”

“Hold on—civilization? What are you talking about!” 

“Can I ask what your name is?” 

She seemed to continue to hesitate, her hand that held the dagger was lowered but still alert. You were about to shake off the question when she replied. “Kohaku.”

You smile, she’s cooperating. “Kohaku, I’ll quickly tell you a few things before I head back to my friends, yeah?”

Kohaku had so many questions. Who are you? Where were you from? Why do you look so relaxed despite having just been attacked? Why were you the only one here if you have friends? And why do you speak in a way that Kohaku finds really nice to listen to? 

The girl notices you breathe carefully, “Humans have developed many different inventions to help them solve their problems. But thousands of years ago, there was a light that turned every human into stone, those years were enough to get rid of every invention that humans have created. They have all turned into dust.”

“What—W-Wait!” Kohaku looks at you in bewilderment. “Humans from years ago made… a lot of things? What did they make exactly?”

“Anything. They made tools to talk to other people from far away, tools to help the elderly move, tools to help for learning, even tools for curing illnesses.” You don’t miss the way how Kohaku’s eyes glimmer at this information. “The answer is anything.”

“Anything?”

You nod. You wonder how she’s taking this all in. So far, your theory of Kohaku being a descendant from past modern people seemed to have been true, but you don’t quite confirm it yet. 

Suddenly, you remember Senku. 

Kohaku perks up at your sudden alert, looking at you as you turn your head back, seemingly frenzied. “Kohaku, I’m sorry I didn’t get to explain a lot, but I need to get back to my friends.”

“What? What do you mean? Why?”

“There’s this man. He’s out to kill my friends.”

This gets a reaction from Kohaku. But she doesn’t get any time to get more explanation out of you when you start to run back from where you came from. You run really fast. Kohaku questions how you were so quick. 

You thought that would have been the temporary end of your communication with Kohaku, but instead you noticed the girl following behind you. A wave of hope washed over you, wondering if she could help you and your friends out. 

“How do you run so fast?” Kohaku asked from behind you, normally you would have avoided engaging in conversation while running to preserve your breath, but you answered her. 

“I was professionally trained. I had a really good teacher who taught me many techniques.” You smile at her curiosity, you find it amazing how speedy she was as well. “You’re very fast too, did someone teach you?”

“No, I taught myself.”

“Hm, self-teaching and experience? You’re very hardworking then.”

Kohaku doesn’t usually take in strangers very well, but she grins at how you toned your voice. It wasn’t the same praises she’d hear back at her place, it somehow felt different.

“So, this man that you mentioned,” Kohaku brought up, still caught up behind you. “He’s out to kill you and your friends?”

“Yes, I need to get back and protect them. I’m not sure if the man has already found them or not, but…” Kohaku doesn’t miss the way you say it with hostility. “Kohaku, right now you shouldn’t be seen by that man, who knows what he might do if he starts thinking you’re a threat to his plans. You have a family, right?”

Kohaku’s eyes widened in realization briefly before her fierce expression returned. “Yeah.”

You hum, “It’s only for now, I’m not sure how long it’ll take for Tsukasa to know of your existence. But that timeframe will be enough.”

You notice the familiar surroundings of the bottom of the mountain where the hot springs were located. You start to speed up even more when you notice the smoke from the gunpowder wasn’t worsening. 

“Kohaku, have you heard of gymnastics?”

“No.”

“Do you know how to hop on trees?”

“Yes.”

You’re getting near the upward path, so you figured to switch to moving through trees to avoid exhausting your legs. 

Kohaku watches as you tumble forward before jumping up to latch on a tree branch, propping yourself up and hopping on the branches swiftly.

You’re agile. Kohaku follows your path and trails behind you. 

“That’s gymnastics, it’s really good for your movements.” Even though you felt too stressed to teach and explain, you still gave Kohaku an explanation.

“Is that also one of the humans’ inventions?”

“Well, you could say that.” You halt. “Kohaku, wait.”

Kohaku then stops beside you, turning to look forwards. You see him. Tsukasa. 

“Are those your friends?” Kohaku asks, but you don’t find yourself answering. 

Because Tsukasa walks past Senku, and with a swing of his arm, tragedy has befallen.

You watch as Senku collapses on the ground.

Suddenly, the world felt a little dimmer.

You underestimated Tsukasa too much. 

You always thought yourself to have a lot of self-control. 

It was one of the things your mother has taught you early on in your childhood, how she made it out to be so crucial for your character.

But you feel like all of your lessons with her were thrown off a cliff when you wanted to chase after Tsukasa. 

It wasn’t the most ideal thought, you’d most likely lose even if you held on for a while. But you really wanted to. 

Though even if you did, would it even make you feel better?

Senku can’t be dead.

You almost forgot where you were standing and who you were with. “Hey! Snap out of it!” Kohaku aided your arms before you could fall, shaking you out of your thoughts. “What do you plan on doing? I say we take down this murderer—“

“No,” Kohaku notes the difference in your voice, it changed from what she heard earlier. “Senku said I shouldn’t let Tsukasa know about you…”

The girl blinks at this, “You’re thinking about that? Your friend just died!” Kohaku reminded you.

“If Tsukasa dies, will everything get better?” 

Kohaku stutters on her words, not knowing what to respond. Your way of speaking is different to what she’s used to. 

But the girl knows suffering when she sees it, you’re no different from that. She can tell from the way your eyes widened in horror, as if all of hell just broke loose. 

Then you dropped down on the ground, dashing towards where Yuzuriha and Taiju took Senku to. You didn’t take the time to see if Kohaku would follow you or not, but you were too blinded with despair. 

Rain started to fall. 

Chapter Text

The air that the storm brought smelled of tragedy.

When her cries halted for a moment, Yuzuriha raised her head. It was heavy from the weather and her emotions, but when she did, she was met with the sight of you. 

Or at least she hoped it was still you. It started to seem grim. Part of you felt so different from the girl she met thousands of years ago at middle school. 

You looked more battered than you were before. 

And she knows it was all because of Senku. 

Every time a heavy drop of rain would splatter onto your body, a tremble or two were to follow. You wanted to scream your lungs out, to spat yourself out of your own throat for some sort of release, but you couldn’t. Every part of you was completely numb. 

Your eyes were starting to feel misty, perhaps from the rainwater dripping through your eyelashes, or from the way it was widened as if affliction had completely taken over your face. Perhaps it did.

The weather was uncomfortable, your hair and clothes were completely soaked, latching onto your body like it was a second skin.

The sound of Taiju’s agonized yells along with the raging thunder was a wretched combination, Yuzuriha’s call for your name suddenly made the noise more doleful. 

And somehow, his missing voice made it more torturous. 

You start to not hear anything at all. 

His cold body started to become a sight you wanted to forget. You no longer want to see Taiju’s failed attempts at trying to bring his friend back, you no longer want to see Yuzuriha’s expression at trying to bring you back to reality. 

So you hung your head, widened eyes cursing at the muddied ground, the grayish sight was more appealing than the mischance happening.

You don’t know whether to feel relieved or at fault when Yuzuriha stopped calling for you.

Then your thoughts brought you to what would have been.

If only you could have stayed by his side from the start. If only you didn’t follow his instructions. Only then all of this would have been avoided. If only Tsukasa just kept his promise.

That bitter name.

Your mind feels empty, but you feel your chest gravely full. 

You felt like drowning, maybe the rain came to wash you away. Because what are you without him? What were you before he came?

You were just a girl whose mother would always teach her something too big for a child. A girl with a father who taught her how love works using complicated words and flowery metaphors.

You were a girl who always looked forward whenever Sundays would arrive. 

Only then weren’t you just a girl, you were also a friend; his friend. You don’t want to change that. You never want to.

The weakening of your knees started to become more noticeable every passing moment you were left to stand, waiting for something to happen. 

You wonder if you should die trying to kill his murderer. 

It sounds like a reasonable thing to pass your remaining days on. 

Suddenly you feel a hand gently land on your tensed shoulder. 

There was something that cracked, though you don’t know if it came from your own thoughts or not.

Like a domino effect had been created, the ground of gray started to return to a reflection of lively blue.

Then you started to register the sudden silence that came after, it wasn’t that of grief, but rather something more calming. 

“The thunderstorm that was keeping us camouflaged is gone.” You wonder if you were starting to hallucinate his voice. “Don’t raise your voices. If Tsukasa finds us we’re gonna be screwed.”

You then realized you weren’t making it all up when Taiju and Yuzuriha reacted to this statement. 

You felt like you’ve just been hit by a warplane. 

It almost felt unreal, you didn’t even know how it happened, but Senku was there, no longer as a corpse.

He stood and grinned as if he hadn’t just witnessed the afterlife. 

Senku was alive, you wanted that to be the only thing you needed.

You feel almost censurable as Senku turned to face you, your clothes were still drenched along with strands of your hair, eyes still wide open but this time with wonder rather than woe. 

Your friend chuckled and whispered something under his breath. “You look like you’ve gone through hell.” 

Maybe you just did.

Kohaku wasn’t used to talking to strangers, let alone knowing what to do when they’re in a state of suffering. She never needed to learn how, there were no strangers in her village, everyone was connected in one way or another. 

You were the first stranger Kohaku met outside of her home. You weren’t some descendant of banished villagers from the past nor did you seem to like the thought of harming anyone with no motive at all. 

Then she got to know your name, where you came from, and even your physical capabilities. Even if it didn't seem like it was enough reason, Kohaku thinks that you started to become less of a stranger and more of a person she was starting to get to know. 

Not entirely just an acquaintance, yet not also a friend. Perhaps something that falls in between the two. 

Kohaku really started to think she was starting to know more about you, about a girl who came from a time of many years ago. 

Then she saw you witnessing the death of your friend. 

It was easy to tell that you didn’t want to let any of it happen, yet it did. 

When rain came pouring down, Kohaku started to see you differently as you quietly stood near your two other friends who were grieving. Like the rain had completely washed over a new kind of you. 

Change was something unavoidable with the death of a loved one, Kohaku knows that. But change had a different effect on you that it didn’t even look like change anymore; it looked like murder. 

Like you had just murdered yourself. 

As if you didn’t know how to part yourself from your friend. As if the both of you store your hearts in one rib cage alone. How a parasite would die when the host also does. Your friend was killed by a pair of brutal hands as a weapon; and you were killed by the reality of it. 

It took Kohaku a long while of self-arguing before she rested her hand on your shoulder, hoping to at least bring you back. Hoping to bring back that girl she met.

Even when your friend had miraculously been revived, Kohaku could still tell you weren’t back to normal unlike your two other friends. 

Maybe it was something deeper than what she can understand, but she doubts anyone wouldn’t notice your lingering silence as you watch your three friends burst into loud cheers at the revival of the other guy.

“Welcome back, Senku.” It was a teary moment, you wanted to cheer alongside them, to finally grasp a release from your tension, to be praised by Senku that none of you gave up on him.

But do you deserve it?

In hindsight, it was Taiju and Yuzuriha who realized how to bring him back; you didn’t play any part in it. You merely stood still as a statue and fought against your own consciousness.

“Y/n.”

What does that make you?

“Y/n.” You raise your head at the call of your name, it was Senku. He had a piece of cloth wrapped around his neck with a stick for support, probably Yuzuriha’s doing. “How long are you gonna stand there gawking? Aren’t you going to report what happened when I sent you out?”

Then all eyes turned to Kohaku. You were taken by surprise that she followed your instructions as to not come in contact with Tsukasa, you would have thought she’d be fighting him by now. 

It was her hand that you felt earlier, but it slid a bit to your back as she was now holding onto your damp clothes, looking like a timid child who was just brought here by her parents. 

“Is she the one who lit those smoke signals?” Yuzuriha asked, drawing closer to you and Kohaku. 

“Yeah, uh…” You tried to collect your thoughts once more after having it be empty from the moment before. “Kohaku wasn’t petrified, she was raised and born in her village.”

This raises an alert to the scientist. “Probably came from past people who have been un-petrified then?”

“That’s what I thought at first, but,” You turn to Kohaku, seeing her nod as if she welcomes you to explain her situation to your friends. “Kohaku doesn’t know any modern history of sorts.”

Now this raises more alerts to Senku. The idea of the blonde being a descendant of those who broke free from stone was highly logical and likely, but if so, why didn’t they pass down any knowledge about the old world? The more Senku listens, the more he grows curious and interested at the sudden mystery. 

Senku laughs at how exhilarating it feels. “Nonetheless, good job from keeping her and Tsukasa away from each other. It buys us a lot of time and secrecy.”

You knew it was a sort of commendation for you, but you could only feel your head lower and only a hum followed. 

“So are we going to head to this village and plan our next course of action there?” Taiju questioned as he inserted himself between you and Senku. 

“The nitric acid is in Tsukasa’s possession now, without it we can’t continue with reviving all of humanity. Even if we did, Tsukasa still wouldn’t let us do as we please, negotiation is completely out of the question now.”

The four of you listened to Senku’s words, despite Kohaku not knowing a lot about the situation, she still listened. It wasn’t until then Senku’s eyes widened with a glint you were all too familiar with. 

“Tsukasa thinks I’m dead,” He laughs, though you don’t find the thought really funny, more so disturbing. “That might just be our biggest advantage. He wouldn’t know where the hell I am, but I can know where he’s at.”

You start to not like the direction he’s headed. 

Then Senku turned to you, Taiju, and Yuzuriha. 

Senku snaps his fingers with an eager grin. “You three have to be spies and infiltrate Tsukasa’s Empire—“

“No.”

It was almost comical and unsettling at how quick you responded to his plan. Senku stared at you with eyes wanting to hassle back at your objection. 

Ever since he had been brought back to consciousness, you have been nothing but quiet and almost so demure that he thought you were somebody else. 

“W-Wait! You want us three to head over to Tsukasa and spy on him?!” Yuzuriha’s startled tone was apparent. 

Taiju was next to argue. “Wouldn’t that be dangerous?! We did kind of attack him after he killed you—“ You still find that statement vitriolic. “What if he’s doubtful of us?”

Senku clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Would you hear me out first?” You turn to Kohaku to see if she was still paying attention, relief washed down over you when you locked eyes with her. You almost slipped a chuckle when she bashfully took back her hands from your clothes. 

The more Senku starts to explain his plan, the more you want to argue against him. 

He plans on the three of you to act as spies in Tsukasa’s Empire while also ordering for you and Yuzuriha to put back any broken statues along the mission with Taiju acting as your bodyguard. While he heads to Kohaku’s village and continues on with the Kingdom of Science there. 

Yuzuriha and Taiju didn’t seem to object much against this.

“No.” You said, this time rather harshly as you stare at Senku.

“But Y/n! Tsukasa would find it suspicious if…” Yuzuriha stops Taiju the moment she feels some sort of unmentioned tension between you and Senku. 

“You must be misreading me if you think I’ll agree with what you’re saying.”

“Well, you would agree to anything I say under normal circumstances.” Senku teases but fails to lighten your mood, when realizing this, he lets out a sigh. “What do you intend to do then? If Tsukasa notices he hasn’t seen you guys, he’d grow curious and eventually find out about our secret, you know.”

“Then let me come with you.” Senku doesn’t follow with a response after your words. “Yuzuriha and Taiju can fulfill your spy mission freely, but like I said, you must be misreading me if you think I’ll let you be alone with a bunch of people we don’t even know about—“ You turn to Kohaku. “—no offense.”

The blonde only shrugged in response, your worry seemingly justified. 

“Then again, wouldn’t Tsukasa also question why Y/n isn’t with us?” 

“Well, not really. As far as I know the last time Tsukasa saw her was when I sent them to collect the last bit of nitric acid we have.” You hear Senku, “Unless you attacked him after I died.” You shook your head at this, still displaying your dislike at that.

“Oh yeah! Didn’t you deceive Tsukasa into thinking you already left?” Sudden laughter bursted out of Taiju, though it didn’t help much with relieving the remaining tension in the air. “Good going, Y/n! With that, Tsukasa won’t get suspicious about why you aren’t with us!”

“That is to say if he believed it,” Senku suggested before staring back at you with familiar rigid eyes. “How much do you think he bought that lie of yours?”

You stayed silent at this. The thing is that, you don't know. 

Just because Tsukasa hadn’t seen you ever since you ran off from the miracle cave, it doesn’t fully eliminate his suspicion that you were still lurking around. 

Then again, saying you’re leaving the country with nothing in packed gave enough reason for the man to be skeptical. 

Kohaku, Yuzuriha, and Taiju now stood beside each other, forced to watch you and Senku argue against one another about the next course of action. 

“If you’re confident with your ruse and think Tsukasa believed you enough to leave you alone, then coming along with me wouldn’t be much of a problem.” Senku raised, “But if not, and he eventually comes to the realization that you’re still around to foil his plans, he might try to hunt you down, leading to both of us getting killed.”

The logical choice was to follow along with Yuzuriha and Taiju as spies in Tsukasa’s Empire. 

Only then would Tsukasa eliminate any doubt about Senku and you, it would also seem like a safer choice for Senku as well. 

“Be rational, Y/n.”

“Let me come with you.”

Senku gapes at this. “I said be rational—What makes you think that’s the more rational idea?”

“It’s not.” You admit honestly, dropping any guard you have down and confess. “It’s a shot in the dark. It’s not a rational decision at all,”

Senku looked at you, not expecting your words or the following.

“It’s a personal one.” 

Taiju looked at you and Senku back and forth, confusion and bewilderment found in his eyes. Kohaku was nearly the same, she couldn’t tell why you two were arguing so hard about this. 

But Yuzuriha understood. If she were anyone, she would have agreed with Senku’s plan to increase the likelihood of this sudden war to end nicely. But Yuzuriha likes to think she knows you. And that was enough for her to understand.

When you proposed a personal request to the boy who only thinks realistically, you started to become more familiar. Yuzuriha begins to see you again.

“I think Tsukasa wouldn’t be skeptical of it.” Yuzuriha inserted, eyes now turning to her smiling expression as she looked at you. “With Y/n around, Senku wouldn’t have to worry about being in danger, right?”

You could feel the way Yuzuriha’s eyes eased when looking at you, like she had found something she had been looking for. 

“Yeah! It’ll probably be more reassuring if Y/n tagged along with Senku!” Taiju grinned at the two of you, completely on board with your request, but then realizing what he had just said. “N-Not that I think you’re dangerous or anything!” He turned to Kohaku. 

Kohaku chuckled. “No, I understand. I don’t know much about any of you guys or your plans from now on, but from what I can tell, you can create these things called inventions…” She trails her words, recalling something you had mentioned before. “If you were any other stranger, I would have tried to fight you off. But Y/n told me a lot about the previous world, and after seeing your friend get revived all of a sudden… I want to know more about what the old world had.”

You suddenly feel a swelling of proudness bubbling in your chest as Kohaku continues. 

“So I’ll help you out.” The blonde smiled at you. 

Then the four of you turned to Senku, to which the boy only blinked in surprise before it turned into mild laughter. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. I already made up my mind before any of you tried influencing me.”

Relief continued to wash down over your body, releasing you from the worry that attached itself to your back. “Thank you.”

“I told you, words aren’t a form of exchange for me.”

“Of course I know that.” You let out a deep breath. “I’ll be here for you from now on.”

“That’s more like it, back to your old sappy self, yeah?” Senku grinned, receiving a playful smile from you. “You were so out of character it made me wonder if it was really you.”

After that, Senku ordered everyone to clean up the small field of your gathering. Tsukasa proved himself to be quite observant with his surroundings, being extra careful was needed.

“Y/n.” Yuzuriha calls you, and this time you look up at her. 

“Yuzuriha, I’m sorry if I didn’t want to come along with you—“

“No! I didn’t come to talk to you about that, silly!” Her smile was genuine, yet you couldn’t ignore the lingering feeling of wistfulness. “Take care of yourself the same way you would with Senku, okay?”

It was a weird way of saying it, as if you and Senku shared the same everything.

But you return a genuine smile to her, reflective to that of her own emotions. “Of course.” Caught in the moment that you wouldn’t see your friend for a long time, you wrap your arms around the girl in a longing hug. “Look after one another.”

“We definitely will.” The hug lasted a while, it was obvious that both of you were reluctant to back off. You hear Yuzuriha’s charming laugh. “Thank you for making my outfit look so pretty.”

You giggle at her words. “I guess I learned from someone as pretty.”

“When we see each other after all of this, I’ll have a whole selection of clothes for you! Oh, maybe then I’ll organize a fashion show for the people!” Yuzuriha cheered in excitement, it was impossible to not be affected by her enthusiasm. 

You’re going to need this whole war to end as soon as possible.

“Had your emotional bye-bye already?” Senku cackles as he walks along with you and Kohaku towards the opposite direction of where Taiju and Yuzuriha headed. 

You hum. “How about yours? I highly doubt Taiju would depart without any—“

“Senku!!” Speaking of which.

The three of you turned to look behind, Taiju stood up high on another side of the cliff with his fisted hand stretched up, soon after you saw Yuzuriha as well. “The hell? We’re only gonna be away for a while, we did it for thousands of years, what’s a couple more?”

You were ready to nag Senku about his words, but then stopped the moment he snatched away the fabric from his neck, tightly knotting it on the thick stick with leftover ropes. 

“There’s really nothing to be afraid of. We just have to wait a couple months or a few years,” You see the way Taiju and Yuzuriha face lit up as Senku raised the fabric that was known as the flag of the Kingdom of Science. “That’s nothing.”

The moment the two continued on with their journey, you also continued on with following Kohaku’s lead. “Did you enjoy your emotional bye-bye?”

Senku scoffs, “Yeah, it was so sappy.”

“You really gotta expand your vocabulary on that word.”

“What even is sappy? Is that some sort of food?”

“It’s an adjective.”

“Sounds like a weapon…”

“I guess words can be used as weapons, in a way.”

“If only we can use verbal weapons against Tsukasa.”

Chapter Text

Senku already knew beforehand that traveling with a person with no knowledge of modern history was going to be a bit of a hassle. 

But when he realized Kohaku was still wary of him, it somehow relieved him knowing that she wouldn't try anything weird against him. 

That being said, Senku can't sleep because of how you've spent the past few hours answering Kohaku's questions that caused more and more strings of curiosity to rise up. 

"Amazing... So people back then used these weapons that can hurt someone with just a finger?" Kohaku's eyes glimmered in the fire, her daggers long forgotten, as well as sleep. 

"Mhm, those are called guns. It's mostly the police and the military who are eligible to use them. It's pretty dangerous." With the mention of dangerous weapons, Kohaku started to become more and more excited at the idea. 

"So with this thing called science, we can create a lot of inventions right?" Kohaku recalled. "Not just weapons?"

You nod at this, a small chuckle left your lips at the thought that it wasn't only fighting that filled Kohaku's mind. "Everything you see here is science, Kohaku."

Her eyes widened at this knowledge. "Really?!"

"Yeah! Fascinating right? Even our body, hair, eyes, It's science." 

"Even this fire?" Kohaku pointed at the bonfire.

"Yes, science."

"What about the trees?"

"Science."

"How about the moon?" She then pointed at the glowing celestial body above you all, something that was passed down in their village. 

"It's science! Jeez, get some shut-eye will you?" Senku turns towards the two of you, eyes tired as if he hasn't been able to find a moment of peace. 

"Kohaku was just curious. I believe she deserves an answer to her questions." You chuckled nervously as Senku sat up, giving up from trying to sleep. 

"Can't that wait in the morning?"

"Oh, by the way," Kohaku turns to you, completely ignoring Senku's complaints. "It's already settled, right? That you'll fight that long-haired man."

The bitter memories of what just happened earlier came flooding your mind. "After what happened, I can't find anything he does or say to be left unjustified." You lean your back against a tree trunk. "But I know that's not a decision for me, I'll do what Senku agrees on."

"Yeah, that's why I want to create the Kingdom of Science. First of all, we really need manpower." Senku mutters aloud, this catches the attention of Kohaku. 

"I already decided that I'll help the two of you," Kohaku stood up with her daggers. "The village has tons of people to help."

"Of course, no doubt the lioness has a pride with her."

"Lioness?!" Kohaku gapes at the sudden nickname. "What's with the nickname?!"

"So you have other people, right?" Senku quickly diverted the topic back on path. 

"Well, yeah. If you can make them your men, they can surely be a lot of help!" Kohaku turns to the both of you, it didn't even take long before Senku agreed on this plan. 

"Sounds about right, what do you think, Y/n?" 

"So long as it doesn't become violent, I have no objections." Kohaku sweats at your response. 

"About that... If you want to have the villagers' favor, you have to be on their good side, or be closely acquainted with the chief." Kohaku explains. 

"Oh, then who's the chief?" 

"He's my father," The blonde's attention focused on the fire. "But I doubt he'd trust any outsiders that easily. And my..."

You feel as if the topic should be saved for another time, you can tell Kohaku wasn't ready to share this sort of information with people she had just met. "Let's worry about that once we arrive at the village, okay? You should get some sleep, Kohaku."

"I don't feel sleepy at all!" 

After a few minutes of silence passed, Kohaku fell asleep. 

It was almost comical at how she seemed to have proved your statement wrong earlier. The bonfire only had remains of embers in them, it was dark and silent for the remainder of the evening.

You figured you'd sprawl your sleeping bag over Kohaku's figure, acting as a blanket whenever a cold breeze would pass by. You hadn't made any extra, none of you would have realized that you'd meet another person in this world. 

This gesture was the only thing you can do for Kohaku after she stayed by your side when she could have left and done her own thing. 

"When I said get some shut-eye, that applies to you too." You break your gaze at Kohaku's sleeping figure and turn to Senku, his back now lying against the ground in his sleeping bag. 

"I'll keep watch for now." You assure Senku that you'd fall asleep once a few minutes have passed, but your underlying paranoia that you'd get found by Tsukasa was still quite visible. 

It was dark and Senku didn't have a clear look at you, but he could tell from your lingering silence and hesitation from earlier. You're still scared that what happened was unreal, that Senku isn't actually alive. 

"I'm sorry." Senku heard your voice, barely above a whisper, the volume so low as if you'd break something if you spoke any louder. 

He doesn't even know what you're apologizing for, something must have happened when he had passed out. 

His eyes slightly widened in realization. "Don't tell me you attacked Tsukasa after he killed me, if so then he must already know you're still here."

"No," You furrow your brows at this, though that was probably one of the things you would have done. "It's just, when you died—" You still don't like how that sounds. "—I barely thought of anything logical at that moment, if it weren't for Taiju and Yuzuriha, you would still be..."

"I would still be dead." You nod bitterly. 

"I should have kept my train of thought together," You recall losing every sense you had earlier, it felt like a living nightmare. 

You thought Senku had fallen asleep from what you're saying, probably finding everything tiring, but you were surprised to see when he's still awake, eyes locked up in the night sky.  

He was quiet, perhaps thinking of what he wanted to say. Senku's first thought was to say that it wasn't your fault for feeling that way. 

You'd just gone through something called grief. It was a normal thing for people to feel when someone close to you dies. 

Then again, Senku wasn't entirely sure. He had never truly felt grief before, no one died in his life, so that never came around in his mind. 

He doesn't know his biological parents, nor does he know about his dad's parents to even think about the feeling. 

In the end, Senku doesn't tell you that it wasn't your fault for being that way, simply because he doesn't know about the feeling. 

Instead, he says something more like himself. 

"I won't die again." 

And you reply with something that's equally like yourself.

"I won't let you." 

Senku then lets out a smile and a laugh, finding your agreement amusing. 

That exchange was enough to lull you into a peaceful slumber for the night. 

"So this is what you meant by teaching yourself." You watch in wonder as Kohaku scoops up a ton of spring water in a ceramic urn she brought. 

The blonde hummed, sealing the large vase with a wooden lid before carrying it. "I do this every day for my sister." A melancholic look found its way on Kohaku's face. "Her condition's been getting worse lately. I wonder if I could ever suffer on her behalf."

Her words met only silence from you and Senku. You recall Kohaku's unfinished words last night; that must have been about her suffering sister. 

"Kohaku," You catch the girl's attention. "If we take a look at your sister's condition, there might be something we can do about it. You know, with science."

Kohaku stares at you with a sense of awe and hope, something that had been missing for a long while. She almost tripped and spilled all of the hot water on the vase  if you hadn't caught her. "Really? Science can even make special medicine?"

You turn to Senku, waiting for his answer. "Depends on how bad her situation is. In this primitive stage, we don't have access to tools that can greatly help with treatment. A sulfa-drug will be the best choice, but it can only do so much."

"It wouldn't be too late," You turned back to Kohaku as the three of you went down the hill, her attention still caught up on her own thoughts. "Kohaku has been working day and night to deliver hot water for convalescence. It's probably keeping her sister's illness at bay for now."

Senku sighs, "Yeah but..." A tired heave followed his words. "Are we really gonna head down this hill with a big-ass urn?!"

"You're not even the one carrying it!" Kohaku turned to him accusingly. "It's just a couple of steps away!"

"Not everyone is a gorilla to do all that."

"Gorilla?!" Kohaku then pointed at Senku while turning to you. "Why is this guy sounding so rude all of a sudden?!"

"He just doesn't want to walk." You watch as Senku sets down his stuff and gives you an ax. 

"Cut down some bamboo, we're gonna make a car!"

You blink at his enthusiasm. 

"Right..."

It didn't take more than an hour to get a primitive car going on, it wasn't even much of a car, just three wheels with a bunch of bamboos tied together with a rope, enough to support the three of you and the vase. 

When it was time to push the car down the lane, Kohaku sat on top of the vase of hot water while you were closely behind her, Senku took charge of controlling the wheel from the back.

"You can actually make such a convenient tool!" Kohaku grinned as she felt strong gusts of wind against her face, you had to hold her down to make sure she didn't fly off anywhere. 

"Heh, this is just one thing. The birth, development, and the use of civilization, are the foundation of science." You faintly hear Senku at the back, you wonder if he's able to keep himself steady there. 

It took a couple of minutes with the three of you trusting the steep path to continue your momentum, it was a bumpy ride all the way through. 

"Turn right here—" Senku turned left. "I said right!"

"Uh oh—" After the sudden turn, the three of you find yourself crashing against a tree, the bamboo logs that held you all together now snapped into two while the other parts were scattered. 

"Senku!" You panicked beside him, dirtied and grunting from the accident. Kohaku had already secured the vase, standing near a cliff. 

"I think I just hit my head a little."

"Do you want me to carry you all the way?" Your suggestion suddenly made Senku remember the past memories when you did just that. 

"N-No..." If you didn't know any better, you'd think he became a bit bashful at the offer. He quickly stood up, dusting himself off of any dust caught on his clothes while you decided to take the flag he was carrying.

"Y/n, Senku, we can see it from here!" Kohaku called, not too far from your position. When you drew closer to her, you and Senku saw the said village from where you stood. It wasn't anything advanced but rather simple and undeveloped. "Welcome to my village."

After having spent a couple of minutes cleaning up the mess from the car crash, the three of you hurriedly made your way down the village. It didn't take too long and Senku didn't really seem tired from it, probably because you were carrying everything he brought with him. 

"How many people are there?" Senku questioned as you were nearing what seemed like a bridge to the village. 

"I can't remember the exact number of elderly and kids living in seclusion, but other than that, it should be around forty people." Kohaku spared a glance at you and Senku before continuing. "Why did you make Y/n carry all your stuff?! Can't you be more of a gentleman?"

"She doesn't mind." Senku assures the three of you, now in front of the bridge. 

"I don't mind." You smile at the girl. 

Kohaku feels an awkward sweat dripping down her face at this. "Are you sure he's not taking advantage of your kindness, Y/n? If I were you, I'd have him carry his own weight."

You, on the other hand, were carrying both yours and Senku's bags, added in the spare materials you used to craft a car from early on. In your hands was the flag. "I wouldn't want to tire him."

For a moment, Kohaku perks at the way you say this with genuine kindness. She ignores how Senku had a look that screams "I told you so", and merely bathed in your caring nature. 

There was a flash of shadows at the corner of your eye.

Then Kohaku witnesses your gentle demeanor drastically changing into a threatening look, turning to your side and clutching the wooden flag pole like a weapon. 

Then two figures made their way to ambush Senku. 

It was as if bright red had overtaken your vision, you submitted into a form you used when training the art of spear fighting. You tightly clutched the wooden handle and violently swung it at the two figures, their grip on their weapon clearly not being tight enough as it flew past them. 

"Kinrou! Ginrou!" Kohaku called at two attackers, the vase now placed on the ground. "Don't do anything stupid!"

You hear the names of the two fighters, but Kohaku's advice doesn't reach their ears when she sees the two standing still in front of you. 

Their guard was raised too high, and with your glare, it doesn't seem like they'll drop it any time soon. You glare at them as if they had murdered your entire bloodline, Kohaku could almost feel it from where she stood. 

"K-Kohaku, what is this? You know you can't bring outsiders into the village." The shorter one with blond hair warned Kohaku, seemingly about to piss himself. 

"This girl looks especially violent... There's no way we'll let you pass through this bridge." The taller and more composed one said. "Rules are rules."

"What the hell?" You wickedly glared at them. "You were the one who tried attacking us first, and you have the guts to tell me I'm the violent one here?!"

You weren't sure if you were taking it a bit far, but perhaps the quivering of the blond fighter was enough to tell. But that didn't tell you to stop. 

You approached forward, ready to take one of Kohaku's sharp daggers. "Try swinging your weapons again and let's see just how violent this can—" 

"Oi, Y/n." Senku calls, Kohaku wonders if she's hallucinating at the way your attitude switched. "That's a bad first impression, you're gonna make this guy pee his pants."

"They tried to attack you," You complain, trying to justify your sudden outburst. "They started it."

"You sound like a kid," Senku picks at his ear before grinning. Behind you, Kinrou and Ginrou seemed to feel a sense of release knowing that they were no longer the victim of your dreadful stare for now. "We don't have to be violent."

You give in to this as Senku walks towards you, opening a pouch that is tied to your waist and takes out the bar of soap he made. 

"There's no need to make them run away with their pants pulled down just yet." Senku soaks the bar of soap on the water, rubbing it in his hands before blowing a bunch of bubbles into the air. 

"W-What are these?!" The blond one, Ginrou, stared in awe as his brother, Kinrou, took back his weapon and began attacking the bubbles. 

"You're at this level?" You hear Senku from behind as you still clutched the flag pole tightly near your chest, ready to return back to your stance if there were any more attacks against Senku. 

"I've never seen the brothers look that terrified before..." Kohaku sweats as the attention of the two were completely overtaken by the amount of bubbles. 

"Sorry, sorry," Senku, unsurprisingly, does not seem sorry at all. If anything, he's amused. "After seeing me dead, she's basically a bull with a red flag if I'm in harm's way."

You hear this, yet your attention is still on the two fighters, ready to pounce back if they ever choose to return to violence. Though it does look funny how serious they're treating the bubbles. 

"There's no other way, I'll use that trick then..." You hear Ginrou, your stance tensing once more as if he was going back to attack you. But you were caught confused when the boy ran around you and started yelling. 

"Chrome!!! It's magic!!"

Another unknown voice popped up. "Ginrou! What are you afraid of?!"

You remain in your position. Senku's back now faced you as he watched another guy joining the chaos, you remained wary as Kinrou was still technically behind Senku. 

"I saw these things from the shore just now. I had to come here!" A teen, about your age or younger, came out and stood against Senku. "I'm Chrome! The smart one—"

Chrome's face paled and froze in place when he looked behind Senku, your widened and shadowed eyes glaring at him from behind the scientist.

If Chrome didn't know any better, you looked like a dreadful ghost out for revenge.

"Are you going to attack him too?"

Kohaku could almost feel embarrassed at her fellow villagers, how weak they felt at the mere lock of your eyes on them. 

"Stop with that, let's hear what the smart one has to say." Senku scolded you, if anything, you looked like a barking dog having to be put down by its owner. Senku then turned back to Chrome. "So, you were saying?"

Chrome snapped himself out of the terrified trance he was in. "I-I'm a genius sorcerer!"

"Ah, sorcerer?" Senku hums along, the interest in his eyes looked like it had just depleted completely. "I'm Senku, a scientist. This terrifying girl is Y/n." 

The self proclaimed sorcerer treated you as if you weren't there, or at least he tried to. He was taking the "if I don't see it, it's not real" saying in a serious way as he nervously tried to not meet your gaze. 

"Kinrou, Ginrou, you're afraid of this little magic?!"

"You were afraid of his guard dog..." Ginrou motioned to you.

"That's besides the point!" Chrome hurriedly popped all of the bubbles around him. "I can easily make these using charcoal and gray water!" Now this made the look of interest return back to Senku's eyes. 

"I wasn't afraid, I was being careful." Kinrou said. "It's foolish to not guard against unknown objects." 

"I was really scared..." At least Ginrou was self-aware. "Especially with his companion—" Then Ginrou made a grave mistake trying to look at you once more. He found himself hiding behind his brother to avoid your eyes. 

Even until now, you're still glaring at them. 

"What are you doing here, Chrome?" Kinrou asks as Chrome fully faces Senku, still trying to ignore your presence. "I don't plan to rely on your weird magic."

"It doesn't matter, It's up to you. But I won't give in this time!" Chrome dramatically took off his cape and threw it on the ground. "I won't lose when it comes to magic. It's dangerous to fight here near the village, let's go somewhere else."

"Why not fight here?" The three villager boys once again tensed at your voice. Your face was that of disinterest and plainly unimpressed. "If everyone in the village would end up trying to fight anyway, why not just do it here—"

Senku's hands clasp your mouth and cover your eyes. "You know your stuff, huh? Sure, pick your location."

The four sweats at how you were contained.

"Woah!" You awed at the way the bonfire changed to a blue-ish green color. "Amazing! A flame reaction! You threw in copper just now, right?"

Chrome nervously looks at you. 

Earlier you looked like you were just mulling over ways to kill anyone who tried picking a fight with Senku, but you suddenly switched up into a more lighthearted mood when Chrome displayed his "rainbow bridge", though he thinks you're still terrifying. 

"Why are you so amazed?" Senku huffs at you. "They do basic stuff like this at every science convention."

"I didn't attend any. I read about it once but didn't get any chance to try it out personally." You recall your late childhood memories. 

"But yeah, It's just a flame reaction. Salt for yellow, copper to make it green, then sulfur to turn it purple." Senku then smiled before turning his attention back to Chrome. "What's copper? Y/n explain that."

"Likely copper sulfate, the blue crystals found in caves. It's a common hydrate of copper." You explain as simply as you can for the villagers to understand, though some still couldn't get it. 

"D-Do you think my magic is only to fool people?!" Chrome spat back. 

"No one said anything."

"Stay here." Chrome then rushed back to what seemed like a watch tower. Probably the reason why he wanted to change venues. Then the young sorcerer returned back with a ball that looked like sulfur. 

It was almost tiring having to watch Chrome spend the next few minutes rubbing the surface of sulfur with his hand. The boy heaved heavily while approaching Ginrou, his hand now brought up closely against his face. 

"Ouch! That hurt!" Ginrou screamed, his nose electrified. "What kind of attack was that?!"

Senku snatched the mineral from Chrome. "You threw in the sulfur you used earlier in a pot to heat it with fire, cooling it down and breaking the vessel to get yourself a ball of sulfur." Senku pieced out every detail. "Not a bad method." It was a 17th century invention, an electrostatic generator with a ball of sulfur in it. 

"Instead of rubbing it with your hands..." You bring up the flag as Senku took the cloth from the top, wrapping the ball under it. "Using this would generate ten billion more electricity!"

When rubbing it with the flag, Senku's hair became widely chaotic. Then he electrocuted Chrome with a touch of his finger, you feel a sense of pity for the villager. 

The ball was then thrown towards Kohaku and Ginrou, their hair turning up the same way as Senku's. "Hey, give that back!" 

"You didn't get to experience a science convention? This is basically one itself." You watch as Chrome desperately tries to get the ball of sulfur back from Kohaku. "Chrome. You have a lot of stuff in that warehouse of yours, yeah?"

"That's right... I've been collecting these since I was young. Crushing the materials, mixing, and burning them... If anything awesome happens, that'll be magic!" Chrome simply explained. "Isn't that what those are for?!"

The boy's statement catches an interest from Senku. "Chrome, if this goes on, you'll ten billion percent become a murder target for Tsukasa!" Chrome sort of paled at the mention of being murdered. "You can only become a member of my Kingdom of Science now."

"What are you talking about... Who's Tsukasa?!" Chrome questioned you and Senku, but the scientist got ahead of himself and climbed up to the warehouse. 

"This place belongs to my Kingdom now!"

"Hey! I'm not giving it to you!" You can easily tell when someone doesn't intend to give up, and Chrome displays just that. "Come down here! Let's fight another round. If you lose, the two of you bow down to me and leave this village at once! If you win, I'll let you keep the warehouse."

The stakes were high for Chrome. "A duel? What do you plan to show off this time?"

"Mathematics!"

"Aha..." You awkwardly look at Chrome.

It was basically a bloodbath. 

Chrome brought up basic numbers while Senku answered without a drop of sweat, even bringing up formulas to complicate the solving and overwhelming everyone. 

Chrome lost. 

"Wait! I'm not done yet!" Nevermind. Chrome really doesn't know how to give up. 

"Go get 'em Chrome!" Ginrou cheered from behind the said villager, standing back up for a challenge once more. 

"This guy..." Senku huffs beside you. 

"I challenge your guard dog this time!"

"Oh?" Kohaku and the brothers perk up at this. Your attention then rained on Chrome like billions of prickly needles falling down. You figured that you're known as the "guard dog" now.

Senku laughs at this. "Are you sure about that?" 

There was still a lake of unsettle in Chrome's chest, but after having had his pride mulled over just like that, he can't afford to not bite back. 

"The way I see it, you two are partners, right?" You hear out the sorcerer. "If one of you leaves, the other will too. If I win against her, you'll completely leave this village alone!"

You can't help but appreciate how determined he can be. 

"Just because you look scary, doesn't mean you're dangerous. Let's go! Fight against—"

"Sure."

Chrome suddenly felt a mountain of snakes crawling up his body, he regretted meeting your gaze once more. 

"I'm still irritated that your guards attacked Senku unprovoked, this'll be a way of relieving some stress, right?" 

The villager boy felt like he had just dug his own grave. 

Before anything happens, you feel Senku tug your collar before pulling you back. "I said there's no need for violence. Chrome, if you think of it like that, just challenge her the same way you did to me—"

"No..."

Everyone turned to Chrome.

"You can have the warehouse."

From that point on, Chrome became scared of Senku's guard dog.

Chapter Text

After that little duel Chrome had with Senku (and technically you too but he doesn’t want to mention that anymore), it was surprising to find out that the two had shared a common ground with one another; that being minerals and collectables that Chrome hoarded throughout the years. 

Kohaku left you all to deliver the hot water to her sister before they lost their warmth, now you stood beside Senku, who was sitting down on the ground, as he heated some cinnabar. You preferred the other name for it; philosopher’s stone. 

Even though Senku technically owns a part of the village now, Chrome’s warehouse, you were still mindful of Kinrou. Ginrou too but you figured he doesn’t want to even talk to you by the way he has been very avoidant. 

Compared to them, you were professionally trained by a licensed instructor when you did spear fighting, but you can tell that Kinrou can be a fierce fighter when it comes to it. It’s up to him if you want to confirm that. 

“Y/n, stop glaring.” You stiffened at his reminder. A while ago, Senku scolded you at how you kept trying to intimidate the two guards from coming near him, you swore to him you’ll try to not do it much anymore. Though sometimes you still get scolded even if you were just looking at them with your everyday face. 

Chrome doesn’t stop finding all of this weird. “How do you do that?” Chrome pointed at how your rigid scowl dispersed when you turn back to Senku and what he’s doing. “You say something and It’s like she just follows.”

Senku looked back at him. “Ask her, not me.”

Then Chrome faced back at you, starting to somehow grow over your stare. You shrug, “I just follow what he says.”

“Yeah, but if I asked you to grab some—“

“Get them yourselves.” 

“Yes ma’am.” Chrome stiffened. 

Senku then stood up, baffling at the interaction between you and Chrome. Again, he doesn’t even know what he did to have such an influence on you. 

Then he went over and idly sat down in front of Kinrou, sticking his spear in a pot of mercury as if the guard didn’t just try to attack him.

Then he carefully moved over to the fire, still holding the spear with the blade now coated with mercury. “Don’t breathe in the gas, you’ll die.”

Kinrou stiffened at this. You were sure he was having an argument with himself if Senku was attacking him or not. But after a few minutes passed, the toxic fumes were now gone as the spear blade had turned into a golden one. 

“There you have it; a shiny, golden spear.” 

Ginrou and Chrome gaped in amazement at the newly formed weapon, playing with their reflection at the smooth surface of it and gliding their finger through the golden layer. “What’s the use of this magic?” Kinrou asked. 

“It’s entirely useless,” Senku plainly responded. “But it aesthetically suits your name, Kinrou.”

“Do you think you can bribe me with this trickery?” 

You grunt at this point, then you whisper under your breath. “Senku made you a pretty, golden weapon even after you tried attacking him, and this is how you—“

Senku shuts you up. “Stop getting so worked up about that.” Even if he meant it to be chiding, he finds your newfound spite to be laughable. “Look, we’re here to get these guys on our side, try to get on their good side.”

You turn to Ginrou and Kinrou, the taller one was mindlessly admiring his new weapon, Ginrou did it with more enthusiasm. “Fine. But if one of them tries to harm you, I’ll throw them off a cliff.”

“No arguments on that, as far as I can tell, so long as we don’t hurt them, fighting can be avoided.” Senku said, forgetting that the two guards practically lunged at him earlier without even doing anything dangerous. 

“I still won’t let you through this bridge, rules are rules.” Kinrou relays once more. You wonder if you’ll eventually get tired of his catchphrase. “But it’ll be troublesome if I tried to remove this.”

Kinrou is keeping the golden spear, Chrome and Senku grinned at each other at this. 

“Oh! Can I get a silver blade?” Ginrou suggested. 

“If you want it, you’d have to sweat some labor for Senku.” You warily smiled at Ginrou, thinking he’s more peaceful and laid back than his brother. 

“It can’t be that bad!”

“I wonder about that.”

It wasn’t long before the three of you made your way back to the warehouse, the place you and Senku were going to stay in for a while.

You notice the warm glow of the sunset outside. Senku and Chrome were still scurrying over at the materials while you were lost in thought at a particular corner of Chrome’s collection. Despite his erratic behavior, he was surprisingly neat and orderly with storing his stuff. 

But the ones you were looking at stood out the most. They weren’t found in caves or whatnot, these were herbs. Plants collected from just outside and nearby.

You were familiar with his herb collection, you remember reading a very useful book about it. They were more or so used for health care.

It didn’t take two to connect the dots. 

“I assume that these are for Kohaku’s sister?” You say without lifting your gaze from the amount of plants Chrome had collected. “Do you know how to make medicine, Chrome?”

You turn around to see Chrome’s head hung low, Senku was identifying what you were just looking at. “No, I don’t know how these things work. I just use my own body to experiment, then keep the ones that I think would help.” 

As Chrome explained, you suddenly get reminded of the way Kohaku relayed her own thoughts. They were both acting similarly, though methods were different, they clearly have a shared goal. 

“I’m willing to collect and do anything just so I can cure Ruri’s illness.” You ponder on the name, Ruri. Kohaku’s sister, a beloved person in the village. “Senku, Y/n, if magic can’t help with Ruri’s sickness, do you think science can?”

Senku stared at him, recalling the conversation he shared with you and Kohaku about the similar topic. “From the looks of it, I’d say there’s still a way.”

There was a familiar glint of hope in Chrome’s eyes, as if he had just regained it after a long time of having lost it. 

“But in this stone world…” Senku trails off, turning to you in a moment of realization before continuing. “Chrome, we should just tell you everything. Everything that happened 3700 years ago.”

It was an emotional train wreck, mostly for Chrome, but you also feel wistful when you helped Senku with relaying the details of the modern world. From discoveries to creations, you and Senku tried your best to not leave anything important in detail about it. 

Explaining the process of civilization to someone with no knowledge of its existence was a difficult task. The disbelief was visible in Chrome’s eyes, widening at every last bit of information he’s hearing. You admire how he’s taking all of it at once. 

Then a drop of tear fell from his eyes, then more followed right after. You didn’t blame him, you’d probably also have the same reaction if you were in his shoes. You offer him an excess fabric you have. 

“Why are you crying all of a sudden?” Senku watches as you pat Chrome’s back while he deliberately wiped his tears off using the fabric you gave. 

“I’m not crying! Well, I am—but…” He continued to cry, a breath breaking into a small sob. “Just who the hell did this?! Who’s behind the petrification?! Our predecessors spent millions of years progressing such an amazing civilization… It was all wiped out…”

“It wasn’t wiped out. I’d say it’s still well-preserved.” You hear the laughter of Senku as Chrome looks up once again. “Every last bit of knowledge about humanity just landed themselves at your doorstep.”

Chrome marvels at this. “You mean…”

“It’s with us,” Senku motioned to you with a sense of pride. “And now it’s in you too, yeah?

The tears and sobbing of Chrome came to a full stop. “Yeah! I’ve decided, I want to create the Kingdom of Science with you! I want to save Ruri from her illness.” Chrome stood up with much anticipation. “Tell me, Senku, Y/n! There’s a scientific way to do just that, right?”

“That’s right. We’ll create a scientific panacea. Antibiotics, sulfa drugs to be exact.”

When the next day rolled around, Kohaku had just returned from the village and you caught her up to the next course of actions you were going with. 

Her and Chrome were nothing but similar, you like the way they shared this kind of sentiment for Ruri. Without any proper equipment to identify what kind of disease Ruri has, the path wasn’t narrowed, but it was still worth trying for. 

Then Senku started relaying over the details of the plan in order to obtain the said medicine, instead of going through the method based on luck by extracting penicillin from organisms, Senku decided to head for the stone route with sulfonamides. 

Right after, Senku started to draw on the ground using a stick. You never really saw him do such things, nonetheless even doodle. “Your drawing looks adorable.” Even though his roadmap consisted more of characters rather than drawings, he drew a face on a few inanimate objects, and you think that’s simply sweet.

“They all look evil… And I can barely understand any of it…” Kohaku worriedly glanced over the finished piece, the faces you described to be “adorable” looked eerily devilish to her. 

“This is amazing! Let’s start with iron—what is iron anyway?” Chrome turned to Senku and you, waiting for an explanation. 

“That’s not easy at all…” Senku nervously eyed Chrome, the idea of explaining every detail was harder than it sounds. 

“Iron comes from the ground, it’s a special kind of rock that can be turned into something stronger like metal. To put it simply, it’s really strong.” Chrome awed at the simplicity of your words. “At the same time, there’s also iron in our bodies.”

“W-What?!”

“We have rocks inside us?!”

You smile at how Kohaku and Chrome reacted to this. “Yes, well… there are really tiny bits of iron in our body to help carry oxygen in our blood.” 

“Ah, so that’s what it is! So what’s this metal that you mentioned? And why does our blood need oxygen? Isn’t that dangerous?”

Senku looked at you as if you had just dug your own grave. “Ah, metal is this really shiny thing made from melting iron. It can make a lot of helpful tools with it.” You really tried to keep your explanation simple to avoid any confusion for the two villagers. “And our blood needs oxygen to help us breathe in and give us energy. There were records of people who didn’t have a lot of iron in their body back then, they didn’t have much energy to do activities.”

“Really… So iron is important for our body.” Chrome took a mental note in his head. 

“I was skeptical of using rocks to help cure my sister, but after that explanation, I understand it now.” Kohaku hums beside Chrome, she didn’t really think she would understand any of this, but you explained things in a way she would understand. 

“Us humans are made out of elements that came from stars,” Your words catch the attention of the two once more, as well Senku. “Stars like the sun have special chemicals to it, and when some of them explode, they create more elements that build everything we see right now. Even ourselves.”

Senku whispered to you. “I don’t think you should go there.”

You look at him in question as to why he thinks of this. But when you turn to Kohaku and Chrome, you ultimately understand his point. Their expression was filled with interest and questions, seemingly endless if you continue to explain. 

The day passed and Chrome was the one who mainly questioned more and more things while Kohaku slipped in one or two with every topic. 

They were people with not much knowledge passed down to them, and their enthusiasm about learning was something you didn’t want to decline. So you tried your best to explain every detail of it, at the same time keeping the range of words to a minimum to avoid confusion and to lessen the possibilities of more questions. 

Clearly, this does not stop Chrome. At this point, Kohaku was starting to run out of her own questions and just listens in or expands more questions with every explanation of yours. 

It was already evening. 

You can feel Senku seated beside you, your back leaning against a tree bark while your throat is starting to feel sore from all the talking.

Somehow, Chrome still hasn’t stopped. 

“So we’re in a solar system that’s in a galaxy called the Milky Way?! That’s awesome!”

“Yes…” Senku chuckles at your tired figure, he should thank you for saving him the effort of using up his own breath for this. 

“And those stars, all of them are like our sun?” Kohaku looked up, currently sitting in a tree branch.

“Yes, they are mostly faraway suns. But on some events, a few of them could also be some planets in our solar system.” 

“Wait, really?! Is there one right now?!” Chrome desperately looked up, trying his best to identify a planet from the stars. 

“It’s useless trying to find a planet without a telescope.” Senku explains, leaning at the same bark as you and looking up. 

“What’s a telescope?”

“It's a special pair of glasses used to see things that are very far away.” You breathe in and out. “Glass comes from melting a special kind of sand.”

“Ohh! Is that bright star a planet?!” Chrome then pointed to the sky, you didn’t specifically know what he was pointing at, but you figured that he had found the North Star. 

“That’s the North Star, also known as Polaris. It’s called that because it always appeared in the northernmost part of the night sky.” You explain, though you know it’s not that anymore.  

“Thousands of years have passed, the North Star is no longer true north.” Senku’s eyes were closed, taking this opportunity to rest while witnessing how far more will Chrome lead you when it comes to his curiosity. “I doubt we could even call it Polaris anymore.”

“It’s a pity… Polaris has a really nice ring to it too.” You mourn the loss of the star’s accuracy. 

“That makes sense, it looks way off from the north!” Chrome declares while Kohaku nods at his words, still staring up. 

“The axial tilt of Earth changed these thousands of years. A few tools we used back in the modern world would need a lot of adjustment if we want to use them with accuracy.” Senku relays. “Like the sextant, and star charts, even a sundial would need some adjustment to be accurate.”

“What are those things you’re mentioning?” Kohaku asks, looking down at you two as Senku starts to explain. 

“Astronomical tools and devices used to study bodies in space. Even back then, we barely knew a lot about what’s beyond our solar system, we’ve only used space probes to explore outside of it.” Senku explained, you couldn’t miss the way that a tinge of excitement was present in his voice when he spoke about it. 

Expectedly, Kohaku and Chrome grow confused at the mention of space probes. You haven’t gotten to that point of the explanation yet.

“Now that I think about it, this isn’t the first time humanity has experienced this.” You continue to listen to Senku. “Years ago, they developed primitive astronomical tools that’s ten billion percent inaccurate in the modern era. History repeats itself.” He laughs at this. 

“What are some of those?” You grow a smile on your face as Senku lights up at this, a sight you realized you have grown to miss after all the things that happened. 

“Astrolabes are one, back in our day, the accuracy of astrolabes were a bit too far away from a specific latitude.” Senku sat straight up and faced you. “I tried making one back then and the latitude was billions of miles off.”

“Is that because of its inaccuracy or did you make it wrong?” You gently teased him at this.

You hear him chuckle a bit more softly than usual. “Probably both, then there are armillary spheres. It's a sort of variant of an astrolabe but it had more depth into it.” You lean in more at this subject as Senku explains the fundamental parts of an armillary sphere, the certain framework and what it’s called when the Sun is in the center or when it’s the Earth. 

In truth, you already know about this. When you landed in Beijing International Airport in China, it was one of the first things you saw. Armillary spheres were invented in ancient China, and they had a large model displayed in the airport for tourists to see. When you saw it, it reminded you of Senku. Maybe that was why you read and learned everything about it. 

“Its accuracy is total shit though.” Senku sighs. “I wanted to closely take a look at its model back then, but it was expensive. Even though it looks pretty, it’ll be a waste of money to spend it on something that isn’t very useful.”

You slightly widen your eyes when hearing this. “You find it pretty?”

Senku looks at you with the same amount of surprise. “Yeah? Have you seen the ones made with gold?”

“No… I mean I have seen it.” You clarified, trying to get back in thought. “But I wouldn’t have thought you’d admit to finding it pretty.”

“Well… yeah,” Senku suddenly realizes what he had said earlier. “I tried making a simple model out of wood, but clearly my handcrafting skills are absolutely terrible.”

You silently stare at him after knowing this. You always thought Senku to be the guy who prioritizes function over looks, and he was just that. He makes things not because they’re pleasing to the eye or anything, but because they serve a purpose. 

Just like that golden spear he made for Kinrou. It functioned like any other spear, but it was different in a way that it’s shiny and golden. But Senku made that to bribe Kinrou, it technically served a function. 

Plus, you didn’t think you’d hear Senku use the word “pretty” in that way before. 

“Wait—“ Senku’s eyes turned to Chrome and Kohaku, you almost forgot they were there. “How did you even know where the true north is?”

“Hah! So even Senku doesn’t know about a stone such as this!” Chromes cheered loudly, breaking your shared peace with Senku as he stood up from his place to look at what Chrome was talking about. 

“A magnet.”

“You know about it?!” It wasn’t long until you and Kohaku joined in their conversation, you then saw a small piece of magnet in Senku’s hands. 

“Good one, Chrome! So long as there's a magnet we can collect a lot of iron sand from the river.” 

“I have a bunch more of those in the warehouse! I got it from the bald looking mountain.” You silently mull over what Chrome just said. 

“Alright, tomorrow we’ll collect some sand to start with our roadmap!”

Kohaku and Chrome cheered. “Yeah!”

The next day came around, Senku, Kohaku, and Chrome had already got their own pieces of magnet and headed straight to the river. You wonder what got them so excited, but it’ll probably change once they realize how long it’ll take to collect a lot of iron. 

You were still back at the warehouse, a piece of magnet in your hands. You wouldn’t entirely mind having your clothes wet, you’d just have to bend down and not fully submerge yourself. 

When you step back down from the ladder, you hear faint shuffling from the bushes. It was almost quiet, you could have missed the sound of it. 

Though it was probably an animal. But as you packed up some food for Senku and the others as well as continuing to fix up a few things around the place, the pots and spare materials Senku and Chromed used, the shuffling continued. 

At this point, you were growing curious. 

So you headed towards that specific bush that kept moving around. At first glance, it didn’t look much, just an ordinary bush. 

But your eyes widen when you see a small hand hiding in it. It was well-hidden, people would need to look thrice to even pick out the sight of it. It was the hand of a child. 

“You might get bit by an ant if you play in the bush.” You gently tell the unknown kid, not wanting to scare them off. You hear a small gasp of a girl as the hand was no longer there, now completely hidden. You giggle at this. “Were you looking for someone?”

It took a while, but patience pays off when the kid steps out of the bush, probably becoming too itchy from the leaves and insects. You see a child, a young girl, with a melon placed over her head, two holes carved out for her to see. 

She didn’t say anything when she stepped out, too scared to know how to handle these things. You understand her, she’s a child after all, it’s normal for her to feel scared and worried in front of a stranger. So you try your best to ease her. 

“I like watermelons.” You weren’t exactly sure if that’s the best thing to say. 

But you smile in victory as the girl broke into a smile and a small laugh. “Suika loves watermelons too!” Her name was Suika. “It’s sweet and so watery, my friend Chalk also likes eating it!”

“Yeah?” You find it endearing at how she introduced her friend to you, a dog named Chalk. “Ah, so this little fella is Chalk? Nice to meet you.” You pat the pup’s head, the gentle dog leaning in with a melting demeanor, he was probably the one ruffling through the bush. “Nice to meet you too, Suika. I’m Y/n.”

“Y/n,” Suika repeats your name, you nod at this. “Your friend is also here, right?”

“Yes, his name is Senku.” You stood up from your crouched position, headed back to continue your organizing while Suika and Chalk followed you. “They’re collecting something from the river right now.”

Suika doesn’t say any more about this, though you can tell that she’s worried about something. “What are you doing here then?”

“I’m just packing some food before I head to the river.” You wrap some skewered meat, fish, and mushrooms in a piece of cloth and secure it with a rope. The food had been sprinkled with the remaining salt that Senku had brought with him. “Do you want to help us, Suika?”

Suika looked at you from behind the melon mask, you were giggling as Chalk desperately tried to get a bite of the food you were packing, you had no choice but to give him a piece. “Can I really help?”

You turn at the kid with a relaxed smile. “Why not? I’m sure Senku will be thankful for your help.” Suika fiddled with her hands nervously. “Ah, but don’t worry, if you want to play with Chalk or your friends—“

“N-No… Suika will help!” You figure determination was one thing many of the villagers shared as a whole. 

“Thank you, Suika!” Chalk then barked loudly. “And you too, Chalk, even though you already ate your own share of lunch.”

“What are we collecting?” Suika asks with a big smile on her face, taking one of the wrapped lunches from your arms as you two made your way towards the river, Chalk following beside you two. 

“A very unique sand called Iron.” The explanation was once again simplified, but this time for a child to understand. “These special rocks, called a magnet, attract this kind of sand, we’re collecting a whole lot of it!”

“Why though? What can it do?”

You let out a hum. “We can create medicine from it, to help Ruri.” Suika’s eyes behind the mask widened at this. 

“A-Are you going to use magic for that?!” Suika awed. 

“Sort of…” You don’t really want to complicate a lot of things for her as of now. “It’s a special type of magic. It’s called science.”

“Science…” Suika tried pronouncing the word, doing it properly at the first try. 

“Yes, everything you see here, all of it has to do with science.” You and Suika look around to see a bunch of trees and greenery, faraway mountains visible from there. “Even you, Suika.”

“Really…?” Then Chalk barked, making his presence apparent once more. 

“Yes Chalk, you as well.”

The dog seemed proud of this. 

Chapter Text

Senku was starting to wonder why you were taking so long to arrive. Then he realized he and Chrome practically rushed to the river to take a dip before collecting the iron sand needed. 

But he recalls you talking about grabbing another piece of magnet as well as packed food for everyone. 

Still, that doesn’t fully explain why you were taking this long. 

Then you arrived with a kid and a dog.

“The hell… I left you alone for a bit and suddenly you adopted not only a kid, but also a dog?” Senku sweats as he sees the way the unknown kid clutch at your clothes in a nervous manner. “What’s next, you’re gonna find a man to marry to complete a happy family?”

“Suika?” Kohaku and Chrome drew closer to you, surprised to see the kid walking alongside you with Chalk. “What are you doing here?”

“Suika said she wants to help us.” You explain as you place down the wrapped food on a clean surface. 

“Y/n told me about this kind of magic called science…” Senku baffles at this, you only shrug at him. “She said it can explain a lot of things here, and that you were going to use it to make medicine for big sister Ruri.”

Kohaku blinks at the girl. “You also want to help Ruri.”

Suika nodded. “I don’t know anything about medicine, but everyone in the village is always worrying for big sister Ruri. Kohaku works everyday to make a warm bath for her, and Chrome is always trying out new things to cure her.” Suika continues, looking up at the three. “T-That’s why Suika wants to help too! I want to be helpful to everyone too—“

“Yeah, I get it. Cut the sappy stuff out. Is this your influence on the kid or something?” Senku then turned to you, before lightening Suika's gloomy mood with a chuckle. “Everyone is welcomed in the Kingdom of Science. Every bit of help is appreciated.”

Suika glows at this. Senku then made his way to you and the kid, leaning down to give Suika the magnet he’s been using. This washes down a wave of joy over the young girl. 

“We’re counting on you, Suika.”

You share a similar smile for the girl. “I told you he’d be thankful. No matter how much he tries to sound mean, Senku’s very kindhearted, you know?”

Suika nodded. “You and him are the first ones to not ask me why I’m wearing a melon on my head!”

“He’s really sweet, isn’t he? Like watermelons.”

“I can’t seem to find what’s exactly sweet about this guy.” Kohaku sweats, hearing you talk about Senku in a different light than what she’s more used to witnessing. 

“He just does the things that would be more useful along the way.” Chrome agreed. 

“You’re talking shit about me to my face?” Senku glared at the two villagers. 

Suika pops up with curiosity for the unfamiliar word. “Talking shit? What’s that?” 

“It’s a secret word that only grown-ups are supposed to say,” You then turn to Senku. “Right, Senku?”

“Yeah…” Senku believes that kids can learn new things and use them to their liking, such as vulgar words. But he’s practically forced to agree with you at how you looked at him. 

“Really? There are words only grown-ups can say?” Chrome pondered at this newfound knowledge, not knowing its inaccuracy. 

“Why don’t you start collecting a lot of iron sand, Suika?” You gently usher the kid to the river, not wanting to let Suika grow more curious about things like that. “Come back after I unpack the food, okay?”

“Okay!” 

“So what does “talking shit” mean?” Kohaku finally asks now that Suika was busy doing something else. 

“It means saying mean things about someone, but I don’t want Suika to learn about vulgar things so please don’t say it around her.” You explain. 

“Kids can learn anything they want and use it as they please.” Senku argued back. 

“Yeah but think about it in the long run. If we do revive people from the modern age, they might misunderstand Suika if she ever uses that term.” You justify yourself while seeing Suika collecting some iron sand as Chalk was playing in the water. “And Suika is too sweet for that.”

It wasn’t long until you finished unpacking the food you packed, calling everyone to have their fair share of lunch for a quick break. Senku was the first to sit down and have a bite, then came Chrome, who was simply starstruck at the taste of the salted food. 

Luckily, the concept of salt was somehow easy to explain. Kohaku and Suika were still on the river collecting sand, even Chalk was helping. 

“Those two are still going at it… is everyone in your village like that?” Senku muses out loud, accepting a cup of clean water from your hand. 

“There are a few gorillas with superhuman strength, but Kohaku is the stronger gorilla compared to them.” Chrome explained as he was lost relaxing after tasting a new flavor. 

“I’m not a gorilla!” 

“Kohaku, you should eat first before you get back to work.” Finally, the blonde takes your advice and takes the skewered food from your hand. Expectedly, she shared the same reaction to salt as Chrome did, you’ll have to warn them to not consume as much for health reasons. 

“Y/n seems nicer now.” Chrome mentioned, catching your attention from calling over Suika. “When I first saw her, I thought about the scary crocodile from Momotaro’s story!”

Senku’s eyes widened at this. 

“Really? I thought she seemed more like the bear.” Kohaku was also brought up before continuing to eat her food. “The bear isn’t always dangerous like the rest. If you don’t provoke it, it won’t be harmful. Just like Y/n.”

“You’re comparing me to an animal…?” You were confused, not knowing what they were talking about. “Was there even a crocodile or a bear in the story?”

“I don’t think any of the characters in Momotaro’s story fit Y/n! She doesn’t seem so scary.” Suika finally comes to you as you give her some food, slipping in some meat for Chalk as well even though you already fed him. 

“You know Momotaro but not Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter?” Senku thought aloud, none of what he said sounded familiar to you, only Momotaro. “Who told you that?”

“Oh, do you know about it too, Senku?”

“Big sister Ruri told us a lot of stories!”

“Come to think of it, how do you know about gorillas anyway? Are there any wild ones around here?” Senku turned to the three villagers, waiting for their answer. 

Chrome and Suika turned to Kohaku, knowing full well she’s the one who mostly explored far from the village. “I’ve never actually seen one before.”

“Isn’t there a gorilla in Momotaro’s story?”

“There isn’t!”

You were quietly eating your share of food alongside Chalk as the four talked about this Momotaro story and the wild beasts in it. 

From the looks of it, Chrome, Kohaku, and Suika were talking about an exaggerated version of the story of Momotaro. They were told the story in a way that would bring more awareness to dangerous animals if they ever encountered them. 

Senku’s version, though you’re not quite sure, is probably a mix of the original one alongside a manga series or a game about it. You knew Senku took some time off from learning to actually play a few games or two, but he always says he’s trying to figure out the programming of it. 

But the only version of Momotaro’s story you knew was the original folklore. About an overly strong boy that came from a peach, there weren't any wild beasts but there were a few animals and a bunch of Oni. That was the tale you remember your father telling you about. 

“I’m suddenly interested in this Ruri lady. We’ll have to work fast for that medicine in order to get our answers.” Senku said before throwing away a now empty stick. 

“You’re interested in Ruri? What do you mean by that?”Chrome asks rather loudly, as if a train of heavy thought just came crashing into him. This confuses both you and Senku. 

“Psst, Senku, Y/n, I think Chrome here has a crush on Ruri.” Kohaku explains, which makes things clearer. 

“Oh really? Then I’ll drop the topic right there.” Senku chuckles, not showing a sign of interest at knowing this. 

“I think it’s really sweet, it feeds more to the idea of why Chrome is so determined to help Ruri.” You sigh happily for the boy. 

Senku scoffs. “Of course you’d see it like that.”

Chrome was left stumped at this. 

When enough iron sand had already been collected, it was finally time to arrive at the grueling part of this plan; the process of heating the sand and charcoal to turn into liquid iron. 

“Hold on…” You call out to the others, they have all just finished drying up as they turn to you, eyeing the furnace as if it had just gained a mouth and started shaming you. “You don’t really think we can do this, do you?” Finally, you turn to Senku. 

“Huh? What do you mean?” He then approached the furnace beside you, observing the said creation if there were any problems, to which he found none. 

“I mean, there’s only five of us and we’re planning on heating iron sand with nothing but manual labor,” The three other villagers did not understand the point you were trying to make, though Senku did. “Perhaps we’ll end up wasting time, let’s—

“…Look in different angles.” Senku finished for you, starting to get lost in his train of thought. You should probably get used to Senku doing that. Not long after, Senku breaks into a grin. “You sure you’re not just complaining?”

“I’m saving us from complaining. If you don’t want to waste any more time, I suggest we think of a different approach.” You smile at his comment, though you suppose it wasn’t too far off. “But yes, I am complaining. I wouldn’t want you to pass out in exhaustion after pumping air into the furnace only to find out that your hard work turned out to be nothing when you crack open the furnace the next day and find it’s still—“

“Okay, okay! I get it, where’d that thought come from?” You shrug at his words. “All right, everyone sit around for a brainstorming session.”

“Brainstorm?” Chrome echoes the unknown word he heard from Senku, sitting around everyone. 

“Like, brains falling from the sky?” Kohaku plainly says, tapping her finger on her chin while looking up, pondering how such a thing could be possible. Suika shrieks at the thought of this, clearly finding the topic unpleasant to think about. 

“It simply means when a group of people come together to think of an idea.” You assure the three and cleared up any misconceptions they had in their heads. 

“Manpower will be our top priority, to do that, we’re gonna have to bribe some people in the village with science in exchange for labor.” There was a sense of casualness in the way Senku says this, as if it was a normal thing to say. 

“Yeah! We’ve already done it with Kinro, one push left and he’s gonna side with the Kingdom of Science in no time!” Chrome matched Senku’s eager tone, the two on the same page with using science as bait. 

“Right? And Ginro said he wanted a silver spear right? Things like those don’t aren’t too troublesome to make, we’re gonna make this bait look real tempting for those guys.” The familiar look of an evil scientist made its way to Senku’s face once again, it made you try to recall when was the last time you’ve seen it.

“Though, everyone in the village will have different tastes.” The idea of asking the villagers to help was still bringing a heavy weight of doubt to you, but you know full well there wouldn’t be any other choice. Unless you want to waste away your guys’ lifespan trying to rival the capabilities of a cupola furnace. 

“Yeah, we’re gonna have to dig in to gather some intel on what the villagers want.” 

“Suika can go find out!” The little girl immediately got up to her feet, spun around and hid in her melon hat; a skill that makes you wonder how it could ever be possible. “I can turn into a melon and sneak around, see!”

Everyone gasped at the intense stealthiness of the girl, funnily enough, you had been a target of this beforehand. “Then we’ll leave the intel gathering to little Suika.”

“Quite the skill you have there, go gather some information for us to work with, Great Detective Suika.” 

“We’re counting on you, Great Detective Suika!” Chrome and Kohaku mutually encouraged the said girl, who was getting flustered with the reliance and attention she was receiving. 

It wasn’t long before Suika rushed to the direction of the bridge, making her way to the village while Chalk loudly followed her rolling figure. 

“Huh, is a detective included in one of the stories Ruri told you?” You turned to Chrome and Kohaku. 

“Nah, I don’t have a clue what that is. I just copied what Senku said.”

“Right, I guess there’s some things that aren’t really said in the stories.” You guess that there are a few stories that Ruri chose not to tell as of now to the other villagers, those would be the ones that you know Senku is willing to hear out. 

“Ruri’s stories were so fun to listen to, I’d always fall asleep to them every night.” Kohaku started to reminisce, a look of longing displayed on her usually alert face. 

“Yeah, but not all of them…” Chrome interjects, gaining a distasteful look at the blonde fighter. “There was a story that was really confusing, it had a bunch of complicated words in it.”

Kohaku’s eyes slightly widened at the memory of this, you were only left to listen to them while helping Senku make air pumps using some spare bamboo parts. “Oh! The one with a complicated name!”

“Yeah, that! Man, I don’t even remember what it was…” There was a hint of amusement that bubbled in you as you watched the two collectively trying to recall their moments with Ruri in hopes to remember this particular word, though it wasn’t looking too bright for them. 

“Was it marshal?” Kohaku tilted her head, faint drops of sweat forming at her forehead and she desperately tried to think. 

“No, that’s not it.” Chrome grunts as he gives up. 

“Do you know what the word marshal is?” You ask the two, they both turned to you and shook their heads, indicating that they didn’t. “Marshal—well in simpler terms, I guess they keep things orderly.”

“That’s very vague.” Senku squeezes in, focused on the task at hand. 

“That’s a word? I just guessed it.” Kohaku grins at this. 

“Marshal could also mean arranging a battle,” You weren’t sure if this would make the topic confusing to the two if you bring up more definitions of the same word, but you try anyway. And they end up understanding. 

“Words could mean different things?!”

“Here we go again…”

When the sun started to go down, that was when you began to realize how much time has passed ever since you commenced your QnA with Kohaku and Chrome. 

But unlike the previous times, this session didn’t take too long since Suika soon arrived back with a load of information waiting to be dumped upon the rest of you in order to continue working. 

“I listened in on what the villagers wanted!” 

“Let’s hear it then.” Senku said while setting aside the bamboo air pumps that he had finished, you gave Suika her own share of food that you ended up toasting by the fire. 

“First of all, the sisters, Garnet, Sapphire, and Ruby.” Suika recounted as Kohaku mentioned the three named sisters to be the beauties of the village. “They want boyfriends!”

“That’s not something we can make!”

“Well… if it were the modern world, finding a boyfriend to date wouldn’t be too hard.” As you said this, Senku was left to bathe in frustration at this newfound information. 

“Yeah, let’s just pull out our phone then download Tinder and swipe right if we find someone to be those girls’ boyfriend—oh wait!” A sarcastic Senku was the one thing you would have never expected. 

“Well, the other choices are still up for grabs.” You chuckle at his behavior. “What else did Detective Suika find out?”

“There’s one more—Ganen, the one that’s always hungry in our village. He said he’s so sick of eating grilled fish everyday.”

“Now that’s more like it.” Everyone’s attention turned back to Senku. “You did your job well, Detective Suika. We’ll use this information to start the bait.”

“Are we going to cook…?” Chrome inserted himself back into the conversation after having finished his salted grilled fish. “You mean we’ll add things like salt into foods?”

“Food is science. Y/n explained it to you, right? Salt is a mineral used to make food taste better. There are plenty more sources of flavor that can be found just about anywhere.” Senku explained as you notice Suika coming over to Chalk to play. 

“Flavors?”

“Sweet, salty, spicy, if you mix flavors correctly, they can taste absolutely delicious.” You further explain to the duo, their eyes starting to glimmer with the anticipation you’re building up. “And of course, science plays a big part in it.”

“Foxtail grass.”

“What?” You, Kohaku, and Chrome turned to Senku who was eyeing the plant that Suika and Chalk was playing with, a foxtail grass. 

“That’s it! We’re gonna make a stupidly good dish that everyone liked in the old world!”

“Foxtails can provide us flour, are you thinking of baked goods? Like bread or pastries?” You observe the perfectly fine plant on Suika’s hands, though a bit ruined from Chalk’s bites. 

“No, not those. It’s so obnoxiously good that it’s considered to be one of the best national dishes of our country.” The more Senku draws this out, the more you think his mouth is starting to water. And there’s only ever one food that was able to do that. 

His absolute favorite. 

Clearly, Senku was being a bit biased with his brief introduction about ramen. But did you dare mention anything about it? No, absolutely not. 

Making ramen from scratch didn’t take more than half a day, it was mostly Senku and the others focusing on that task; you were in charge of another job. 

You were making the pots and utensils to serve the actual ramen for the villagers. It was either made out of carved wood but the majority of it was from hardened clay that had just finished baking heat. 

Along that was the making of the ramen stand itself, the wooden wheels that you, Senku, and Kohaku used for the car were now attached to the stall instead. Reusing materials will probably be the least time consuming choice. 

When you came back after collecting a few other materials for the finishing touches of the moving ramen cart, you weren’t surprised to see that they had already finished the ramen and that the villagers were experiencing pure bliss after having tasted it. 

What did surprise you was that the ramen enthusiast himself wasn’t enjoying his share of ramen. 

“It’s so unsavory…” Senku complained as he passed his bowl of ramen for the others to enjoy instead of wasting it. 

“Perhaps we’ll remake it once we find the proper source of grains for the noodles.” You settle down the materials you had collected and turn towards the three villagers, still glorifying their empty bowls of ramen. “But it looks like they enjoyed it.”

“Whatever, this’ll be enough to persuade those guys.” Senku stood up, observing your finished work before placing all of the needed utensils on the cart. You followed by carrying over the pot of steaming ramen on the fitted slot. 

“This is so good! I bet everyone will come running over to our side once they taste this!” Chrome cheered, opting for another serve of bowl for himself. 

“Hey, save some for the others!” Kohaku scolded the boy, snatching his bowl before quickly washing it in the basin with clean water and the bar of soap. 

“Have you tasted it, Y/n?” Suika asked while approaching you with an empty bowl. Chalk was following right after, it seemed he also had a taste of his favorite toy. 

“I’ll have some later after we feed the villagers.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want our science bait to run out so easily.” Senku said, arranging all the materials on the cart before heading towards the front of the bridge. 

“Oh by the way, Y/n,” Kohaku turned to you. “The other villagers heard about what happened between you and the brothers.”

“What?” You question this, though you soon came to an understanding that Kohaku must have meant the whole fight thing that happened when they tried attacking Senku. 

“Y-Yeah… I heard the others saying they were worried because of Y/n when I was spying on them,” Suika shivered, almost feeling guilty at this. “I didn’t want to hurt Y/n’s feelings so… I didn’t say anything…”

Senku chuckled at this. “You think that’ll hurt her feelings?” He eventually turns to you to ask. “Does it?”

“Not really…” If you were in other villagers’ shoes, you’d probably feel something similar to worry. But you think it was justifiable since you did it for self-defense—more so in defense of Senku. You don’t feel guilty about it, but it’s not like you’ll attack random people for no reason. 

“So are we gonna hide Y/n or something?” Chrome asked, stepping into the discussion once he had shaken himself out of the ramen trance. 

“That’s our best shot. Y/n go hide somewhere,” Senku plainly says, not bothering to seek other ways of approaching this. 

“What if some of them try to…” You drag out, recalling what happened with Kinrou and Ginrou. 

“Don’t worry, most of the villagers aren’t really heavy on fighting. If anything messy breaks out, I’ll be there to stop them!” Kohaku assures you. 

“Yeah! We’ll make sure the Kinrou and Ginrou situation doesn’t happen again!” Chrome joined in, you could hear Suika agreeing along as well as Chalk’s barks. 

“Okay, okay, stop with your whole protection squad and let’s get this ramen business going.” Senku then started to push the ramen cart through the bumpy ground, heading towards the bridge.

“Leave the ramen to us, Y/n!” You gently wave a small gesture to the four, hearing a loud tune that was being played by Suika to lure in the attention of the villagers. 

Your initial thought was to stalk the group and spy on anyone who was even thinking about risking a violent glance at Senku’s direction. But after looking at the bamboo pumps that Senku made for the furnace, you figured you’d just make more air pumps since more people will be participating in this labor force. 

So you head into the forest. 

You weren’t too far off, given that you still hear the tune that Suika was playing from a distance. You were carrying out a stone ax that Senku made, looking out for any sights of bamboo around the area. 

A bubbling paranoia inside of you was screaming at you to check on Senku with the villagers, that there might be a particularly dangerous individual that even Kohaku and the others can’t stop. Obviously, you were overthinking. Chrome did mention Kohaku was the strongest person in the village. 

And you trust Kohaku, as well as Chrome and Suika. But there was still this lurking sensation that something feels off. 

That everything was going to turn out very chaotic.

Maybe your mind was slipping towards the idea of war against Tsukasa and whoever he might revive using the fluid. You tell yourself that that’s what you’re worrying about, nothing else that is too soon. 

But then you hear light footsteps. 

Your nervous system immediately spikes up, turning to where you think the sound came from. From the ocean of greenery around you, a peak of lavender purple caught your eyes. Then followed by more footsteps, the kind that was trying to be stealthy. 

At first, you thought it was merely a villager, getting lured in by the high-pitched tone of the shell instrument and the growing crowd to where Senku was located. 

But when you noticed that the person seemed oddly familiar, you resorted to stalking them through the trees. 

When his footsteps stopped and you finally had a proper look at him, you couldn’t quite put your finger on it, but you think you’ve seen him somewhere before. 

And that familiarity eventually raised a vibrant red flag in your vision. 

It wasn’t someone from the village. 

It was a man from the old world; waken up by Tsukasa. A threat to Senku. 

Before he could move, you dropped down to the ground before him. It was as if he was a deer caught in headlights, he stopped, eyes turning a questioning gaze at you. 

“Why are you here?” You grip onto the wooden handle of the ax a bit too hard, enough to have the man sneak in a look at the tool before speaking. 

The unknown man looks at you with a brief glint of surprise, though he quickly masked his face with a small smile that blew in a different kind of air in this new world. 

“If you ask about who I am first, our conversation will flow more smoothly, you know.” His voice was coated in a sly manner, clearly avoiding the question you’ve laid out to get a reaction from you. And if you do, you were sure he’d immediately see right through you. 

So you don’t display anything on your face. Nothing for the man to work with. But perhaps you’re underestimating him a bit. 

You didn’t bother to ask what his name was. It didn’t matter, you already knew enough just by those sharp cracks that traced along the left side of his face. 

He really is someone that was revived by Tsukasa.  

Not only that, you glimpse at his clothes. The way it was made, how it was put together, it was all too familiar and similar to Yuzuriha’s handmade clothes. 

You knew enough. 

You can tell that it wasn’t just you who’s doing all the assumptions. Surely he’s framing some sort of conspiracy in his head. Who you are, if you’re a villager, if you aren’t, something along the sorts. But one thing stood out from those ideas. 

If Senku was around. 

The two of you were giving each other an unsettling silence, not only one that raises both of your nerves but also to give you time to think. To mull over your next course of words. 

Not actions, you can tell he’s likely not too big on the combat side. But that just feeds the idea that he uses words as weapons, minds even. Tsukasa couldn’t have revived him for no reason. 

One of you was about to open your mouth to speak. Until a third party came. 

“Y/n!” It was Suika. 

She was carrying over a fresh bowl of ramen in her hands, behind her was her usual companion, Chalk. 

“Senku told me to give this to you!” Suika then stopped at the sight of the stranger you were faced with. 

The man in purple smiled in contentment. 

“I know enough.”

Chapter Text

It would be the first time Senku has been alone with the villagers before. Sure, he can count the time he was with Chrome and Kohaku to collect iron sand in the river, but this would be the first time he’s been surrounded by almost the entire population of the village. 

So far, it was going great. Business was booming, as they would say in the old world. More and more people were attracted by their friends who were already indulging in the savory food filling their stomach.

Senku was going to have to break the news to them that, surprise—it’s actually not free and they have to burn some sweat in terms of payment. But he would have to make a few exceptions given that there were a few elderly people in the area. 

It didn’t slip his mind that Suika was taking too long with the bowl of ramen he saved for you. 

It should have been quick, Senku made sure to tell the girl to come back as soon as possible as they needed to hand out more orders as the villagers kept wanting another serving. 

Thankfully for Senku, it wasn’t long until he got his answer. 

But this answer takes the form of you presenting a captive guy with the blandest expression on your face, something like a cat bringing a rat to its owner, as if it’s a normal occurrence for you. 

Suika was shaking slightly behind you, tightly clutching your shirt while your other hand was carrying the bowl he had set aside for you. The constant barking of Chalk did not help lighten the situation, then again there’s a guy in ropes you were holding. 

“Oh would you look at that, is this the guy to complete your happy family?” Senku says with a grin, finding the sight to be comical. It, in fact, did not look like a happy family; rather an unhinged one. 

“No,” You chided, gripping tighter on the rope you were using to hold the stranger in place, you still haven’t gotten his name. 

“Well, the idea of settling in with a capable girl, such as yourself, doesn’t seem so bad,” The stranger says. “Now would you untie the rope, pretty please? I have an itch on my face and it’s absolutely killing me not being able to scratch it.”

You start to hear the noise coming from the crowd of villagers, sounding worried at the sight of two unfamiliar individuals; you and the stranger. They were all likely confused at this. 

It wasn’t long until the two village guards and Kohaku surrounded the guy. Suika promptly left the spotlight to hide behind Senku, with Chalk following the little girl. 

“Y/n! What happened? Did this man attack you and Suika?!” Kohaku gripped onto her daggers tightly, scowling at the individual. 

“What? I’m already tied up and you’re all pointing your scary weapons at me!” This guy sure likes to talk. “I’m a helpless guy! I would never fight against girls, nevertheless a kid.”

You were starting to grow too used to his voice that it would eventually come off as sickening to hear. “He tried to run away when he heard about Senku.” You turn your head to meet his eyes. “And that says enough about who you are.”

He didn’t seem to argue with this as you realize he must have submitted to having been busted with his excuse. Now, he meets your gaze, a hint of knowing flashing briefly in his eyes. It was an unfamiliar feeling, you’ve never really come across a lot of people with a glint like this man’s. 

“My, what a nasty glare you have.” He huffed, turning away to break out of your gaze. “Truly unsettling.” Then he turns up. “You’re Y/n, aren’t you?”

You furrow your brows at the mention of your name. That settles it, whoever this man is, he has had his dealings with Tsukasa. Before you could continue to force him under your glowering, he then turns to Senku, subjecting him in the same kind of look that he gave you. 

“If she’s here…” He hums, “Then you must be Senku.”

Senku huffs at this, realizing the situation almost at the same moment as you. He took in the man’s appearance for a while, finding him strangely familiar. It didn’t take long for Senku to remember. 

“And you’re Gen Asagiri,” Senku says. “The magician who makes those crappy psychology books about absolute nonsense.”

“Oh you’ve read my books? I’m honored. But calling them crappy is a bit unneeded, don’t you think?” Gen stands straight up. “I’d like to think of myself as a mentalist rather than a magician. I was just out looking for food like I usually do, but it’s somehow more difficult today than any other,”

In all honesty, you were getting tired of his nonsense, and you were starting to think Senku was also feeling the same. Senku likely already thought about Gen’s situation, that he was one of Tsukasa’s revived allies for his little emperor. Though it wasn’t impossible for Gen to have woken up on his own, the idea was very unlikely. 

“Yeah, yeah, you want food? You could’ve just said so.” Senku then turned to the ramen cart and prepared a bowl of ramen. “Y/n, untie him.”

“Huh?” You were skeptical at first, but your trust on Senku prevailed as you got rid of the lines that were confining the mentalist. 

“Eat as many servings as you’d like.” Senku offered the bowl to Gen, to which he accepted and observed. 

Everything started to go back to normal, Senku and the gang were back to serving the other people while you were safely guarding over Gen as he ate the bowl of ramen. 

“Ramen, huh? What a bitter aftertaste though…”

“Senku made that, don’t complain.” You replied to his complaint, Gen couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at this. 

“You’re oddly defensive about him, perhaps I didn’t know enough about you and dear Senku after all.” Gen lowered the bowl on his lap as he was seated on a boulder. “But you have to admit, it does taste weird.”

Yes, it definitely did. But you weren’t one to complain since it wasn’t Senku’s fault that he was limited on ingredients and needed to use a quick alternative for a quick outcome. 

“You shouldn’t get so worked up about me, dear Y/n,” Gen says. “Your friend offered me food, isn’t that enough to tell you that we’re on the same side here?”

No, it wasn’t. Senku only gave him that so Gen would help with the manual labor. 

As if to confirm your thoughts, Senku approaches you two. “Nah,” He says, saving you the trouble of breaking the news to Gen. “I only gave you that to make you work.”

Gen blinked in confusion. “Huh?”

Clearly, he didn’t know enough. 

“What the hell?!” Gen screamed in absolute exhaustion, his arms growing ever so numbed at every push and pull he was doing at the air pumps, blowing enough steam for the furnace to be fired. 

Along with Gen, there were a few others who have also been yanked away from indulging in their ramen haven to be forced into working in the madness that was rivaling an industrial furnace from the old world. 

“So, Gen Asagiri,” Senku called, though Gen was more focused on his dazed arms, it was clear he was saving some attention. “How are Taiju and Yuzuriha doing?”

This gets your attention as well as Gen’s. “Ah, how sneaky. Trying to outsmart a mentalist? You really are something.” Gen eventually stops working his arms. “There’s really no need to worry, it’s obvious they’re looking out for each other. Especially Taiju and his endless pit of strength. That guy’s on a whole other level, right, Senku?”

“He is working for that long-haired man!” Kohaku moved beside you, drawing back one of her sharpened daggers. “Should we kill him?”

“That wouldn’t be a likely choice.” You tell the girl, ushering her to lower her blade while Senku continues to talk Gen out of it. 

“If you knew I was trying to set you up, why admit you’re one of Tsukasa’s men?” 

Gen huffs a bit from tiredness, but he quickly regains his composure to address Senku. “Because the situation has changed.”

There was a lingering silence that enveloped within the atmosphere, all with exception of the furnace fuming out dark smokes while Gen revered in its actuality. 

“Whatever,” Senku says as he huffs a breath, growing tired at this exchange. “If you wanna know how this whole thing is gonna turn out, stick around. But for now…”

Senku then turned towards the other villagers who were spoiling themselves with countless bowls of ramen while watching the whole conversation. 

“There’s plenty of air pumps lying around, unused. Those who’ve eaten their share of food should get to work!” Senku announced to the crowd, ushering them to the working stations with an evil grin that you know all too well. 

“W-What? I didn’t know there was a price!” Someone from the crowd, looking at the half-eaten bowl with guilt and regret. “Nevermind… I think I’ve had enough—“

More and more villagers shared mutters of uncertainty. They started to place down their bowls before trying to escape the scene. Though clearly, they weren’t being sneaky enough as you quickly discerned their attempts. 

“Senku didn’t work hard to make that ramen for you to not pay him back.” All of the villagers turned to you. 

Chrome and Ginrou shared a similar flinch as their mind started to swell with sharp flashbacks of your off-putting stare. . 

“You’re paying back that ramen, all of you are,” You declared. 

Everyone was silent. Neither erratic murmurs nor disobedient shouts dared to break the atmosphere you created. The more that the villagers looked at you, the more they realized; you aren’t kidding around. 

As if a start of a chain reaction, Chrome turned to them and silently made a notion that states: “Just follow along.” Soon, everyone shared a skittish reaction to one another. 

“Y-You know what, I do feel bad making them work like that…”

“Yeah… w-we planned on helping anyway!” Then they started mimicking what Gen was tasked to do earlier, endlessly pumping air into the furnace. 

Senku looked at the formerly reluctant villagers, now practically fighting for the position of pumping air into the furnace to avoid stirring trouble with you. “Aha, looks like we’ve secured a role for you.”

“I thought we already agreed that Y/n was a guard dog.” Chrome brought up. . 

“It was only you and Ginrou who said that about Y/n…” Kohaku says, side-eyeing the boy. 

Gen was left to mull over what had happened. He did find it funny, how worked up you were over a bowl of ramen that your dearest friend made. 

When he first heard of the names of Senku and Y/n, he thought nothing of it. Just two names that Tsukasa wanted to get rid of all worries and doubts about. Two people that Gen weren’t expecting to find swarmed within a bunch of other people that neither he nor Tsukasa even knows about. 

At first glance, Gen didn’t know enough about it after all. 

But in the second one, he knows just enough. 

“What a dangerous pair.”

Instead of worrying if they were still alive or not, Tsukasa should be worried about what ties you and Senku together. 

So the iron was made, hurray!

The group was briefly celebrating their progress, you didn’t expect that the bar of iron would be done so fast. But the quick celebration was cut short by Gen. 

“You know, my job is to verify that Senku is dead.” Gen started as the others finished with their cheers at the finished product. “If I go back and tell Tsukasa that not only is Senku still alive and well, but also Y/n is with him, then you’d be screwed.”

You grimaced at the mention of this. Tsukasa did tell Gen about you, you know that much when he first mentioned your name. But as to how much Gen knows about Tsukasa’s thoughts about you, you still have yet to know. 

“That was my initial plan. But if you can make iron weapons just like that… then it’s a whole different story.” Gen turns at the rod of iron that Chrome and the others were still celebrating at. “Tsukasa doesn’t even know that there’s a primitive village here. “Senku is dead”, “There’s nobody else”, I’d just have to say something along those lines.”

“That’d be a big help if you’re willing to do that,” Senku says, taking off the thick leather apron he had to shield against the piping hot iron from earlier. 

“Though I have no clue what Tsukasa’s deal with dear Y/n is.” Gen turned to look at you. “You planted an idea in his head and let it bloom on its own, didn’t you?”

“Perhaps. Though I didn’t necessarily say I was actually committing to it, I just brought up the possibility,” You recall. “I even said that he shouldn’t let others deceive him so easily.”

“So you made him overthink, huh?” A small laugh came from Gen’s mouth, quickly switching back to a sly smile. “But you know what? I don’t care who prevails over who. I’ll come out as my own winner at the end anyway.”

Gen started to explain his own situation, but spoiler alert: you didn’t really care about this “hesitation” he is bathing himself in about choosing sides. Because it all sounded so obvious that he had already decided for himself. 

You did have to glare at him as he mentioned a harem within the hearing vicinity of Suika. 

“A selfish man like you with a bunch of crap should be killed.” Kohaku returned to her violent ways, once again accompanied by a pair of sharp daggers that somehow got more mentioned when Gen appeared. 

“No, if we don’t let him return, Tsukasa will eventually find us and we’ll be screwed.” Senku then drops the heavy leather apron. “Don’t worry, once you see this new excellent material, and a bunch of iron props, you’ll ten billion percent make up your mind on which side you’re staying at.”

“Ah, really? What do you plan on making? Iron tools?”

“A power plant.”

“What—“

A flash of light illuminated the gloomy sky, soon followed by a loud drum of thunder. 

“It’s thundering!” Suika yells, staring up at the sky as it continues to swarm with dark, heavy clouds. 

From where you stood, you noticed the panicking villagers as they ushered each other to take shelter from the incoming weather—which you realize they call as a God or something. 

The group didn’t seem to be part of the uproar about the thunderous weather. If anything, they were mostly calm about it. That’s why it came to a surprise when Senku started to make a big deal about it. 

“Wait, we’re not ready yet!” Everyone turned to a fussy Senku. “We’re going to generate electricity and we don’t even have the other materials for it! If we miss out on this thunderstorm, who knows how long it’ll take until the next comes—“ A loud bang suddenly spreads, motioning for the team to hurry. 

“Are you using, like, a lightning power plant?” Gen stared at clouds before rain started to pour. 

“You’d be surprised to know that no one has ever done that before.” You say with brimming sarcasm as you stare at him. 

Gen replies, “Shocking, we can only be good at one field of knowledge.”

“Magnets,” Senku called out to everyone. “We need to make magnets to make this generator.”

“We can use the ones from collecting iron sand, right?” Suika turned to Senku and you, pouring rain dripping down from the melon head. 

“That wouldn’t be enough for a generator, we need to have the iron rod get hit by lightning.” 

“Then let’s get to work.” You cut Senku’s explanation quickly before running off to the storage house for the materials needed. “Chrome! You have raw copper right?”

Chrome grew alert at this. “Yeah but those look pretty! I don’t wanna ruin—agh! Fine!”

It was a quick process, working under time pressure surely helped a lot with the making of the copper wire. Compared to melting iron, copper was an easier feat to get done within a short amount of time. Though you did have to get a piece of the bridge’s wood planks for the base of it. 

As Senku was tightly securing the copper wire around the coated iron rod, you began to hear heavy, unpleasant, footsteps from behind you. It was one that echoed through the sound of rain, one that’s immensely repugnant. 

You turn towards the bridge, seeing three men making their way to the group, all armed with some sort of weapon in their hands. 

You don’t miss the way that they looked at Senku with nothing but utter violence. 

“It’s Magma—“ Chrome announced to the group. “This is bad…!”

“He’s not someone who can be reasoned with… A fight will break out.” Kohaku turned to the bridge, eyeing the group.

The more time you spare to observe their faces, the more you realize that they were planning on causing some disarray. And with the limited amount of time you have, you know you can’t afford them to disrupt this process. 

“Tsk, I don’t like any of their faces.” You stand up, making your way at the other end of the bridge, standing at the sides of Kinrou and Ginrou. 

“Y/n?!” Kohaku calls out. 

“Kohaku, focus on helping with the rod,” You instructed, “I’ll confront them if they desperately want to.”

“That sounds unsettling, sure you don’t need any help from a mentalist?” Gen didn’t expect you to answer, you were already locked in at the arriving presence of the three, mainly the big one in the middle. 

It wasn’t until they arrived mid-way through the bridge did they stop. 

“Is Y/n going to be okay?” Suika shivered, perhaps both from the drizzling cold rain and the bubbling worry as she looked at you, facing Magma from a concerning distance. 

Kohaku wants to join your side as you continue to stand your ground against Magma, as if guarding the wrong end of the bridge. But you made your instructions clear. Kohaku has to hurry and help before the thunderstorm diminishes. 

So she does, but she does so while sparing a glance at your direction once in a while. If anything breaks out, Kohaku can still reach you to your aid. 

On the other hand, Gen doesn’t know anything about what’s happening with you and Magma. 

If the two of you were even exchanging words, he wouldn’t be able to hear as the rain had completely drowned out any sounds that aren't the heavy pitter-patters. He couldn’t see if Magma was moving his mouth or anything, the rain and the distance were doing a great job at blocking those out too. 

Beside you, Ginrou stood still, witnessing your exchange of glances with Magma. 

It shouldn’t have been a scary sight for the boy, but one of the strongest men in the village and the scariest pair of eyes that a girl could have? It was basically nightmare fuel for him. 

What’s more, you were completely standing still at the end of the bridge, absolutely weaponless. The wet hair that stuck on your face should have been covering up your vision, but the boy could notice the anticipation building in them; like you were ready for Magma to charge in. 

“Give that to me,” You mutter to Kinrou, motioning to the golden spear that Senku made for him. 

“What?” Kinrou didn’t get enough time to realize what you were implying when you snatched his weapon away from him. “Hey!” But he seems to be conflicted on whether or not he should get it back. 

You were stuck in a silent battle with the man from your far front, whatever was going to happen, you didn't intend to strike first. 

“If you attack those guys, the other villagers will never grow to trust you.” Kinrou warned, darting his eyes from Magma and his two lackeys, before eyeing you. “That includes Senku.”

You sigh at this. 

Senku then realized your absence from his side. “What the—where’s Y/n?” No one had the chance to answer him before his eyes landed on you. “The hell—don’t just let her fight them! A conflict with the villagers is the last thing we need right now!” Senku shouted, finishing up with the tightening of the wire around the rod. 

“Well, she sure didn’t pick a fight,” Gen says, seeing as the tension between you and Magma started to deplete the moment the man went back to the village. Gen was thinking of stepping in and saving you from whatever moment you were having with Magma. “Seems like she avoided the last thing you needed, dear Senku.”

Ginrou flinched when your body faced him, though your eyes still glued to Magma who was making his way back to the village. 

Though your instinct tells you that this wouldn’t be the last you witness of him. 

“Y/n! Let’s go!” Senku calls, and you turn to the group to see them heading towards the forest in a hurry. “And bring that too!” He motions to the weapon you have in your hands. 

You turn to Kinrou for a bit, raising up his golden spear, “I’ll borrow this real quick.” Then you immediately dart towards the group. 

“Hey! That’s mine!”

Once you catch up to the group, you hear their plan of letting the rod get struck on top of the bald mountain that Chrome mentioned when he first showed Senku the magnet. 

“Y/n, what happened back then?” Kohaku asked, the two of you running in front of the group as the rest tried to catch up. 

You drag out a small hum before replying to the girl. “We didn’t do anything,” You plainly say, feeling the rain growing weaker by the second. “But I doubt that he won’t come back to hinder our work.”

“He might be planning something,” Kohaku clicks her tongue in annoyance, her mind flooding with unpleasant memories of the man. “I’ll stay alert from now on.” You and Kohaku start to notice the foot of the mountain, wrapped with overgrown vines and small branches that stick out. 

“Y/n! You and Kohaku get this up there!” Senku then throws the iron rod clad in copper wire to you. “The storm’s about to clear up, hurry!”

You nod at his words before giving Kohaku the golden spear you were going to use as the base holder. “Let’s go, Kohaku.” The girl nodded at your call, matching each other’s pace as you both quickly climbed the mountain with the help of the overgrown tree that wrapped around it. 

As you and Kohaku disappeared on top of the mountain, there were only the four left at the foot. Senku eventually stopped running, too worked up trying to catch his breath while Gen did the same. 

“Woah, what the hell was that!” Chrome pointed at your movements before you were completely out of sight from the gloomy atmosphere that the rain brought. 

“Y/n and Kohaku were so fast!” Suika cheered, easily looking up at the tall mountain, her melon head shielding her eyes from the heavy drops of rain. 

“So she did some gymnastics back then? Smart and athletic, what an ideal girl. Isn’t she, dear Senku?” Gen turned to the heaving scientist, too busy regaining his form to give a sort of reaction to Gen. “…Now what?”

“We wait for them to return, obviously.” Senku rests his hands on his hips, staring up at the mountain, desperately waiting for that one strike of lightning. “Unless you want to follow those two up the mountain, then you’re free to do so.”

Gen then observed the mountain, steep and unsteady. He wonders how you and Kohaku were able to climb it so quickly and unscathed. 

“Will Y/n and Kohaku be okay? Lightning is really dangerous, isn’t it?” Suika worriedly brought up, turning to Senku in assurance. 

“As long as they stay far from the rod—“

Then a bright flash of light lit up the dark sky, a strident drum of thunder at its tail. 

“There it is!” 

Once the thunder died down, it was as if a domino effect had been set off, the rain started to stop, peaks of sunlight were starting to shine through. It wasn’t long before you and Kohaku eventually made your way down the mountain, a powerful magnet now in your hand. 

Senku grinned madly at the sight of the magnet. “Now we’re one step closer to making a power plant!” You give him the bar of magnet as Chrome and Suika ogled at it. 

“What kind of power plant are we talking about? Thermal? Wind? Or even nuclear?” Gen pondered loudly, tilting his head at Senku. 

“Human.”

“Yeah! Let’s go make it!” The others started to rush back to the base. 

Gen stared with widened eyes as you all went back, acting as if Senku’s response wasn’t something out of the ordinary. 

It really isn’t. 

The mentalist was starting to regret his stay here in the Kingdom of Science the more and more Senku forced him to work. It was already his third serving of ramen after having to pump air into the furnace to melt those copper. 

But compared to the others, Gen considered himself lucky as he didn’t do much outside of air pumping. Progression at Senku’s side was surprisingly fast, it had already gone dark when everyone had finished the two-bladed manual dynamo. 

Having not much knowledge on science, Gen has absolutely no idea on what Senku was heading to next. 

“Have you already made up your mind?” Gen’s eyes darted to his side, seeing as you’ve joined him to watch Senku and Chrome climb up the top of the storage house. 

“Aren’t you going to aid dear Senku? He might end up slipping.” Suddenly, he mused over his own statement. “Then again, I doubt you’d let him fall.” Gen paused, noticing your focused attention at the scientist. “It’s funny. You wouldn’t let him fall, but you’d want that to happen, don’t you?”

You spare him a glance, not knowing what he wants to gain from asking something like that. 

He continues, “Not in a literal sense of course, but maybe something more personal.”

You were left unimpressed at his accusation. “That has nothing to do with my question.”

“Hm, does it not?,” Gen sighs. “Tsukasa is a scary man, personally, I never want my name to land itself on his list of enemies. But as I said, the situation has changed.” A gust of wind blew its way between you and Gen. “Not only because I saw what Senku is capable of, but also because of what you have going on in that head of yours.”

There was an ominous sense at every passing moment you spend within Gen’s eyes, you notice the darkness starting to consume your sight as he continues to talk. That you’ll end up hearing something you don’t want to hear if he continues to speak. 

“I’m not one to talk, I’ve only met you and Senku for not even a day, so who am I to judge, right?” Gen attempted to ease the mood with a faint chuckle, something that failed to work. “But dear Y/n, you do know where you’re standing, do you?”

A breakable thread. 

“Something tells me you’d go beyond the concept of too far,” He takes in your silence, your eyes no longer staring at him but rather at the complete darkness through. “So, Y/n…”

Expectedly, you don’t look back at him. 

“Why are you on Senku’s side?” 

It was an obvious question. If anyone were to hear it, they’d think that the mentalist has absolutely lost his sense of awareness. It’s easy right? 

Because you’re his friend. 

But somehow, your head is saying a completely different answer. It wasn’t a response that related to your link with Senku, it was something simpler. 

Something straightforward and plainly transparent. 

“Because he can do anything.”

Gen scoffs at this. “I highly find that delusional. Sure he’s smart, but there are things he can’t do; nonetheless things he doesn’t want to.”

You didn’t say anything after a while, Gen almost thought you were already paying mind to something else at your lack of response. But no, you were still beside him, staring at the dim ground as if you were digging through piles of memories in your mind. 

Then you said something; Gen would’ve almost missed it at how silent you were.  

“He still tries to.”

For the next few seconds, Gen remains quiet. 

Maybe he’s assuming too much of your friendship, or maybe he’s too unknowing of this topic; but Gen no longer pushes you to say more. Not because he lost interest, far from it, but rather he feels something heavy on his tongue whenever he tries to muster up words to fuel your fire. 

When Senku lit up the light, Gen was tempted to glue his eyes onto your face. Your eyes, that once overflowed with denial and ignorance, were now turning into weeps of wonder at every blink you spared up at Senku’s form. 

You look at him as if he can do anything; that he forces the moon to shine down bright enough for you to play with your own shadow. It was like you were looking at a different version of Senku than the one others see. 

Like you’d let your eyes be burned at the light he made. 

Gen chuckled, his eyes finally looking up to the source of the bright light. “You’re unhinged, Y/n.”

“I believe I owe you a proper answer from your question.” Gen said, facing the blade dynamo that all of you had accomplished in order to secure electricity beforehand. “We got a little sidetracked, didn’t we?”

You were standing a little behind him, this time swallowed by the dimness of the night. Senku and the others were getting caught up on the next course of plan up in the storage house. You and Gen were left alone. 

In a way, you think of Gen as an embodiment of a mind. And being alone with nothing but thoughts is a scary experience. 

“I’ve just finished deciding,” Gen plainly says, not bothering to expand more on his answer that it leaves you confused at how it was left hanging. 

“And?” You asked, expecting something more. 

“Eager to know? You’d have to wait in order to find out, dear Y/n.” There was a tinge of tease in his tone, coated with something else that tried to misdirect your understanding as he turned to face you. 

“I’d have to know so we can decide what to do with you.” Gen flinched with widened eyes. “Stop beating around the bush—“

Suddenly, you feel as if time had stopped for a split second. 

And you feel it—you feel someone behind you. If the sudden sense of danger wasn’t telling enough, then perhaps Gen’s widened eyes were. 

He draws out a genuine yell, “Y/N—!”

Having not much time to react, you lift your arm to shield your face. 

You loudly wince at the impact, tough knuckles colliding with your arm, pushing it back to meet your face with the force still maintained. You were pushed back to meet with the wooden base of the dynamo. 

The arm that once covered your face now fell back down to your side, too bruised and numbed to move. 

“What the hell—?” You blanch at the aching part of your face, it didn’t minimize much damage as you feel your nose running with blood, dripping down onto the ground. 

“Oh, what?” 

You look up to see Magma. 

“The other puny sorcerer isn’t with you? Kinrou said you two are tied down to the bones.” Your eyes widened at this realization. “I was even looking forward to beating you two up for messing with my village.”

Your mouth gapes at this realization. 

He intended to attack Senku as well.

That changes everything.

The stinging feeling that lingered on your bruised arm and face started to disappear, you widen your eyes to get a good look of your front, and at some point, you started to not feel anything at all. 

Only utter animosity. 

Out of pure instincts, you grab onto the nearest thing you can use as a weapon; the heavy magnet from the dynamo. 

Chapter Text

He always thought that eleven years of friendship was enough to get him to understand a tiny bit of you. 

Senku never outwardly voiced it, but he never liked how he doesn’t know much about you. He kept telling himself that you’re a mental kid, you’re obsessed with what you love doing, you’re dedicated, you’re easily persuaded by your mom to do many things, you’re curious, you’re actually kind to those who are willing to befriend you, you’re scary, you’re talented, skilled, content with what you have, never complaining about asking for more; you’re everything. 

All of those judgments that Senku made were all right. But it was missing something. 

You’re violent. 

He doesn’t blame himself for being wrong, after all it would be the first time he has witnessed you being so… brutal. 

The word doesn’t fit you—or at least, it doesn’t fit the image of what Senku had as you. 

Maybe he doesn’t know you after all. 

You look so different with blood all over you. 

Like you had just changed so much that he could mistake it as murder. 

What made you so violent? So bloodied? The magnet he tossed to you to make something wonderful was now coated in thick layers of blood, now used as a weapon. 

Hopefully not as a murder weapon, just a weapon. 

Hopefully? What’s hopeful about this nasty sight? Without any context, it looks like his best friend had just assaulted a man out of nowhere. 

Magma wasn’t dead. But the magnet wasn’t really forgiving to his head either. He might end up with a concussion.

You’re also injured, Senku notes the way one of your arms was completely downed and heavily bruised, the trail of blood leaking from your nose that already stopped dripping by the time he had gotten to you. 

You were being held by Kohaku and Kinrou, the girl keeping you up together so as to not fall to the ground while the boy held your arms away, forcing your movements to halt. Ginrou was trying to grab the magnet off of your grasps, but he was too afraid of the blood that was starting to taint his skin. You weren’t letting go of it anytime soon, anticipating the possibility that Magma will rise back up again to attack you, or worse, Senku. 

Despite the rigid bumps of the magnet dragging along to the surface of your hand, digging their spikes and imperfections enough to make your hand bleed, you didn’t let go. 

Suika was hiding behind Chrome, undoubtedly having her eyes closed at the chaos in front of her, telling herself that no one was gravely hurt; that no one died. 

Chrome was no different, only this time he was eyeing the wincing figure of Magma that was trying to force himself to stand back up. It wasn’t just his head injured, both of his knees as well, forcing him to drag his face through the dirt if he wanted to get away. 

There was only silence between the witnesses, Gen was leaning against the wooden base of the dynamo, the threads that once held the thick magnet down to the equipment have long been snapped ever since your hand landed on it. There were even splashes of blood along the thin copper wheels. There was a confusing expression on Gen’s face, as if he was expecting something like this to happen; except he didn’t think it would have gotten this far. 

Your breaths remained quick and shallow, not finding the time to breathe deep and through as your sight remained cloudy, too overwhelmed. 

There were voices that started to speak, first it was Kohaku, asking what happened to you. Following her was Kinrou, likely berating your violence towards a villager, you don’t give a shred of care at this. Then Magma started to curse, paired with every hurt tremble he could muster to voice his throbbing head, you don’t really care. 

But then Chrome called your name, hesitantly asking whether you were okay or not. It was a dense question, surely he could have known much just from the sight of you. You don’t blame him, he must have been overwhelmed as well, not knowing well enough to raise a more coherent question. 

Then another wave of ache flooded your senses, not because of your wounds, but because of Suika’s weak sobs. It was still dark, and the melon covering her head must be doing a lot to shield her sight from completely seeing you, but the panicked voices and frantic barking of her friend must have been enough to scare her. You didn’t mean for her to see you like this. 

You turn to Senku. He was looking at Magma’s imbrued body on the ground, assessing on what to do. What to say. How to not let this hinder his plans. How to fix this—to fix you.

You almost feel ashamed the moment he looks at you. 

Everything. You wanted Senku to see everything you had; all but this. All because you were afraid of what would happen, that he’ll eventually lose touch with you simply because he was scared.

At every passing second he looks at you with a face you simply can’t read, parts of your body start to give in. Your hand grows tired from holding the heavy hunk of magnet, slipping from your hands and dropping onto the foot of Ginrou as he cringes in pain, leaving only rough scratch marks on your skin. 

Next were your legs, it was only because of Kohaku and Kinrou that you were not lying face down on the stained ground. You felt too tired to stand on your own. 

Then you hang your head low, too afraid to look at Senku. 

Your eyes aided you with that fear, blinding your vision with a swarm of tears, perhaps from the outside pain you were starting to feel, but also perhaps of the blot you were forcing everyone to witness. 

You desperately want to lose consciousness. 

No one was able to sleep right ever since that night. 

The next few days were a blur to you, your mind still adjusting to the mess that occurred. Some tried to ask how you feel, if your injuries were getting any better. 

But there was only one thing that occupied your mind; Senku hasn’t been talking to you. 

You don’t know what’s happening outside of the warehouse, you’ve been cooped in a corner as you were treated by either Chrome or Gen. Senku was the one instructing them to aid you, never personally doing it himself. 

That forces your mind to stay awake every time. 

The others were surely becoming busy outside. Aside from noises of their current project, you don’t hear much talking, their mood must have dampened after the incident. Gen must have also left by now, Kohaku overtaking his place with helping you heal.

You hear someone coming up the stairs. 

“Y/n?” It was Suika. 

In her hands was a bowl of steaming ramen, her voice was wavering and worried, no doubt because of you. 

“They said you haven’t eaten for a while…” Suika was careful at every step she took to approach you, there was nothing but guilt forming at your stomach.  

She raised the bowl for you.

“Maybe this will make you feel better.”

You feel absolutely terrible about what you’ve done.

“Thank you.” You tried to form a smile, something you always have whenever you’re talking to Suika, but your face was tired and too used to a worn down frown.  

You rest your back on the wall, holding the bowl of ramen as you stare at it, nearly hard enough to see your reflection on the broth. You look absolutely horrendous, a poorly patched bandage on your cheek and visible bags and redness under your eyes.  

Suika was seated on the floor beside you, seemingly not planning on leaving anytime soon. She must be waiting for you to eat your food for some assurance, not wanting to draw more worry from her, you grab the pair of chopsticks she brought and start to dig in. 

Bitter. Absolutely tart that you could barely stop your face from scrunching up in distaste. It was far from similar to the ramen you always had during Sundays at Senku’s place, the broth was bearable but the noodles were thick and unpleasant. 

Senku could have made something else. 

If he had made something much simpler like an omelette, you wouldn’t have ruined your tastebuds with this alternate recipe for a comforting dish such as ramen. All because of Senku. 

But you don’t have the heart to blame him. You never could. 

You’ve wasted enough time locked inside, you figure this would be a good time to strike up a conversation with Suika about what’s currently going on with the team, it would also save the awkwardness of the little girl as she silently sat there. 

“Can you…” You hesitate, your breath heaving at the way Suika flinched out of her thoughts. “Can you tell me what’s happening outside?”

Suika stuttered for a while, collecting herself to inform you what happened. “W-Well… Gen already left, but Senku said not to worry since Gen would be on our side. And then… oh! Kohaku is training Kinrou and Ginrou for the Grand Bout. If any of them win, we can have big sister Ruri drink the medicine to cure her!”

You let Suika recount all of the things you were missing out on. From explaining what the Grand Bout is to removing the melon on her head. She had an adorable face, a pair of wide brown eyes and short blonde hair that somehow seemed alike to that of Kohaku. 

Senku must have told her about her suffering from shortsightedness as he even made her a pair of glasses so she can see well. 

You wish you could have been there for her when she saw the world for what it truly looked like. Instead, you were pent up and kept in this warehouse, despairing about what had happened. 

You also raise your attention to the newest recruit of the Kingdom of Science, an old craftsman by the name of Kaseki. Someone who helped them finish a newly built laboratory for Senku. 

Suika was starting to return to a more lighthearted manner when talking to you. 

But you still notice the way she was withdrawing some information from you. Perhaps she’s still afraid, or she could also be purposely trying to avoid mentioning anything else. You don’t push her for more, you don’t doubt that’s the last thing she wants from you. 

“I’m sorry I scared you, Suika.”

Maybe you were bad at comforting kids because Suika let out a small shriek at this. “S-Suika wasn’t scared at all!” That was a half-baked lie from the girl. She was terrified. “I was only worried since… you were hurt and you started crying…”

Now that you remember, you did. 

“I became more worried when Senku wasn’t trying to calm you down… and that he wasn’t talking to you.” Suika recalled. Senku’s behavior is not going unnoticed even to the little girl. “I thought I could help you. Everyone was starting to get busy and I didn’t want you to be lonely up here.”

There was another wave of bubbling sensation within you, aided by the beginning of moist eyes. You feel guiltier at what you made Suika witness. 

“A-Ah, Y/n?” Suika jumped up in surprise, now standing up as she sees drops of tears falling from your tired eyes. “Why are you crying?!”

“Sorry,”

This panics Suika more, you wish you could stop bawling your eyes out in front of a kid. “I’ll go get some water!” With that, she rushed down the ladder, leaving the door open for you to see the clear sky outside. 

The bowl still rested on your lap, you could only use the back of your hands to wipe off the tears falling from your eyes, rather hurriedly so that Suika wouldn’t grow frantic once she returned. You were still careful though, avoiding putting too much pressure on your bruised cheek. 

Eventually, you hear someone climbing up the ladder once more. Though instead of the little girl, it was Kohaku that entered the warehouse with a basket and cup of fresh water. 

She landed her eyes on you with a smile you haven’t seen in a while. 

“Suika is helping with a few things down there,” Kohaku says, gently placing down the straw basket beside where you lay and giving you the cup. “Your clothes just finished drying, Y/n, you can change here.”

“Thank you, Kohaku.” You try to lift the corner of your mouth up, only forming a light expression that was still far off from a smile, Kohaku nodded while lightly nodding, closing the door to give you privacy as she turned towards the corner that holds Chrome’s herb collection. 

The clothes Kohaku gave you were the one you wore before, the one you made for yourself. It was free from any stains of blood, smelling like a mixture of fresh water and the bar of soap that Senku made. You change out of the spare clothes you were wearing, something that came from Kohaku that she lended to you. 

“I’ll, uh—I’ll change your bandages.” Kohaku turned to you once you finished changing, sitting over at your side while carrying a pot that you think Senku labelled to be your needed medicine in order to avoid confusion from the others. “Sorry if I might accidentally hurt you.”

“Don’t worry,” You plainly say. Kohaku carefully unties the worn fabric that wrapped around your arm, taking it off along with the crushed herbs that stuck from it, gently wiping your arm clean. There was a quick moment of regret as Kohaku observed your battered arm. 

Kohaku’s movements were hesitant and a bit too slow, likely worried that she might accidentally draw out a pained gasp from you. You were thinking of reminding her  again that there was nothing to be worried about, but you let her take her time. 

For a moment, Kohaku began to slow down her actions more and more, her mind starting to cloud with thoughts that she started to voice out after snapping.

“I-I’m really sorry, Y/n—if I stayed more alert then—“ Kohaku inhaled sharply, not knowing how to approach anything like this. “The incident would’ve…” 

You spare a mindful look at the girl, her slightly quivering hand gently clutching your rigid hands, feeling the harsh wounds that formed on your palms. There was something else occupying Kohaku’s mind, you can tell as much. It wasn’t just regret from what had happened, but perhaps also unease from what will happen in the near future. 

Your mind quickly went back to when Suika first mentioned something about the Grand Bout. 

She must have been stressing over that. 

Her attention immediately darted back to you the moment she felt your hand grasping hers. “It’s going to be okay, Kohaku.” 

That was the only thing you said to her, and the only thing she heard from the silence. 

You didn’t complicate it anymore, wanting to give Kohaku’s mind a chance to stop and breathe about what’s next—what to do next. 

It was simple and straightforward, and it was enough for Kohaku. You really do speak in a way she finds hearty. In a way, you remind her of Ruri. Always speaking to her as if she were a little kid that needed to be comforted from crying. 

This gets a small giggle out of Kohaku, and a needed breath of relief from you. 

Kohaku continues to tend to your bandages, rubbing the newly crushed herbs on your bruises before securing it with another set of clean cloth, you don’t point out her glossy eyes. 

“Your clothes are really pretty, by the way.” Kohaku brings up, finishing up with tying the bandages. 

“Thank you, my friend taught me how to do it.” You stare down at your clothes, remembering every stitch and mistake you made while making it. 

“You mean the girl from before?” Kohaku must have been talking about Yuzuriha. 

“Yes, Yuzuriha taught me how to sew back then. I remember we were always the one staying late in the sewing room at school,” You reminisce.

“Oh yeah that reminds me, what were you always doing back then, Y/n?” Kohaku asked you with an eager smile. “What did you usually do before everyone turned into stone?”

You take your time to remember, drawing out a small hum before speaking. “I mostly attended classes. The last one I went to was gymnastics.”

“That’s the swinging thing you’re doing, right?” 

“Yeah. I didn’t actually enjoy it, everyone was so… competitive,” You recall with a bitter image of the cold atmosphere within the memory. “But I remember I had a friend there. She taught me a few moves that I had a hard time executing.”

A mental image of an unexpressive girl came to your mind, her looks contradicting her kindness when she aided you with a few tactics she was using to make her movement easier and more fluid. You wonder where she is now—rather what’s on her mind while petrified.

“Maybe once this whole thing is done, you and your friend can teach me more about gymnastics,” You feel a sense of warm fuzz within your chest when Kohaku brings this up, the idea feeding into your head; doing gymnastics with your friends with no vying atmosphere to seclude you. 

“Of course.” You feel the corner of your mouth to lift up ever so lightly, the once heavyweight depleting from your features all at once. 

As Kohaku finished aiding you with a new set of fresh bandages and clothes, your chest felt looser than before. The air you were starting to breathe in now came with something fresh and cold. 

The girl stayed with you for a few more minutes, getting lost in waves and waves of conversation with you about seemingly random things. None of your chats were tainted with Kohaku’s problems, as if the girl had completely forgotten about it for the time being as she took this moment with you to be completely candid and outspoken once more. 

While you were too caught up with conversing with Kohaku, you failed to hear someone climbing up the ladder. 

“Heck yeah!” Chrome peered open the door. “We got a bunch of sulfuric—“ The boy stopped when you and Kohaku caught his eyes. 

“Chrome, you’re too loud!”

“S-Sorry, I forgot Y/n was here…!” You eyed as Kohaku and Chrome started to bicker, almost forgetting you were still there. Yet none of that occupied you, rather your mind darted back to what Chrome mentioned before. 

“Wait, sulfuric…?” You say loud enough to let out a sudden chill from the duo. 

You don’t miss the way Kohaku sneakily nudged Chrome with her elbow, the boy starting to frantically scratch his head as he became the target of your gaze. “O-Oh, I meant like—sulfur! The powder that… uh,”

Kohaku nervously sweats as she continues to hear Chrome painfully trying to cover his slip-up. She eventually turned back to you, realizing that Chrome had said more than enough for you to connect the dots. 

Your eyes widened in realization. “You collected sulfuric acid?!” Chrome shook at this, trying to think of a way to excuse himself or avoid this topic altogether. 

The two looked at each other once more, one in panic while the other was ready to admit everything they have been keeping from you. Kohaku was the one who took the lead with the explanation. 

“Senku told us to avoid telling you since…” She drags out, finding a way to rephrase what Senku had said. “Well, he said you might worry too much and force yourself to go with them to collect the fluid.”

“Y-Yeah, and since you’re still injured, we didn’t want to tire you out.” Chrome added, fiddling with his hands while trying to meet your eyes with sincerity. “But we’re both okay!” He tried assuring you. “Ginrou also came in and helped us before we could almost—agh, never mind, the point is we’re all fine!”

You grew quiet at this, observing Chrome’s figure and failing to notice any new injury that appeared on him from the sudden expedition for sulfuric acid. You could only hope Senku was in the same condition. 

The two seemed to notice your prying eyes, filled with worry, confusion, and even a hint of tense. 

“You’re sure nothing bad happened?” You ask. 

“Definitely!” Chrome nodded, his mind wandering back to the accident that could have led to something horrible if Ginrou didn’t appear in time, but he remembers the three of them agreeing to never bring it up to you. 

Despite something in your mind that slightly doubts Chrome’s words, you don’t blame anyone for keeping it from you. They were just following Senku’s instructions. 

You continue to stay silent as Chrome explains to you and Kohaku that all of the needed materials for Ruri’s medicine are now complete. 

The more you listen to their chat about the team’s progression, the more you realize you were starting to fall back a little. You can’t stay locked in the room forever, you need to get out there and help everyone. 

You have to talk to Senku and apologize.

The thought of it starts prickling needles onto your skin. How exactly are you going to do that? What if he’s too upset at the damage you’ve done? You were certain that what you’ve done led to something that impacted the villager’s opinion of Senku. And they were even starting to warm up to him a few days ago.

“Y/n,” You hear your name being called out. You see Kohaku and Chrome looking at you as they are about to leave the storage house. “We’re going down to help, do you… Do you need us to tell Senku something? Or…”

Chrome stumbled at this, not sure if what he’s implying is rightful or not. At some point, the two were ready to shake off this offer, but not before they heard your answer. 

“I’ll tell him myself.”

Your eyes flutter open as you notice the surrounding darkness around you, only the moon spared your eyes from going completely blind in the night. 

It was completely silent, not even the shuffling of materials from below was heard at this time of night. You sit up from your spot, noticing that the storage house wasn’t empty. 

Kohaku, Suika, and Chrome had all fallen asleep on the floor with their own share of blankets. 

Suika was the one closer to you, the melon that covered her head was set aside somewhere safe while she slumbered with the blanket completely covering her. Kohaku was beside her, her hair now entirely messy and unkempt from the twisting and turning she does in her sleep. 

Chrome was all over the place, his blanket starting to slip away on top of him as he mostly took over the rest of the space in the house. 

They were all tired from continuously working from earlier. You feel bad at not lessening their load like before. 

You didn’t fail to notice Senku’s absence. 

Though you weren’t entirely surprised, you barely caught him sleeping in the warehouse the past few days as well. He either must have woken up early or stayed outside, likely in the newly built laboratory. 

You wait until Kohaku has stopped shuffling around in her sleep before you took off the blanket on top of you, standing up and carefully avoiding stepping on anyone, mostly Chrome. 

The door was slightly opened to let in some light. Once outside, you notice the scattered equipment and spare materials all over the ground. You were usually the one to clean up after work to avoid anyone stumbling over. 

As expected, no one was there. The campfire was now completely embers, not even able to pick up its flame with every gust of wind passing by. Kinrou and Ginrou weren’t there either, perhaps placed back in front of the village bridge.  

You flinch when you hear barking. 

No one was there, all except Chalk. 

You took some time to kneel down and pet the dog, urging him to not be too loud to avoid waking anyone up at his hour. 

Chalk eventually calmed down, rolling on the ground while panting eagerly at your presence. Your eyes wandered around, noticing new glasswares that scattered around the space. Some were even so complex that it surprised you how someone was able to pull off something like that. Kaseki must be a talented craftsman based on what you’ve seen. 

After some time, your eyes darted towards the newly built laboratory. 

A wave of doubt flooded your head as you noticed a warm glow coming from the inside. 

And yet, you push yourself to walk towards the only warm light you could see in the night. 

The nearer you get to the entrance, the more you could feel the smallest change of temperature around you. You start to hear the bumping of glass and wooden materials from the inside. 

Finally, you enter.

Senku’s back faced you, not noticing your sudden entry as he was busying himself with something on the glass table. 

You wonder if you should be the one to break the silence and make your presence known, or if you should stay quiet and give him space until he realizes on his own. 

Neither of those happened, instead it was Chalk who broke down the wall of silence. 

“What the fuck—“ Senku flinched at Chalk’s restless barks, looking back to see not only the dog, but also you. “Huh?”

No words were said just yet. Instead, Senku watched as you took an awkward amount of time to shoo Chalk out of the laboratory to not hinder any of the materials inside. 

You sigh as your hands keep the curtains closed, somehow not wanting to turn back around and face your friend like nothing had happened. You could feel Chalk desperately trying to scratch his way through the thickly woven curtains. 

The dog soon gave up and minded his own business, giving you and Senku less to get distracted on. 

“It’s you.” You hear Senku’s impatient voice from behind you, the sudden panic that filled him was starting to break apart after knowing there was nobody else. 

You weren’t sure what to say—rather you don’t know which one to start with. You have so many questions, so many things to catch up on. 

Have you been eating well?

How are you?

I’m sorry. 

Aren’t you tired?

You should sleep. 

So many things you want to remind him, but your mind goes completely blank. 

“Um…” You turn to him, finally getting to see those familiar red eyes of his, turning into a vibrant shade of vermillion in the warm lighting. You almost forgot how pretty of a color it was. 

You can see through it. He was nervous, and a bit too on edge. You wonder if it was all because of you and what you did. It likely is. 

So you tried talking about something else. 

In a way that Senku knows how to respond to. 

You nervously fiddled with your fingers. “What are you working on?”

Suddenly, the worry and nervous feeling was replaced with something more familiar. 

Chapter Text

He’d admit it to anyone who would ask, but Senku doesn’t really know you. 

The things he thought that he knew about you were mere scraps he picked up along the way through the years of your friendship. 

He never really tried. 

Ever since that bloody incident, Senku started to feel detached from you, that sharing a space with you felt like two strangers waiting for the train to arrive and carry them on with their own lives. 

Like someone who had been helping him run through the years, whose lack of breath was starting to catch up to her as Senku eventually ran past you by accident. 

You felt like a stranger. 

But what’s worse, Senku felt like an outsider peeking in. An outsider who knows nothing; who doesn’t know you. Simply because he never tried to. 

That's why he started to spend a lot of his time in the newly built laboratory, it just felt too wrong to be in the same room as you, and he could discern that you would eventually feel the same.

But if anyone were to look harder and squint at him a little bit more, Senku was starting to grow worried, afraid even. 

An anxious feeling kept dwelling within him as he continued to spend his time with a string that was ready to snap, an unsteady line tying himself to you. 

He wanted to turn back, to try and keep it fixed; keep it connected. 

It was only during one midnight did he realize: he made a mistake. 

What would his dad tell him?

Senku was probably losing his mind at the sudden thought that formed in his head, but if his dad was there to help him…

He would tell him to turn around. 

He’d assure him that it’s not so bad to stop when someone else does too. 

Byakuya would tell Senku to look back. 

So he did. 

It's like his dad is always right. Because when he looked back, you were already there. 

And as always, he can never see right through you. 

It was an unpleasant reminder that you were no different to strangers he had seen throughout his life. 

If only he can change that. 

“What are you working on?”

Maybe he can. 

Maybe he can go back and try, something he never did before. 

Your voice sounded like the gentle swaying of grass and smooth running of the river that replaced the chaotic nature of his thoughts, it was something that he needed. 

It felt odd, somehow he keeps telling himself to look away from you, to hide. But he finds himself not wanting to, he wants to try. 

“How are you?” Just try. 

“I’m… feeling better.” Accept it. 

“That’s good.” She’s a stranger now. 

“Yeah.” She’s different. 

You were a different person now. Perhaps you have been different for a while now and Senku just didn’t see it. 

Despite his unknowingness, he tries to continue the conversation. “I didn’t notice,” He whispers loud enough to reach you. “You’re not the same person anymore.”

Though he couldn’t see right through you, he very well noticed the remaining hope in your eye vanishing at the mention of this. “Oh,” you murmured, eyes slightly widened in dismay. 

At this point, the string had long since violently snapped. 

It was only a matter of time, Senku could only hold on for so long. 

“I’m sorry,” He thought that that was the one thing swelling your mind, so Senku decided to save you the hassle of apologizing. He forgot how utterly tiring it was to be genuine. 

You’ve always been the one to spare him the difficulty of being genuine and vulnerable. It was about time he did it first. 

“It’s not your fault. I was the one who broke it.” Senku admits and he can start to see the bubbling daze you were experiencing at his words. 

“Broke… what?” Your voice was weaker than usual, it felt too alike to your younger self. 

Senku gently scoffs, “It doesn’t matter.” You continue to drown in disarray. “Can I just…”

It was really hard being so vulnerable. Senku knows that, but he never realized how truly complicated it was. 

It was a wonder how much you did it around him. 

He should do the same. 

“Can I get to know you?”

What he saw in your expression was something new, something that he never witnessed before. 

And that was telling him that he was going in the right direction. 

That, whatever he’s saying, it was the right decision. 

“Of course.”

There was no more string connecting him to you. 

Instead, a bridge started to build itself instead.

The small flame of the candle was washed away by the chilling breeze that slipped inside the room, the two of you soaked under the brimming light of the moon. 

Ah, Senku never planned anything for this point on. What should he even ask first to get to know you?

Well, asking anything wouldn’t hurt. 

“Do you have,” Senku dithered as you two sat down with your back resting against a tree bark. “Do you like any… games?”

“Well…” You contemplate it for a short while. “Chess, I guess? I never really had a chance to play a lot of video games… if that’s what you mean.”

“Have you been in any tournaments?”

“Just one time,”

There was still something heavy within the air, that was obvious enough for Senku to notice, and perhaps you do too. Despite that, he continues. 

“Any favorite songs? Music?” His hands were left to idle, awaiting for your response. 

You meditate on the question until your tongue finally catches onto a proper answer, “Lullabies.”

“Really? I never would’ve… thought about that.” 

“I think it always slips past people’s heads, but it’s very…”

“Comforting, right?” Senku mentions, his head slightly tilting to your direction. 

“Yeah, something like that. Comforting.”

He mumbles at this. “Lullabies are just… song versions of poetry.”

A charming laugh fell through your lips, “That’s how I would describe them, yes.”

“You know,” He leaned forward, resting his head on his palm and turned to you. “You can ask me questions too.”

“Okay then…” You then started to muse for a particular question. “If… you see a dandelion, what would you do with it?”

Senku blinks in stunned surprise, somehow startled at the sudden question you asked. 

He couldn’t help but laugh, what was he expecting?

“What? Why are you laughing?” 

He starts to dismiss the remaining mirth on him. “I was just caught off guard by it.” Senku chuckles, directing his attention back to forming an answer. “Well… what are you supposed to do with dandelions?”

“Hey, you’re not supposed to answer a question with another question…” You sulk at his reply. 

“But how about you? What would you do?”

“I would kiss it and then watch the seeds fly away.” A smile formed in your lips, recollecting the endearing sight of the white particles flying away. 

Senku felt puzzled at this. “Aren’t you supposed to blow on it?” 

“The wind would be the one to do that.”

“Right,” Senku cackles before the next question. “Do you have a favorite painting?”

You silently giggle, “The sky.”

“Very poetic.” Senku can agree with you. Sometimes, the sky would appear too alluring to be real. It almost seemed like it was painted on. 

“Wait, I’ve been wondering this for a while now,” You promptly sit up. “Do you have a favorite scientist?”

It was as if he had been asked this question before at how quick he answered. “Not really,” 

“Oh…” 

“Well, I guess… Albert Einstein is a given, but not so much as my favorite.” He rephrased his words. 

“So, like admiration?” 

“Guess you could say that…” Senku continued to dig through his memories, skipping through the other scientists he has known in his life. 

Someone in particular stood out. 

“And, I guess, Doctor Xeno too.”

“Ah, the mad, villain scientist.” 

Senku laughs at this, recalling your take on the scientist from before. “He’s not so bad.”

“I would’ve thought so, considering he did mentor you for a while.”

“Yeah, but hey,” Senku crossed his arms as he leaned his back on the tree. “I did most of the learning myself.”

“Of course you did,” You close your eyes, your mind taking you back to when Senku returned to his trip from the United States when he met with the NASA scientist. 

You remember how cleared his head was, how it felt like new ideas were always swarming his free mind. Doctor Xeno really did help him a lot, that alone was enough to make you respect the man. 

“All right, let’s see…” Senku looked around, his mind wandering to think of yet another question to keep the conversation going. “How about… your favorite…” He dragged out, still unsure of what question to ask. 

But somehow, you already had an answer. “You.”

“Huh?” Senku, in disbelief, turns to you who seemed so close to falling asleep on him. “I haven’t finished.”

“Oh… you haven’t?” Your tone was close to fading into silent snoring. “Sorry.”

Maybe it’s time to get some sleep. It’s been a while since he has rested with you anyway. 

But it was funny, somehow, Senku thinks that you were well awake and aware when you answered. 

When Suika woke up, the first thing she immediately noticed was your absence. 

The second thing she did was panic. 

You were still injured and you suddenly left! The amount of worse case scenarios that were flooding Suika’s head was truly concerning. 

When she woke up both Kohaku and Chrome, the two of them then joined Suika with horrified banters, not even daring to fathom what might have happened in the span when you had left them.

Were you taken by Magma? 

That wouldn’t be it, Kohaku would notice if he ever entered the house. 

Then you probably left on your own accord. 

What if Magma caught you while you were out on your own?!

It was only then when the trio sprinted outside of the storage room and rushed down, practically almost falling. 

They were about to shout your name and warn Senku, but then old man Kaseki caught onto them first. 

“Ah you three are finally awake,” The elderly said, approaching the group with a warm cup of tea he had been drinking. 

“Kaseki! Where’s Senku?! We have to tell him—” Chrome was the first to raise his voice out of concern. “Y/n was missing when we woke up—“

“Senku and Y/n?” Kaseki pondered, turning to look at a spot behind the group. “Those two?”

It was as if on cue that Kohaku’s shoulders calmed down when she saw you and Senku rested under a tree. 

“What—they fell asleep outside?” Suika worriedly rushed towards the two of you. 

“I didn’t know what Y/n looked like,” Kaseki hums, “But I figured that was her since she seemed close with Senku.”

It was Chrome who first spoke up about this. “Wait, they made up?”

Kohaku smiled, taking in the way you and Senku leaned on each other to avoid falling. “Seems like it.”

“Aren’t they cold?” Suika flinched at the sudden realization before scurrying back to the warehouse to fetch a blanket. The sun hadn’t completely risen up yet and the chilly evening air was still looming around. 

Despite Suika’s words being worryingly true, neither you nor Senku felt uncomfortable. It seemed quite the opposite. 

It was as if a fire or a blanket wasn’t needed to keep you two warm. 

Kohaku then turned to the concerned bunch. “They have each other, I think that’s enough to keep them warm.”