DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dr. Stone! :)


To my awesome reviewers (01/03/20): Hello, Evelyn (evelynmoore05), Lu-chan 16Love, Anonymous, Ruby890, CELESTE kaomy-chan, Donuty Reads, and Guest! ^_^ Thank you so much for reviewing the seventeenth chapter of No Stone Unturned! It's good to have Gen here... finally somebody who can observe Senku and Kohaku! I'm happy to be following the manga; it has a lot of little things that the anime doesn't have! :D I'm glad it's getting interesting! Awesome; that was actually one of the most important parts of the chapter :D She doesn't know Gen yet, so Kohaku needs to be cautious! Hooray! I'll keep writing! :) Happy to meet another Senku/Kohaku shipper! I also hope Inagaki and Boichi go deeper into their relationship! :D Slow burn is a lot of fun to write! I hope all you enjoy this new chapter, and thank you again! ^_^


Chapter Eighteen: (S01 E09b) Featherlight Words


After letting Chrome decide which next four people were to take their turn on the furnace, Senku and Suika climbed into the shed of science. He needed to think about what having another modern-era person near the village would mean for his plans, and after he saw an exhausted Suika almost nod off to sleep as she slowly washed the bowls the villagers has used, he had instructed her to come up with him as well.

Moments later, Chrome followed them, also tired, but cheerful because of how the day had gone.

"Ganen's next turn is way later, but he's still staying down there to watch the others," said Chrome as he ducked his head to enter the storeroom. "I think he's getting interested in science!"

As endlessly fascinating Senku found science, he still thought it more likely that this Ganen – and any other villagers who may have stayed – had done so more to watch something new.

Since metalworking had been non-existent at the village before I came along, the residents must be curious about what could require that much heat.

If that was the case, their curiosity could only work in Senku's favor.

"Senku, how long will we be pumping oxygen into the furnace?" asked Chrome as he sat down on the floor. "I want to see what this 'iron' thing looks like!"

"You've already seen it, Chrome," Senku said wryly. "We spent eight weeks collecting it. The constant pumping is making the furnace hotter, which we need to get the temperature we need. At this rate, we'll have a pot of melted iron before sunrise."

Upon hearing that, Chrome scooted closer to the entrance to poke out his head and check on everybody's progress – only to barely avoid bumping heads with Kohaku, who had been climbing up herself.

"That Asagiri Gen isn't a hard worker at all," Kohaku complained. Settling into a spot beside Suika, she continued, "He's working, but he's inefficient – and he's slowing down the people around him because he keeps talking to them."

Doing exactly what I did to him earlier. The difference is that the villagers don't know that.

Chrome asked, "You mean because he's distracting them?"

"I doubt it," mused Senku. "Asagiri Gen may be from the Tsukasa Empire, but he's also from my time."

It was Kohaku's turn to be confused.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Asagiri Gen woke up in this stone world just like Taiju, Yuzuriha, and I did. He might be asking for information, but he wouldn't actively sabotage our efforts this early on. Being from the modern era, he has an idea of what ironmaking can lead to… and from what he said about cola, he misses things from home. From our time. Iron isn't cola, but it's something.

After Senku didn't say anything, Kohaku continued her train of thought.

"He would sympathize with whoever was next to him – Unmo, for example – and then complain with them about how tough the work was. Then he would ask them about themselves and what they do in the village – all while talking in that way of his."

Suika stirred, stretching a little before going still again. Glancing at the sleeping girl, Kohaku put her hand on the watermelon mask and gave it a gentle rub. While the caress was, in Senku's opinion, almost pointless because Suika wouldn't have been able to feel it, the motion seemed to give Kohaku time to think about what she was going to say next.

"Remember the way he talked to me, Kinro, and Ginro when we had our weapons aimed at him? That light, airy tone he used – his words were light as a feather, and had the substance of a feather, too – empty; just a way to try and get us to trust him even when we shouldn't. People who talk like that, who just say what you want to hear…"

At that, Kohaku trailed off darkly, scowling at the open door of the shed of science, where the village's two islands as well as the large column of smoke that emanated from the furnace could be seen.

Clearly, she doesn't trust Gen, thought Senku. I don't either, but there's one thing we should know.

"We need to find out why he's here," he said to Chrome, Kohaku, and a sleeping Suika. "You don't approach an enemy that openly unless you have a clear goal…"

For some reason, his words pulled Kohaku out of her somber mood and made her grin.

"…or unless you have a backup plan. If we find out either of those, we can use the situation to our advantage," finished Senku.

"And if he's not that close to that Tsukasa guy, maybe we can make him part of the kingdom of science," Chrome said enthusiastically. "When he sees our 'iron,' he's going to think it's crazy!"

Kohaku rolled her eyes, but she was still grinning.

"Even you've never seen iron, Chrome."

"Yeah, but I know all about it from Senku! Iron's a type of metal and it's one of the most common types of metal there is and it turns different colors and you can get it from hematite and magnetite-"

As Chrome generously shared his iron knowledge with Kohaku, Senku saw her eyes go wide for a moment – before she shrugged easily and continued to listen to Chrome as she lay down on the floor behind Suika.

Speaking of using a situation to your advantage…

Smirking, he left the three of them, crawling out of the door to sit on the roof and think about his plans.

Iron sand means iron bars, iron bars mean magnets, magnets mean electricity.

Electricity was everything to science. Science could do anything thanks to electricity. Electricity enabled power, and communication, and revival. It was the force behind power generators and cell phones and defibrillators.

But to get it, he needed iron.

One small step at a time.


(End of Chapter Eighteen.) (01/03/20.)


I. My personal comments: In the manga (and anime), Ganen is the only villager who stays with Kohaku and the others to watch Senku pour the melted iron into the wooden mold to make the iron bar. So I wanted to use that detail :D How do you feel about Kohaku's lack of trust in Gen, and about her way of using Chrome's scientific knowledge to help herself settle down and get some rest? XD (By the way, I tend to hide little hints and phrases in earlier chapters and refer to them in chapters that are published WAY later, so be on the lookout! :D)

II. A tiny request: Thank you for reading my fanfic! :D If you've read this far, I hope you'll consider taking an extra minute to leave a review for Chapter Eighteen ("Featherlight Words")? :D Reviews really mean a lot to me as a fanfiction writer, and all forms of constructive criticism are welcome! Even if it's the year 5738 or something, I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! :D (By the way, I'm "fireflyhwufanficwrit" on Reddit and "firefly-hwufanficwriterrrrr" on Tumblr :D)