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

To my awesome reviewers (01/06/20): Hello, ZxVelo, Phantomfray, Wyote, pikapika, PuppyCake, BorbFan28, and Lu-chan 16Love! ^_^ Thank you so much for reviewing the twenty-second chapter of No Stone Unturned! Glad to hear it! :) You brought up so many interesting points about Gen! :D He doesn't know (but Tsukasa does) that Senku wouldn't lie about science, but Gen does know now that, like you said, there are more benefits to joining the kingdom of science than just foxtail ramen, and that he should think carefully about where to give his allegiance :D Thank you! I also really like this part of the series because their collaboration and friendship feel more intimate, being a smaller group right now :) Chrome's so excited about what they're doing that he can't help but talk about it :D And that's exactly why berries are very useful! XD Actually, the chapter you're about to read involves Senku and Kohaku... and Gen XD I'm happy to hear that! I like writing writing about the conversations and interactions that might have happened that we didn't see :D Thanks! Looks like you're about to find out! XD I hope all you enjoy this new chapter, and thank you again! ^_^

Chapter Twenty-Three: (S01 E09g) Breakfast Intelligence

"Chrome-chan? Who's Ruri-chan?"

Senku saw that Chrome opened his mouth and was just about to answer when Suika beat him to it.

"She's our village priestess, and she tells us all kinds of stories, like the one about Momotaro!"

Gen's eyes widened.

"Momotaro? Really?"

He glanced at Senku questioningly, but Suika, who thought the question was directed at her, replied, "Yup! She told us that Momotaro was…"

As Gen raised his eyebrows in bewilderment at listening to a Japanese folktale from a little girl who was born in the stone world, Kohaku, who was sitting a few feet to Senku's right, got up and went to the cooking pot to scoop more broth into her bowl before sitting down right next to Senku.

"Senku," she murmured as she kept her eyes on Gen, who was listening to Suika tell Ruri's version of Momotaro, "who was Asagiri Gen in your time? How did you know about him?"

"Gen was an entertainer, a fake sorcerer," he replied.

She turned her head a little to look at him, confused.

"How can people be entertained by sorcery?"

"Well," said Senku conversationally, "for the most part, people knew it was fake sorcery, so instead of scaring them, it made them laugh."

"What kind of sorcery did he do?"

Senku was by no means an expert on television pseudo-celebrities – in fact, the little he knew about Gen was from his classmates who had been discussing Gen's bogus psychology book the day of the petrification – but he did his best to answer Kohaku's question.

"Gen made objects disappear from people's eyes, like he did with Magma, and he…" How am I supposed to explain card tricks to somebody who's never seen cards, or even paper? "…he took small objects from his sleeves and put them in unexpected places."

"Unexpected places…" Kohaku repeated after him, looking at her bowl of food with a frown, "…I see…"

She was clearly concerned about poison, but Senku, who had watched Gen closely while Chrome and Suika were cooking the stew, knew that the food was safe. After all, he didn't want to die twice in the same year.

"I watched-"

But before Senku could continue, he was distracted by Suika's voice.

"…And after he met the bear, Momotaro met… um…"

She slumped sadly.

"I'm sorry; I don't remember the rest of the story… but Kohaku might!" Suika said, brightening up again. "She's Ruri-nee's sister, so she probably knows a lot of the stories!"

"Oh?" asked an intrigued Gen, turning to Kohaku. "So Ruri-chan is your sister, Kohaku-chan?"

At Gen's question, Kohaku gripped her bowl of untouched stew so hard that her fingertips turned white, and Senku knew why.

I saved her life the day we met, but Kohaku still slept with her weapons ready and didn't mention Ruri at all until the next morning.

When she knew for sure I wasn't a threat.

But Gen hasn't built up that kind of goodwill with her, so she'll probably explode… right about… now.

"She is!" Kohaku said cheerfully with a wide grin.

…That was unexpected…

"I don't spend a lot of time with her, but I help her when I can," she finished, smiling.

Gen blinked in confusion, probably at the change in Kohaku's demeanor, but from his small shrug, Senku deduced that Gen thought the change from Kohaku's normally suspicious attitude towards him was due to her happiness at speaking about her sister.

And, like the mentalist he was, he pressed on with his perceived advantage.

"Do you hunt for her as well?" asked Gen. "This meat tasted so good… she's very lucky to have a sister like you!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," she beamed. "You know, hunting's not that hard. I can teach you, if you'd like?"

Chrome and Suika were watching their conversation with interest, but Senku was getting more and more perplexed at Kohaku's behavior. Maybe Gen had been able to slip something in that stew…

"I don't think I can learn," Gen murmured regretfully, "I'm good with my hands, but something like hunting would be too hard for somebody like me…"

"Oh, no, I insist!" she replied, still looking cheerful and accommodating. "Hunting is very useful, after all!"

At that, Gen tilted his head to gaze at her.

He seemed to realize that something fishy was going on, but, like Senku, Gen didn't know what it was, and didn't want to risk offending the person who had previously been so opposed to him without a solid reason to do so.

"Well… I suppose I… can't say no to such a cute girl~" said Gen happily, but he looked slightly wary as he slowly set down his empty bowl.

"That's wonderful!" squealed Kohaku. "We're going to have so much fun hunting together!"

At her excited squeal, Gen narrowed his eyes at Kohaku, appearing to have suddenly arrived at some conclusion Senku had not, and said, "Actually, never mind, I'll just-"

But Kohaku had already set down her own bowl, and, quick as lightning, she leaped behind Gen and grabbed him by the back of his robes before leaning down to speak to him.

"I'll teach you how to hunt. I'm very good at catching and killing things that try to run away from me," said Kohaku ominously, no longer cheerful, no longer accommodating. "Let me show you, Asagiri Gen."

A threat… So that's why she was acting like that!

As she hauled a protesting Gen away from the breakfast campfire, Senku, who was entirely amused, called out, "Don't take longer than two weeks! We should have the noodles ready by then!"

"Two weeks?!" Gen blurted out.

Kohaku gave Senku a backwards wave in acknowledgement…

…as she continued to drag the now-terrified mentalist by the back of his robes into the waiting forest.

(End of Chapter Twenty-Three.) (01/06/20.)

I. My personal comments: In the anime and manga, Kohaku threatened to fight Kinro and Ginro after they tried to attack Senku, and she barely knew him then. If she perceived somebody as a threat against RURI... O.O And you know the "dragging Gen away by the robes" thing that Kaseki and Senku usually do to Gen? Well, in my fanfic, Kohaku was the one who started that trend! XD

II. Question of the day: How do you feel about Kohaku and Gen's conversation? :O

III. 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 Twenty-Three ("Breakfast Intelligence")? :D Reviews really mean a lot to me as a fanfiction writer, and all kinds of positive, negative, and/or constructive reviews are very 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)