DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dr. Stone! :)
To my awesome reviewers (08/10/20): Hello, leiahackett, PuppyCake, pikapika, Phantomfray, Lu-chan 16Love, DracoSoull, and Ishigami Tatiana! ^_^ Thank you so much for reviewing the twenty-fourth chapter of No Stone Unturned! I'm glad this fanfic grew on you! I love the way they trust each other, and we'll be seeing how that came to be in this fanfic :D We're getting closer to when they make glass, aren't we? Kohaku's help makes things go faster for sure :P And she wants to make sure that Gen knows the right things about her capabilities XD The next one is... here! :D Kohaku can help them even more when she comes back! I agree; I love this ship! :D I hope all you enjoy this new chapter, and thank you again! ^_^
Chapter Twenty-Five: (S01 E09i) Displeased Canine
It took several trips, but Senku, Chrome, and Suika, with Chalk barking excitedly at their feet, eventually managed to pile a large quantity of the plants, which they held in place by placing a few animal skins on top of the stalks to prevent them from flying in the breeze.
We'll need more of these skins before we start building the glassblowing furnace, Senku thought, but Kohaku and Gen should be back before then.
When lunchtime arrived, Chrome briefly ducked into the woods to check his traps. He came out with two rabbits in his hands and a disturbed look on his face.
"Is something wrong?" asked Senku.
Chrome paused for a moment, now looking slightly guilty as he shrugged, clearly not wanting to discuss whatever it was.
What's up with him?
After they had lunch, Senku uncovered the harvested foxtail grass and started handing out bundles to Chrome and Suika, his movements tracked by Chalk's eyes the whole while, making Suika coo at his attentiveness, but putting Senku on his guard – which was the only reason he was able to jump out of the way when, after he had walked to a rock and was starting to sit down in front of it, the dog barked loudly before snapping at Senku's ankle.
Not again! Senku thought in slight dismay, having managed to jump on top of the rock, holding his bundle of foxtail grass at arm's length both to redirect Chalk's gaze as well as to balance himself.
"Chalk?!" Suika blurted out, surprised at her normally cheerful dog's actions. "What's wrong?"
Uncharacteristically, the dog ignored her and started to growl at Senku.
Hmm... Chalk looks just as disapproving as last time...
"Chrome, can you go up to your shed and put some pieces of dried meat in one of the spare pouches?"
"Sure thing!"
Ramen for the villagers, dried meat for Chalk. A bribe's a bribe.
When Chrome returned with the requested pouch, Senku set down his foxtail grass and took the pouch from Chrome with a nod of thanks. While he had been able to distract the dog last time, the others had lost Senku's portion of work for most of the day. But with Kohaku still in the forest, they couldn't afford a second decrease in their manpower.
Which leaves me with one option... a weird option, but it just might work... and then I can get back to work getting those foxtail millet grains to make ramen.
With that, Senku took one small piece of dried meat out of the pouch and offered it to Chalk, who, which still displeased, was also still a dog, and gobbled the treat right up. Immediately afterward, Senku took a few steps back before bending down to offer Chalk a second piece, which was also snatched from his fingers and munched upon. Repeating the process several times, Senku walked backwards and kept giving Chalk pieces of dried meat as he led the dog to the woods, but not before instructing Chrome and Suika to start working on the foxtail grass.
A few minutes later of walking backwards, when the trees were thick enough that he could no longer see the shed of science, Senku stopped both his movement and his treat giving, making Chalk, who had come to expect delicious things to eat at regular intervals, to stop as well. The dog, now in a slightly better mood, tilted his head at Senku, watching as he sat down at the foot of a tree in order to look at Chalk in the eye.
Senku heard a slight rustle behind him, but paid it no mind as he focused on the dog in front of him, who had also settled into a sitting position and was now gazing at him warily, but curiously.
"Now, Chalk. Let's talk."
"...and that's why we need to make ramen..." explained Senku, gesturing with a twig to the bowl of ramen he had scratched out in dirt, "...to get the villagers' help in melting copper for the generator, and later on, glass..." he moved the twig to point at a cluster of stick figures, "to make eyeglasses for Suika..." he indicated a pair of glasses and a small stick figure with a watermelon head, "...so that she can see properly."
His canine audience, who had actually been commendably attentive almost the entire time, took a few steps closer to sniff at the stick figure with a watermelon head before barking in approval.
"So, will you let us make ramen now?" Senku pressed, wanting to make sure that there would be no more interruptions to their current project.
"Bark! Bark, bark!" Chalk exclaimed happily.
"Good," said Senku, giving him a nod, as well as one final treat, which Chalk was eager to accept.
Even Chalk knows how important science is, Senku thought in satisfaction.
He got up from where he had been sitting on the ground, and he and the dog walked back to the others, who were just finishing with their initial bundles of foxtail grass. When he reached them, Senku greeted them and sat down in front of the rock he had been about to use earlier.
"Make sure to set aside the stems; we'll need them in a few days," he commented as he reached for several stalks from his bundle of foxtail grass, which either Chrome or Suika had thoughtfully weighed down with a piece of firewood to prevent the wind from blowing it away.
Before whacking the foxtail grass in his hand on the rock in front of him, Senku glanced at Chalk, who seemed to have no objections anymore, and, after sniffing everybody's foxtail grass bundles, curled up in front of Suika's rock and closed his eyes, reminding Senku of somebody else who also fell asleep after hearing about scientific principles.
(End of Chapter Twenty-Five.) (08/10/20.)
I. My personal comments: Hello everybody! I hope you're all healthy and staying safe! :) In the manga and anime, Chalk was NOT happy when they were whacking those foxtail grass stalks on rocks to extract the grains. But because of Senku's belief that scientific explanations can get through to anybody, and his and Chalk's shared fondness for Suika, they found a way to get along when it comes to ramen :D
II. Question of the day: How do you feel about Senku and Chalk's new understanding? :)
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-Five ("Displeased Canine")? :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)