DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dr. Stone! :)
To my awesome reviewers (24/10/20): Hello, DracoSoull, pikapika, Lu-chan 16Love, Guest (Sara), and Ishigami Tatiana! ^_^ Thank you so much for reviewing the twenty-fifth chapter of No Stone Unturned! He noticed that they both tend to find science relaxing... maybe TOO relaxing... XD Back to this site and this fanfic! :) The food definitely helped Chalk feel satisfied and sleepy :D Chalk was a patient listener about the importance of science and glass... partly because of Senku's dried meat treats! :) Yup, that part of the manga was SUCH a wonderful arc for Senku and Kohaku! :D Thank you! :) I hope all you enjoy this new chapter, and thank you again! ^_^
Chapter Twenty-Six: (S01 E09j) Hunting Education
For the next couple of days, Senku and the others worked on separating the foxtail grains from the stalks and fluff, and when that was finished, they spent the rest of the week using stone cylinders, almost like gigantic rolling pins, to crush the grains into foxtail millet flour.
Chrome, interestingly, had started waking up earlier than Senku and Suika to work on the ramen-related tasks, but had also started leaving the camp in the middle of the afternoon. The one time Senku had curiously asked why, Chrome's exaggerated nonchalance informed Senku of two things: that Chrome didn't want to talk about it, and that he was a really bad actor.
Truly nonchalant people weren't that twitchy.
The man's absences, though, did give Senku more time to analyze Suika's eyesight, since Senku had assigned her to be the quality checker for the ramen flour.
After they finished making the flour, they used bird eggs and potassium carbonate to turn it into dough and sliced that dough to make ramen noodles.
Finally, the noodles are done, thought Senku, wiping his brow with the back of his arm. This felt like it took a really long time – things went by a lot faster when Chrome and Suika and I made the ramen with-
"Kohaku!" Suika's excited voice interrupted his thoughts. "You're back!"
Ignoring the deer and boar that Kohaku held under each arm, Suika ran to her enthusiastically before wrapping her right leg in an excited hug. The woman immediately set the animals down on the ground before wrapping Suika in a happy embrace, smiling as she held the little girl close.
Several yards away, Senku saw Gen, who had a makeshift carrying pole behind his neck that held three rabbits on each side, trudging towards the camp. He looked both exhausted from his time in the woods… as well as extremely relieved to at last be with people who weren't Kohaku, judging by the slightly frantic looks he sent her way.
After giving Kohaku one last quick squeeze, Suika rolled off to greet Gen. Senku heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Chrome, who had been cooking lunch over the fire, eagerly come over to greet Kohaku as well. They exchanged a few murmured words Senku couldn't hear, and Kohaku gave Chrome a particularly warm smile, which Senku noted absently was the gentlest expression he had seen on her face since the day she had thanked him for saving her life.
In response, the man put his hand on her shoulder and said something to before walking past her to help carry what she had brought back to them.
Kohaku took a few more steps before coming to a stop a couple of feet in front of Senku.
"I'm back," she said, smiling as she gave him a small wave.
"Welcome back," replied Senku. She looked sleep-deprived, but happy. "Good job on your two-week sleepover with the mentalist… it looks like you guys got more than enough meat for the ramen."
She nodded.
"The boar was the best thing we caught. Not only is it more food for all of us, but I was also able to use it in a… demonstration." She bared her teeth in a grin that was almost vindictive.
She really is a lioness, thought Senku. All she's missing are fangs.
To his surprise, after that, Kohaku immediately headed for the fire and curled up beside it for a nap.
Yup, definitely a lioness.
Casting his eyes toward the others, Senku saw that Chrome and Suika were checking the animals. Leaving the task to them for now, he walked towards Gen, who was sitting on the ground and leaning against the base of the shed of science.
"It's over… it's finally over…" he heard Gen muttering to himself as he held his hand to his chest, taking several slow, deep breaths.
Sitting down beside Gen, Senku commented, "Are you that scared of hunting? It's not my favorite thing either, but we are in a stone world now, so we all have to learn sooner or later…"
"Oh, I learned, alright~" said Gen in a high voice that tried to sound casual, but completely failed to do so. "Don't hurt Kohaku-chan's sister. Don't even look at Kohaku-chan's sister. Message received!"
"She talked to you about her sister?"
That was pretty surprising – Senku had been so sure that Kohaku had wanted Gen to know as little about Ruri as possible.
"No, not a single word. But if you experienced the same two horrible weeks that I did, then you'd know that was exactly what she meant!"
"What do you mean?"
The other man shuddered.
"Our first day in the forest, Kohaku-chan told me to run. When I asked her what she was talking about, she took out her weapons and started chasing me! Everyday for three days! She said that to be a good hunter, I should know how it feels to be hunted!"
Know how it feels to be hunted? Senku mused. Yeah, that does sound like a threat. But also…
"Well, she's been hunting longer than either of us. Maybe that's a real thing they learn here."
"Then after we got the boar," babbled Gen, words spilling out of him as if he were venting about a traumatic event to a therapist, "she tripped me with a rope snare! I was swinging upside-down from a tree for six hours!"
Ah, rope snares. Senku remembered making those in the first month of his depetrification, after he had made sharp stone tools. That first bite of roasted meat had been delicious.
"Maybe she just wanted to teach you the importance of making proper rope snares. The animals can wriggle out of them if they're too loose, you know. That doesn't mean she was threatening you for sure."
Gen shot him a crazed look.
"Senku-chan, she looked right into my eyes as she took her dagger and cut off that boar's-"
(End of Chapter Twenty-Six.) (24/10/20.)
I. My personal comments: Kohaku's finally back! :D And Gen... poor Gen... XD Kohaku actually did teach him normal hunting stuff too, like how to track animals, set up traps, and, most importantly, how to make the final blow as painless as possible and treat their bodies with respect :) (But there were a few... other... lessons also mixed in O.o)
II. Question of the day: What do you think of Kohaku's hunting lessons for Gen? XD
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-Six ("Hunting Education")? :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)