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

To my awesome reviewers (28/11/20): Hello and hola, Loralie Gold Dream, Too Lazy, NotCold361, PuppyCake, Guest, DracoSoull, and Lu-chan 16Love! ^_^ Thank you so much for reviewing the twenty-seventh chapter of No Stone Unturned! I'm glad to hear you like my original scenes! :) Suika likes to make others happy, and Gen is good at talking to people! :D I'm happy to hear that! :) They really had to work hard to make everything they were able to make! O.o Parece que Senku conoce muchas areas de la ciencia, incluido como hacer cosas con metal! :D Espero que pronto nos den mas informacion sobre la segunda temporada! :) Thanks; I'm glad you liked that part! :) The next chapter has arrived; hooray! :D I hope all you enjoy this new chapter, and thank you again! ^_^

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Kohaku

"Sure, no problem," Kohaku replied.

It makes sense, she thought, since Suika and I were the ones who worked on them last.

As Senku and Chrome went off to do science things, Suika said she would get started on dinner, and Gen offered his help in fetching water.

Such an offer would have made Kohaku suspicious before – and actually, she was still slightly suspicious of him, but knowing more now about Gen's crafty, but inherently lazy, personality after spending so much time with him in the forest, she knew that Gen was aware that poisoning their food would also make life harder for himself.

Besides, he won't be stupid enough to start anything right after we recruited two trained warriors…

She paused.

Well, one trained warrior and Ginro.

With that settled, Kohaku turned to her new students.

"Senku's going to do something later," she told them, not going into detail into what that something was because she had no idea either, "so we need you to grab those handles on the…"

What are they called again? Discs?

"…on the discs, and turn them at the same time…"

After Kohaku had finished her explanation, Kinro and Ginro climbed up the platform and took their positions at the handles connected to the discs, with Ginro in front and Kinro behind him.

"One… two… three… go!"

The brothers burst into action, gripping their respective handles firmly as they pushed and pulled them in circular motions to move the discs, which went from being still to spinning rapidly almost immediately.

Happy at their success, they pushed on, keeping up the motions for almost two minutes before Ginro started to slow down, looking like his arms felt already tired, judging by the way he deliberately lessened the number of turns he made with the handle, before coming to a complete stop and bending down to take a seat.

"I'm… glad…" Ginro said hoarsely, putting a hand over his heart as he tried to take in more air, "I could… help… Kohaku. When am I… getting… my silver spear?"

Two minutes? she thought, unimpressed. I was spinning that thing for ages to make the edges smooth!

Before she could speak, an annoyed Kinro gave his brother a smack upside the head.

"You're tired already, Ginro? You've been slacking off on your spear training, haven't you?!"

"What does spear training have to do with this spinny thing?!"

They tried a few more times after that, with Ginro protesting each time that spinning the discs made his arms tired, even though Kinro, who was doing exactly the same thing, was able to make the same motions with less energy wasted.

After their latest attempt, Ginro slumped to the floor of the platform, his chest heaving – a clear indication that he hadn't been training as he should have, because somebody fit for combat would have much more stamina than that. The sky, which had been bright orange with the sunset when they started, was still slightly orange, but clearly getting darker, and Ginro waved an arm at it.

"Can't we take a break now?" he whined. "We've been doing this forever, and you keep saying this is just practice! What's this spinny thing for, anyway?"

Kohaku, who had been irritated at this latest delay, was in the middle of rolling her eyes when she heard Ginro's question.

The thing is… I don't know what it's really for, either… she thought sheepishly.

"Senku said he's going to do something tonight, and he needs those discs spinning when he does it. If you want details, you're going to have to ask hi-"

"Okay, I will! Thanks, Kohaku!"

With that, he suddenly jumped up and ran off the platform, heading in the direction of a small fire where Senku and Chrome…

Are they… burning bamboo?

She shrugged. It wasn't the strangest thing they had ever done.

"Ugh, Ginro, you're always so lazy…" grumbled Kinro. Turning to Kohaku, he asked, "Will I be able to practice alone?"

"Hmm… probably not," she replied, pursing her lips at Ginro's desertion. "The whole point was for both of you to be in sync, and since Ginro ran off…"

"I thought so," he muttered.

Having nothing else to do for now, he took the opportunity to take a bit of a breather, easing himself onto the platform's floor, his feet dangling a few inches above the ground.

"Ginro's always like that, always wanting to avoid hard work," Kinro continued. He shook his head, very obviously annoyed with his brother, and turned in the direction Ginro had gone. "Why can't you be more responsible…?"

Kohaku followed his gaze – Senku and Chrome were still burning bamboo, but Ginro was hovering above them, looking curiously at what they were doing – before turning back to Kinro again. His lips were flattened in disapproval as he watched Ginro.

They're very different from each other, aren't they?

Because she fetched hot spring water for Ruri-nee everyday, Kinro and Ginro were among the people she saw the most often, standing at the end of the first bridge, guarding the village day in and day out. It was a similar life to her own – the same thing, always the same thing, with no change at all.

That was a problem for Ginro, who Kohaku regularly saw trying to sneak off to relax. But for Kinro, a steady task was a task that had to be endured, whether he wanted to or not – and he never indicated dissatisfaction; nothing in his actions implied that he would throw off the binds of responsibility if given the choice – just like somebody else Kohaku knew.

He's just like Ruri-nee.

While Ruri-nee had sometimes been despondent because she was unable to carry out her tasks to their fullest extent, she had never complained about the fact that she had been born first. Even though Kohaku's older sister had attempted to use deception to preserve the Hundred Tales, she had never once actually wished – at least, not in Kohaku's hearing – that she did not have to bear the grave responsibility of keeping the wisdom of countless past generations.

And Kohaku realized that even though she and Ginro were very different people, they had one thing in common.

They had both placed heavy burdens on their older siblings.

If Ginro hadn't been such a slacker, Kinro would have had more time off-duty to pursue other interests and goals. But because Kinro knew his younger brother's carefree nature, he had probably felt the need to balance it out with a stronger sense of duty in order to preserve the safety of the village. While the village had never under been any serious threat since Kinro was old enough to take guard duty, his presence at the end of the main bridge served as a deterrent to wild animals that were daring enough to pursue human prey – and with a partner he couldn't count on, Kinro had to be twice as vigilant.

Likewise, while Kohaku had taken it upon her shoulders to protect Ruri-nee from the clutches of death, no matter how many thousands of pots of hot spring water it took, she had done nothing to help her older sister in her actual duties. Not only that, but by refusing to become the next priestess, Kohaku had forced Ruri-nee to live – which was her goal – but she was aware of the fact that doing so also forced her older sister to endure years and years of frequent coughing, paralyzing weakness, restless sleep, and the overwhelming guilt that came with knowing that the stories of their forbears would be forgotten by their descendants after she took her final breath.

Kohaku knew, without a doubt, that she would make the same choice all over again if given the chance, but she was fully aware that her own determination to extend Ruri-nee's life had come at the expense of Ruri-nee's peace. Knowing what she had forced her older sister to go through was what had made Kohaku eventually forgive her, even as the pain of betrayal lingered.

The similarity between herself and Ginro made Kohaku wonder if Ginro had ever tried to protect his brother from anything.

But it's not like I can ask that.

Belatedly, Kohaku realized that she had been silent for a while.

"Well," she said in response to Kinro's irritation with his brother, "siblings can turn out different."

Even though she and her sister had been born only a few years apart, the fork in the river had formed when they were both very young, and Kohaku and Ruri-nee's lives had gone down different paths. Despite having the same parents and living in the same home, the rules were different for both of them. Leaving the small island was not allowed, running was not allowed, getting dirty was not allowed. Kohaku could go into the woods and look for rabbits, and chase them, and get dirty while trying to do so, while Ruri-nee had to stay in the tower and learn lots and lots of words…

…and drink lots and lots of water, and get lots and lots of sleep, Kohaku remembered her mother telling her gently when she asked why Ruri-nee couldn't play outside anymore.

Kinro gave a small scoff at her words.

"You're talking to me about siblings, when you endangered your own? You were careless enough to bring Senku to our village. You must have known how dangerous an outsider could be to Ruri-sama, Kohaku."

If you-

But Kohaku crushed the thought immediately – and as she did so, she suddenly noticed that her trembling fingertips were at the edge of her shield, feeling the familiar crevices that led to the straps of her daggers, and she had somehow crouched into a fighting position without knowing it.

She straightened up. It was unbecoming of a warrior to be so unaware of her own body.

Calm down… Calm down.

A few deep breaths later, Kohaku was able to think about Kinro's words more clearly. Protecting the village and its residents was literally his responsibility, one that he took very seriously even when away from his post, judging from the way he had watched over Suika so carefully when they were all climbing down the mountain after making Senku's magnets. If Kohaku took the personal aspect out of it, Kinro was completely correct in his statement.

She knew perfectly well that some outsiders were dangerous. They could threaten, and harm, and kill.

When Kohaku saw the long-haired man kill Senku, her second thought had been to avenge his death. He had sacrificed himself to save a woman, and even if Kohaku didn't know him, Senku deserved better than for his killer to walk free.

And my first thought…

Kohaku shook her head to try and distract herself.

It wasn't a very good thought.

In response to Kinro, she said, "Some outsiders might be dangerous, but Senku isn't. He saved my life."

"And that was enough to make you join his village?" Kinro asked skeptically.

At the mention of allying with Senku, she turned her head to see what he was up to. It looked like they had finished whatever they had been doing, because while the bonfire was still lit, it now had their biggest cooking pot over it, which was being watched by Suika and Gen. Senku, Chrome, and Ginro were off to the side, holding and looking at leaves with something small on top of each of them. After that, she looked in the direction of their fellow villagers, even if she couldn't actually see them. Many trees blocked her vision, so even though she knew that her village ought to be lit by small cooking fires around this time, all Kohaku could see was darkness.

"It isn't like… like my father wants me in his village anyway, Kinro," she replied bitterly. "Ruri-nee…" Kohaku trailed off sadly for a moment, before continuing. "Ruri-nee is the only one who keeps me going, now."

Even if it had been her plan to make her father hate her, Kohaku felt… well, she noticed how he had fallen in step with her plan so quickly, as if he had been waiting for a reason all along. She had placed him on the path, but her father had eagerly raced down it as fast as the bamboo and pulley thing that she and Senku had ridden down the mountain.

Maybe… maybe not eagerly. But it feels like that sometimes.

"If Ruri-sama is your priority, why are you playing around with sorcerers instead of continuing to help her?"

"Huh? What do you mean- oh!"

With a start, Kohaku realized that Kinro didn't know.

Because Kinro and Ginro had met Senku even before Chrome had, and because they had been around for several major steps that Kohaku and the others had taken, it had never occurred to her that the brothers didn't know what it was all for.

Ahh, now it's my turn to teach somebody about science, Kohaku thought mischievously, rubbing her hands together in eagerness. Senku does it all the time with me and Chrome and Suika, so I think I know what to do…

Half an hour later, Kohaku and Kinro both squinted at the incomprehensible squiggles she had scratched into the dirt with a stick.

While Senku's roadmap had looked like a logical progression of small steps that would be taken to accomplish an incredible final goal, Kohaku's roadmap looked like a bunch of worms waging war and diving into each other's burrows.

Kinro pointed first at a thick curvy line, then at a thin spiral that was inside a square with uneven sides.

"…Is this one trying to invade that one's village?"

A sheepish Kohaku felt a drop of sweat trickle down the side of her face.

They look like worms to him too!

She hastily smoothed the dirt with her left shoe, erasing everything she had drawn.

I guess science isn't my thing… Kohaku thought, giving a small, dissatisfied sigh.

Looking around, she tried to think of another way to explain to Kinro what they were doing. Her eyes fell on the iron bars behind him, reminding her of the two months she and the others had spent gathering iron sand in the-

"We're trying to cure Ruri-nee, and Senku's plan to do that is like… trying to use rocks to cross a river," Kohaku explained, stretching her arm out to indicate an imaginary river in front of her.

At Kinro's thoughtful look, she continued, "The iron we created was one rock, and the thing we're making tonight is another rock, and we're moving across the river, one small step at a time."

"I see…"

After a few moments of thought, Kinro said, "A commendable goal-"

Before he could say another word, they both heard Chrome shout, "Hey, Kohaku, Kinro, it's dinnertime! Come over here!"

Kinro looked confused about being included, but, reasoning at the same time Kohaku did that he was invited to the meal because he was a temporary ally, he used both arms to push himself off the wooden platform and jumped down to the ground.

As they walked together to where the others were waiting, Kinro said, "By the way, I saw something over a week ago that I've wanted to ask you about."

"Sure," replied Kohaku, "what is it?"

"Why were you laughing maniacally as you chased that new sorcerer through the forest?"

Kohaku burst into giggles. Not giving him an answer, she walked a little faster, almost as if she were skipping, as she hummed a merry tune.

The next two hours were filled with warmth, food, friends… and, later on, the most brilliant light Kohaku had ever seen.

Defying the darkness all around them, the small, humble light that Senku made – that they had all worked to make, together – outshone even the sun.

The bonfire in front of Kohaku, which she had started after Senku's… whatever Senku had done… crackled as she stoked the chopped firewood with a stick – the same stick she had used to try and explain Senku's roadmap to Kinro, but put to much more effective use this time around. After she chatted with Suika for a bit, the young girl set off to fetch some water for Kinro and Ginro to thank them for their help.

Kohaku would talk to them later as well, but for now, she was content to stay where she was, standing in front of light that was larger and closer to her than the earlier one had been, but was still somehow completely failing to illuminate the night like the other one had.

"Suika said you'd be here."

Looking up, she saw Senku walking towards her.

"I thought the four of us should have a strategy meeting, but Suika's kind of busy at the moment," he continued, stopping a couple of feet beside her, to her left, and holding his hands out to the fire for a moment to warm them before letting them fall to his sides.

"Where's Chrome?" she asked.

"Last I saw of him, he was in the shed of science… I think he was looking for something else we can use to make the electricity. But different metals have different melting points, so even if he had something crazy there, like…"

Senku droned on, talking about rock after rock after rock, and while Kohaku generally liked speaking with him, she could also feel the boring words burrowing into her skull, like how she would twist a dagger into a piece of fruit to take out the seeds.

Why rocks? Why always rocks?

…Then again, I did talk about rocks myself with Kinro earlier…

Thankfully, without Chrome's eager participation and follow-up questions, the rock talk didn't last too long, and soon enough, like Kohaku, Senku was silent, taking in the stillness of the night.

It's just not the same.

"What's not the same?"

Oh, I said that out loud?

"This fire," she replied, gesturing in front of her. "The light you made awhile ago just seemed… more, somehow."

"That's because this fire's right in front of us. People usually write-"

Senku paused.

"I mean, lights that are further away, like the stars, seem more special to people." His voice was soft, but not in a good way. "In my time, my world, there were people who spent their whole lives trying to visit those points of light, but we can't do that anymore, in this stone world."

She thought about what he said.

People obviously couldn't visit stars or go to the sky. Even children younger than Suika knew that. But they could go to mountains. Kohaku guessed that Senku was talking about people on mountains making light like he did, and people from other mountains visiting those mountains to see their light.

She thought it was silly, going all over the place for no practical purpose. But Senku had never sounded so sad before. Not that he sounded like he was about to cry – nothing so obvious – but something in his voice made Kohaku think that she ought to tread carefully.

That fast-moving thing he made with the bamboo and the pulleys, they probably had a lot of those in his time. I can climb mountains with no problem, but Senku… well, climbing isn't really is strong point. Maybe people needed those things to go up mountains faster.

"We can't yet, but we will."

Senku turned to her curiously.

"And," Kohaku continued with a smile, "if you really want to visit lights like you did in your time, I can go somewhere very far away, with my own light, and you can look for me. How does that sound?"

He laughed, and the air of… something… was gone.

"You better not do that, lioness. The kingdom of science is small enough as it is – we need all the members we can get."

I'm not a lioness! Kohaku thought, huffing indignantly.

But, since the somber mood was gone, she would let it go, just this once.

"Not that small. You started with two of your friends, but now there's me and Chrome and Suika. We've already doubled the size of our kingdom."

He grinned.

"That's true. And maybe Gen and Kinro and Ginro will join the fold… speaking of those two, how did talking to them about the copper discs go?"

Thinking of the discs reminded Kohaku of her worm invasion drawing, and she shut her eyes tightly and shook her head to banish the mental image before saying, "Ginro left us early on to join you guys, but we did get some practice in before that."

"I'm glad they agreed to help, even if Gen did have to bribe them with…" Senku's voice trailed off as he grumbled, and Kohaku could only catch "that fraud magician…" and "electric plating is incredibly…" before he said more loudly, "but either way, we got electricity. I've been waiting for this for 3,700 years," in a satisfied tone.

"Wow… 3,700 years?" He had told her about himself after they had made camp the day they met, but she had forgotten some of the details until now. "Wait, how did you know it had been 3,700 years?"

Senku shook his head in amusement.

"I counted numbers, day after day, year after year. It wasn't easy, but…"

Kohaku, who had carried a pot of spring water, day after day, year after year, listened, and something inside of her shifted, quietly joyful to finally meet a kindred spirit.

Not that they were meeting for the first time, but this was the first time he had talked to her about what it had taken to break free from the stone, to live again.

"…but I did have some experience. When I was seven, I counted out every second for two whole months, so…"

Maybe… not that much of a kindred spirit, if he counts numbers for fun in his spare time…

"…so I just did that, but on a larger scale."

"Were you scared?"

He paused, and Kohaku held back a chuckle. Even though he was obsessed with science and rocks and counting, Senku was a man, and, from the looks of it, he had the same silly male pride the rest of his gender did.

"It was dark," Senku finally said, focusing on the fire in front of both of them. "I was counting, but I was also trying to make sure I wouldn't forget anything, so I kept thinking about science, too… especially electricity, because it was so dark."

She was quiet. Senku hadn't exactly answered her question, but by mentioning the darkness twice, he had answered it all the same.

"I… don't really understand electricity, but I'm glad you have it," she said sincerely.

He glanced at her and let out a small laugh. "Me too. I've been waiting a really long time."

"Now that you have it, what are you going to do? I mean, after we cure Ruri-nee and get the whole village on our side?"

"We're going to get Taiju and Yuzuriha back, of course! And then there's the Tsukasa Empire, but from our ramen, and from Gen, we know bribery works."

Just when it seemed to Kohaku that Senku was about to cheerfully talk about delicious things and wonderful objects from his time that would help him add members to the kingdom of science, he trailed off and looked at the fire.

He stared at the flames for a long, long time.

Then he put a hand over his face, reminding Kohaku of the time Senku had berated himself about not knowing where true north was, before he let his hand fall to his side as he looked up.

"And after that," he said quietly, "I'm going to search every single second for a hundred nights, and bring back all seven billion people, too…"

In the light of the fire, Kohaku caught a glimpse of Senku's expression. Her friend was gazing at the sky, but somehow beyond it at the same time, as if it held all of his past and all of his future.

Kohaku knew all too well what it was like to have a dream that seemed impossible to everybody except yourself; to feel alone on the never-ending journey; to have the waters rage and swell as you tried to stretch out your foot, hoping to find another elusive rock to step on.

She took half a step to her left in order to stand a little closer to him.

Senku won't be alone in crossing his river, thought Kohaku. I'm here.

(End of Chapter Twenty-Eight.) (28/11/20.)

I. My personal comments: Hello, everybody! ^_^ This was, without a doubt, the most difficult chapter to write for this fanfic, at least so far! O.o But it's also the longest chapter in this fanfic to date! :D About Senku counting for two whole months, Byakuya told Lillian and the others that story in the first chapter of Dr. Stone: Reboot, the Dr. Stone spin-off that was drawn AND written by Boichi :D (Although Inagaki helped a bit, too :D) Kohaku thinks a lot about Ruri in this chapter, but she also wants to help Senku with his future goals :)

II. Question of the day: What did you think of Kohaku's chapter, and what were your favorite (and not-so-favorite) lines? ^_^

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-Eight ("Kohaku")? :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)