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

To my awesome reviewers (17/01/21): Hello and ola, ylliz, NotCold361, DracoSoull, Lupa Lazuli, Too Lazy, PuppyCake, Dread lord, pikapika, Lu-chan 16Love, and Guest! ^_^ Thank you so much for reviewing the twenty-eighth chapter of No Stone Unturned! I'm so happy that you liked their conversation! :D I tried to have them open up to each other while still being in-character. Kohaku knew how important this talk was, and tried to cheer Senku up while still keeping the tone of the conversation. The fact that they were able to talk like this is because they're getting to know each other and growing closer as the story goes on :) Hahaha, I liked that line too XD It was exciting, but also daunting, to write the very first chapter from Kohaku's perspective. She doesn't quite know the scale the promise she made to herself, having no concept of certain things in the manga, but she'll still try to be there for Senku! :) Kohaku tried her best to explain, and Kinro got lost... although for different reasons from why Chrome gets lost because of Senku XD She wasn't too clear at first with that drawing, but she gave a more straightforward explanation to Kinro in the end :D It's wonderful to know that you connected with the chapter so much to react like that! :') Gen did NOT have an easy time in that forest... XD Some sparks flying, but not from the bonfire...? Hmm... oh! You mean the sparks of electricity on top of the shed of science, right? :D Yup, I'm sure that's what you meant! XD No need to wait any more, because the next chapter is here! :D Muito obrigado! Que bom que gostou da minha historia! :D I hope all you enjoy this new chapter, and thank you again! ^_^

Chapter Twenty-Nine: (S01 E10a) Thirty Days

"I'm sure that Gen didn't have even one millimeter of interest," explained Senku to Chrome and Kohaku the next morning, "in joining the kingdom of science…"

They gave him confused looks, and he couldn't blame them.

After his conversation with Kohaku, they had gone up to the shed of science for a strategy meeting with Chrome and Suika, but had not finished apprising Suika of the situation before Kohaku heard an unusual noise. And after finding Gen, Suika had taken it upon herself to investigate his murder while the teenagers spent the whole night trying to save Gen's life. They had succeeded, but Chrome and Kohaku had fallen asleep in exhaustion from the endeavor by the time Gen had woken up and implored Senku to come closer.

One cola agreement later, the mentalist was running for his – meaning Senku's – life, and Senku himself was left with a feeling of satisfaction about how easy it had been to meet Gen's so-called demand for cola, since Senku had already been planning on making carbonated water for the sulfa drug in the first place, long before meeting Gen.

He continued, "…so there was no way he was planning on helping us in the first place. It was when he saw electricity that Gen changed his mind completely…"

As a modern-timer, Senku knew that, just like himself, Gen also saw electricity as a reason for hope – hope in the future they could all create together – and that hope was the real reason he had given the kingdom of science his loyalty.

"…but, of course, the smooth-talking, superficial man that he is, he couldn't just be loyal for the sake of being loyal – he had to have a reason he could give the rest of the world, and he chose cola."

At his explanation, Kohaku shook her head.

"In any era, men and their pride really are trouble…"

Soon after that, Suika came bouncing back into the camp and reported to Senku and the others what she had learned. That led to Kohaku telling the story of the previous Grand Bout, and after hearing how she defeated Magma in order to protect Ruri, Senku asked if that was why her father had disowned her.

At his question, Kohaku paused.

"There was… another reason, too…" she said uncomfortably, "but he probably thought the Grand Bout was the last straw…"

Chrome chimed in, "Kohaku's always been a troublemaker. That other reason was probably that time she tried to kill the chief."

What?! Senku's eyes widened. Kill the chief? Her father?!

"I didn't try to kill him! I was just a kid!"

"Good kids don't try to choke their parents with rocks, Kohaku!"

"I was trying to be helpful, Chrome!"

As their argument moved from yelled statements to whispered grumbles that Senku couldn't make out, he studied them both. Regardless of the topic, Chrome's relaxed posture made it obvious that he didn't think Kohaku was a violent person – at least not unless he was calling Kohaku a gorilla – and Kohaku herself looked more embarrassed than guilty, so whatever had happened probably wasn't a genuine assassination attempt, and he decided to let the topic lie for now.

"Anyway," said Kohaku, raising her voice to normal volume again, "since I won last time, they rescheduled the Grand Bout for the end of next month – thirty days from now."

The three of them were in agreement that Magma becoming the village chief would be disastrous for their cause…

"If Magma wins, it's game over," murmured Senku. "We could search every single second for a way to give Ruri the medicine, but we'd fail."

…but if the right person became the village chief, the possibilities were endless.

"If the victory goes to a man of the kingdom of science, he can marry Ruri and become the leader of the village!" Kohaku paused for a moment- and then, without warning, turned and strode off.

After giving each other puzzled looks, Senku, Chrome, and Suika followed behind her like ducklings as Kohaku continued to march for the bridge with military precision. As she came to a stop in front of two familiar villagers, Senku and the others gathered behind her.

"Kinro. Ginro. I have a question for both of you."

At her tense statement, the two brothers frowned in concentration and clutched the shafts of their spears, as if ready to do battle.

"What do you think of Ruri?" Kohaku demanded. "Do you want to marry her as your wife?!"

As they processed her words, their concentration melted into bafflement.

"…What?!"

Looks like those Hundred Tales didn't mention that proposals are supposed to be about your own marriage, not somebody else's, thought Senku with a small laugh.

The question led to all of them suffering through Ginro's dreamy descriptions of Kohaku's sister, but at long last, Kinro said that he knew Senku wasn't evil – which was slightly gratifying, as the man had been suspicious of him from the beginning – and told them to say clearly what they wanted.

And when Kohaku did so, he didn't make any grand gestures of reassurance, but his voice was calm.

"Very well. Then I do not need any further explanation."

After a little more discussion, it was decided that training would start in earnest the following morning, and Kohaku waved cheerfully at Kinro and Ginro before walking back to the camp with Senku and Chrome.

"Now that they're helping us, one of them… Kinro for sure… can win the Grand Bout and marry Ruri-nee. After that, we won't have any problems giving her the cure-all medicine!" she finished, practically skipping in happiness.

I guess she did get what she wanted, but…

Next to her, Senku shook his head in amusement as they continued walking, thinking that somebody really ought to teach Kohaku about marriage proposals.

(End of Chapter Twenty-Nine.) (17/01/21.)

0. Important author's note: Hello, everybody! :) I'd like to officially announce that I've also posted this fanfic on Ao3 :) The difference, though, is that at the moment, the Ao3 version is at Chapter Fifteen, and this FFN version is at Chapter Twenty-Nine :D By the way, comments on Ao3 that mention the FFN version of my fanfic will remain hidden in my inbox :) It's silly, but I like the idea of somebody reading the Ao3 version first, before wandering over to FFN and being pleasantly surprised at finding a LOT more "new" chapters in the FFN version to read and enjoy :D (I actually experienced this in the reverse in a different fandom; I read an interesting fanfic that had fewer chapters on FFN and more chapters on Ao3 :D) I hope you understand! :D

I. My personal comments: Episode Ten isn't one hundred percent accurate, one reason being that it added Suika, Kinro, and Ginro to the "Gen is superficial" scene (and of course, the "Kohaku tackling Senku" scene wasn't in the manga at all). In the manga, Gen spoke to Tsukasa about Senku being "dead" in Chapter Twenty-Six. After that, it was in Chapter Twenty-Seven where Suika arrived and told Senku, Kohaku, and Chrome that Magma was the culprit, and where Kohaku asked Kinro and Ginro to fight for their side in the Grand Bout. I'll be following the manga's order of events :D

II. Question of the day: How do you feel about Kohaku and Chrome's discussion about her way of helping people? 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-Nine ("Thirty Days")? :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)