I'm sorry for the mistakes, English is not my mother tongue. I hope you like it.
Disclaimer : Dr. Stone belongs to Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi.
Wedding
It was a festive day in Ishigami village. The wedding of two of its inhabitants had always been a happy event. All the villagers had made sure that the day was beautiful and the party lasted in the middle of the night.
Senku walked away. For some time now, he had a feeling that everyone was only thinking of marriage. Chrome and Ruri were married, Taiju and Yuzuriha will be next. After all, Senku thought, they had come to an age when they were thinking of getting married and having a family. It had been in human nature for thousands of years. Even after 3,700 years, some things did not change. But at the age of twenty-two, for Senku, the concept of marriage and love was still illogical and had never interested him.
He leaned back against a tree and sat down on the ground. He closed his eyes, enjoying the calm that prevailed before returning to his laboratory. After a few minutes, he heard someone approach. He had become good at this sort of thing. After all these years in the stone world, he had developed a kind of sixth sense. Especially when it came to Kohaku. The way she moved, the sounds of her footsteps, he was able to recognize it with his eyes closed. She walked over to him and leaned over slightly.
'Can I sit down ?' She asked.
Senku nodded and she sat down next to him.
'Aren't you taking part in the festivities ?' Senku asked.
Kohaku shook her head and smiled, amused.
'They were getting a little too loud.'
That was a nice way to say they were all drunk, the scientist thought. A soothing silence settled between them which Kohaku broke after a moment.
'Senku, what were weddings like in your time ?'
Senku looked at her. She had her arms around her legs and she was looking at him with eyes filled with curiosity, as every time she asked him questions about his world. He liked to see that gleam in her eyes, that urge to learn and to understand.
'It's not that different.'
'What do you mean ?'
Senku though about it. He had not attended a lot of weddings. He remembered attending the wedding of a cousin and the wedding of his father's friend, but what was going on had not really interested him.
'Each culture had its own way of celebrating weddings, but in the end, they all had a lot in common.'
Senku plucked a blade of grass and twisted it so that it looked like a ring. He smirked when he saw Kohaku watching his every move. He took her hand and slipped the improvised ring on her finger. Senku felt his heart quickened. This movement, which was harmless to her, had a great meaning in his world. This is ridiculous, he thought. It's not a real wedding, he was just explaining it to her, like explaining to her one of his experiments he was doing, or the workings of a machine he was building. He took a deep breath to calm himself down.
'For example, in some countries, I might say, 'I take you to be my wife, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.' And then you repeat it.'
Kohaku nodded. She plucked a blade of grass and made it into a ring, just like Senku's. She took his hand and slipped the blade of grass around his finger. She was looking at him with her big blue eyes and Senku felt his heart race again. He did not like this feeling. He had always avoided that illogical and irrational feeling of love. And yet, at this moment, Kohaku affected him. He was not blind, he had always found her pretty, but tonight he found her beautiful. He broke out of his thought when he heard Kohaku's voice.
'I take you to be my husband, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.'
In a second, Senku imagined what could happen. What if ? He wondered. What if he married Kohaku ? A marriage, children, a life with her. He could not help smiling. He liked this idea. They could be happy. He was ten billion percent certain of it.
'And then ?' Kohaku asked.
Senku came out of his thoughts. He was calm, but inside he felt like his chest was going to explode. He blushed at the thought of what would happen at all the weddings and he hoped Kohaku did not see his emotion. He still had his hand in hers and looked at their ring.
'And finally, the bride and the groom kiss.'
Kohaku blushed and looked away slightly.
'Oh,' she said.
Senku smiled, trying to behave normally.
'We don't have to go that far. I was just explaining to you how weddings went off in my time.'
He wanted to take out his hand from Kohaku's, but she stopped him. She gently put her other hand on his cheek and approached him. Their lips touched lightly, but neither of them dared to move. For the first time in his life, Senku did not want to think and wanted his whole being to be filled with this sweet feeling. His lips were on Kohaku's and they kissed. He put his arm around her waist and hugged her. She put her hand on her chest and Senku was sure she could feel her heart beating. They lost themselves in this kiss. After a while, they ended the kiss. Their foreheads touched, their breath was rapid and a huge smile lit their face.
'I think I got it,' Kohaku said.
She kissed him on the cheek and stood up.
'Thank you for your explanation Senku.'
She headed for the village and Senku followed her with his eyes. He laughed lightly. This explanation had led to something he had not expected. And he felt good. He did not know it yet, but this fake wedding was the start of a new story.
And this was exhilarating !
The end