Disclaimer: Hey, doing it again. Don't own Dr. STONE. I just got a lot of ideas.

Authoress' Note: So another one in for TKS' DCST Ships Week! At this point, I've already written 4 fics for the week, and this will be the 5th. I'm not sure, at this point, if I'll end up writing for all 12 prompts I picked out, but even if I don't, I'm still happy with the output I've placed out! And I hope all you readers are too!

As with a couple of fics so far, I'm playing off of some headcanon ideas of events not explained in the series. It'd be nice if one day we'd get some more backstory for some of these smaller moments, but if not, I'm fine with making up headcanons!

Day 4: Thunderstorm

Falling Memories

Kohaku sat, legs tucked in loosely against her limber frame, shoulder and head leaned up against the circular window of the observatory, lapis eyes somberly staring out at the rain and storms that were pouring down over the Kingdom of Science. The rain was on and off throughout the day as it was, but the storm came rumbling through and that sent every one scrambling for cover. And so, Kohaku took shelter in the observatory, along with Senku and Gen, while most everyone else made their way into the laboratory or back to Ishigami Village. The two men commented about the storm briefly – Senku about how much this was hindering their work, while Gen appreciated nature giving everyone a day off – before everything largely fell into quiet, the pair keeping busy with calculations or with playing cards, all by lanterns and candlelight.

However, Kohaku gave herself no such busywork, her eyes locked firmly on the darkened sky, illuminated by random flashes of lighting deep within the clouds. The thunder was not too loud, but it still echoed through the trees and the camp, intensifying the sound of the rainfall. Her pale lips were in a faint pout, her gaze drifting as she felt into heavy thoughts, fingers subtly digging into the skin of her legs.

A hefty and chilly breeze came through the window as the winds shifted a bit, playing with the candles and almost putting them out. Gen shivered in his little corner of the observatory, gathering up his cards that were a bit blown by the breeze before getting up to gather blankets from the sleeping cubby under the floorboard. After gathering the materials, he handed one to Senku, although the scientist didn't have use for it at the moment and placed it to his side with a gruff "thank you", before stepping over to Kohaku.

"It's getting a little chilly with this rain, don't you think, Kohaku-chan?" he asked her with a little laugh in his voice as he extended the blanket out to her, causing her to momentarily break from her private reverie and her head to jolt up towards him.

Cheeks turned a soft pink as she nodded, taking the blanket offered with a gingerly touch, "Oh... yeah, it is a little bit. I hope everyone else is keeping warm. Although, knowing Francois, they probably already figured something out for that."

"Yes, I'm sure they have," Gen agreed, sitting down now opposite of Kohaku but out of the way of the window, draping his blanket over his shoulders and leaning back against the wall, taking out his deck of cards from his violet overcoat and shuffling them up with professional ease.

Things went quiet again, but this time the mentalist was a bit more aware of his surroundings. Particularly, that of Kohaku, whom had taken the blanket and pulled it in over her scrunched frame, giving it an unreadable look before leaning her head back against the circular window, gaze turning back out over the stormy landscape. Dark cerulean monitored her listless expression, as she subtly nibbled on her bottom lip for a couple of seconds before restoring her previous pout, the blush that was on her face already faded away. He couldn't see her hands anymore, now beneath the blanket, but he could tell she was clenching her fingers a bit by how her shoulders had shifted a few centimeters under the fabric.

"Is something the matter?" he broke the quiet again with his question, and again Kohaku jolted out of her private thoughts, shaking her head as she realized she been caught off guard twice.

"No... not really," she replied as she shook off her embarrassment.

"So you're just losing your touch then, eh, lioness?" Senku perked up, alerting her that he, too, was aware of her out-of-character reactions.

"I'm not a lioness!" she quickly bit back, growling through clenched teeth as her head animatedly turned towards the smirking scientist, turning back towards the window with an air of irritation.

She removed an arm from under the blanket, elbow resting on the sill and chin laying upon her palm. "I guess... it's the rain," she muttered with some reservations.

"Ah, that's understandable," the mentalist sympathized with such a statement, smiling as he set the shuffled deck down onto the floor, "It's quite common to feel lethargic or sad when it rains. And it's easy to get lost in such feelings when you don't have something to keep yourself busy."

She didn't react to his response, keeping her gaze steady outside. He stopped in his preparation for a game of Solitaire to watch her, seeing the conflict in her irises. "There must be something weighing heavily on your mind to cause you to react so jumpily to simple actions," he continued, trying to provoke a more meaningful response from her.

She knew what he was doing, seeing that manipulative smirk stretched across his lips, and she quietly sighed. "I guess so. But I doubt it'll be of any interest to you to hear about it. To either of you," a sarcastic bite underscored her words, turning away before she could see Gen's brow rise in increased curiosity.

"Aww, you wound me with such words, Kohaku-chan~" Gen sing-songed, feigning pain with his jovial tone, "After all this time, certainly you can trust us enough to talk to us about whatever is bothering you! Right, Senku-chan~?"

Senku peered up from his work, half-lidded crimson eyes glaring at Gen for trying to involve him in his game like this, before turning towards Kohaku's profile and sensing the tension written over her entire being. He scoffed, "Yeah. Sure, you could be right, but it's better to get things off your chest than just keeping it to yourself and letting it fester."

She turned enough to glance at the scientist before sighing quietly again, shifting and gazing down at her covered toes. "... I was thinking about my mother."

The men's ears perked up; Kohaku rarely, if ever, spoke about her mother. They both knew that she was the former priestess of Ishigami Village, and the one to pass down The Hundred Tales to Ruri and the rest of the villagers, but while Ruri and Kokuyo would talk about her occasionally, Kohaku did not. It wasn't a subject they brought up, of course. Not only was it not really their place, but they also didn't want to bring up something that could be a delicate subject for the usually cheery huntress.

"Ah, I see. Was your mother a fan of rain and storms?" Gen pressed on with a question, testing things at first to gauge the levity of the subject.

"Storms, not so much. Like how everyone else felt up until recently, she saw them as the wrath of the Gods. She didn't fear them quite as much, I think, or at least, she never let on to Ruri and I if she did. She did like the rain, though," Kohaku rocked a bit in place as she relayed her memories.

A graceful smile played at her lips as she thought about it more and more. "I kinda liked those days too. Rainy days allowed me to spend more time with Mother. She was always inside with Ruri, training her to become the next priestess and watching over her illness, while I was outside training with Father and doing other tasks around the village. But rainy days kept us inside all day. I think she liked that a lot more than the rain itself. Being able to spend time with both of her daughters," her voice was wistful as she recalled her mother's smile and gentle expression.

Both men privately felt a sense of awe as they listened and stared at her, never once seeing such a serene look on her face. It wasn't as though she wasn't capable of sweet expressions, having seen large facets of her personality already, but this was something new. Thankfully for them, she didn't pick up on their gazes, continuing to think about her memories.

"Usually, I would lay down my head on her lap, and she'd run her fingers through my hair, and I'd tell her all about my training and what everyone's been doing in the village," she laughed as she played with her bangs, imitating her mother's motions, "Since Mother was sick in the last few years of her life, like Ruri, she didn't always have the chance to see and hear about what everyone was doing, and she always seemed to like it when I told her all of my stories."

She laughed heartily at one particular story, "There was one time, I told her about how I got the best of Ginro, scaring the hell out of him with a sneak attack, and how his eyes practically came out of his head, and Mother laughed, telling me that it was mean of me to tease him like that. But I think she just liked knowing that I was having fun."

Gen chuckled, "Yes, that sounds like our Ginro-chan."

Senku scoffed, "He really hasn't changed much."

Kohaku nodded, "No, not really."

As the laughter wore off, the wistful expression returned. "I think... I think our favorite part was when I fell asleep on her lap, listening to her sharing stories from The Hundred Tales. Ruri would often be there, on Mother's other side, falling asleep on her shoulder and sometimes on her lap with me," she continued, her entire form relaxing as she shifted her legs to sit more to her side, blanket still draped over them, "It happened a lot, I know that much. The rain made us all really sleepy. But there was one time... I remember being a bit awake, but I didn't open my eyes. And I heard Mother and Father talking."

She didn't realize it, but her eyes began to water. "Mother was still stroking my head. And she said that she was so happy that the Gods were able to bless her with two wonderful daughters. One that was delicate and sweet, and one that was headstrong and fierce. That we were everything she was and wanted to be in her own life."

Again, the two men were surprised by her expression, but this time by the smile she had as tears began to run down her cheeks. "And that her only regret... was that she'd never get to see us grow up. When she said that, I didn't quite get it, because she wasn't sick yet. But maybe because she didn't let that on to us. I never brought it up, though. I don't think she ever meant for either of us to hear that."

She blinked, finally realizing that she was crying, fingers going to her cheeks and finding the wet streaks upon her skin. "Oh...!" she exclaimed in surprise, shocked that she had started to cry.

Furiously she rubbed her cheeks with the backs of her hands. "Sorry about that. I don't know why I started to cry like this," she said through a strained laugh, "It's not like I'm actually sad or anything! These are all happy memories."

Crimson and dark blue gazes were soft and sympathetic, watching as she tried her best to keep herself together. "Ah... I can't seem to make the tears stop," she whispered, laughing again, "This is really messed up, huh? Has to be something with the rain, right?"

Her serene smile cracked, and she took in a deep breath, the tears streaming down with little control, her hands still trying to clear them away. "Yeah, it has to be the rain. Because it's illogical to be crying over such wonderful memories. Right?" her voice began to break and strain into a froggy echo, her body shivering from the strain of her broken sobs.

Senku and Gen traded glances with one another before they each stood up and approached her, kneeling down beside her. Each of them pulled a wrist back from her face, and she jolted, realizing how close they had become.

"Kohaku-chan, it's okay to cry over happy memories, just as it's okay to cry over sad ones," Gen explained, smiling softly to try and reassure her, "The way you spoke of your mother just now. It tells us just how important she was to you, and how much you loved her."

"There's nothing illogical about this either," Senku added with his own grin, "You're allowed to miss your mother and the times you had. You don't even need the rain for that."

Lips fell agape as she stared at both of them, her arms falling from their joint grasp. Her face twisted, biting at her bottom lip as more tears fell down her cheeks, emitting a short hiccup from the back of her throat. Her shoulders quaked with another sob before she fell over, hands braced against each man's chest and fingers desperately grasping at their clothes, her sobs now unhinged as she let go of her building emotions.

The duo blushed a bit at her sudden contact, awkward feelings bubbling in their stomachs that wanted to push her back, but they knew better than to do such a thing. Not right now. It was obvious that this was likely one of the few times Kohaku had ever confronted the deeper emotions brought on by her past. And now she needed them. After letting go of a breath they didn't think they were each holding, they sat and allowed her to cry and cling. Gen was a bit more physical, rubbing her upper back comfortingly, while Senku offered small platitudes of "it's okay" to keep reassuring her to release all she had held back. Kohaku mostly just made noises, although occasionally words would slip out, namely cries of "Mother" and "I love you", words that all three of them were sure that she hadn't said in quite a long time.

After several minutes, the crying subsided and the tears stopped flowing, and now shaky and spent, Kohaku finally lifted her head, vision a bit blurry but adjusting quickly. Her nose was running and her eyes were red, cheeks stained with wet trails and she coughed from how croaky her throat had become. Gen took out a small piece of cloth from his coat, handing it to her for her to wipe her face clean, and she accepted it with a froggy "thank you".

"Do you feel better now?" the mentalist asked, and Kohaku nodded in response.

"Yeah... I'm sorry, to both of you," she apologized, "I know you two aren't huge on physical contact, and I just sprung myself on both of you like that, and that wasn't right."

"Honestly, you could've been a lot worse than just causing some wrinkles," Senku sarcastically commented and the huntress chuckled at his wit.

"Still, thank you both. I haven't had a cry like that in a long time... maybe not since the day she passed away."

The trio moved away from another to allow for some comfortable distance as a bright flash of light and a loud boom of thunder rang outside. Their attention turned towards the window to watch the natural show. Kohaku lightly sighed, "The day that she was buried with everyone else that passed, there was a storm that night too. Father thought that the Gods were angry that Mother had died with how bad the thunder was."

Gen chuckled and Kohaku raised a brow at him confused over his sudden laughter. He realized his rudeness and apologized, "Ah, I'm sorry for laughing like that. But I'm recalling something that was often told to children who have a fear of thunderstorms to try and comfort them. That the thunder and lightning was from the Gods partying and celebrating."

Her eyes widened a fraction as the mentalist beamed at her. "Perhaps they were celebrating that night because now her soul was joining them."

Senku smirked at Gen's words. He knew that the mentalist was much like him, one that didn't really put faith in things such as Gods and religion, and Kohaku didn't seem like one to put as much stock in such beliefs that many in her village had, but he couldn't deny how important it seemed to be for Kohaku to hear this viewpoint. After a couple of seconds of surprise and realization, the huntress sniffled and smiled, wiping away one wayward tear.

"I really like the sound of that," she replied, "And one day, I think Father will too. Thank you."

While the storm outside seemed to pick up, the one inside the observatory seemed to have settled, and the trio moved away from the window as the wind and rain began to stream more inside, wetting the floor and blowing out a few of the candles. Gen gathered the cards he had discarded while Senku used the shutters to close off the window for good. Something that Gen sarcastically wondered why it wasn't done before, but received only a scarlet glare in return. After the candles were re-lit, they sat down to resume their previous activities, only for Gen to suggest that they play a few card games to pass the time. Senku rejected at first, wanting to not waste time playing games, but Kohaku was too eager to learn and play with the modern toy, and eventually the scientist relented and joined in a hand.

Hours went by before the rain and storms finally subsided and sun started to try and shine though, although it was nearing sunset by the time the clouds had fully moved on. Things in camp grew noisier as fires were set up to try and dry things out and to start up the ovens again that had gone out from the excessive rain. With how late it was getting, Francois and a few elders in the village had already started work on making food for everyone in the village, knowing how hungry everyone must have been by now.

Chrome, having noticed that the trio that hid out in the observatory had yet to join the hustle and bustle down on the ground, climbed up the ladder that led inside, throwing open the shutters in order to gain entry inside. "Hey guys, are you going to come and join us or what?" he inquired upon the wood falling back, the mixture of lights illuminating the inside and allowing him to see a very peculiar sight.

Leaned up against the back wall, the three had fallen asleep against it, the cards that they had played with discarded and scattered. Kohaku sat in between the two men, with her head against Gen's shoulder and his head resting atop of hers, white and blonde strands mingling with one another. Senku didn't have such physical contact with either of them, but instead was sharing his blanket with her, keeping them close and bundled together otherwise. They were all seemingly unaware that the rain had passed as well as to Chrome's presence, slumbering away so peacefully and with little care.

The junior scientist almost wanted to laugh at what he was seeing. He knew how much Senku – and to a degree, Gen – hated physical and intimate contact, and while Kohaku was not one to shy away from such things, she wasn't known for displaying it outside of with her sister or Suika. So to see the three of them sleeping together like this was almost too funny to not laugh at. Where was Minami's camera when he needed it? It'd make for a great picture for that wall of hers! Still, he kept his manners about him... for the most part.

"Hey, Senku! Kohaku, Gen! Wake up, sleepyheads! We're getting dinner going, and if you sleep through it, you're going to miss out!" he shouted louder than usual, the screeching making them each flinch and stir.

Senku groaned and rubbed one ear with a pinky, "We were sleeping, not deaf, you idiot. You don't need to yell that loud."

Gen yawned as he lifted his head off of Kohaku's as she moved away from him, groaning and rubbing her exhausted eyes. "Ugh... he doesn't know how to be quiet, you know that," she mumbled, pushing the blanket off of her.

"We'll be down in a few moments, Chrome-chan," Gen smiled as he stretched out his arms before removing his blanket as well.

Chrome nodded, keeping a knowing smirk on his face that Gen and Senku seen, but didn't get a chance to ask him for the reason before he ducked away and made his way back down to where the others were gathered. Although, they were both quick to realize why he was smirking, glancing at one another then at Kohaku, whom still sat between them with hands up in her hair trying to retie the rope that held her wildflower locks back.

They had to have made quite a sight, the three of them sleeping together like that. Innocently enough, for sure, but still... they secretly confirmed with one another that they would have to have a talk with Chrome in order for him to keep his mouth shut over this little out-of-character moment he witnessed.

Once her hair was more in place, Kohaku stood up, bringing her arms above her head and stretched them out, humming as she relieved pressure in her lower back as well, eyes looking out the window and listening to the noise going on outside. "It's so nice to see the sun, even it's almost gone," her voice was as wispy as the gentle breeze that now ran through the trees, "So much better than gray and rain."

"I agree. It does wonder for one's spirit to see the sun after such gloomy skies," Gen added, gathering the blankets to put back down in the sleeping hold before gathering up the playing cards and piling them back together into an organized deck.

"Yeah, but we lost a whole day to sitting around. This means everyone will need to work twice as hard tomorrow to catch up," Senku remarked with a twisted grin, hands at his belt after he, too, stood up and stretched out his legs, and the others gently shuddered.

"Great..."

"... As expected, Senku-chan."

Together, the three of them cleaned up and blew out the remaining candles and lanterns, before they started to make their way towards the window in order to leave, Senku first with Gen close behind and Kohaku being the last. However, as Senku started to place his feet outside to climb down the ladder, Kohaku's whispered call to "wait" stopped the men in their tracks and they looked upon her with curious and worried gazes.

She stood a bit back from them, head down towards the floor, eyes darting between them and her feet, her hands at her sides in balled up fists. Her cheeks were a tinge of pink, although it was harder to see in the dimly lit room. "I wanted to say... thanks again, for earlier. I know it wasn't really interesting to hear me talk about my personal problems, but the fact you did... it really means a lot to me. More than I think I could ever tell you," she worked up the courage to speak, although she couldn't meet their gaze very well.

She bit on her bottom lip for a moment, moving her head up from the ground and actually meeting their eyes this time. "Can we... can we do this again? Not all the crying and sleeping together stuff, but just... can we play games and talk like this again? Just the three of us?"

The two men were surprised by her request at first, before smiling and nodding their heads.

"Yes. It was quite fun, after all. I would like for the opportunity to arise again."

"Sure, but don't start pouting when you're soundly beat."

"I didn't pout!"

"Oh yeah, that's right... you just threw a tantrum like a lioness."

"I'M NOT A LIONESS!"

Senku was laughing all the way down the ladder and was making his way down towards the 2nd ladder before Kohaku could grab him, her hands at the edge of the window and upper torso sticking out as she growled at him in her typical annoyance of that beastly nickname. Gen brought an arm up to his lips, hiding his smile and laughter behind a sleeve. "My my, our Senku-chan is being extra playful today~" he sing-songed, although the huntress didn't respond to it, having speedily left and giving chase in order to yell at the scientist more.

The mentalist descended last and joined them, Kohaku still raging while Senku rubbed his ear with a clever smirk, and Gen finally broke them apart, the huntress pouting for a second before she was distracted by Suika running up to them, the little girl instantly putting Kohaku into a better mood, and with her they went about doing whatever they needed to do to help with getting the camp back to working order. The events from earlier were done, but not forgotten, and Kohaku felt a bit of an extra spring in her step as she assisted in what she could, something she hadn't felt in quite awhile.

Perhaps she could benefit from a few more rainy days. At least, if it meant spending it with her closest loved ones.

- end -