Author note: It has been a while since I last wrote and I am trying to get back into it again. It is the first summer I get off in a very long time so I'm trying to take this opportunity to start up writing again.
I just watched Dr. Stone and was very impressed with the idea of the anime, so here comes little of my take on how Senku might have felt.
I hope you all enjoy. Do leave a review/comment!
3700 years in the waiting
Senku's a dreamer. He's curious about a lot of things, but he wouldn't say he's intelligent. Just curious. There were too many unknowns and not enough brainpower and not enough manpower, and Senku wants to know everything.
Earth is just one planet and Senku wants to know all planets. And he wants to be an astronaut.
His teachers think he's too young, but Byakuyan just smiles and buys him a telescope, and Senku learns you're never too young to be a dreamer.
Dreaming, however, could never prepare him for years frozen as stone. Years of darkness and the monotone drowning of his own voice counting. Always counting. It had been a natural reaction because of all things, Senku is claustrophobic and counting helps.
He's mildly curious and mildly frightened. Oddly enough he can still feel his heart racing, which means he's alive, but how? There are no sounds. There is nothing really. Just him and his internal self and he's curious.
At some point he stops dreaming of being an astronomer and starts dreaming of a stone future. He's counting and his hypothesizing and his brain is tired and sometimes feels sluggish. One day there will be something again. There has to be. And for that, he counts. He never stops because the possibility of what happens if he stops is unpleasant.
He's up in the millions now. A number he never thought he would count to. Why would he? There had never been a need to.
The first time he counted up to a year was the first time he stopped believing in reality. The number was momentous: 31,540,000. His brain was tired and a blank darkness was lapping at his consciousness.
When four years passes in his counting, Senku wishes himself a happy birthday. He's mildly amused because this future doesn't fit with his primary school essay on what he wishes to become as an adult. The one where he declared he was going to become an astronaut. Senku's an adult now. Twenty years old and not one step closer to his dream.
He tells himself it's okay and continuous counting. Age is just another number and Senku's becoming good at them, so it doesn't matter. There is a new dream now.
Twenty is the year he starts planning. He had seen the people around him turn to stone before darkness took over. He had seen Taiju and Yuzuriha by the tree, and he knew that one day he would break out of this stone prison and there would be a world waiting for him.
It had to be spring. And for that day, he counted.
He counts 50 years, 100 years, 1000 years and it never stops.
3000 years and he doesn't feel much like a dreamer any longer. Just desperate. Because there had to be more out there than just this dark unfeeling prison. Senku has places he wants to go. Places to see and things to do, and he still wants to be an astronaut. He's tired of stone, and he's tired in general.
The value is too high and humans weren't meant to count this high. It's high enough of a number that Senku thinks he's no longer human.
He knows there are lapses in his consciousness. Small holes here and there and he can't stop that, but he doesn't hesitate. He trusts himself and counts through those lapses.
When the first crack appears it is April 1st of the year 5738 in the Western calendar.
—V—V—
The world is the same. Just it's not, because there is a person before him, in stone, and it's creepy and it's telling and Senku doesn't feel happy being right.
The air is fresh if a little cooler than he remembers Japan being at this time of year. It's heavy and rich in earthy smells, and Senku's skin itches for a shower. He's awkwardly naked.
He can't help but continue counting as he fixes his stone pile in order of which it fell off. He feels awkward and sluggish and his arms and legs ache without having done any real work. Like gravity is heavier. Maybe it is. Either way, Senku hasn't moved for over 3700 years.
He flinches at the screech of a nearby bird. The world is large and scary and there are no towering cities to protect him.
He's naked and that needs to be fixed. It needs to be fixed first before he can start thinking of his aching stomach because it's protection and it doesn't matter if it works or not but it makes him feel better.
Makes him feel a little more human after the stone darkness.
The first day passes in a blur, and it's the 2nd of April and Senku has never hunted and he doesn't know why he even tried. He has also never made fire and he's frustrated. That night he falls asleep in a tree, shivering and pulling uselessly at nearby branches for any protection against the biting wind.
On the third day, Senku tries to talk. He knows technically it's only been three days of silence for him, but 3700 years of stone darkness doesn't dampen the crack in his voice or the stutter as he tries to articulate himself to nearby monkeys. They screech back.
Senku knows human nature. He loves it. He loves all parts of the human and because of that he doesn't stop the tears that fall on the fourth day. It's human nature to cry when you're lonely and, by the gods, Senku is lonely. There are only stone statues and screeching monkeys and Senku wishes for a voice other than his own.
That night he searches out for Taiju. If there is one man who can break out of the stone like him, it's Taiju. So he pushes and pulls and drags his heavy stone encapsed friend into the nearby cave that contains nitric acid. It's a pretty strong corrosive, so he can only hope for the best that it will crack the outer layer of the stone. Taiju will surely do the rest after that. He just doesn't want to be alone any longer. It's selfish and maybe not quite right, but Senku needs Taiju. He needs him for his strength and he needs him because he's his friend. He just needs someone to know he won't be the only one. It's only been four days but it seems to be a lonely dark future and Senku can't stand that.
Senku comes back everyday for five days and nothing's happened. Not a single crack. He clenches his hands into fists and he's so frustrated and so tired and nothing works like he needs it to.
After a month awake, the world becomes slightly easier. The heavy weight on his chest has lifted some and the counting is a quiet thing in the back of his mind. There are many things he doesn't think he's intelligent enough to do, but Senku has always been curious and in his mind that beats intelligence. So he knows how to make a trap and to catch an animal, and meat has never tasted more delicious. He also knows how to build himself a tree hut even though he has never tried before. But that's just mathematics and getting the physics correct and things like that he's good at. So he builds himself a tree house. Then he builds himself a laboratory because above all he's a scientist and he doesn't like physical labor and in the laboratory he can do make believe that he's still at school and that this is a weird field trip.
Sometimes he wants to call Byakuya.
Alone as he is, he learns that he misses many things: he misses telefones and he misses people; he misses food and the ever annoying constant hum of human civilization.
If he's a dreamer, then he should go big he tells himself. He should rebuild the world. All seven billion people. It's a large dream, but so was visiting other planets, and there is no one to doubt him here.
So he dreams and he plans.
—V—V—
After that fourth day, Senku doesn't allow himself to cry. The world is big and scary and there really is no time for crying. There is a goal everyday and as long as he can meet the goal he knows he can keep the tears at bay. It takes energy to cry so Senku thinks it's better to put that energy into other uses.
Taiju is still in the cave and the monkeys are still screeching at him. Really, few things have changed in the months he's been awake. It's a humbling experience because if this was 3700 years ago, Senku would have had at least 5 exams by this time and have been expected to have his university plans laid out and started. The old world expected quick action and quick results, but now everything is slow and Senku wishes for quick action and quick results.
Nights are lonely. It's the time of day where the counting is too loud and when the wind is cold and the sounds of the world turn scary even though it sounds the same during the sunny days. Nights are better if he doesn't sleep, but Senku knows sleep is important and yet he sits quietly in his laboratory working through the night. Before the petrification, Senku had never been truly afraid. Now it's something he's deeply conscious of. It has become a part of him. Sometimes he tries to smile fearlessly at the wooden shelves filled with petrified birds. He tries to stand tall and act cocky, but in the end his heart beats fast and his hands shake. He's afraid of being awake and if he was honest with himself he would wish to be back in the stone darkness.
Autumn is fast approaching and with it the weather turns for the worst. The wind howls like never before and the trees bend to its will. Senku goes hungry for the first time since waking up and it takes days before he shimmers out of his tree house and into the forest to scavenge for food. The woods are quieter now. Every animal has taken shelter. They are biding their time just like him. Waiting out the fowl weather.
Senku's stomach growls and he can't wait longer.
Winter is not quite right around the corner but it's close enough, and Senku worries. He knows he might not survive. Senku's a scientist, not a survivor. He has ideas and dreams, but no physical strength to carry all of them out.
He needs Taiju.
The stone world has taught Senku that movies are shit at being honest because he doesn't grow stronger by living in nature. He's weak constantly. There aren't enough nutrients to grow his muscles and not quiet enough protein to run on the energy he wants. Sometimes he's lightheaded, other times he's nauseous. Everyday is never satisfying enough, and Senku wishes for fast food and salt.
—V—V—
It's three millennia in the waiting when Taiju appears before him. Technically it's only six months, but Senku almost falls off the branch in relief when he sees him.
He still doesn't allow himself to cry even as he hears his friend's cry of happiness, but his eyes prickle and he hides it by swiping at his nose, arrogant, confident. Words that don't quite define him any longer. He sidesteps the hug mostly because he's sure he would crumble happily into his friend's arms and that's not how he wants to be seen after so long alone.
It's Taiju, his best friend, but even so he can't relax and be honest. Being honest would mean having to explain about the constant counting in the back of his mind. It would be about explaining how he practices speeches with monkeys that screech back, and it would be about explaining about how he can't sleep.
It's too many things and too fast. So Senku's cool and calm and tells Taiju what he knows. He acts like it's a typical day 3700 years ago, but in reality his heart is racing and his hands are shaking and there is a voice other than his own.
—V—V—
When night falls, Senku goes with Taiju to bed. They are a good one meter apart and Senku dearly wants to push closer like he had never wanted before. He swallows against the itch to reach over and to grasp a hold.
It's a quiet night for once and the counting is louder than ever. Taiju is so close and Senku can't help but wish he was closer.
"Good night, Senku."
The words are a quiet whisper in the small tree house and Senku chokes on his reply. "Sleep well you big oaf."
Sleep never comes. Senku lies happily awake all night staring at Taiju, taking in the rise and fall of a chest and the loud snores of his friend. Taiju seems relaxed and that's how it should be.
The days go slower now. Maybe it's because he's not alone. There are things to do and things to talk about. Taiju is bright and happy and as dedicated to Yuzuriha as he has ever been. But Taiju is also a lot smarter than Senku usually gives him credit for.
When Senku's too preoccupied to pull away, Taiju leans over to swipe a calloused thumb under his eye. "Do you sleep?"
A simple, stupid question and Senku's not prepared to answer. "Of course." it comes out half-assed and far too much like a lie for his liking and Taiju isn't buying it.
"I'm sorry."
Tsking, Senku swipes the hand away and glares over at his friend. "What are you apologizing for you big oaf?"
His usually bright smile is small and pained and Senku wants to shrink back because there are feelings there and there really is no need for words. Senku would never blame his friend anyways. That would just be stupid.
"I should have been awake earlier."
Act normal, Senku tells himself and stares up at the cloudy overcast sky. "Don't be stupid."
But words have been said now and Senku can't act for shit, so when night falls he reaches over with a hesitant hand to ball it into Taiju's leather shirt. He's not sure what he expected, but he feels himself go limp and loose when a warm hand tugs his a little higher and holds it tight over a strong beating heart. Taiju shuffles a little closer and for once the night isn't so cold.
He knows he's shaking. That's just normal, or it has become normal, and he grips Taiju tight. If his friend notices he says nothing.
He's almost asleep when Taiju whispers into the night. "I'm sorry I took so long to wake, Senku,"
Senku just grunts and tightens his hold. "Just don't do it again."
—V—V—
Sleep becomes easier when you're not alone. The counting won't stop but at least there's heat next to him now and a strong steady hand that usually grasps his hand tightly. The hold is like a promise and Senku's sure that when his eyes close he won't wake alone.