It didn't take Senku to get to the place he wanted to go. It only took a few days by flight as it's been awhile since he came there. In truth it was going to be nostalgic to him in some way.

The king of science finally reach his destination as he landed on the ground, arriving back at the place where it started it all.

"It's been awhile….since I came back here, huh?" Senku gazed the forest where he was first awaken from his petrification.

He went further in the forest and approach the cabin that he spent a year trying to make the revival fluid. It hasn't change much but it felt nostalgic to the king of science.

When he looked in, he noticed the person that he'd been looking for all this time.

It seems that he had blankets in the center.

The brown hair boy didn't noticed his presence as he seem like he was looking at the ceiling, lost in thought about something. His eyes darken, like they weren't even alive.

Senku had seen that look before. When they were little, he would often think about his parents. Granted it's been many years since he seen that look before.

The ruby eye boy clench his teeth in anger as he stepped in the cabin and kicked the boy so hard, that he fell into the floor.

"OW! Eh! What was that?" Taiju, finally return to normal, popping his head up, shaking his head like a dog. He touch his head, feeling this kind of thing before. It took only a second, before he finally jumped, figuring it out, who it was that was behind him. When he turned around he noticed his best friend, cross-armed with an evil smile on his face.

"Yo, you big oaf…" Senku greeted his friend, with a scary looking grin.

"Ha….Hey…..Senku…" Taiju for once was a bit scared by his presence. Not because he was mad, but more because he was here. "What….are you doing here?"

"What do you think, you idiot!" Senku wanted to kick him once again, but tried to keep his cool. "You freaking left without say a word, so I had to come all this way to see you!"

"Oh….I see…." Taiju turned away from his friend. "Once again….you found me…..as always Senku….You know me too well." He spoke with a sad sound in his voice.

"Why! Why did you leave without telling me? Without telling Yuzuriha!? I thought you were going to confess to her after all this was over!? Didn't we make a promise together or did you forget?!"

"Of course...not…" Taiju clenched his teeth lowering his head even lower in his sitting position.

"I know you haven't forgotten! You're not that weak, or dumb to forget something like that! To just disappear without saying a word to Yuzuriha! Or to me! Your best friend! After all that crap, that you put us through. Putting our hearts through something like that!"

"I know!" Taiju turned around, barking back at his friend. "I know that….I just…..I felt guilty okay!"

"Guilty?! Guilty for what? Protecting me and Yuzuriha?!"

"N-No!"

"For disappearing?!"

"…No…"

"Then what is it!?"

"I didn't want to cause you trouble, Senk-!" Taiju shouted, before stopping himself, figuring out what he just said.

"Trouble?" For once, Senku was confused by that statement, "What do you mean?" Taiju looked at his face and turn around, refusing to look at him.

"Just forget about it, Senku. I….I….don't want to talk about this."

Senku, refusing to give up on this conversation, starting to think about Taiju's meant. Usually Taiju's words can be very hard to understand, something that even Tsukasa didn't even get back in the beginning. But Senku couldn't let this go.

"Why? Would you cause me trouble?"

"…" For once, Taiju remain quiet, trying not to leak anymore words behind his heart.

Senku, who continue standing, was really thinking deeply about this. For once, he felt kind of an idiot to not get what Taiju was thinking. He knew this man wanted to help him achieve his goals along with saving Yuzuriha…There was no doubt in his mind then. He protected them, almost at the cost of his own life. And yet this man doesn't want to cause him trouble? For what? What about Yuzuriha? Come to think about it, when Taiju got shot, as he was speaking, he didn't tell Yuzuriha his true feelings. Why not? Senku knew better than anything that if Taiju was going to die, or had so little time left that he would surely had told her how he felt. He knows that he did indeed stop Taiju from speaking any further due to saving his energy but when he started speaking he said that he wanted to tell Senku something. So why…..?

"No….way….No freaking way…" Senku stepped back a bit, seeming to figure out what was going on. "You can't be….There's no way you could mean that?" Taiju realize this, and he shook his head, wondering why he spoke too much. Maybe to a normal person, he probably would have been able to get away with it, but not with the king of science.

A few minutes of silence trying to get a sense of all this, and Taiju heard footsteps approaching him. He felt the man sit down next to him, trying to look at him as he seem to calm down about it thinking this through.

"Taiju…" Senku spoke softly. 'Tell me, the truth…Why would you think, you would cause me trouble?" He wanted to know what he was thinking was true. He wanted to make sure he could understand Taiju for once as this was important to him.

Taiju glance at him for a second before sighing and looking away, feeling like he had no choice but to give in. He knew Senku wouldn't let this go.

"I don't know…" He spoke honestly. "I love Yuzuriha. That hasn't changed. It'll probably never change..and yet…."

Senku moved closer trying to get a good look at his friend.

"And yet?" The ruby eye boy asked, encouraging him to continue.

"I feel….I feel different…When it comes to you…when I'm with you….I been with you so long….that I can't imagine a world without you in it. When Tsukasa killed you….My world felt empty inside….When You were alive and when we met again after 3700 years, I wanted to hold you so much….I don't know why….I don't know why I feel this way…..These feelings…..this disgusting feelings….I hate it….I didn't know how to deal with it…I didn't know how to face you…So I did the only thing I could think off…..

"So you ran away?"

"…" Taiju didn't look at his friend at all after he said that. He just bend down to the ground not daring to look at him. "I'm sorry…..I know this isn't you want to hear….These feelings…are gross….something that I shouldn't carry inside my heart…There's a part of me, that felt content…..dying to protect you and Yuzuriha…Because…that would mean…that I didn't need to see my loved ones die again. I knew….that even if I was gone….that you would be okay in this world…because you have Gen, Kohaku, Tsukasa, Chrome, Ryusui, Keseki….Suika… The kingdom of science behind you…So if anything happen to me….As long as both of you were okay… I could rest easy….And be with my parents…."