Progress

It began.

Its mostly the entire village who cleared up the land. Cutting down trees, flattening the land evenly and removing many rocks to build better homes and making charcoal on Kagome's guidance. They built Apartments! But only one-floored apartments with enough room for everybody. Apartments with glass windows, and a fully-functional kitchen. They also built a sauna as another preventive measure against most illnesses, and a gender-segregated bathhouse. The women's bathhouses are Peeper-Proof.

Then as the soil is problematic, there came Senku's idea of harvesting shells to level up the soil...for fertilizer. Kagome had the men help her build a mussel and oyster farm by the ocean too as well as a konbu farm. Once the soil was treated really well, planting of seeds has begun, after watering the soil.

Revived more people capable of martial arts in High School and College age came after the first harvest of vegetables and culinary herbs, as well as hemp for modern-day clothing. The villagers were taught how to spin and weave on looms after harvesting all the hemp from Kagome's farm. Senku knew how to build a modern-day loom and had Kaseki craft iron needles and the girls worked the threads...to make modern day clothes. Easy to wear ones, of course. Wooden buttons will be a pain to make by hand. For winter however, they go traditional for maximum warmth.

Sometime in the night, a youkai kitsune gave Kagome seeds for plants that produce dyes as Sesshoumaru saw that they're mass-producing clothes.

In their farms, there's Basil, Bay Leaves, Chives, Garlic Chives, Garlic, Ginger, Onions, Turmeric, Ginger and Peppercorns as the Flavor Farm, then there's the actual vegetable farm for Shiitake, Oysters, Enoki, Maitake and Eringi by the lake side as it requires 'shock treatment', and on the plowed lands were for Hemp, and vegetables on the modern-ager's farm and surroundings.

Bok Choy, Cabbages, Carrots, Cucumbers, Daikon, Edamame, Komatsuna, Negi, Potatoes, Radishes, Turnips, the sansai grown at home, and Kagome called for help to carefully uproot and transplant an Allspice tree she found, as well as Tea Shrubs, Mikan Trees and young Soapberry tree that can easily be transported in wagons with soil.

Then harvested fruit en masse. Pears from their farm, and fruit trees near the 'old home' such as Apples, Kinkan and Peaches. And all those grapes from where Senku, Taiju and Yuzuriha's old school are. They also planted those grapes by building a massive grape trellis and wait for it to grow for next year and planted berries too.

'Well, this is good for these malnourished bunch. Unlike us, they're NOT healthy. They need vitamins and minerals.' said Senku to the modern-dayners as the villagers grew to like the fruits they brought through careful harvesting. It's now fall so Autumn Fruits are in vogue.

'Nothin' but grilled campfire meat and fish since humanity's collapse, that must suck. Even for Taiju and I when we woke up, eating grilled fish and meat and mushrooms with salt sucks before we woke up Tsukasa and meeting Kagome, but living is more important than being picky. Practicality is living. I guess I can agree with Tsukasa and Kagome that we can't revive...troublesome people. Once we modernized enough...then we can go full throttle, just that, we don't bring back crooks of course, otherwise they'll learn how to commit worser crimes other than murder and theft...'

'Yeah, perversion doesn't exist in this village, one thing I'm glad about.' Kagome snarked.

'Well, that's where I come in~' Minami chuckled. 'I know famous people famous for their trade. All reporters and journalists worth their salt must know such people or we can't function well in our jobs.'

'Yeah, let's keep building.' said Gen. 'We need more sustainability before we revive more folk.'

When snow began falling...all the farming work and building work is completed, that all that's left, is synthesizing the Sulfa Drug Ruri needs. And they must make plenty of stocks of it incase someone gets it! And they cannot use it willy-nilly or else like Penicillin...bacteria will develop resistance against Sulfa-Drugs in time was a theory nobody wants to prove!

And so...

Many things were accomplished in Summer, Fall and Early Winter.

Apartments with Glass Windows, Blast Furnace, Bellows, Farming, Furniture, Charcoal, Ink, Brushes, Clothes, Iron, Copper, Magnet, Man-Powered Generator, Electricity, Glassware and Eye-Glasses, Chemistry Glassware, Lab Chemicals, Medicinal Herb Healing, Paper, Water Carbonator, Cola(Gen's Request) and Baking Soda. Much of it was for making Ruri's Sulfa-Drug. Suika and Kinro who has 'Blurry-Eye Disease' were happy to have a clear world for the first time in their lives since having it.

Then they can make iron cookware...and weapons. Kaseki led village men on Kagome's request so incase anything happens to him, the village men knows how to forge and craft wares only men can do.

'Alright, we're OK for this winter.' said Kohaku as they began harvesting and preserving vegetables that when snow came, they're all well-prepared and fully-stocked. 'A winter of full stomachs...' everyone had taken to wearing kimono, hakama and haori as well as tabi socks, all made out of hemp. And modern day shoes are STILL in progress as it's not easy making things by hand.

'Welp, be careful with our stocks.' Kagome told her wryly. 'Each family and individual in the village must last their reserves until spring! Eat only enough. Because if people foolishly ate all they had, people aren't gonna share their stocks with a greedy person who can't hold back!'

'Yeah, there's that...' Kohaku snorted. 'Anyway...where's Tsukasa?'

'He's with Senku...they're debating with Minami on who to bring back when winter ends.' said Kagome. 'Why?'

'When the Village Priestess hits 18, she must marry the winner of the Village Games.' said Kohaku. 'Neesan is 18 now. Early this year, I won the games...because no husband is better than neesan marrying Magma.' she said with a scowl. Kagome frowned as well. While Magma is willing to work with everyone, his attitude leaves much to be desired. His only redeeming quality was that the village's communal upbringing requires TEAMWORK for the good of the whole community so anything going on benefits everyone so he's basically 'a necessary teammate nobody wants to hang around with' unless it's his sycophant Mantle.

'And thanks to all the work, father postponed the Village Games till spring next year. Currently, I am this village's strongest fighter and nobody's ever won against me yet. I hope Tsukasa will win.'

'Er, ask him if he's ready to marry.' Kagome sweatdropped. 'He's 19 this year.' and Kagome turned 20 not long ago herself. 'But Tsukasa's strength is the real deal. He can chop a tree in one blow with a stone axe, what more if Kaseki-ojisan made iron blades and armor? He'd really be more powerful that way!' Kagome laughed weakly. 'I've seen his absurd strength since I met the boys so it was easy for us to have firewood.' and Tsukasa was among the farmers as he does it to improve his strength since awakening. Kohaku looked highly hopeful.

'Right! I'm gonna consult him!' and Kohaku ran off.

'...yeah, I've met my fair share of men, most of them...sigh.' Kagome sighed in disappointment. She tends to attract rude, impulsive bunches and perverts and she wonders WHY when she's done nothing to deserve that, both in Sengoku Jidai and Modern Age. At least nobody in this Future Stone Age is a pervert, but male ego still persists, but thankfully, NOT attracted to her this time!

xxx

In a meeting room, there's Senku, Gen, Tsukasa and Minami.

'So it's these names we got next.' said Senku. On the table was a sheet of paper with names written using charcoal pen...crudely carved and sharpened with wrapped bandages as a handle.

'I agree with these guys.' said Tsukasa. He knows them in his time as well.

'We'll have to roam around for them though.' Minami reminded them. 'At around springtime of course.'

On the paper were the names and locations of high schoolers known for hard-working, humble-likable attitudes and most importantly, great at sports and martial arts and nothing problematic for the Future Stone Age. Then reliable craftsmen to help out old man Kaseki who are fifties at the youngest.

'Hey, you guys done now?' Kohaku poked her head inside. 'There's something I need Tsukasa for.'

'What is it?' Tsukasa asked Kohaku who squirmed.

'Tsukasa...are you willing to marry my sister?'

Pause.

Beat.

Tsukasa comically lost his cool.

'Tsuka-san, marry Ruri?' Minami's eyes were wide. 'Why're you asking him?'

'Its to protect neesan...earlier this year, I won the Village Games which is basically a fighting tournament.' Kohaku croaked out. 'Its held when the Village Priestess turns 18 as per our laws. The winner then becomes the next Village Chief and marries the Priestess. The strongest man in the Village is Magma and like hell I'll let him marry my sister, over my dead body!' Kohaku told them vehemently. 'Because of that, father will hold the Village Games next year...its supposed to be this year, but since your group kept us all busy its thankfully postponed...' she rambled on.

'M-marriage...' Tsukasa was in a mental blank. Mental BSOD. He clearly wasn't up for it.

'To be honest, neesan likes Chrome and its mutual since they were kids.' Kohaku sighed. 'But rule-breaking is not allowed...and rule-breakers are banished from the village...' she croaked out weakly. These people were THAT simple. They all had their laws. Breaking these laws gets various penalties, the worst of those being banishment, the worst thing possible as there's no way to defend from wild animals outside which was why people here train hard to be as strong as gorillas in fighting or face extinction.

'Well, that's easy.' Senku grinned. 'Tsukasa wins...but as he's clearly NOT ready to marry Ruri, he divorces her on the spot. Then while he's village chief, BUT unmarried, he can then make an arranged marriage pairing up Ruri and Chrome. Easy as pie as Village Leader's word is law, no?'

'What do you think, Tsukasa-chan? Not a bad idea right?' Gen chimed, seeing no problem with it. They had to jolt Tsukasa out of his shock and repeat that they had in mind, MUCH TO HIS VISIBLE RELIEF.

'I-I see...that's fine with me.' he said, sighing in relief before looking shaken again. 'I'm not ready for that sort of thing yet, I can't imagine myself marrying...'

'Sorry about springing this on you but you're my only hope left since I can't win the games again or father will be angry again.' Kohaku deadpanned. 'Neesan really has to marry and he's not waiting any longer because he follows our laws and as Village Chief, he must set an example.'

Indeed so as if leader himself doesn't follow the set rules, would anyone else follow? There will be social disorder!

'By the way, what does a Village Priestess do exactly?' Minami asked Kohaku.

'Village Priestesses must pass on the traditions of the village and the Hundred Tales to the next generation orally, as it's the only education we all have.' said Kohaku. 'So a keen memory is a must. So ideally, she must marry a man with a good memory so their kids will have a good memory too to preserve our traditions.'

The currently smartest guy in the village before Senku came is Chrome. He'd be ideal if the law wasn't about 'might makes right'.

'But since that unnamed illness we now know as Pneumonia is a constant threat, its why Priestesses marry young before she gets it or before she's killed by it.' she explained. 'When mother was alive, she would seriously teach neesan before famine got her since she refused to eat in those days, giving her food to us.'

'I see...'

'So let's hear those laws.' said Tsukasa. 'If I get the power of Village Leader, I can change things to make things fairer for everyone.'

xxx

The forge...

Kagome taught how to forge scissors, katana, wakizashi, tanto, spear blades, axes, and stone arrow tips as iron is too precious to waste on arrows and iron carpentry and crafting tools once the iron cookware was finally done and evenly distributed to everybody to better cook food. As the forge is a warm place, the men there are sleeveless and definitely not complaining about the chills until their shift time is over.

'We made it in time.' Kagome sighed as she left the forge. 'My first winter in this era absolutely sucked.'

Present humanity all has everything they need now. Some vegetables aren't ripe yet but it will be of future use, just in time before snow falls for real!

However, because of the cold, they have to keep their farm alive. That when snow came, that's when the real battle begins.

They built frames and covered the frames with fabric to protect the saplings and weighed the coverings with rocks over tent pegs. Only occasionally taking it off to carefully water the saplings and not overly-saturate the soil and drown the sapling as there's no farming sprinklers. Basically its a hard task of pouring a glass' worth of water over each plant.

When Spring came...so did the crops that take a long time to grow, just in time for hungry folk. After harvest, they plowed and fertilized the land and replanted again!

And spring means...a lot of fish. They crafted nets!

'Wow, so you guys made it this far on your own because you know the habits of fishes?!' Ginro cried as they waited upstream for fish to come.

'Yeah. In spring, fish return to their birthplace. To mate, lay eggs, and then die after.' said Senku. 'We crafted these nets, so we can get the fish without wading into the water AND stepping on the eggs. It's to keep the eggs safe, so this fishing method is sustainable. For now, we wait. If the fish see us, they won't come here. We wait for them to do their business and die.'

'Why do fish die after laying eggs?' Suika asked him.

'Because these fish will struggle to swim upstream and never stop for the sake of reaching the spawning pool, their birthplace. It's like you're so far away from home, yet forced yourself to run nonstop without stopping to eat, rest and sleep just to have a baby with your husband or wife. That WILL kill any living thing from severe exhaustion!'

'Heeee...'

'We'll take as many as we can, and then leave the rest to nature.' said Tsukasa. 'This way, animals can feed on them too. It's a cycle of life so nothing's wasted.'

And so, when fish came, the water got very active...and later, activity stopped...and as Senku said, they floated upon death.

Harvesting spring fish, acquired!

'Senku, we pretty much have everything we need for a comfortable life.' Tsukasa approached Senku. 'There's...someone I want to pick up.'

'Someone?' Senku blinked.

Tsukasa has an unreadable expression.

'...I don't know what the future will bring.' he said. 'My sister is brain dead for many years. I became who I am now for money to keep her alive. I can't let her stay a rock.' said Tsukasa in a pained voice. 'Either she comes back alive or still brain-dead in a world lacking in medical equipment...I want her to pass on as a human, not bear the indignity of being a rock forever.'

'You want closure too.'

'...Mm.'

'Well, let's go dig her up.' Senku smiled. 'And prepare yourself as we go there. We don't know if she'll be back to normal...or...well...y'know.' as a scientist who runs on logic, he cannot be overrun by emotion. He works on cold hard facts. But that doesn't mean he is without his humanity, as he values hard work, teamwork, and comradeship, ready to use his brain for everyone. And considering he knows full well what its like to lose family, he doesn't wish that thing on others.

Senku traveled with Tsukasa and Yuzuriha.

'Hey, where are they going? Just them?' Gen asked Kagome as he was working in the farms with her and teamed up with the modern people.

'Tsukasa's in a gamble.' said Kagome.

'Gamble?' Ukyo questioned her.

'Apparently he worked his way to fame for money...to keep his sister alive. His earnings go straight to the hospital.' said Kagome. 'She's brain-dead since she was a child and while their parents gave up on her, Tsukasa refused and threw himself in fighting for money.' she said softly. 'In a world like this with no equipped hospital and no doctor, he's setting himself up for heartbreak, but he didn't want her to be a statue forever either.'

The modern-agers choked at what's coming for Tsukasa and was silent for a moment.

'...suppose she's still brain-dead upon revival...he might end her peacefully to end her suffering.' Ukyo squirmed at the idea of Tsukasa being forced to euthanize his own sister. That's basically sororicide!

'That's the issue right now.'

'Come to think of it, we have no idea about our own families either.' said Taiju shakily. 'It'll be hard to find our families in all this mess. Some people are buried underground, that'll take forever and we don't have time nor equipment.' he said shakily. 'And Senku...he lost his dad thousands of years ago. On the day we were all petrified, his dad is an astronaut in space...he's clearly safe from that day he's dead long ago.'

'Suppose you DO find your families, it'll be weird to explain why you're all so old by the time you revive them as they are.' Minami said with a cringe.

Awkward pause ensued.

'It makes sense why he went. He knows best.' Gen's mind quickly drew conclusions as a mentalist. 'Only he can understand Tsukasa-chan if Mirai-chan dies on the spot.'

Only they know what's going on and they didn't bother telling the village. Something like this is only something they'd understand as the Planetary Petrification took everything from them; their families and their lives. Out of all of them, Kagome was lucky to have her family near her at all times. She had kept their stone statues until the day life got a bit better before she wakes them up, and her grandfather who has BOTH rheumatism and arthritis can't deal with stairs anymore thus only goes out when necessary...like doctor's check-ups. And the Higurashis live on a shrine!

xxx

Two weeks later, they came back with a girl and she's shockingly OK?!

'Tsuka-san, that girl...' Minami gasped out as the little girl with them is A-OK?!

'She's not...y'know?' Gen dared not utter the issue.

'We can't believe it either.' said Tsukasa. He was happier actually. 'Mirai...I was expecting the worst, and she wakes up healthy. As if, those six years didn't happen at all. We're wondering how but I'm just thankful.'

'It's a little weird seeing myself big and my brother taller than last I saw him though!' Mirai giggled.

'Kagome.' Senku faced Kagome. 'If Mirai who's BD came back healthy...what more of something so cheap as arthritis and rheumatism? It's gone in a blink, something about the petrification cures humans of whatever heck they have prior to petrification. Your grandfather will be clean of typical old man diseases.'

That got Kagome choking.

'And also...its time to tell the villagers what we really are...and what the hell happened to us all.' said Senku darkly. 'And I'm asking of you to show the proof, by letting these people see your family revive before their eyes.'

'Alright. Lunch would be the best idea for this, but there's no way I'm reviving my mom in front of a masculine audience too!' Kagome sputtered, red-faced. 'I'm reviving her last in our house!'

And so, come lunch break...

The modern-dayners gathered the whole village for...a tale that was too absurd to believe.

And Kagome used her brother and grandfather as an example...and like many others before them, the stone cracked and peeled off, showing live humans underneath! A healthy young boy and an old man. Obviously naked.

'Gah! Who the hell poured concrete on me?!' Grandpa gasped out, annoyed as he peeled the rock bits off himself. His 'scars' were a jagged Y shape on the left side of his face.

'Its not concrete grandpa but I'll explain at our house, OK?' said Kagome sheepishly.

'Neechan where are we? Aren't we in your school after graduation day?'

'Again, I'll explain after we revive mom in our house.'

But grandpa and Souta got their answers from Chrome.

'Oh wow, it's for real...' Chrome choked. 'Those statues are live people all this time, after being turned to stone by a green light 3700 years ago?!' he asked in disbelief. And Kagome keeps three statues in her house who are actually her family members!

'You mean that green light was an attack on us all and turned us into stone statues?! And we slept for 3700 years as rocks?!' Souta asked his older sister who nodded grimly. Grandpa had to hold back about youkai comments as that will be HARD to explain...

'That's what happened to us all.' said Tsukasa. 'Kagome is the first to awaken since she was around our old home for one year, before she met Senku, Taiju and myself six months later. They revived me and Yuzuriha with that Nital Potion, as we did Ukyo, Gen, Homura, Minami and my sister Mirai. We will choose who to revive as we will prioritize people who can easily adapt to this ruined world...that life as we know it reverted back to primitivehood. We can't bring back whiners and burdens to our new reality or worse, criminals. So we revived Minami who used to work as an Investigator to selectively choose for our safeties.'

'So that's how it is. No wonder you guys know too much that made life easier!' Kokuyo exclaimed, amazed. The tools they all helped make. Farming! New clothes and shoes! Tools and Equipment! Furniture! Medicine against Pneumonia! Better weapons and armor! And getting educated by knowing how to write and read! Each modern-dayner had a subject to teach that winter.

Kagome was Literacy.

Senku was Math and Science.

Gen and Minami was Social Studies. The light and dark side of it, that is, as well as ideal behavior for men and women, to prevent what they know as modern-dayners!

Yuzuriha was Art and Handicrafts.

Taiju was P.E.

The modern-dayners decided that Tsukasa and Homura should teach fighting to girls. So far Kohaku is the strongest and ONLY female fighter in the village, being a tomboy and other girls can't fight! So that winter, they have a class comprising of Kagome who wants to leave Archery behind, Minami who'd be a sitting duck if she ends up alone and Mirai joined the class thinking it's fun, then the stone-agers in the village...well, young girls of various ages that is, took up the class.

There's a girl named Sango, followed by little Suzu, Shovel and Suika, the Beryl, Ruby, Azura, Sapphire, Shirogane, and Garnet. Ruri wanted to join, but she should start in Taiju's class first as she just recovered from Pneumonia.

Senku knows how to make a chalkboard and they can mine chalk, so that made lessons easy. And in his class, he had to seriously dumb his lessons enough for these guys to understand and remember well. It was a Winter well-spent.

'Indeed so, but we have a long way to go, before the world is modern again. We need more people for that to work.' said Senku. So far thanks to Kagome, they could make traditional Japanese homes made out of wood, smoked glass(because there's no paper for shoji screens) and clay tiles and in each house, there's an Irori. Naturally, the only one with a mansion, was Ruri and her family due to their status. But when Ruri marries, Kokuyo will step down as Village Chief and he and Kohaku will have to move out as per new laws and live in the dorms.

The single and widowed ladies live in a women's dorm, a building with two floors. The first floor is the living room area with an irori with enough living room furniture for everyone, and a functional kitchen and pantry, and an area to hang their laundry. Single unmarried men below thirty years old own houses with four bedrooms as its the girls moving in with them and each family can have up to three children, hence three extra rooms. The sole exception being Kagome as she still lives with her family. But for old widowed men because of famine in the past, they live in men's dorms instead as retirees. The women and men's dorms have thirty rooms each, already furnished complete with a sand-filled futon and pillow as well as blanket.

Right now, their life is ala Edo Era style.

Kagome's grandfather was astonished that he could stand up straight without a hunchback when before, due to old age, his back hunched and suffers badly from arthritis and rheumatism. Now he had none of those he was absolutely delighted.

'I wonder if there's a way to petrify me too, if being petrified cures all ills before being restored.' Kaseki pouted, envious of Kagome's grandfather Kiichirou.

The last to be revived, was Kagome's mother Miyabi.

Kagome's family was astonished when Kagome explained the situation to them at home.

'Oh dear, so that's what's going on!' Mama moaned in dismay. Her scar cracks were on her neck, like a literal jagged line across. All health ills are gone that she looked younger than she's supposed to, as did Grandpa who lost some wrinkles. 'Right after your graduation from High School too and now you're twenty years old after being awake for two years!' her daughter is now an adult by law. Well, non-existent laws now...

'That's pretty much the situation.' said Kagome. 'I got used to this life, but you guys have some time getting used to this.' she said. 'No modern-day convenience. Its back to literal edo-style living for all of us. Before I lived in a literal mud-hut I built using clay bricks, but thanks to people power, I could build japanese houses for everyone who followed my blueprints...we all worked hard to get this far before we can begin reviving people who won't whine about the obvious and not a deadweight in a society like this.'

'Well, it'll be an adventure by itself now.' said Souta, scratching his head. His 'scar mark' was literal cracks on his left cheek. 'I'm gonna live sengoku style like you used to. How to do that is the question isn't it?'

'The only good thing about this is no more taxes and no more bills, I no longer have to see my co-worker who just won't take a hint that I'm not interested.' Mama harrumphed with an armfold. 'I'm a widower and I'll stay that way.' she said softly. 'For me there's no other like your father.'

'Well, for us modern-day folk, true love is rare and truly precious. Your time isn't like how mine used to be when back in Showa Era when I was Miyabi's current age, people marry for love, we don't marry young like foolish heisei era people do.' said Grandpa solemnly. 'The reason couples back in your time pair up, but eventually cheat on each other and break up after a short period is because 'they are not the one in the end'.' he said. 'But in an era like this, surely, for sure you youngsters will be happy.' he said optimistically. 'In a world where materialism is literally erased from existence, and humanity prevails.'

'Heee...'

'For now, I'm also used to the old ways.' said Grandpa. 'I used to live in the countryside, I was a farmer specializing in Animal Husbandry, particularly pigs until your father built a home in the city and took me with him after the Kobe Earthquake trashed our home and I barely survived that one.' the memory still makes him shudder. 'Its why we live where we live, until that stone event happened.'

'Heee...'

'Well, grandpa and your mom will build an animal farm since the youngsters took care of vegetables!' Grandpa grinned. 'Just go catch us some animals, and we'll do the rest!'

'By we, you don't mean...' Souta croaked out nervously.

'We do it of course! The whole village is already doing the harder parts, we got the easy ones as it is.' Mama chided.

'The problem is if livestock are still alive to this day...' said Kagome with a sweatdrop. 'Animals evolved in 3700 years...that included lions. The ones in the zoo are cuter than the lions now...they're three times bigger and more muscular.'

Her family choked at the idea.

xxx

'So you're Kagome's mother eh?'

'It's still surreal, stone people coming to life with Senku's medicine.'

Mama got along with the village ladies while clad in kimonos of various colors as it's still cold in spring.

'Its still a little jarring...it'll take time to get used to.' said Mama weakly. Grandpa was with the crafting team as he wasn't strong enough for the forge. 'But this life isn't so bad since, well...there's a lot of problems for adults in my era while here, all we worry about is food and the farm! That's like, dozens of worries off my and my father-in-law's back!'

Spring came as snow thawed. That it's time to remove the protective canvases off the farms for the sprouts of crops to grow and thrive under sunlight.

Third year has begun for Kagome while for Senku and his group, their second while Minami and the rest only had one year. The most recent revivals being Mirai and Kagome's family.

And when things got a little warmer...

It began.

The day of the Grand Bout.

A Grand Bout that's about...a one-sided massacre...

'The victor: Tsukasa!' Kokuyo declared. 'I now declare him the new Chief of Ishigami Village! And as of this day, I too, am stepping down for our new Chief's ascension!'

That got the original group pausing.

"Wait...whuuuuut...?"

'Kokuyo, is the real name of this village Ishigami?' Tsukasa croaked out as he shakily glanced at Senku who comically lost his cool.

Because his father's name is Ishigami Byakuya.

'Yeah, our founder Byakuya named our village as such.' said Kokuyo, blinking.

'I see...then as the new Chief, I will be implementing new laws soon.' said Tsukasa. 'With my first thing to do as chief is to divorce Ruri.'

Pause.

Beat.

'HAAAAAAAAH?!' the villagers were shocked.