As the Sun rose over the horizon…
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Senku continued to work without end. Trial after trial, he continued to work without missing a beat. As the seconds turned to minutes, and the minutes to hours, Senku never realized that the Sun had already risen and Ayane was nowhere to be seen. Worried about his assistant, Senku stopped what he was doing and walked back up towards the hut only to see Ayane collapsed on the floor.
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"Hey!" He exclaimed as he rushed forward only to feel what was wrong. "You're burning up!" Then without warning, he stripped Ayane down to her underwear in hopes of release some unnecessary body heat.
"Oh…Senku." Ayane spoke slowly and heavily as she opened her eyes. "I'll get up right now, just give me a minute."
"You don't have a minute! You're burning up big time!" As Senku began to look around, he began to noticed some scars looking rather infected. "Oh, I get it." Senku thought to himself.
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Remembering what Ayane told him, the said girl only had to take care of herself, which allowed her to restrict her time outside the comfort of her now home. But now, due to him waking up, she's had to work enough for two people, which probably caused her to gain more scratches and forced her to be more exposed to her surroundings.
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"Looks like I really don't have a choice." Senku spoke as he rose to his feet. "I'm going to have to wake those two up."
"Who?" Ayane asked, out of breath.
"Who else? Taiju and Yuzuriha." Senku answered.
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Several Minutes later…
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Not even having to explain the situation, after being awakened Taiju went straight to work, with Yuzuriha taking Ayane to bathe her.
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"Oh." Yuzuriha said. as she began to bathe a weakened Ayane. "So, you were the first to wake up? Must have been rough."
"Yeah." Ayane answered half-heartedly as she had pretty much no energy and was trying her absolute best not to pass out. "I was the first to wake…up…" But just before Ayane fell forward Yuzuriha caught her.
"I got you. But you have to stay up. We're almost done here." She answered.
"Easier said than done." Ayane replied. "Did you know that the body tends to weaken dramatically, so that it can rest?"
"I know a little thanks to Senku." Yuzuriha explained as Ayane finished. "And if your this tired, also burning up this much, it must mean it's a strong one. But luckily, thanks to Senku, we have soap, so we can wash away any chance of anyone else grabbing what you have. And also wash away some of the infected skin."
"Mm." Ayane nodded in response.
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Returning to camp…
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With Yuzuriha leading a weakened Ayane, they began their slow approach towards the camp. During that time, the two young girls began to talk.
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"I see. So, you woke up Senku. And in turn, Senku woke us up." Yuzuriha repeated what she heard.
"I only woke him up because I was sick once before. But…" Ayane took a deep breath before finishing. "It wasn't as bad as this. At least I had the cold to cool me down, but the heat from summer makes it harder."
"Don't worry." Yuzuriha replied. "I'll be making clothes that are thinner than the ones you were wearing. Afterall, in high school I was in the Sewing Club."
"High school, huh? I wonder if I'll ever be able experience something like that?" Ayane asked herself.
"I'm sure once Senku brings back humanity, you'll be able to experience it." Yuzuriha answered, in hopes of keeping the 17 year old happy.
"I'm sure he will." Ayane replied with a giggle. "Can I tell you something that was a bit embarrassing for me to have Senku remember?"
"Sure, after all we are walking at a slow pace." Yuzuriha agreed to hear her ally out.
"It was the last time I ever saw Senku. He taught me how to count, and I used that counting when I was petrified." Ayane began to reminisce in her favored past.
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As she began to remember…
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"Listen, say you got lost in the woods and your phone is about to die. What do you do?" Young Senku asked as he began to screw in a bolt onto his rocket.
"Hmm?" As Ayane began to think, she came up with her answer quickly. "Isn't the most logical thing to do is call help with the remainder of your battery?" Not really confident with her answer, Ayane looked towards her mentor for the answer.
"That is one, but another would be to look at the time." Senku answered.
"The time?" Ayane was confused by Senku's answer.
"That's right. The time, because if you remember that you'd be able to plan far more efficiently." Senku added. "Listen, say the time was 2:34 pm, how much time would you have to send a signal that you are lost?"
"A couple of hours?" Ayane answered.
"That's right. If you use a smoke signal, you'd only have a few hours. Use a torch you'd have only the night to use such a signal." Senku began to lay down how important time was. "Also, you can use time to determine how far you traveled. Say you continued walking without ever stopping, how much time would've past during your travel?"
"Don't know." Ayane replied honestly.
"Exactly." Senku answered. "You wouldn't know. Just because you look at the Sun, doesn't mean you'll instantly know how much time has passed. You have to count as soon as your phone dies."
"So, whatever time my phone left off on, I have to continue from there, and then plan accordingly, otherwise I stand no chance at surviving." Then pulling out her phone, Ayane began to pull up the clock and began to look at the time. "This…is harder than it looks." Ayane chuckled embarrassingly.
"Continue practicing and in due time you'll be counting without realizing it." Senku tried his best to give a motivating speech but was unsure if his words ever reached his new assistant.
"Alright, from this point forth, I'll count and think and…plan…from now…on… this is going to be difficult, huh?" Ayane's eyes began to beg for help.
"If you want to be my assistant, then doing something like this, should be child's play." Senku grinned sadistically as his young assistant.
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Back to the Present…
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As the two women began to approach on their base of operations, Ayane began to finish her story.
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"And after that, I began to practice so hard that I plan for every possible scenario without even thinking. It's even helped me get out of a few life-or-death situations." Ayane finished.
"Senku…I had no idea he was like that…No, that's a lie…I'm sorry you had to go through that." Yuzuriha didn't know what to say, so she just apologized.
"It's fine. Like I said, it was because of him that I managed to plan very meticulously, and smartly might I add." Ayane repeated her previous statement.
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As their base came into view, making the last trek, both Ayane and Yuzuriha walking into the comfort of their home. Placing down Ayane in the shade, just to keep her cool from the Sun's harsh rays, Yuzuriha herself went straight to work on creating new clothes for everyone.
With nothing much to do, due to her sudden predicament, Ayane slowly scooted herself towards a basket and pulled out the block she had been working on, along with a sharp stone. Scooting back towards the shade, Ayane began to shave away at the block with pointed edges with the sharp stone without missing a beat.
There was reason behind why she was doing this. But Ayane didn't feel the need to discus what she was doing just yet. Seeing her hands moving from behind the giant tree, Senku approached casually. Then once he was in earshot, Ayane spoke up.
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"Is there something you need, Senku?" Ayane asked, not once taking her eyes off the block in her hands.
"Yeah. What is that for?" Senku asked, noticing how Ayane continued to work on something he saw as pointless.
"Well, I was just thinking, since Rei's body seemed so beaten up, I thought about making him a new one. You know, when we finally have all the materials and create all we need in order to create the technology we once had." Ayane answered.
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Sitting next to the raven haired girl, Senku continued to watch her. Then looking up, Ayane smiled.
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"Is something wrong?" Ayane asked, curious about Senku's new attitude.
"It's just, your sick and yet you don't show it." Senku answered. Then seeing his assistant place the block down, she smiled embarrassingly.
"I hate looking weak, so I try to force myself to work. But I'm actually a relatively healthy girl, so probably by tomorrow I'll be all better." Ayane replied, still smiling embarrassingly.
"Alright." Was all Senku said as he continued to watch Ayane strip the block she had in hand.
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The Next Day…
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Waking up, Senku looked over to his right only to see…
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"Hey, Taiju…" Senku spoke in a whisper, hoping it was enough for the big oaf to hear him.
"What is it, Senku?" Taiju answered, still half asleep.
"Where's Ayane?" Senku asked as his eyes were still on Ayane's bed.
"Hmm? Oh, Ayane. She said she was going out for a bit. Said something about seeing a peeper." Taiju answered.
"And you didn't stop her?" Senku asked, still looking towards her bed.
"OH, she also said she needed to take care of them as well, and strip them of their clothes." Taiju just continued adding fuel to the fire, until all the words Taiju spoke finally clicked.
"Oh." Then scrambling up to his feet, Senku rushed out while calling out to Taiju. "Hey, big oaf! Hurry up!"
"Oh, right." Not really knowing how dire the situation, Taiju began to follow Senku. "Hey, Senku. What's going on?!" Taiju asked.
"Ayane, she's probably still sick, and she said she was taking care of a peeper, and she said she was going strip them of their clothes. There's only one logical thing that could mean." Senku was tired as he began to run out of breath. "She…she is going…to kill the lion…" Senku said through gasps and wheezes. "Go on and find her…I'll…I'll catch up."
"Oh, right…" But before he ran off, Taiju looked back. "Do you know where she'd be?"
"Nope." But like it was timed, the girl they were looking for just walked up with something being dragged right behind her.
"Oh, Senku, Taiju. You're up." Ayane spoke, covering in thick blood. "Told you, I'd be better by the next day, didn't I?"
"Ayane…who's behind…" But before Senku could finish speaking, another person behind Ayane looked at the two boys. "Yuzuriha."
"Senku…Ayane's just as scary as you." Yuzuriha was trying her best to keep her cool, but it was futile as she continued to shake.
"Sorry, I really am, but at least I had the necessary tools to finish the job quickly." Ayane began to apologize to the shaking Yuzuriha.
"What do you mean?" Senku asked.
"Oh, I used Yuzuriha as bait, and then used a stone knife to finish the job." Ayane said casually as she looked back. "Look."
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As the two men looked behind her, they noticed the lion's body being dragged and a huge gash across its neck.
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"It was actually a lot harder than it seemed. Should've accounted for that." Ayane answered as she held her right side.
"So, this was the peeper you spoke about?" Senku answered after Ayane finished speaking.
"Yup. It was getting annoying." Ayane replied as she eyed the dead lion's body. Then getting a chuckle from Senku, the entire group looked towards him.
"I guess you were right, Ayane." Both Taiju and Yuzuriha looked at Senku in confusion. "Being with you, is making my life 10 billion percent more interesting by the day."