The smoke was still flying as Tsukasa approached Senku, prepared to kill him. "Let's say I did let you live, right?" He spoke up to Senku. "You would develop civilization just like before. Can you promise that you won't do that?"
Senku just laughed at the question. "The hell are you talking about? I could promise anything to stay alive-"
"No," Tsukasa interrupted him sharply. "You would never lie. Not when it comes to science. So will you promise me, here and now for all eternity...that you'll abandon science?" Senku stared at him silently while Sumi's eyes widened. "Because if you can make that pledge...you can live. And then I won't be forced into killing you."
Senku opened his eyes after remembering why he even got into science. He then briefly glanced up at Sumi, as she was also a reason...science led her to him. "No, I can't. I can't do that." The two girls looked at him silently, knowing that this would be his answer all along. Tsukasa let out a deep breath.
"Of course not. I knew that would be your answer."
Senku cracked his neck one last time. "Just kill me in one blow. Because leaving me to suffer till I die...is both illogical and inefficient," He then looked up with a small smile, turning to Sumi who stared at him with wide eyes. "Everything's gonna be alright, Sumi," He murmured even though he knew she couldn't hear it. "I know you'll pull through in the end."
"Don't worry, Senku," Tsukasa spoke with his eyes closed. "I'm going to sever your cervical nerve. It'll be instantaneous. You'll be knocked unconscious and die without suffering. I won't miss."
Yuzuriha and Sumi gasped sharply upon hearing this. Tears mixed in with dried blood fell from Sumi's face as they looked on.
Taiju...
He looked up as Yuzuriha wished for him to be here. He gasped while looking at the smoke signal. He knew that if they needed it for the people out there, and presumably saw the three smoke signals...then the smoke would've been put out by now. And even with that point of logic, he could sense that he was needed by Yuzuriha. "Something's wrong. I gotta get back now!" He tossed away the firewood and ran off.
Tsukasa opened his eyes, ready to strike. "You know, I have a feeling that if we met each other 3,700 years ago..."
The three bullies rushed over, a younger Senku and Taiju looking up to see them destroying the machine. Senku screamed in horror, Tsukasa running over with shells in his hand. The younger Sumi came in from another direction, pulling at their jackets to try and get them to stop. One of them pushed her and she fell to the ground. Tsukasa lunged forward and kicked one away. He held out his arm protectively in front of the three.
He opened up the door to Senku's room with the supplies, Taiju pumping his fists happily. Sumi smiled while looking up.
Then the four with a little blond girl all smiled at each other. "Before all this...before the planet was turned into a stone world..." Senku grinned like a mad scientist, standing next to Sumi. Tsukasa was being a test subject. Sumi stepped up to him, holding his shoulder with a worried look. Tsukasa then looked at her with a soft smile.
The four friends, along with Tsukasa, looked down at Yuzuriha's stitched dolls of themselves. "I think that you might have been my first real friend..." But then Tsukasa's doll faded away as he had imagined it all. And he didn't say it, but...he hoped that maybe Sumi could've been his first love.
He then gave Senku a death blow to the neck with his spear. Sumi froze while hearing the noise of Senku's cervical nerve snapping. Her eyes turned horrified as her heart sank while she watched.
No...
Yuzuriha and Sumi rushed over to him, watching the scientist fall with no life in his eyes. Everything around them was eerily silent. That is, until Taiju screamed as he arrived too late, rushing over to his friend. "SENKUUUUUU!"
Sumi sat there next to Senku as Taiju had caught him in his arms. Taiju whimpered as they stared at the unmoving scientist. Yuzuriha covered her mouth while shedding tears for him. Taiju let out another scream, tears falling down his face as well. Senku's eyes didn't blink at all while Sumi wasn't even registering the reactions of her friends.
"SENKU! Please answer me, Senku! Open your eyes, wake up and say something! Come on! This can't be right. There's no way! Don't let it end like this, Senku. After everything we've done, you can't just die! TALK TO MEEEEE!" Taiju pleaded, but there was no answer. Tsukasa had his back turned the entire time.
Sumi reached out a shaking hand towards him as he laid still. Her fingers touched his forelocks and then cupped his cheek. She gasped sharply as he was so cold...she shook while staring at him, using the back of her hand to wipe off the dried blood from her face.
"Senku..." She called out his name and he didn't respond. The black-haired scientist stared at him as she was expecting him to pop up and say he wasn't dead. Or at least give a response to them that he was faking it so Tsukasa wouldn't know. Like he was just playing it up, but...still nothing from him. She reached out to his lips, her ear to his mouth. Her eyes widened as not a single breath came out. And that was when it finally hit her...
She recoiled back, staring at him while shaking in fear. She squeezed her eyes shut as one tear fell onto the ground, and then she started openly sobbing. She lunged forward and buried her face into his body, crying the most out of her friends. It was like someone had taken her heart and ripped it right out of her chest. Or she was sinking in a cold lake or river. Someone could've done the same exact thing to her, and it wasn't nearly as enough pain she was feeling. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out as she gripped his clothing tightly. She didn't care if her dried blood got on it, but she felt like she just needed to be as close as she could to him...
"I gave him a painless death. It's over," Tsukasa spoke up while they were still grieving. "I trust that as his friends, you will give him a proper burial. I will return to take you with me in a few days, Sumi."
Taiju gasped as he gripped Senku's shoulder. He felt a sense of rage he never had before. Sumi's pain became anger, as Senku didn't deserve this, at all. She was ready to be done with Tsukasa, and the fact that he wanted to come back to retrieve her just made it even worse. He was the one who stained his hands, not Senku.
Tsukasa's eyes widened, turning around as his eyes were now hardened. Sumi and Taiju still hadn't moved from their spots. He gripped his blade, ready to strike if necessary. Even if Taiju wasn't a pacifist, he'd never risk endangering them by attacking me. That was the power dynamic between us. As for Sumire, she wouldn't attack me if it meant protecting Senku. All she has is her bare hands, and she knows that she couldn't beat me. But Taiju...Sumire...if Senku's death sends you both into a rage and drives you both to attack me mindlessly... He narrowed his eyes while watching them. Then I'll have to kill you too. And I don't want to kill you, Sumire...
Taiju gently put Senku on the ground. Please, don't lose your head.
The two of them stood up, getting Yuzuriha's attention. She gasped while looking up, seeing Sumi lean in towards Taiju's ear. "We both know we can't win no matter how much of a bastard he is. And we need to get Senku somewhere safe. So listen to me, Taiju," She leaned in to whisper in his ear and he gasped. He then nodded silently as Sumi put her fingers behind her back. She did a few hand signals to Yuzuriha, who watched her quietly. Her eyes widened as she saw what Sumi was saying and nodded. Tsukasa narrowed his eyes at Sumi.
"Are you up to something? I thought we had an understanding, Sumi."
She glanced back at him, clenching an angry fist while her eyes were red from crying. "You understand this, Tsukasa. You will never call me Sumi again. Anyone who's like you, I don't want you calling me something my friends do. You really think a world without Senku is gonna fix everything? Science has no restrictions, remember?"
He growled a bit from her answer, gripping his spear. "I am warning you...just because it's you doesn't mean I will hesitate at all. What exactly are you trying to do?"
"I'm not trying to do anything except tell you that your perception of an untainted world is fundamentally flawed. I understand that you have a bias against greedy people, but guess what? You're not exactly a pinnacle of the world you want either," His eyes widened as she continued speaking. "A man who kills my science partner just so I'd fall into his arms...is just as heartless as them."
Tsukasa dropped his spear in shock from her words. His eyes shook at how angry she was at him, wondering why she was reacting this way. He thought he was saving her...but by the looks of it, she wanted nothing to do with him. She didn't want to join him, and it just confused him so much. As he let the words sink in, Sumi turned around to Taiju.
"TAIJU!"
Taiju gripped a large boulder, lifting it up. Tsukasa stared at him in shock, prepared to block the boulder when it was thrown at him. Yuzuriha recoiled back in shock. "Wait, what are you doing?!" She asked in worry, staring at his back.
"It's fine, Yuzuriha. Don't worry. I'm still thinking clearly...Sumi set me straight."
Sumi leaned into his ear to whisper. "Tsukasa's expecting a fight from us, and we can't do that. When I let his guard down...you're gonna grab the rock over there that you used for the explosion. You'll know what to do when I give you the signal. Don't worry about Yuzuriha. I've got a task for her too."
Tsukasa gripped his spear, Yuzuriha blinked at him. Of course...I have no choice but to fight.
"Sorry, Yuzuriha...but I can only hope..." She had a hopeful look in her eyes.
"No...it's okay, Taiju." He glanced back at her to see she was crying again. "After all, the four of us made each other a promise." She looked up with a wistful smile, the tears flying from her face. "It'll all work out. There's no doubt in my mind!"
"Do what you need to do, Taiju," Sumi closed her eyes. "I know you'll make the right decision for all of us. You may be a big oaf to Senku, but inside, you always pull through in the end," She let out a sniffle while glancing back to Senku. She stared at him silently, hoping that if he saw her now...he might've been proud of her. Because like him, she was taking initiative to lead them both. Thinking the way he thought...
Tears pricked his eyes and he let out a deep breath. "Yeah! Thanks a lot, guys!" He gripped the rock again, letting out a yell.
"Now!" Sumi shouted to him and Taiju threw it into the air. Tsukasa immediately looked up in shock.
Overhead? Why? He then looked back at the group. It must be a decoy. Good try, but I won't fall for it, Taiju. This must've been Sumi's plan. And yet I'm supposed to believe that Senku mentored her? Poor choice...no matter what you two do, you've lost.
Tsukasa's worried Sumi and I will attack him. He won't dare take his eyes off us. And that...
Is why she has a chance! He and Sumi thought at the same time. Yuzuriha rushed over to the side, Sumi looking up at her.
Tsukasa thinks I'm Taiju's weakness. Someone he has to protect. And in a primitive stone world like this one, it makes sense. But Sumi used sign language to tell me what I need to do.
Sumi's hand gestures to Yuzuriha early were actually instructions in sign language.
Sumi smirked as since she knew Tsukasa in the past...but he didn't know everything about her like he claimed. A young Sumi stood in front of her dying grandmother. It was the little girl's birthday and the woman looked up with a smile. Sumi turned around to see a blonde woman with blue eyes standing there with a small smile, looking young. Sumi ran up to her happily as she recognized her. Then she learned sign language to speak to her grandmother. Once Sumi's grandmother was done with the lesson, she reached out and hugged her happy granddaughter. The mystery woman was standing near them with a small smile. Sumi then later taught it to Yuzuriha a few years later.
Yuzuriha grabbed the pot of gunpowder. She looked towards Sumi, who didn't look back at her. She kept her eyes on Tsukasa in the meantime. The girl knew that Tsukasa wouldn't have predicted Yuzuriha to move. After all, the first time he saw her, Taiju blocked her off from him. And she knew that when prompted, Taiju wouldn't dare attack Tsukasa if it meant risking all their lives in the process. Because if he did, who would revive every single person?
But...it's like Senku and Sumi told us!
A rocket launched off into space, astronauts on their way.
Science levels the playing field for everyone! Science has no restrictions! All three thought in unison and determination. Sumi snapped her fingers silently and once she saw it, Yuzuriha threw the pot of gunpowder at Tsukasa. He saw the pot, though, and spun around with a grow. He kicked at the pot to break it into pieces, gunpowder flying off everywhere.
That's black powder! He realized its contents immediately.
Senku didn't leave us with nothing! Yuzuriha squeezed her eyes shut.
We have science to remember him by! Taiju thought as the gunpowder continued spreading.
And as long as we're here, science will never die! Sumi narrowed her eyes with conviction as she stared at him.
The four of us made a promise, to work together and stop you! Taiju gritted his teeth as he looked up ahead. Tsukasa landed on his feet, looking up as the three surrounded Senku. They looked back at the gunpowder. Me...Yuzuriha...Sumi...and Senku as well!
The four little dolls sat on the table. 'We're fighting this battle together!' The large boulder finally flew down from the air. "Goodbye, Tsukasa!" He and Sumi yelled in unison, Sumi keeping in her determined face. Once the boulder touched the gunpowder, it resulted in sparks flying everywhere. Then there was a huge explosion. Tsukasa braced himself in the midst of the flames, looking up as tiny rocks flew around him. A ton of smoke flew up into the skies, and it remained as the flames didn't stop. Tsukasa's shadow stood in the middle of it as his shirt was on fire, but he was unharmed. He threw it off as the flames from his shoulders were put out. He then tightened his belt, standing up straight. Sumi, Taiju, Yuzuriha, and Senku were nowhere to be found.
Taiju would never attack anyone. Sumi could, but she knows that she'd lose. Knowing that...I think they must've expected me to come out of this unscathed.
"Goodbye, Tsukasa!" The two friends' words echoed in his head and he sighed. He realized the plan was never to harm him, but to escape from him. All thanks to Sumi and what they learned from both her and Senku. Then what she said to him echoed in his mind.
"A man who kills my science partner just so I'd fall into his arms...is just as heartless as them."
He closed his eyes as the last six words repeated for him. He then wistfully looked up to the skies. This feeling in his heart...it wasn't something he could fake around her. Not at all...it still beat when she was in his presence. It still yearned for seeing her smile and hearing her laugh. "Sumire...if only you knew how much you charm and yet frustrate me at the same time," He sighed slowly while closing his eyes. Was this what caring for someone was like...? The same way he saw Sumi with Senku? But he knew that their bond wasn't sustainable, he had seen how Senku treated her like she was his assistant. He sometimes belittled her, scolded her...maybe that was how he operated with Sumi, but he didn't really care for it. And like he remembered hearing, Senku didn't even like her when they met.
Tsukasa placed a hand over his face, sadly chuckling. "Now you and I have something in common, Sumire...we both know the feeling of heartbreak," He whispered and turned around, walking away silently.
So that's what he meant.
Gasps could be heard into the forest as the trio ran as fast as their feet could take them. They had to get as far away from the hot springs as possible. If Tsukasa were to find them now, it would all be over. Taiju was carrying Senku in his arms, Yuzuriha carrying all the equipment she could get her hands on. "It's gonna be okay, Senku!" Taiju shouted as he was crying, but had a smile on his face. "You said it yourself, remember? If we're gonna run for it, then we have to do it together!" Sumi turned to him with a sad smile herself. Taiju was learning to not do things for himself, but with his friends instead of protecting them in exchange for his life. "I don't care what anyone says! You're not dying on me! I know you're alive!"
Yuzuriha stared at him, panting. Sumi felt like her heart couldn't function right now. "We've only just started bringing back civilization, and you're not the kind of guy to leave a job half done!"
Sumi kept telling herself he was dead, but she wanted to believe Senku wouldn't do this. He wouldn't just leave things like this because that wasn't who he was. So she didn't know how to feel in the situation. She winced as she could still feel the sting of her scar over her lips, but she kept running, ignoring it.
Dark clouds rumbled over the group, as well as lightning flashes. Then it actually started to rain, and Sumi's tears mixed in with them. Then they washed over her lips and her scar.
Tsukasa looked up at the rain as well as he was standing on the edge of the cliff. What's the point of fleeing? I know for a fact that I severed his cervical nerve. He had his eyes closed, and opened them as lightning flashed again. There's no coming back from that. Especially not in a stone world that has no medicine.
Sumi was kneeled down next to Senku. Her fists were clenched into the grass while Taiju was performing CPR on Senku's unmoving body. "I'm trying to give him a heart massage," He continued pressing his palms onto Senku's chest. "But I have no idea if I'm doing it right!" Sumi closed her eyes as he was, but...there was no change in Senku. "But I can't do nothing! This is all I can think of!"
Sumi looked up at Yuzuriha sadly as anything she could think of...they didn't have the materials for it. She didn't have any medical equipment on her to do anything. And what could she even do? She had never seen anyone with a severed cervical nerve...Taiju glanced up at Sumi and then noticed her scar, gasping.
"Sumi...what happened to your face?"
Sumi squeezed her eyes shut, remembering the look on Senku's face when Tsukasa sliced at her. She could never forget it...or the pain she felt from that either. The girl sniffled while letting her cheek rest on Senku's chest instead of answering the question. "I'm so sorry, Senku...I should've attacked him right then and there..." Taiju frowned, and looked to Yuzuriha, who closed her eyes. He could tell neither of them wanted to say it. Then he noticed how hard Sumi was gripping Senku's clothes, and then realized something. The way she was reacting to him being dead...was like how a lover would react.
"Sumi...the way you look at Senku...you're in love with him, aren't you?" Taiju spoke up with a broken voice and she flinched in alarm, moving away from Senku. She glanced at her friend, wondering how he found that out. She looked confused and surprised at the same time. Before she could reply, he spoke up. "Don't worry. I won't tell Senku. Anyone can relate to loving someone...and not being able to tell them. And considering it's Senku, we all know how he'd react."
Sumi sniffled while looking down, her eyes being in shadow. "Then I guess it's pointless to hide it anymore, huh? Yeah...I didn't tell him because I value our friendship more than my feelings for him. Because even though I know how he feels about that kind of stuff...I didn't want things to be different between us. And I was planning to tell him in the future...but I think it's best if I hold off on it for now."
"...I had a feeling you did...but I didn't want to ask since you're always around Senku," Yuzuriha gave a sad smile. "Oh wow...that's so sweet."
"Wait! What about mouth to mouth?" He held the back of Senku's head, puckering up his lips. He then leaned in towards Senku's mouth.
"Ahh, hold on a sec!" Yuzuriha exclaimed in a panic. "I think we need to keep his neck still!"
"And besides, CPR doesn't really require the neck to be moved. If you give him mouth to mouth, you might hurt his neck," Sumi stated with white eyes; she did not need to see Taiju do so. And besides, with his strength, he might end up hurting Senku.
"Because...that's where Tsukasa hit him," Yuzuriha spoke up with tears in her eyes again. "Sumi and I had been caught...and Senku gave himself up for us. Right after Tsukasa gave Sumi that scar..." Taiju's eyes widened and then he clenched a fist. He wished for once he wasn't a pacifist so that he could hurt Tsukasa for doing that to his friend. He gasped as he took in what Yuzuriha said.
"Wait, you're saying...he sacrificed himself?" He asked slowly, causing Sumi to remember something as she gasped.
3,700 years ago, a student was reading a magic psychology book from an Asagiri Gen in the science club. "Check out this psychology quiz," He called out, getting their attention. "There's been a tragic accident and between your friend, your lover, and yourself, only one of you can be saved. Who would you choose?"
Yuzuriha looked conflicted herself as she tried to think. "Uhh, I think I'd get stuck picking between my friend and my lover."
"You might pick yourself in the heat of the moment," The student pointed out to her.
"How could anyone make that choice?! This quiz of yours seems kinda nasty!" Taiju exclaimed at him.
"I'd choose everyone," Senku spoke up, and they all turned around to him. He mixed a vial by stirring it with his hand. "I'd look for a fundamental rule, and it'd let me save all of us," He held up the vial, Sumi holding her clipboard while standing next to him.
"I have to agree," Sumi nodded in agreement, glancing back towards the two with a smile. "Why pick when you're able to save everyone? That way, no one has to be sacrificed at all. And choosing myself would just be selfish, don't you think?"
"Guess that's the kind of answer you'd expect from the science club's president and vice president," Yuzuriha commented at the two.
"That's actually an option?! Well, it's my choice too then!" Taiju exclaimed happily after hearing their answers.
"I think the point of the question is more to reveal who's most important to you," The student pointed out again to them.
"That's ten billion percent obvious. Your book belongs in the trash," Senku replied while mixing chemicals.
"Maybe we should move onto something else. I'd rather not have to decide who's more important to me," Sumi gave a small smile to the student. "After all, any human life is necessary in this world, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right, Sumire..."
Sumi's eyes widened from remembering that interaction. Senku would never exchange one human life for the world, not even themselves. He would find a way to save everyone from being hurt, no matter what that person did or said.
"Senku wouldn't go the suicide route! He wouldn't sacrifice anyone! He would stake the whole game on the chance to save us all!" Taiju informed Yuzuriha, holding his head.
"He wouldn't do that if it meant people got to live, including him! Especially not now when the world needs him to bring back modern civilization!" Sumi clenched a fist while looking at them. "But there's gotta be a reason why he told Tsukasa to kill him to begin with."
"Ah, Sumi's got a point. We have to figure out what he was thinking," He tried really hard to think about it. "If anyone can do it, then it should be his friends! It should be Sumire Maeda, the girl who's known Senku the longest!"
Sumi looked back at Senku as she felt part of this had to be up to her. After all, Senku taught her everything; there was no reason why she shouldn't be able to figure this out. She let her mouth open a bit as the rain continued falling on them. Like she always said, there were no shortcomings, not when it came to science. Now she just had to test her own.
"He must've left us a hint!"
"...Wait a minute!" Sumi snapped her head back up, getting their attention. "Remember that habit he kept doing, even in front of Tsukasa?"
Senku cracked his neck while facing Tsukasa at the cliffs.
"His neck..." Yuzuriha realized what Sumi was getting at. Taiju gasped while looking at the girls. "Back at the hot spring, when we were caught, Senku was drawing attention to his neck! I think that's where he wanted Tsukasa to strike him!"
"Think about this. If he didn't do that, Tsukasa never would've struck him there. Why would he crack his neck if it wasn't necessary to do so in front of Tsukasa to be killed there?" Sumi pointed out while holding up a finger. "Even when we were camping together before we saw you, Taiju, he was still doing that."
Lightning struck again as Taiju thought about all the times Senku did so. "You're right...that thing he was doing. It's not a habit he always had! Why'd he keep touching his neck and cracking it?" He put his arms around Senku again. "Was he trying to tell us something?"
Yuzuriha and Sumi got a closer look at the neck, both of them gasping. There was a piece of stone still on his neck. "There's a little bit of stone left on his neck!" She exclaimed and then gasped as they all realized something.
"Hold on...when we removed the stone that was left on your foot...Senku told us something. That when we de-petrified, cracks were filled in as part of the process," He then turned to Sumi. "Sumi, you said that you figured that cracks are substituted for skin because of how much time had passed. That the stone maybe couldn't account for every single skin cell!"
Her eyes widened as she realized what he was getting at. "So the part of the neck with the stone...is just like Yuzuriha's foot. If we pour the revival fluid on it...maybe the stone on his skin will..." She gasped as she lifted up her head. Sumi placed Senku's head on her lap gently, holding the sides of his head. She then looked up at them with a panicked look in her eyes. "Quick, do either of you have any more revival fluid?!"
Yuzuriha looked in the bag of supplies and pulled out a small jar. "Here, Taiju! The revival fluid!" She reached it out to him.
"Right!" He took the jar and then poured it over Senku's neck. "It might work on Senku's neck too. There's a chance!"
"Yeah, when he's depetrified...his neck might be fixed as well!" Taiju said as they stared at him.
Sumi looked down in worry at Senku. "I just hope we're right about this..." She murmured, cradling his head. Yuzuriha squeezed her eyes shut, crying again in hope. Nothing happened with the stone as they waited in anticipation. Sumi started to cry as well, both her and Taiju waiting for anything to happen. Then the stone finally broke off, to their shock.
"The petrification's gone!" Yuzuriha shouted as Taiju let out a yell, crying as well.
"Does that mean...?" Sumi looked at Senku's eyes as there was no response.
"Wake up, Senku! I knew you'd live! I knew you weren't gonna let yourself be killed! Not in a place like this!" Taiju screamed down at the green-haired scientist.
Senku + Sumi 3 took to space.
"Senku...you and Sumire are...the stars of hope! For humanity! For all of civilization!" Sumi continued crying from his words. "So please, come back! You have to wake up! Senku!"
"Sen, please, I know you're in there! Taiju is right, there's only one way to save civilization...and I can't do it without you," She sniffled while shaking. "Please, you and I are a team for a reason! It doesn't work if both of us aren't here!" She squeezed her eyes shut, leaning down her head. Her tears fell over Senku's face. "And if I could, I'd tell you that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me...over and over again..."
Water dripped one by one, the stars out over the Earth. 'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Heh. Alright. I can get past eight hundred thousand seconds without all but losing consciousness now. Guess my brain's finally adjusting. I've been frozen for one hundred seventeen billion, three hundred fifty-four million, eight hundred eighty-nine thousand, five hundred and fifty seconds.' Senku was laying on grass, a tree branch nearby. Some petrified people were also in the area, none of them conscious unlike him. 'So this is the three thousand, seven hundred and 18th spring since I froze. Starting in spring is an absolute must if I wanna survive. Okay. No time like the present. Come on, me. Get up. Get. Up! Get up, damn it! Get up! Get. Up!'
A drip of nitric acid fell down...and then the stone around Senku's eye broke apart. He let out a gasp as the rest of the stone fell around his body. He let himself catch his breath and then smirked, chuckling. "Yeeeah! I'm finally free!"
'Yeah. A flashy entrance like that would've been fun. Heh heh heh. And I'm ten billion percent sure that's how my blockhead friend Taiju would've done it.' He then sat up, some stone falling off his body. 'My first objective is to evaluate my surroundings. I'll start with my own body. It can give me clues that are worth its weight in gold.'
He laid down stones around the spot he was sitting in for thousands of years, though he had no clothes on. 'My initial location, the position of my body...' He held up one of the minerals he was covered in. 'Even the order in which these mysterious stone fragments fell off me. I'm gonna keep every last piece for when I'm ready to investigate later.'
He looked up with a gasp to see some monkeys staring at him from a tree. 'Yo! Where you from? Where's your monkey tribe?' One of them thought and they stared at Senku's naked body. The monkey flinched in horror, looking at Senku with wide eyes. 'Dude's all smooth and shiny! Gross! What kind of monkey has skin like that?! He's got his nasty pee-pee out too!'
'Well, so do all of us but still!'
All the monkeys ran away in terror from Senku. 'Grooooooss!'
He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Am I the first human they've seen?" He couldn't help but wonder.
'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.' Sumire was laying down somewhere in the opposite direction of Senku. 'Okay...wait, no, damn it.' She felt herself lose consciousness with a sigh as she felt tired. 'Well, there goes keeping track again. If I'm right, I've counted up to one hundred seventeen billion, one hundred fifty-two million, four hundred forty-four thousand, one hundred seconds.' She was laying against a rock, petrified people hiding in some bushes. And none of them were conscious as well. 'So I think this is the almost three thousand, four hundred and 40th spring ever since the petrification. I gotta wake up now if I'm gonna survive. Alright, let's do it. Let's wake up, me. Stand up! Stand. Up. God damn it, get up! You can do this! Get. Up!'
Another drop of nitric acid fell and the stone around her eyes fell apart. Sumi let out a sharp gasp, catching her breath while looking up at the sun. She then sighed in relief, closing her eyes. "It's about time..." She murmured, giggling a little. "If Senku were here, he'd be making fun of Taiju's way of going about it." She then grunted in a bit of pain, pulling away from the rock and rubbing her back. 'I've gotta assess the situation first. I'll start with how did I end up here if I was behind Senku? This looks nothing like where I was before. But then again, nothing does anymore.'
She slowly stood up as the stone pieces fell off her. She looked around and noticed that there was a faint straight line in front of a small hill. 'Huh...could I have slid down here without knowing it?' She could remember that when the flora grew, a rock eventually did near her body, causing her to slide down the hill. She then looked back at the stone, having no clothes. 'Thank god I didn't actually take any damage, or I wouldn't be standing here.' She bent down to the pieces, gathering them up and sorting them by the order they fell in. 'Alright, I'll come back here later to figure out what these things are that fell off my body. Maybe I can determine what kind of mineral it was over me.'
She then used rocks to draw up what her body looked like before she was petrified. Which was a bit more difficult as she was falling, but she managed to remember. 'It's important to save every last thing. Maybe it could tell me something about how all this happened. Am I the only one to wake up?' She then noticed all the petrified people around her. 'I must be. I don't see any more stones like mine lying around...' She then looked at herself, finally noticing she wasn't dressed. 'Eek! Have I been naked the whole time?!'
Senku reached out to some vines, plucking them off. He used them to tie around his waist. "Doesn't look like civilization survived," He looked up towards a tree. "This is a whole new world. And from the looks of things, I might be the first shiny monkey to be born in it." He glanced behind him with a small frown. He remembered saving Sumi...but for some reason didn't see her anywhere. "Huh...Sumi must've been moved by the environment change..." He then sighed a little, walking forward. "I suppose it's just nature. This is exhilarating. Get excited."
Sumi grabbed some non-poisonous leaves, using those to tie around her chest and her waist. "Much better, at least for now. I'm gonna need to find more substantial material than this soon," She walked down a pathway, noticing all of the trees. "This isn't anything like a forest in Japan...so all this must've grown from the time that I was in stone...meaning this is an entirely whole new environment. And judging by my surroundings, I might be the first one to wake up in this." She stopped, looking up at a waterfall. "Alright, Sumi. Time to test your limits."
Senku stood on a tree, looking at all the trees and mountains. 'It's been one hundred seventeen billion, three hundred fifty-four million, eight hundred ninety-three thousand, eight hundred seventy seconds now. Ah...this is some nasty mental math, especially when I factor in the leap years.' He then gained a small smirk on his face. 'Not to mention, the earth's rotation slows by 17 millionths of a second every year. That hardly adds up to anything, though.' He opened his eyes, deciding to carve out what day it was, and the year near where he woke up. "April 1st, 5738 AD. Though you could call this year zero. Cause it all begins today," He gave out a wide grin. He flinched, turning around to see the same monkeys from before. They both stared at each other and Senku smirked.
He grabbed a stick and log. "Behold the power of the smooth and shiny monkey. My forebears had the technology to reach space, and I'll rebuild their civilization from scratch!" He took a deep breath and then started rubbing the stick against the log with his hands. He let out a scream while going as fast as he could.
'He's been rubbing that stick this whole time.'
'That shiny monkey's a dumb-dumb.'
'Let's go home.'
'What a moron!'
Sumi continued walking, sighing as she sat down on a rock. She needed a break, not to mention it was starting to get dark. She looked up as she saw her silhouette again from when she woke up. She closed her eyes to give herself a moment to think. 'It's been...one hundred seventeen billion, two hundred twenty-two million, two hundred forty-two thousand, four hundred seconds now. Ugh...I hate doing all this math. Maybe that was another reason why I kept falling asleep. But it's necessary.' She looked up towards the skies. 'And even when the Earth is rotating slower by 17 millionths of a second every year, it's not much. It doesn't look like society is alive anymore.' She walked over to the rock where her drawing was, writing out the month and year. 'So if I'm right, it's January 29th, 5038 AD. Though because I only woke up, it's the first day of civilization!' She gave a small smile, standing up.
"Time to settle down for the night," She murmured and grabbed some branches. She ran over to a clearing to camp out in, throwing down her branches and dry grass. She did this again and again until she had enough for a fire pit. She bent down and constructed her fire pit, with the grass in the center. She placed the sticks on top, making sure her wood was in a criss-cross pattern. She then stacked smaller branches together, putting small logs in the middle so that the fire would last longer.
Sumi held up a branch and a log of softwood. She put the log down in the middle of the fire pit, which were little stones stacked up as a little column. She placed the log inside that column, taking her stick and bending down to rub it against the log rapidly. 'If I dig this stick into the softwood and create friction, the heat should intensify and then...' Sumi waited in anticipation and then gasped happily from the fire that resulted. "Heh. If Senku is awake, then he's probably having trouble doing this himself."
Sumi acquired fire!
Meanwhile, Senku fell down in exhaustion, gasping sharply as he couldn't start one. Unfortunately, upper body strength wasn't his thing. 'I'm neither a meathead like Taiju nor an ultra-dextrous craft club kid like Yuzuriha. Or even a survivalist like Sumi. There's no way I can start a fire with nothing but a primitive hand drill! Not in Japan's humidity.' He then smirked as he wasn't done yet. He sat up, chuckling. 'That's right. This shiny monkey has neither fangs nor claws. All I can do is improvise, one step at a time. That's how civilization advances!'
The next morning, Senku collected rocks from a river. He then started slamming a small rock against a bigger one. There were little rock pieces around already. He continued doing this process, grunting from each hit...until the rock he was hitting broke into pieces. He let out a scream of shock. The monkeys from before watched him.
'Why does he keep smashing rocks like that?'
'That shiny monkey's definitely a dumb-dumb.'
Senku kept hitting the rocks until they broke, leaving behind fragments. 'There's a trick to this, but I'll only find it through trial and error!' He then slid a red rock against another one. 'Maybe I should bash the edges off in mid-air. Or I could use a solid foundation, and aim right at the edge, chipping at both pieces at once.' He then admired a little red arrow piece. 'Can't forget that different stones have different uses. This colorful piece of chert is the hardest rock around. That makes it the perfect material to craft into a knife.' He then slid a giant rock against another. 'Study everything. Try everything.'
He chuckled as he now had an axe made out of stone, along with other materials.
Shiny Monkey acquired stone tools!
Sumi was sitting at her little campsite, using one stone to slide it against the chert. She had found these during a walk and decided to bring them back to use them. 'If I angle this rock correctly at the chert, I can use this to make whatever I need to make a more permanent shelter. And maybe even make some clothes if I carve a knife.' She then gasped as the stone tip broke off and she groaned.
'Maybe I'm just not angling them right?' She looked to other little carving stones of hers that broke off from earlier, tossing off her broken rock into the pile. She then shook her head rapidly. 'No, I can't give up! Like Sen always said, trial and error. And like I always say, science has no restrictions!'
She picked up another rock, using it to continue carving. She held up a little blade, turning it around with a smile. 'Alright, cutting knife acquired. This is gonna be really useful for what I need. Maybe I should make multiple in case one breaks. I need to learn everything. Attempt everything I can.' She narrowed her eyes in determination and tried again and again. Eventually, she had an axe, knife, and hammer made out of rocks and wood. She beamed happily, pumping her fists.
Sumi acquired stone tools!
Senku grinned while grabbing some plants and cutting them down. He then used one against a sharp rock to spread them out into lines. "I can unravel this plant like string cheese!" He grinned, spinning them around attentively.
'It looks like he's twisting it now.'
'I bet you his brain is just as smooth as his skin.'
Senku pulled at his product as he just made rope.
Shiny monkey acquired rope!
Sumi walked down the river, holding some strong vines she found, having tested them out first. She sat down and used her knife to cut them down into long strands. "Oh, cool, I can cut these like spaghetti strands." She then whined near the pile of them, sighing. "It'll take hell to do all that, but it'll all be worth it!" Once the vines were trimmed down, she rubbed the strands between her hands, smiling proudly as she had rope, though it did take hours to do so.
Sumi acquired rope!
Senku twisted around his rope around some wood, using it against a log. "Surprisingly enough, there are quite a few animals that use tools. Crows, otters, orangutans, and more. But of all the creatures in this world, only one can make use of science." The monkeys from before watched in curiosity. He held up something in his hands, blowing on it. 'When cellulose is heated though friction and exposed to air, it rapidly oxidizes, giving us...'
The monkeys all screamed in alarm as Senku held out his arms in front of a big fire. 'Combustion!'
Shiny monkey acquired fire!
The next day, both Sumi and Senku went out to use their tools to cut down trees. Both of them grabbed all the wood as hard as they could for their shelter.
Sumi looked at a dead lion nearby from lack of prey, looking at her knife. She skinned the animal, praying for them and then gathering the rest for meat. She then used her knife to carve out clothes.
Senku ran with a spear in his hand, grinning. He was chasing down a deer, running out of stamina unfortunately. He fell down onto the grass, panting with white eyes.
Sumi looked up at a tree with vines hanging from it, grinning and climbing up with her tools, one of them in her mouth.
Senku glared, standing up and staring at the deer. A monkey watched him leave, confused. "It'd be ten billion percent helpful if I had Sumi around…but that's gonna take a while," He chuckled to himself.
Sumi hammered down the foundation of her shelter in the tree, setting up logs for walls. She was in her new stone world clothing.
Senku tied rope together into a loop, using the end of it to a tree branch. He pulled down the branch, the rope in front of him. 'Through persistence and ingenuity...I can take everything this universe has to offer!' The deer fell for the trap and was lifted into the tree.
Sumi sniffed the air while walking through a patch of bushes, bending down and picking up mushrooms. 'Thankfully my sense of smell can tell the difference between safe plants and not-so-safe plants. If I keep working hard, I'll be ready to start civilization up again!'
Senku grinned, pumping a fist for his win. "I'm the master of science!" He exclaimed happily, dragging his deer back to a large hollow tree. He then used his fire starter again, chowing down the deer happily with a full stomach.
Sumi placed her hands on her hips the next morning, admiring her shelter. It was mostly made out of logs, but was tied down together with rope. A vine was nearby for her to access, and underneath the shelter was her food collection and tools. She wiped off her forehead, taking her basket for herbs made out of clay. She then turned around and walked off.
Meanwhile later that day, Senku was in the forest near her shelter, looking for food. He looked around, coming to a stop as he saw something glimmer in the distance. He blinked and then ran towards it. Once he came across Sumi's shelter, he gasped at everything around, his eyes wide. "This shelter...how long has it been here? From the looks of it, it was just finished. That means...there's another person around here! I've gotta find out who. I've got ten billion questions for 'em," He looked up the vine and then climbed up it.
Sumi hummed while carrying a basket full of herbs about a half hour later. She had just finished her routine of gathering food, and now she was going to cook up a little salad along with some fish she caught. She placed the basket at her hip, hugging the vine with her legs. She then climbed up with the other hand. As soon as she climbed up the vine, she heard a noise from inside. She gasped and pressed her back to the outside wall. Her eyes were narrowed as she slowly and silently put down the basket, glancing over her shoulder.
"What...?" Senku whispered to himself while examining the place. He then let out a chuckle knowingly. "Seems that someone woke up around the same time I did...and the acceptable stitching of the wall suggests that it's-"
Sumi let out a yell while coming out of hiding. Senku gasped in alarm as her eyes were closed and she lunged forward, tackling them both to the ground. She sat over his stomach while trapping his arms, gripping his wrists. She let out a snarl. "Alright asshole, you've got one minute to tell me why-"
She finally opened her eyes, faltering and letting out a gasp. Senku groaned from the hard tackle. "I know I found your camp and all, but-" He looked up, silently gasping to see Sumi sitting over him. Both of them were in silence while staring at each other. The last time she saw him...he tried to protect her from the petrification.
"Senku...?" She murmured in shock, blinking and then trying not to cry happily. The man she had a crush on for a long time...was actually here. She wasn't the only one who had woken up from the stone...
"Sumire...heh," He closed his eyes with a small smirk. He then looked back up at her. "Did you have to tackle me? I know it's been thousands of years but come on."
"Senku!" She smiled happily down at him, shedding a tear. "You woke up too! I'm so relieved to see you—naked!" She yelped out the last word as she realized he only had a vine skirt on. She jumped off of him immediately, backing away as he sat up. Seeing her crush like this was a little overwhelming, and not to mention, she had sat over him for a while. She looked very embarrassed while staring at him, and then fainted on the spot. "Eh."
"Oh yeah," He cracked his neck with a sigh. Her eyes were swirling around, her hair underneath her. "I forgot you have a thing about this kind of stuff..."
Senku stood over a blindfolded Sumi, holding some eucalyptus over her nose. She had a small stock of it that he managed to find. She sniffed it and then sat up in disgust, pinching her nose. "Ugggh! Why'd you have to put that under my nose? The smell of eucalyptus is so overwhelming for me."
"Considering your sense of smell, it was the only way to wake you up," Senku smirked with a small shrug. "I put a blindfold over your eyes so that you don't keep fainting on me," He crossed his arms. She immediately lifted up the blindfold.
"I can handle it!" She then looked at his bare chest, admiring it...she then flinched and turned away with her eyes closed. "Okay, maybe I can't. Yeah, we need to get you some clothes. Have you seriously been wearing that the past month you've been awake?"
"What are you talking about? It's July 5th," He raised a confused eyebrow at her, wondering if she had been counting as well. Yet for some reason, she was off.
"What?" She turned to him in confusion, moving back down her blindfold. "No, it's been one hundred seventeen billion, two hundred-ack!" Her hair stood on end as she realized that when she was counting, she had to constantly start over. "Nooo, I miscounted how many seconds it's been..."
"You did your best," Senku patted her on the head and realized what she just told him. "Wait, you counted too?" He blinked down at her.
"Yeah, although I remember losing consciousness for a while and starting over," Sumi scratched her cheek sheepishly. "I guess I couldn't focus between counting and staying awake, you know how much I hate mental math. But you must've accounted for that by counting at the same time." She gave a small sigh but then smiled. "I should've known."
"You actually slept for once?" He turned to her in a bit of surprise. As far as he knew, Sumi almost never slept. Not after what happened when they were little...
"Periodically I'd lose consciousness for a while and then I'd forget where I lost count. Then I'd just act like I didn't and added it all up my head when I woke up," She explained while hugging her knees. Which got his gears turning even more.
"Hold on..." Senku stared at her, as by the looks of it, she had to have been awake for a while to build all of this, and have clothes. "Sumi, when did you wake up?"
She rubbed her chin in thought. "Well, if I lost count, and I'm off by a few years, then-" Both of them closed their eyes as they took a moment to think about it. Senku opened his eyes a few seconds later, knowing that if she was more than half off, she must've thought it was a different year of spring. He then calculated how many seconds she must've been off and subtracted them from his own count.
"Almost the same time as me, most likely a couple hours later to be here in July 5th, 5738 AD if both of us woke up in April."
"Yeah, I guess so," She then glanced up at him, even though she couldn't see him, but smell how close he was. "Wait, you've been up since April with no clothes on?" She asked him skeptically and he waved it off.
"What can I say? I've been a busy guy. I've actually got a shelter picked out where we can camp together. It'll be just like old times," He gave a small snicker and she knew it all too well. It was better to survive together than separately, but at the same time, it was Senku.
"You just need someone to help you with grueling work, don't you?"
"I'm nothing if honest," He remarked while cracking his neck. She shook her head in amusement and stood up, hands on her hips. "Although, there's one thing I still don't get." She blinked in confusion at him. "Where exactly did you wake up? You must've moved by the geography if you weren't anywhere near my initial location like I figured you would be."
"I'll show you," She removed her blindfold, turning around to face her vine. "But stay behind me the whole time for my sake."
"If that's the best choice for you. Still insistent on no nudity, huh?"
"It's called being respectful. You might not care if I was almost buck-naked if you had found me first, but I do. Staring at nude people is rude," She defended and he flinched from the second part. She froze as well and both of them stood in silence. He didn't care if he saw anyone else like this, but Sumi...for some reason he had more leniency towards her. Or at least, something in him did. If he didn't have her as a science partner, maybe he wouldn't care. But because they had known each other for so long, now it was just...kind of a weird feeling.
Sumi broke the silence and gripped her vine. "Forget it. Telling you this time and time again, it's always the same thing with you," She rolled her eyes, sliding down the vines. He snapped out of it and stepped forward, following after her.
Sumi led him to where she was, and he rubbed her chin as she explained her position. "Yeah, so when I was falling, I was still in that position. But that hill wasn't there before," She pointed up at the hill next to them. "When it was forming, I must've fell down and landed here."
"But if these mysterious stone pieces are breakable, why are you still intact?" Senku murmured and she flinched in alarm. "Shouldn't you have cracked a leg or lost an arm?"
"Hey!" She protested, crossing her arms. "At least I'm still standing! What kind of question is that?"
"Hmm," He ignored her, touching the rock she was leaning against. "Ah. Gneiss rock, one of the hardest around." He then glanced to the pile of rocks that fell from her. "Oh, you collected yours too. Ten billion points, Sumi," He picked up one of her own. "We'll need to come back and study them."
They returned back to her shelter and she sighed, looking up at it with a small smile. "Alright then, I guess I'm all yours now. Let me just pack up all my stuff. Although we're gonna need something to carry all this in," She murmured in thought as she had supplies, materials, and food she needed to take with her. "And I have a workspace," She waved him forward and walked outside to slide down the vine. He followed after her to see a small hut, which had petrified birds and lab equipment made out of clay pots.
"You have a lab?" He playfully asked while examining it. "Cute."
"Probably not as grand as you'd like, but it helps," She defended while holding up a finger. "We're gonna need to carve out some of the components for a cart. I should have all the materials we'll need."
"Heh. With the two of us, we'll be done in no time."
And so, once Sumi had shown him all the wood she had stored, they carved out wheels of wood. The duo used the leftover material to shape it into a cart using rope to keep it steady. Sumi then hammered in a handle at the front, wiping away her forehead as they looked at the finished product. After that, they gathered everything she had and put it inside, stacking things up to make it neater. Sumi pushed it while Senku was leading the way, and she was still blindfolded of course. She then turned around to her home, waving up at it. "Goodbye, shelter! It was fun while it lasted."
"Tsh. So childish," Senku mocked the girl, looking up ahead.
"Shut up," She pouted at him and he glanced back at her.
"Just make sure you watch your step. I know you can sense where I am with your nose, but walking around blind is another story," He turned to face the forest. She stuck out her tongue at him. He just smirked to himself. He finally had someone to help him out...but he did miss having her childish self around, though he'd never tell her that. The man glanced behind her, noticing how much her appearance had changed. "Did you grow your hair out? You used to have it shorter."
"Huh?" She looked up while pushing, and then touched it. "Oh. Well, when I broke out, it was like this. Couldn't really tell you why my ends are all curly, though."
He then turned back around while walking. "It suits you." She blushed at the compliment, gently running her fingers through it. "For a girl who looks like her hair's gonna be on fire."
"Jerk!" Sumi exclaimed angrily and he laughed from her reaction, smirking to himself.
Together, Sumi showed him how to make her pots. The two then started building their shelter using wood and sticks. Senku gnawed at some material, Sumi giggling at him. She sliced down the material in half with her knife. Once she was done, she held it up and Senku gave a grin of approval.
After a combined almost five months being in the stone world, the two finally had the essentials they needed. The monkeys from before started freaking out at everything. Spears, pots of food, and a place to stay in. Senku stepped out with his shoes on, chuckling. Sumi followed him proudly, admiring her work. "I just realized I never introduced myself or my science partner," Senku spoke up while wrapping his arm in bandages. "It's a pleasure to meet you all," He looked up with a smirk.
"Are these your new friends?" Sumi chuckled while looking down at them.
'Ahhh! What the hell are those?!'
'The shiny monkey isn't shiny anymore! And is that another shiny monkey? Is that his mate?!'
"You see, we're the only ones of our kind still walking this world. We're human beings."
Acquired food, clothing, and shelter!
"We intend to build a technological civilization from scratch. And this is where it all starts. Time to get excited, Sumi," Senku spoke up and she smiled, hands on her hips.
"I'm with you every step of the way, Sen!"