Senku was tying the pulley to a tree to keep it steady. "Amazing," The woman Senku and Sumi just saved spoke up to them. Sumi blinked while recoiling back her hand, confused by what she meant. Senku glanced back at them, curious as well. "Guess it's time to introduce myself. My name is Kohaku. And honestly, I believe I've taken quite a liking to you." She giggled and Sumi recoiled back in alarm from her confession.
'Did she say...what I think she just said?'
Sumi shook with her eyes widening, looking pale as her eyes were white. Literally it felt like an arrow pierced her heart or she had witnessed a car crash. No one had...ever really confessed to Senku before. Not even during school did she once ever see it. She herself got a lot of love confessions from a lot of guys in school. Maybe it was because she was around Senku so much that people just never really confessed to him. Therefore, she never had to think once of what would happen if a girl came up and stated her love right to his face. And also it was because he always focused on science, not romance—which she kept telling herself all the time. But now, someone else had stated her feelings to him!
So what was she supposed to do now? She really didn't wanna compete with Kohaku, who looked like she could beat her in a fight in seconds. Even right now, she didn't even know what she was supposed to say to all this!
Sumi turned away, holding her head in a panic as a bunch of thoughts were now plaguing her while she was sweating profusely. Her lips were trembling as well. W-What the hell? Where did this come from? Does she like Senku because he saved her life? Is she gonna treat me like dirt because of this? Is she my rival now for his feelings?! He's not a romantic, but what if he suddenly changes his mind? She's beautiful, strong, and a little flirty. What if he's into that? What do I do, what do I do, what do I do...?!
She continued silently freaking out as Kohaku was standing in front of Senku, adjusting her hair. "Ugh...I can't say that I can give one millimeter of support for what I just heard," Kohaku looked up to see him giving a grim look. "We've just met, and you're already professing your love? Not how to handle an emergency."
Sumi's hair stood on end, silently sighing in relief for a bit as her breath escaped her. Thank goodness for Senku never changing...Though it did bring up if he'd say the same thing to her whenever she would confess to him...She silently dropped her hands, looking a little hopeless.
Kohaku pointed a finger at him while her eyebrows furrowed. Senku recoiled back, still a bit on edge. "I didn't say anything about falling in love! I'm saying I like you two as people and I think the three of us can work together!" She corrected herself to him.
"Oh. Well, thanks. I appreciate that. Cause nothing's as illogical or prone to trouble as a romantic entanglement," He glanced behind Kohaku to see Sumi still sitting in front of the tree. "Isn't that right, Sumi?"
"Ack!" She twitched and then froze, her hands shaking from the question. Obviously she couldn't answer that she had feelings for him right then. He'd shoot her down immediately, especially after she almost had a heart attack from the Kohaku scare. She gave a nervous sound while glancing behind her, sweating again. How am I supposed to answer?! I'm a scientist and yet I can't even figure out what to say! Tell them something, damn it!
"Uhh, what?" She replied with a small playful scoff, trying not to look suspicious. She stood up with a shrug. "Well, it's not for everyone, that's for sure. If you wanna continue to tell people that, be my guest." She bit her lip as the two stared at her and she sweated again. Sumi cleared her throat, tugging her collar.
"Hmm..." Senku stared at her with a raised brow. She then walked past the duo, waving a hand.
"Come on, we'll sleep here for the night. It's getting too dark to travel, isn't it? And not to mention, I'm getting hungry," She dodged the subject, grabbing a bag from her belt to grab some ingredients for cooking.
"Yeah...good idea," The green-haired scientist murmured in thought while staring at her. He couldn't help but wonder if this had to do with that mystery man she wouldn't speak about reviving...Kohaku meanwhile blinked at her behavior, as she felt something was a little off with what Sumi said.
Thank god they bought it...things are getting a little too close for comfort with those two. Sumi thought to herself, her eyes saddening a bit from Senku's words. She hoped that one day, he wouldn't see it like that anymore...
The fire crackled between Kohaku and Senku. Sumi was sleeping to Kohaku's left, both her and Senku in sleeping bags. "Mm?" The male scientist looked over his shoulder to see Kohaku with her eyes closed. She was leaning against the tree, holding her knives tightly. "What are you, a new species of hominid that sleeps with a weapon or something?" He wondered to the blonde. Sumi opened her eyes slowly from hearing them, but they couldn't tell because she had her back to the fire.
"Makes it obvious I don't have love on the brain," She remarked, looking back up at him. "Look, I may be curious about you and Sumi's ways, but I'm not sure how much I can trust you yet," She narrowed her eyes playfully at him. "Besides, it's a force of habit, because I watch out for myself, so don't take it personally."
"I'm not enough of a hero to attack a lioness like you, so quit wasting time and get some rest," Senku remarked back to the blonde.
"Lioness?! I am a person with feelings!" Kohaku screamed at him, Sumi sweating a bit awkwardly. Senku did have that effect of rubbing people off sometimes with what he said or did. Like that old man in the park when she used to follow him around. "You might've seemed like a gentleman at first, but you're actually kinda rude, ya know that? How can your lover over there put up with you?" Sumi's eyes widened as she tried not to gasp out loud, covering her mouth. "I'm afraid I might accidentally end up killing you..."
"If you just go to sleep, there won't be any accidents. I'm not too keen on the idea of dying twice in one day. Uh!" His eyes widened as he realized that one sentence Kohaku said, sitting up in alarm. "It's not like that with Sumi-" He froze and turned to her body, wondering if she could hear. Kohaku was pretty loud, so it was possible. He stared at her form heaving up and down, but in reality, she had the same reaction as him. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she hoped neither of them would actually think to check on her. Her entire face was red as her heart was beating erratically. Senku took what it seemed like forever to stop looking at her, though his heart was racing for some reason.
"...She's not my lover," He finally spoke after a while. He placed a hand over his face, laying back down. "She's my science partner. Has been ever since we were little." He turned his back to Kohaku, unsure if that was too blunt even for him. He never even thought of Sumi in that way. Would he really even see her as one?
"Alright, no need to be so defensive. It just seemed like it to me, but I guess not," Kohaku shrugged a bit casually. Sumi clutched the fabric at her heart, not knowing if she should think about that too much. If he didn't care if she heard, why did he stare at her longer than needed? If he did, why would he deny to Kohaku that she wasn't? Usually he would've just either ignored it, changed the subject, or even just annoy Kohaku a little more. Instead his reaction was completely denying it. Sumi closed her eyes as there was another silence in the air. Kohaku glanced between the two of them, her eyes resting on Sumi. She hummed while looking at the woman, seeing that her body hadn't moved ever since Senku checked on her...
"You two are fighting against that long-haired man, aren't you?" She broke the silence as well as changed her focus away from Sumi. "I'll help you guys with that." He opened his eyes, glancing back at her in a bit of shock. "I'm not the type to just run away with my tail between my legs."
Senku then sat up, smirking a little. "Yeah. That's why Sumi and I are setting out to build up a kingdom of science," He then turned away with a frown. "But what we need...is manpower first." Sumi glanced behind her as they didn't know where to start.
"Oh, yeah?" Kohaku stood up with a smile, holding her blades. "So you're lookin' for allies, are ya? Well...then why don't you and Sumi come along with me?"
He turned to her with a smirk. "So you've got some more lion buddies. There a whole pride of you somewhere?"
"That's right. I'm sure they would be great allies for the battle. Especially one guy in particular. I'll lead you guys to 'em, Senku. You just gotta follow me." Sumi decided to go back to sleep, as she didn't want any more suspicion on her if she kept listening. Though given what Senku said, she might not accomplish much rest...
The next morning, the two set out with Kohaku. She insisted that they had to go somewhere first before she would take them to where she lived, holding a large pot. Senku glanced down at Sumi as the two followed her. "Hey, Sumi..." He spoke up and she hummed in confusion while looking up at him. "You didn't...hear anything last night, did you?"
Kohaku glanced back at the two as Sumi turned away, remembering his reaction to her being called his lover. "...What do you mean, if I heard anything? You mean like a bear or a lion or something?" She asked cautiously, trying not to elude the fact that she heard everything. Plus she was curious as to how he'd respond to that.
"...Never mind. It's nothing. I wouldn't stress about it," Senku replied while looking away, scratching his temple a little. Kohaku was a little confused on why he was so worried if she heard him. Wouldn't it have been less awkward for them to just outright tell her? And why did he even ask her the question if he made it clear to Kohaku that Sumi was only a friend? She'd think that he wouldn't care if Sumi had heard it. That was the kind of vibe she was getting, anyway.
Sumi blinked, just as confused as Kohaku was. She shook her head rapidly as she'd get a headache thinking about it. Snap out of it, Sumi. You've got the kingdom of science to worry about right now, not romance. There'll be time for that later. Still...it's weird that he even asked me to begin with.
"Sen…the tree that fell on Kohaku, the angle of the cut suggests it was from some long and durable enough if it could cut through wood. So that means…"
"Tsukasa…" Senku sighed knowingly while finishing her sentence. "Well, at least we now know that Kohaku's not allied with him. Meaning where she's from isn't either, heh heh!" He grinned evilly at their advantage.
"Of course…" Sumi gave a semi-awkward smile.
"Here we are," Kohaku spoke up, getting their attention. She was standing in front of a hot spring.
"Hot spring water?" Senku asked in confusion as she gathered some with the pot.
"Yeah, I'm taking it back home for a bath," She explained and then picked it up with a smile. "It's good for the healing process!"
"Why do you need to take a healing bath when you're obviously like ten billion percent healthy?" Senku had a questioning look on his face. Sumi tilted her head while examining Kohaku; she had no bruises from the tree or anything like that. And she hadn't really shown any symptoms of a sickness. "The thought of an overpowered lion girl like you running around is kinda terrifying."
"Sen," Sumi shook her head from his bluntness with a sigh.
"I AM NOT A LION! AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION, IT'S FOR MY SISTER!" Kohaku yelled back while gritting her teeth. "How could you two be science partners and yet be so different, Sumi? He's so rude and you're...not!"
"Mm, I've known him for years," Sumi circled her hand a little, looking up. "Honestly, you could count up to 3700 years for how many times I've heard that question," She gave a casual shrug and a small smile. "It's really not that unbelievable."
Senku glanced at the girl briefly, letting out a small chuckle to himself. He could agree with her on that statement. Even if she were exactly like him, he couldn't see her not being his science partner. And yet his heart tugged a little from thinking her as such. He really needed to ask her one of these days to check on that...
"Honestly...carrying this big, heavy thing of water is a lot of trouble to go through," She looked up to the sky. "But she's been especially sick for way too long now. Sometimes I feel kinda guilty for being so healthy. If only we could switch bodies once in a while..." She started walking and the two stared after her. Sumi looked a bit sad for what Kohaku was experiencing, as she could relate. She also had a sick relative, but she was too young to really understand it at the time. The woman couldn't help but wonder what sickness Kohaku's sister had if she had been too sick for what seemed like a while. The two started following Kohaku again.
"Looks to us like that jar probably holds a bit less than 50 liters," Senku spoke up as they watched her. "Doesn't seem like enough to fill a bathtub...I wonder how often you have to lug that heavy-ass thing back and forth. A few times a day, right?"
"Ha! I've made it a part of my daily training," Kohaku answered as she was listening. "Thanks to these trips, I'm a lot stronger," She then looked over her shoulder with a smile. "I know I was complaining earlier, but honestly, I'm pretty grateful tha-" She lost her footing and they raced forward. Senku caught the pot with one hand, thankfully only spilling a few drops of water. Sumi smiled gently at Kohaku while joining Senku's side.
"In case you've forgotten, you had a tree fall on you yesterday. We don't want you to fully exert yourself and die on us. So hand it over," Senku smirked at her and she looked at him in shock.
"We should've offered to help carry this to begin with. I didn't realize that having a tree fall on you would probably make your legs a little worn out still the next day. Sorry," Sumi spoke up sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.
"Thanks, Senku, Sumi..."
Sumi then realized that it was less than 50 liters, and Senku...wasn't necessarily the strongest man out there. "Senku, hold on, I-!"
As soon as Senku grabbed it, he fell to the ground. The pot was on his back, the water spilling. Sumi looked down at him in shock. Kohaku leaned over him, her arms crossed. "I'd overexert myself, huh?" She responded sarcastically while Senku felt like he was the one underneath a tree now.
"Am I the only one in this stone world who's not practically a gorilla?" He groaned while his face was on the dirt, his foot twitching. "I mean, Taiju, Tsukasa, and now you?"
"Gorilla?!" Kohaku replied angrily at the new nickname. "Okay, I actually prefer lioness to that!"
"That's not...the point here..." Senku grunted out and Sumi bent down to him. She removed the stone pot off of him and he looked up from the ground. She offered her hand with a small smile and he flinched from how it looked to him. It felt...warm...had her smiles always been like that? Wait, what am I thinking? She's my science partner, I can't go around thinking about illogical stuff like that! He took her hand silently and she helped him up.
"Come on, let's find another way to get this to your village. I'll check your back later, Sen," She said to Kohaku while picking up the pot. She then turned around to go back the way they came. Senku blinked rapidly at the black-haired scientist and then followed after them, snapping out of it.
Something rolled down past the trees, leaving behind smoke. Senku and Sumi had made a cart out of bamboo. Senku was at the back steering while Sumi was sitting in the middle. Kohaku was in front, sitting on the pot of hot water. "Whoa! How in the heck did you two build such a useful thing so quickly?" She called out to them.
"It wasn't really that quick," Senku answered back to her. "We just had some materials ready from making that pulley yesterday. Progress gives rise to progress. And applying that to further civilization is science!"
Sumi nodded with a smile. "It's all about using whatever materials you can to your advantage! Everything left behind can be used for science, even if it's a small contribution," She added in and Kohaku looked back up ahead.
"Turn right up here!" She told him, but he ended up missing. "We missed the turn!" She cried out and they crashed. Kohaku landed on a rock with the jug of hot water in her hands. She smiled as she glanced behind her. "Look, Senku, Sumi! Check it out!"
Senku had landed right over Sumi, both of them groaning. He lifted his head up and gasped. Sumi opened her eyes, arching her head backwards to look as well. She gasped as well as they saw two islands holding a small village. A bridge connected the two together. Sumi looked back to Senku, yelping as she realized he was over her and pushed him off gently. Sumi ran over to Kohaku while he stood up, wiping off his arms while joining them.
"We're here, so welcome to my village!" Kohaku smiled at the two as they were still in shock.
"Unbelievable..." Sumi murmured at the fact that a village managed to be formed in the past 3700 years.
"How many people live here?" Senku wondered as they watched the villagers living their normal lives.
"Well, not counting the kids and retirees, there are 40 of us. All working together."
"More than 40 of you?" Senku asked breathlessly, the two scientists questioning how if everyone was petrified. Kohaku and the others don't appear to have any knowledge of modern technology. So I bet that means they're descendants of people who revived a long time ago. Which means there was a first generation at some point. Maybe even hundreds of years ago. I wonder if there was a person of science like Sumi and I, who was able to come up with an earlier version of the revival fluid. But...there's really no sign of that, or evidence of any kind of scientific advancement passed down through the generations. Where did all of these people come from?
For once, neither scientist had an answer, as Sumi was thinking the same thing he was. How did they grow and how did the first generation come about? The duo stood side by side in front of the bridge. Senku was holding their flag. Before they could even move, two people came in out of nowhere. Sumi flipped immediately to stand in front of Senku, holding up her arms so that the spears sliced off her bandages instead. She then spun around in a flip to kick the two spears away from them. Kohaku then jumped in and blocked them off, the two guards gasping from both her and Sumi. The black-haired woman panted slowly while staring at them, her fists clenched and a stray bang between her eyes. Kohaku turned to her in shock from her action, shaking it off.
"There's no need for all that, Kinro and Ginro," She spoke up to them with a glare. "This man and woman saved my life yesterday!"
"Great news!" The blond guard spoke up with a smile. "But you should know better. Can't break the rules. Under no circumstances can we allow to let outsiders enter the village. The chief will be angry with you~"
"There's no use in arguing about it," The brunet spoke up next to him. "The rules are the rules."
"People outside the village aren't welcome. Because they're all criminals, or were banished by the chief," The blond crossed his arms.
"Therefore, we cannot let them cross this bridge. Even if they saved your life, we can't make any exceptions."
"Oh, yeah? Then you leave us no other choice," Kohaku looked crazy while looking at them. "We'll just have to battle it out right here and now. But it's really not fair. There's two of you and one of me. Should put me at a major disadvantage."
The blond looked terrified while the brunet wasn't fazed at all. Sumi waved her hands nervously, not wanting carnage to break out between them. "Come on, is all this really necessary? We don't wanna fight you guys."
The two guards blinked at her in confusion. She just defended her and Senku against them, but now she didn't want to fight them? This act had them very confused. She was an outsider like her friend, yet was acting kind to them despite her actions.
Senku chuckled while walking over to the pot of spring water. Sumi turned around to him in confusion. He scooped up some water with his hand. "We really did walk into the lions' den. Ha, you're all growling and snarling at each other. And you trying to make peace with them, Sumi? So stubborn to try and appeal to them, you know?"
She grumbled while walking over to him. "It's not being stubborn. I'm just trying to prevent bloodshed, they looked like they were gonna tear each other apart," She mumbled with her lips in a big pout. She noticed Senku rubbing soap against his hand. Kohaku turned around to it in alarm.
"Sorcery!" She tensed up and Sumi realized what he was gonna do. But she silently also wondered if they didn't recognize soap, how did they clean themselves? With just water? It could help for a while, but without soap to get rid of bacteria, it was no wonder why one of them was really sick. Senku held out his hand in front of him, as his pointer finger and thumb were a circle. He blew between them and bubbles appeared. Sumi's eyes shined as she laughed, lifting up a hand and looking at them.
Kinro and Ginro gasped sharply as they looked up. Kinro immediately used his spear to pop one, yelping in alarm. "What's happening?" Ginro wondered while looking around, his eyes sparkling. "How come there's all these mysterious floating jewels in the sky?"
Senku had a blank look as Kinro kept popping them and Ginro kept admiring them. He picked at his ear. "Wow...so that's their level, huh?" He then had a smirk on his face, chuckling. His red eyes were blazing at the thought of building an army with them. "Well, I guess this is gonna be no problem at all. We're gonna get every last one of them on our side with science. Nothing like having brains and a small army on your side. It's time to get excited."
Kohaku popped up behind him, giving a deadpan look. "You sound pretty creepy right now. Maybe don't get ahead of yourself?"
"Trust me, he always looks like that," Sumi popped up next to her, a sheepish smile. "When it comes to him and science, you'll get used to that face. Though it still does creep me out sometimes."
"This doesn't seem to be helping at all!" Ginro exclaimed in annoyance while attempting to pop the bubbles. "When I stab 'em, they multiply! Okay then. There's no other choice! Special Technique: Let someone else handle it! Hey Chrome, help! It's sorcery!" He shouted while running towards the village.
"Yeah, yeah," A new voice spoke up nearby. "Would ya quit freakin' out, Ginro?" He called out, and the guard came to a stop. The two scientists blinked at him in shock as they were looking at a brown-haired teen as his hair was also spiky. "I'm one step ahead of you, as usual." He then pointed up at the bubbles. "I spotted them from the beach. So of course I ran here as fast as I could!" He adjusted his headband made out of rope. He then turned around as his cape was flying, facing the duo. "Hey! I'm the one called Chrome! Bad and insanely smart! I'm the genius sorcerer of the village!"
Sumi gave a big sweat drop from his declaration, her eyes closed as her eyebrow twitched slowly. Well, he's a cocky one, isn't he? I know that they think it's sorcery, but it's so outdated now. At least our hunch was right; there is someone from this village who uses science.
Kohaku let out a little chuckle. "Heh, looks like we won't have to track him down, Senku and Sumi. This is the guy I mentioned yesterday," She explained while Senku picked his ear with his pinky.
"Ha...so he's a sorcerer now, is he?" He looked bored as he then blew on his pinky. "My name's Senku, and I'm a scientist."
Sumi gave Chrome a friendly smile. "My name is Sumire, and I'm a scientist too, as well as Senku's science partner. But you can call me Sumi for short." Kinro and Ginro went back to the bridge.
"I know you're scared cause you're not as smart as me, but don't let their cheap trickery get to you!" Chrome ignored the duo of scientists to scold the guards. "These things are super easy to create!" He then popped two of the bubbles. "All you need is charcoal, ash, and boiling water."
The two stared at him surprise for him knowing this. Sumi blinked while staring at him.
"I wasn't scared of them," Kinro denied to him. "But you'd be a fool not to be cautious of the unknown."
"I actually was scared, to be honest," Ginro spoke up meekly with a sheepish smile.
"We don't need you here, Chrome," Kinro looked up at him. "I'm not dumb enough to believe that your dubious sorcery would help us."
"Believe what you want. I don't care," Chrome said confidently and then threw off his cape. "But know this! I'm not backing down! Cause sorcery is my specialty! So step off and let me handle these guys!" He glared at the duo. Sumi gave a small frown, both her and Senku silent. The green-haired scientist had a frown on his face as well as the three stared each other down. "If we're fighting right here, there's a chance some of the villagers could get hurt. Let's move it somewhere else."
"Wait, what?" Sumi flinched in alarm from his proposition. "Uhh, you sure you wanna do that?" Not that she was backing out of this little fight. It was because she knew that Chrome didn't really stand a chance against them...
Meaning he was gonna get pretty embarrassed soon.
"Trying to back out already? Heh. Playing it safe, but I won't let that happen," Chrome told her and she glanced away, a bit annoyed. She then shrugged in defeat; it was better that he learned the hard way at this rate.
They moved over to a clearing where there was a small hut not too far away. Chrome held out his arms as there was a large fire between him and the two scientists. He gave them a crazy look in the eyes. Kohaku and Ginro looked a little terrified, while Kinro just looked exasperated. Senku and Sumi looked confused at this.
What does a sorcerer battle even look like? Ginro started to freak out. He imagined it'd be the three using magic against each other. Ah! They aren't gonna start shooting fireballs and burn us alive, are they? Please stop! At least don't do anything dangerous! I don't wanna die!
"Watch out for the female sorcerer. She seems to know how to fight," Kinro called out in warning.
"I can take anything she can throw at me," Chrome rolled his eyes and Sumi narrowed her own, getting into a defensive fighting stance.
"Nah, that won't be necessary," Senku put down her arms, confusing her.
"Why? Are you two surrendering to me already?"
"No, because she'd kick your ass within seconds," He let out a small chuckle. "So there's no need to waste her energy."
"W-What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Chrome asked in defense and Sumi looked away, whistling innocently in response. He twitched from this reaction, as she didn't either confirm or deny that she would do it. Senku snickered to himself from her vagueness. Although if she was asked, it would be no. They needed as many allies as she could, so she wouldn't exactly hurt him enough to need medical attention.
Not unless he hurt Senku.
Chrome then let out a laugh, the other villagers terrified. Senku and Sumi simply sat down next to each other. Sumi really didn't wanna do this, but if it would get him to stop... "Alright. Ready for some badass sorcery? Check out my Rainbow Bridge! I am the master of the flames and fire!" He tossed something white into the flames, causing it to turn yellow. Everyone except the two scientists yelped while recoiling back as the flames got larger.
"Whoa! He did it! He made the fire turn yellow!" Then Chrome threw in a blue powder to change the color. "It changed again. It's greenish blue!" Then the flames turned purple, Chrome still having that crazed look on his face. "And now it's purple?! Wow. It's crazy!"
"Sorcery..." Kohaku murmured while Sumi and Senku both blinked a few times.
Senku rolled his eyes to the back of his head. "Rainbow Bridge? What total crap. They're reactions to basic flame tests."
Sumi then held up a finger. "The name's cute, but we can guess exactly what you had in order. It was sodium chloride, cuprum, and brimstone. Even if I had my eyes closed, I'd be able to tell just by smelling them."
Senku let out a small chuckle at her, turning back to Chrome with a small smirk. "In other words, what she said was you threw salt, copper, and some sulfur into the fire, in that order." The two then stood up. "So the copper...is it copper sulfate?"
Sumi leaned in towards his ear. "If he's calling it Rainbow Bridge, I don't think he'd know what that is."
"Oh, you're right. He wouldn't know that. Did you use some blue crystals? Maybe you found them in the caves?"
"It'd be a bright blue, varies in size, and it's usually the most commonly found form of copper sulfate," Sumi added in, her arms crossed underneath her chest. She had a foot in front of the other. Chrome gave a small smile and then his mouth opened. His eyes bulged while looking at them in disbelief.
Oh shiiiiiit! How in the hell would total outsiders like them know about the blue crystals?! He shook while staring at them, baffled. Senku was picking at his ear again while Sumi just had a smile on her face, an aura of flowers surrounding her. They must be able to read my mind or something! No way! Is that their kind of sorcery? I didn't even known that was possible! 'Oh no, we're so scared, we gotta run away now!' That's what I thought would happen. 'You've defeated us. Please allow us to be your apprentices' was another possibility. I mean, one or the other, but not like this! I was actually kinda worried what my plan would be if they had asked to become my apprentices.
Kohaku blinked as she looked a little skeptical now. He twitched while looking at her. "Hey. I'll have you know that my sorcery is definitely not just completely made up of little tricks and cheap crap like that!" He tried to assure her, though he was internally in a panic.
"I didn't say anything," She remarked while staring at him.
"Oh, you wait and see!" He declared to the five, zipping over to the hut. "I'm gonna get one of my instruments of sorcery that will put the hurt on you two for sure! It's a legit weapon!"
"Wonder what he's got in there," Ginro murmured in thought as they stared.
"Must be why we moved the battle," Kinro commented next.
"To be near his instruments of sorcery," Kohaku finished for the two of them. Sumi let out a small chuckle. It was honestly kind of cute that Chrome was talking a big game. More like in a little brother way, though.
Once Chrome returned, he had a brown-colored ball in his hands. He frantically rubbed his arm against it. After a few seconds, he was out of breath as he approached Ginro, who didn't seem suspicious. Chrome reached out with one finger, stopping just in front of his nose. A small little spark appeared on Ginro, who stepped back in alarm.
"OW! THAT HURTS! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?!" He yelled in demand to Chrome with white eyes.
Senku chuckled and took the ball from Chrome. He then observed it, holding it between him and Sumi. "A sulfur ball." Chrome gasped from him figuring it out. "You took some of the same stuff you threw on the fire earlier and put it in an urn. You melted it down, let it cool and harden, and then broke the urn around it. Neat way to make one of these. A sulfur ball static generator. Originally invented back in the 17th century!"
"1663 if you wanna be technical by Otto von Guericke. Took him nine years to develop. Very powerful for a little while. Honestly kind of impressive that you managed to figure it out on your own," Sumi took it and then spun it on her finger like a basketball. "Ah, takes me back to when you tested me on what to do with these."
"Heh, don't get all sentimental on me right now, Sumi," Senku chuckled at the woman. "We're starting to get pretty excited about you, Chrome. Heh heh," He then took the flag off the pole, wrapping it around the sulfur ball. "But rubbing it with leather instead of your hands will make ten billion times more power. We'll use our science flag." He spun it around rapidly, and his hair became even more spiky the more he continued. He then touched Chrome to give him a more powerful shock.
"Holy crap! That's so bad!" Chrome cried out in pain, Sumi giving him an apologetic smile.
"That guy's hair is all spiky!" Ginro exclaimed in shock while watching.
"It was already pretty spiky," Kohaku commented and Chrome fell to the ground. Sumi took the sulfur ball, her own hair getting affected as it looked like it had been through a tornado.
"I tried to tell you..." She said with a small sigh.
"Oh wow. How does that work?" Kohaku asked as Senku had an evil grin. Sumi stood up and tossed it over to Ginro and Kohaku. Chrome stood up, gasping as he saw that their hair was spiky just like Senku and Sumi's.
"Hey, give it back!" Chrome ran towards them. Kohaku tossed it above her head out of his reach. He then fell to the ground. Senku smirked with his arms crossed as Sumi patted down her hair to adjust it. He glanced towards the black-haired scientist.
"Feels like I'm watching baby's first science class with this dude. Reminds me of you way too much." Sumi grunted while pouting, annoyed. "Relax, I'm just kidding," He chuckled from her face. "It's all so primitive..."
"Don't forget they're not used to science. Be a little nicer—oh wait, I forget who I'm speaking to half the time," Sumi remarked a bit sarcastically and he scoffed. He then looked up towards the shed that Chrome went to get the sulfur ball. Sumi stared in his direction, wondering what exactly he had in there.
"Chrome, did you think up all this stuff by yourself in this backwards little village? All these minerals and scientific materials. You took it upon yourself to gather and collect them in that shed?"
"You bet I did!" Chrome bragged, having gotten his sulfur ball back. "Why do you two care? It's normal for kids to find stuff and keep it. Smash it all together, mix it up, burn it. And when something really crazy happens, that's what you call sorcery!" He could recall as a kid when he would get happy having found something new. "Think about it. What else could it be?"
Senku glanced back with a smirk, letting out a tch. He then looked back at the shed with a knowing smile. Check it out, Tsukasa. You can kill me or anyone else with a brain for that matter. You can try all you want to kill science itself. But there will always be some idiot who'll try anything, just to see what happens. Eventually, the shiny monkeys will create a technological civilization.
Senku approached Chrome, his hands on his hips. Chrome flinched as Sumi stepped forward as well, a small smile on her face. He then got into Chrome's face. "Listen, the way things are going right now, we're ten billion percent sure that you're exactly the type of person that Tsukasa is gonna kill. And the only way for you to survive is if you join our kingdom of science!"
"Sen!" Sumi sighed at his bluntness. "What he means, is that there's a dangerous man out there who will harm you if he finds out about you. So what he wants is for you to ally yourself with us. After all, the more scientists, the merrier!" She gave him a wink, a hand on her hip.
"Who's Tsukasa? What are you talking about?" Chrome asked as he blinked in utter confusion.
Senku cackled while climbing towards the hut. "I would love if you joined forces with us, and lent your shed of science to the cause!"
"Get down from there! You don't have permission to go in," Sumi called out while looking up at him.
"Yeah, you should listen to her!" Chrome pointed at her with wide eyes. "You're not taking my stuff, okay?!" He then gritted his teeth at the green-haired scientist. Damn it, I look like an idiot. I can't back down now. "I challenge you and Sumi to one last battle! Just you two and me! If you guys lose, you'll leave the village after you bow to me! If you two win, take everything in the shed and I'll work for you!"
"You sure?" Senku wondered while looking over his shoulder.
"Maybe back out now while you still can for your own sake," Sumi gave a sheepish smile. "Trust me, he'll hurt your pride more specifically than I would be willing to, and you don't want that..."
"I'll show you things you guys have never seen, because I'm the greatest of all time!" He then had his cape on while pointing at the two of them. "Arithmetic! Fight me in a battle of numbers!"
Kohaku popped up behind him, just as wary as Senku was. "I have a strong feeling that Senku and Sumi are about to wipe the floor with you," She stated without any hesitation.
And just like she said, they defeated him easily as he fell, formulas falling around them. Sumi gave a small cringe after this. He twitched as the black-haired scientist bent down to him, hands on her knees. "Um...it was a good battle? But I hope he's okay," She frowned a little in concern.
Their science flag hung on top of the shed.
Shed of Science and Chrome acquired!
Senku then opened it up to see pots full of stuff on the floor and shelves. Sumi gasped as her eyes shined like she was in a candy store. "I'm super excited about this!" Senku chuckled in awe looking at everything, stars in his eyes. "Oh, man! How many years did it take you to collect all this amazing stuff you're keeping in here?"
"Totally awesome, don't you think?" Chrome bragged, stars in his eyes as well. "You kicked my butt—uh...well, only because I was off my game—but my collection could never be beat!"
"I want to touch everything, this is so cool!" Sumi gushed, holding her cheeks in amazement. Kohaku just had a blank look on her face as she couldn't understand the appeal.
It's all just a bunch of stupid rocks...
"Malachite!" Senku gushed while looking at two minerals. "Chalcanthite! And corundum!"
"So bad and insanely tough!" Chrome stated over his shoulder.
"Kyaaaa, cerium!" Sumi held one up in her hands in pure joy. "And lutetium, and europium! Okay, stop everything, this place is gonna be my heaven when I die," She pointed to everything around her. Kohaku and Ginro just stared at them.
"I can't tell any difference between them. How can the three of you get so excited over a couple of rocks, anyway?" Kohaku commented as she looked on.
"I can't believe you've got galena!" Senku exclaimed happily, hearts around his head. "Lead has been acquired!"
"Oh my god, let me see!" Sumi gushed while holding his shoulder to look for herself.
"That one's super shiny when you break it open!" Chrome added as he was holding a hammer.
"Sorry, but I'll never understand why they think these things are so cool just because they collect them," Kohaku stated as she still didn't get it.
"I used to collect bugs when I was a little kid," Ginro commented, as he could understand. "But now they totally creep me out."
"YOU EVEN HAVE CINNABAR IN HERE?!" Senku yelled in excitement and Sumi could've died right then with no regrets.
"NO WAY! AHHHHHHHH, THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!"
Kohaku walked across the bridge with a blank look, holding the jug of hot water. "I hope you have fun showing off the most boring trophies ever. I gotta bring this hot spring water up to my sister."
"We'll be here for a while! See ya!" Sumi as a chibi head popped up from outside the shed. Senku glanced up at Sumi having a happy smile on her face as she looked at the shelves. He let out a tsk and gave a small fond smirk as she started naming all of them. Considering what he had put her through with Tsukasa, it was nice to see her gush about everything. He blinked and then looked away silently at the reminder. Chrome looked confused as Senku gritted his teeth, raising a brow at his behavior.
After exploring the shed, they went back outside. Senku broke the cinnabar into pieces with an axe. "Cinnabar. Sometimes called the philosopher's stone, and a handy item in Dragon Quest," He had a small fire going, as well as a pot. "If you heat it up, you'll get mercury."
"With mercury, you can use it for mining, manufacturing electrical equipment, or for thermometers and barometers," Sumi smiled next to him. "But in the stone world, only mining is really going to utilized for now."
"There they go with all their creepy sorcery," Ginro murmured with a sheepish smile. He and Kinro were back at their posts. Kinro then stabbed the ground with his spear, getting their attention.
"Do as you like outside the village. But take one step on this bridge and I'll cut you both down. The rules are the rules," He told them both, and Sumi just gave a small smile.
"I have no intention on breaking your rules, Kinro," He blinked at her, wondering what her deal was. She then looked back at the clay pot. "Sen may be a bit reckless sometimes, but he won't break them either. We'll respect your rule and stay outside."
Kinro paused as no one had ever said that to him before...just who was this sorceress?
Senku smirked silently, and looked down at what they were mixing. "Now just melt some gold dust into the mercury." He grabbed Kinro's spear to put it into the now gold mercury liquid. Kinro looked a little nervous as they started burning the weapon.
"No, no, don't worry," Sumi tried to assure him by waving her hands. "We're not destroying your weapon!"
"You'd better not inhale the smoke. You'll die," Senku spoke up, frightening Kinro. Sumi gave Senku a small hit on the arm. The two then held up the spear, which now had a golden tip. "But this shiny golden spear is pretty awesome, isn't it?"
"Whooooa!" Ginro's eyes widened in shock.
"That is bad!" Chrome added and Sumi smiled as she handed it back to Kinro. He took it, examined it and then turned to the duo.
"And what good will this sorcery do me?"
"Heh, there's really no practical advantage to it. But your name does mean gold, so a golden spear is perfect for you," Senku remarked with his hands on his hips.
"Your bribe won't work. Give me all of the shiny objects you want, but I still won't break the rules for you," Kinro kept a serious look while looking at them.
"Nuts!" Senku had an evil smile on his face.
"Don't think of it as a bribe," Sumi gave Senku a pointed look. "Think of it as a present. We're not asking you to bend the rules for us. Like I said, Sen and I will respect them. So don't think on it too hard, okay Kinro?"
"Kinro's a stick in the mud," Chrome explained to the duo, Sumi glancing back at him. "Practically all the guy ever says is, the rules are the rules!"
"Cause it's true. Rules are rules," Kinro argued back, his head held up high. He then thought of himself as a badass with the spear. He then walked away from them. "That being said, I think I'll just keep it like it is now. I...appreciate the present, sorceress."
"But I'm not a sorceress..." Sumi stared at him with a big sweat drop behind her head. "I guess that's his way of being grateful?"
Senku laughed while interlocking his arm with Chrome. It was like they were best friends now even though they were at odds earlier. "All he needs is one more push!"
"Hey, so, what about a silver spear?" Ginro spoke up to them casually.
"In time, just be patient," Sumi gave him a small smile.
"You're like one of those people who plays Monster Hunter," Senku stated while the three walked back to the shed. "But only so they can collect raw minerals."
"Monster...Hunter?" Chrome questioned them in confusion.
"We'll explain another day," Sumi waved it off to him.
"Oh, by the way, I gotta give you ten billion points for calling it a present, Sumi," Senku smirked with his hands behind his back. "That must've been what convinced him to keep the thing." Chrome glanced between the two as Sumi smiled.
"Just being me. Nothing much else to it."
"So how long have you guys known each other?" Chrome wondered and Senku turned to him.
"3707 years," Senku responded without hesitation, the brown-haired sorcerer flinching in shock. He stared at the two as they would've been dead by now if it was that long.
"Technically, you could say 7 years or 2,556 days, but yeah I'd say it's been that long," Sumi shrugged a little like it was no big deal for Senku to give that amount. Meanwhile Chrome was just twitching in shock trying to figure out how it was even possible.
W-what the hell? Is part of their sorcery being able to live that long? But how?!
He snapped out of it, deciding to question them later. He then noticed Sumi's scar, as it had been nagging at him for a little while. Judging by the skin, it happened at least a day or two ago, and he wondered how she got it. Maybe some sorcery gone wrong?
"Hey," He spoke up quietly and they turned to them silently. "I hope I'm not being rude, but...Sumi, how'd you get that scar over your lip?" Sumi froze from the question as Senku immediately came to a stop. "From the looks of it, it hasn't been that long...what happened?"
There was a shadow over her eyes and Chrome flinched from that reaction as there was an eerie silence between the three. Senku clenched a fist as he once again recalled what Tsukasa had done. And he wasn't usually mulling over his mistakes...but this one...he could never forget. If he hadn't tried to negotiate, it wouldn't have happened to begin with. Sumi closed her eyes while tugging at the end of her ribbon.
"...Look, Chrome-"
"Nah, it's really not that important," Senku dismissed and continued walking off. Chrome glanced between the two of them, a sound of shock from his response. Sumi opened her eyes back up, turning to him.
"I'm sorry. Didn't realize it was a touchy subject..." Chrome murmured while rubbing the back of his head.
"It's okay, really," Sumi tried to assure him quietly. "I can't really say much because of Sen, but...you could say that in a way, in his eyes, he caused it to happen." He opened his mouth in shock while looking at her.
"Wait...are you telling me that he actually...cut your lip?" He couldn't really see Senku doing that to her, though. So it didn't really make any sense to him on why or how. They seemed so close to him, enough that they wouldn't even think of doing something like this to each other.
"No, I mean...he didn't actually do it, but...he is the reason why. That's all I can really tell you for right now," Sumi let out a sad sigh, running down an exhausted hand down her face. Between this, and the whole 'lover' thing earlier, she really hoped things between them were okay...she hadn't even had a moment to talk to him regarding the latter since they had moved their focus with the sorcerer's battle and exploring the shed. But looking back on it...did she really need to tell him she overheard? Or why he felt the need to question if she did?
"Haven't you guys...talked about it?" Chrome asked the black-haired scientist slowly, and she shook her head.
"No...he's not really much for emotion, you know? It came up before we arrived here, but it wasn't the right time to say anything to him. So it doesn't seem like he'd be willing to talk about it to anyone. At least, not for a while anyway. I think he'd rather not think about what happened, but with my scar being so visible every single day..." She trailed off while looking away. Chrome frowned while looking back to Senku. He didn't know what exactly happened, obviously. But given the scientist's reaction, it was clear that the incident still stuck with him. And he could imagine that having to see someone he knew for thousands of years get hurt like that...it caused him to be a bit distant about the whole thing.
"You have a lot of plants, too," Senku noticed once they were back inside the shed. "Felwort, sweetroot, canker root." Sumi blinked as she saw them, as she had some of these plants as well. "All traditional medicines." Chrome stared at the two silently. "They're drugs, basically."
There was a silence between the three of them, Sumi glancing back at him. "Yeah, I meant to ask earlier, but...you'd know what these do...if someone were to get really sick. So it must be someone important to you if you have such a large quantity of all these plants, right?" Considering how Kohaku had never seen soap when they built that pulley, it'd only stand to reason that...whoever was sick, didn't stand a chance. Sumi turned around to their new ally. "Chrome? Was that too personal a question?"
"...No, it's okay. You're right, Sumi. It was only fair anyway after I asked about your scar," Chrome finally answered to them. "But I have no clue if these plants work or not. I try them on myself, and I keep the ones I think are good." The two glanced to each other at his somber tone. "I'm hoping that I'll find something that'll heal Ruri. In fact, that's why I became a sorcerer in the first place."
Kohaku faced the most important hut of the village, as it was the tallest one. She placed down the jug of water. Two guards, a man and a woman, were standing next to the stairs. "I'm grateful to you, for bringing me the healing water from the hot springs," Ruri spoke up to her sister. "It truly helps. Thank you."
Jasper, the male guard, stepped up a little. "We expected you yesterday. Did something happen?"
She stared at the water for a moment. She couldn't tell them about the tree, otherwise they'd worry. And if they worried, they might not allow her to go to the hot springs anymore... "Heh. I accidentally fell asleep on the way back home," She lied to the two of them. "So I just spent the night in the forest."
"Accidentally?" Turquoise asked her skeptically. "Give me a break. You need to start taking your duties a lot more seriously."
Ruri stared at Kohaku as she wasn't buying it. "Jasper, Turquoise," She spoke up, getting their attention. "Do you mind giving us a moment, please? I'd like to speak to Kohaku in private."
"Please forgive us, Ruri," Jasper spoke up first and Turquoise closed her eyes regretfully.
"We're not allowed to leave the priestess by herself."
"But Kohaku is my own flesh and blood..." She then bowed her head pleadingly. "So please..." The two stared at her and obliged, as it was a family matter. And they could understand that...even if it did mean breaking an order they were supposed to follow. The two turned around and walked over a bridge to leave them alone. Ruri ran down the stairs, and when she reached her sister, she held her cheeks. "You dummy, Kohaku!" She then looked up at the rope holding Kohaku's hair. "Your hair is knotted differently. Something must've happened to you that caused your hair to come undone." She let go of her sister, Kohaku yelping in shock as Ruri kneeled over, coughing.
"Ruri!" She exclaimed in concern while bending down to her. Ruri let out a few more coughs before looking up. She had some sweat over her face, a worried look on her face.
"I beg you. Please be careful..." She held Kohaku's cheek lightly. "I don't have much time left. Don't risk your life for me..."
Sumi frowned in understanding, her fist in front of her heart. She could relate to both Kohaku and Chrome. She had seen a family member die herself as a child...and even though she wanted to save her...what could she have done for someone who was dying of old age? And it just felt heartbreaking that someone probably only a little older than them have to go through it. "I'm...so sorry, Chrome."
"...Thank you, Sumi..." He murmured and they took a moment of silence. Senku knew that the woman was remembering her grandmother. Sumi almost never really talked about it, though. She always said that she preferred to remember her grandmother in her own time, so Senku never pushed it. He had only met the woman a couple of times, but wasn't the grieving type. "Senku, Sumi," Chrome spoke up, getting their attention again. "Whether it's sorcery or science, can we save her?"
"Well, that depends on her condition, you know," Senku glanced at him. "But things are more difficult in this stone world."
"We're not saying it's impossible, but...things were different where we came from," Sumi sighed, closing her eyes. They figured it was better to just tell Chrome everything, as he probably wouldn't understand too much in the medical field. A small candle was between the three, Sumi sitting next to Senku.
"Alright Chrome. I think it's time the two of us told you everything...about what happened 3700 years ago. And about what the world was like before the collapse." And so, they talked about skyscrapers, tablets, cellphones, and headsets. Chrome stared at them in awe, listening attentively. Then they went on about cars, airplanes, and the first ever plane. Next was moon, space, robots, and amputees. After explaining that, the last thing they explained was how exactly the petrification happened. And how it was confusing, with no one being able to move or process anything. They mentioned cities crumbling over as flora had taken over all the buildings. Sumi let out a deep breath once they were done. They heard sniffling, looking up to see tears falling. Then they looked up as they saw Chrome crying.
"Ah!" Sumi's body twitched as she dug into her bag, pulling out a wipe. She handed it to Chrome, who took it.
"Why the hell did you start crying all of a sudden?" Senku asked in utter confusion. "Didn't expect you to get emotional."
"He can be emotional if he wants," Sumi patted Chrome on the back to let him cry. "I know it's a lot to process, Chrome...but it's true. Everything we just told you...used to exist. And that's why Senku and I have known each other for over thousands of years—although back then, it would've been 7, but doesn't matter."
"I'm not crying! Aw, damn it, I am crying!" Chrome cried out, using the wipe Sumi gave him. She gave a sad smile to him. "Who turned everyone to stone? If I find out, I'll kill whoever it was! How could we lose it? All the people that came before us spent millions of years building up civilization. One that was full of science, and technology, and life! And it all just got wiped out in a flash?" Sumi glanced up at Senku, both of them giving a small frown. "How in the hell could that not piss me off?!"
Senku then gave him a chuckle and small smirk. "It hasn't been wiped out, you moron. It's all still right here."
"What do you mean?" Chrome looked up at him in confusion.
"Humanity isn't going down that easy. We've got two million years of human history as close as it could be..." He then pointed to his own forehead, Sumi doing the same with hers. "Right here inside my head and Sumi's. And it's inside you too," Senku held out a fist to Chrome's heart. "Are we wrong?"
"All hope isn't lost, Chrome," Sumi gave a small smile. "As one of the few people who remember everything, we're gonna bring it all back someday. Back to everything as it was before, with every single person in it too!" She gave a big grin, holding out her fist as well.
"No, you guys aren't wrong!" Chrome agreed with the two of them. "You couldn't be more right! Senki! Sumi! I'm gonna build this kingdom of science with you! And we're gonna fight whatever it is that's making Ruri sick! So tell me..." He then stood up, clenching a fist. "Are you really up for it? Using science...to find a way to cure her?"
"Heh," Senku smirked while Sumi gave a soft smile.
"Yeah!" The two answered in unison.
"You didn't need to ask. We'd do it regardless if you joined us or not because that's just who we are," Sumi assured Chrome, a hand on her hip.
"We're gonna use science to make the ultimate medicine. You, Sumi, and I will make antibiotics!" Senku revealed to their new ally.