A younger Senku walked past some bookshelves, picking up a book. "When I first became interested in science...I read a biography about Thomas Edison." Sumi peeked at him from behind the bookshelf, her mouth opening a bit in amazement.
"And when I first became interested in science, well...at first I only caught a glimpse of that book Senku was reading. But I wanted to learn more about why he liked it so much, and why he wanted to go to space."
Senku looked up at a lamp, holding his backpack. 'What the heck is electricity anyway?' He thought to himself.
"Wow, so there are only four fundamental forces in the universe? Gravitational..." Senku murmured as he was actually reading these books during math class.
"Anyone have the answer? Five plus three equals..."
"And then strong force and weak force," The teacher gasped, everyone staring at Senku reading his science books. He wasn't even paying attention to the teacher. Some kids were either surprised or amazing. "That sounds ridiculously weird!"
Sumi stared at him from behind, smiling at him. She had her own beginner science book in her hands, nestled in front of her math notebook.
Senku was in his room, using a tool against a toy robot. 'So in the entire universe, electricity is like, the most essential power.' He smiled while continuing to experiment. 'That gets me excited!'
After asking Sumi to be his science partner, Senku pointed that ray gun against the three bullies from the other day. He then fired at them, Sumi giving a nervous smile while wearing a lab coat.
The bright light occurred from the village, thanks to Sumi and Senku. The two looked up at each other in unison, gasping while unable to look away. The light burned out after what felt like minutes between them and Sumi looked down first. "Oh, look at that, guess the fiber was too much, heh heh heh..." She gave a nervous laugh while moving away her wire. The two science partners then turned away in unison, both of them feeling a bit awkward. Chrome glanced between Sumi and Senku, wondering what that moment was all about.
Senku was sitting alone on the roof of the science shed. He looked down at Suika and Kohaku near a fire. Sumi and I were reborn into a primitive world, butt naked and completely alone. He looked at Ginro and Kinro, who were near the generator in exhaustion. But a year and four months into our scientific journey…Senku looked at the two wires in his hand. Together we've reached the essential power: electricity.
Younger Senku read his science book in class. Sumi peeked at him, sitting to his left. She smiled while going back to her notebook, which had a bunch of science formulas written down that she had picked up on.
I gotta say, I'm off to a damn good start. Senku had a big grin on his face while clutching the wires. He then looked back up to the sky, Yuzuriha's flag being set on top of the science shed. It was now the official flag for the Kingdom of Science. Senku heard a noise and turned around to see Sumi approaching. He lightly touched the wire she held onto, remembering the moment they shared not too long ago.
"Figured you'd be up here," She let out a small giggle, sitting next to him and hugging her legs. Senku glanced at her, his lips going upward slightly. The two sat in silence as they just enjoyed the other's company. Sumi looked towards Kohaku and Suika, and she let out a small chuckle, getting his attention. "It's just...look at what we've accomplished together, Sen. We've done so much over the past year and 4 months. Imagine if they were really allied with Tsukasa. Well...aside from Gen. We wouldn't have come this far, would we?" She looked up at him with a happy smile.
His heart beat a little and turned silent. He then turned to look at the ground, staying like that for a few minutes. "You know...I couldn't have done this without my science partner," He spoke up, getting her attention. "What Tsukasa did to you the day he killed me..." He gripped the wires tight with a shadow over his eyes. "It left...my own scars as well." Her eyes saddened as she knew that he still felt guilty over it, and they hadn't talked about it for both their own sakes. Not to mention that...before they found each other again, they were on their own. If they hadn't came across each other...would Sumi even have her scar? He looked back down at the wires.
"But now that we've reached electricity...we're both taking off. So maybe those scars have a chance to harden," He gave a joyous smile, shocking her as it was almost one she would give on a daily basis. Her breath escaped her while looking at him as he didn't seem to be as...upset as he was whenever mentioning her scar. For the first time since mentioning it...he looked proud to have succeeded in something that was difficult to even get off the ground. "If it wasn't for your ramen, we wouldn't have this now. Ten billion points all around, Sumi."
She blinked and then smiled just as happily as him. He then flinched in shock as she rested her cheek on his shoulder. "I'm glad that you confided in me even though you're not ready to talk about it still," She murmured softly to him, closing her eyes with a faint smile. "But it wasn't just me, Sen. Everyone had a hand in accomplishing electricity, even if the fiber ended up a bust. So this is not only our victory, but theirs as well."
He glanced down at her and then smirked. "Yeah...I guess you're right." Sumi then opened her eyes, looking up in alarm as she moved away from his shoulder.
"Oh, sorry, I should've asked first," She rubbed the back of her neck.
"Eh, I wasn't bothered by it," Senku moved his left arm to be near her cheek, moving her head back down onto his shoulder. He then raised his hand to pat her on the top of her head. "Just don't tell anyone, okay?"
She smiled with a blush on her face, closing her eyes as they both enjoyed the quiet moment. Senku took note of his beating heart, as it was the same way he felt when they were collecting iron sand...He closed his eyes, deciding not to dwell on that right now. He had plenty of time to think on that later. For Sumi, it was like she was falling for him all over again...like she did when she saw him reading his science books as a child.
Chrome was in the science shed, leaning against a cabinet. He then slapped his cheeks together.
"Man, electricity in the stone age!" Gen gave a small shrug while sitting alone in the forest. "It's hard to believe," He gave a small hum, looking towards the stars. "Right, Tsukasa?"
"So you see, Suika, the long-haired man, Tsukasa, is the one who was behind Senku's murder," Kohaku spoke up as they were telling Suika everything up until this point. The science shed had a few candles around them as Kohaku, Suika, Chrome, Senku, and Sumi were sitting on the ground.
Senku chuckled while scratching the back of his head. "Even though I'm still alive."
"That guy's seriously bad news!" Chrome exclaimed, scaring the little girl. "He wanted to stop scientific progress! And that's why he killed Senku without hesitation! And he wants to marry Sumi cause he's a creep."
"And he's the one who sliced at Sumi…" Kohaku mumbled but Chrome nor Suika heard her.
"Even though I'm still alive," Senku repeated and then stayed silent from that last part. Just the mention of it was still hitting him. Sumi was also silent as she looked away. Senku's hand twitched a little from reliving the memory.
Tsukasa turned to Sumi and reached up with his blade, cutting at her lips. She landed face-first on the ground, screaming and crying in pain. Her body was shaking as she covered her lips with her hand, blood pouring from them. Senku could only look at her in horror to see her like this, his heart hammering. She cried out weakly to him, letting her tears fall as the blood wouldn't stop flowing. Senku's hand shook from seeing her suffer.
She wished she could tell him that he wasn't at fault, but...how could he believe otherwise when trying to negotiate with Tsukasa resulted in it? Sumi then looked towards the ground, her eyes closed.
Sumi lightly touched Senku, her hand shaking as she touched his forelocks. She cupped his cheek, gasping as he was cold. She shook in fear, using the back of her head to dry off the blood from her mouth. She then put her ear to his chest. She recoiled back in shock, covering her mouth while shaking in fear. She squeezed her eyes shut as one tear escaped, and she started openly sobbing. She then landed back on his body, crying the most out of Taiju and Yuzuriha.
She opened her eyes after a few minutes. The revival fluid was able to bring him back...that was all she could ask for. And if they didn't have any at the time...he might as well been lost forever. Sumi leaned back against the shelf, a distant look in her eyes. She couldn't handle it if Gen ended up telling Tsukasa the truth...
Meanwhile, Senku's heart ached from remembering how she got her scar. And how terrified he was to see her bloodied face, crying out to him...and he was unable to do anything or prevent it. He didn't quite understand why his heart sometimes reacted differently around her still, but the urge to hurt Tsukasa was getting a little stronger now. There was also the urge...to blame himself immensely for putting her through that because of his feud with Tsukasa.
The others stared silently as they stared at the two science partners lost in their own heads. Kohaku's eyes saddened as she could see what both of them were thinking about. They were present for each other's...trauma, after all. She couldn't imagine how she'd feel if someone she knew for thousands of years...suddenly died or got hurt without being able to do anything about it. She wished she could do something about it, but...what could've been done? Clearly talking about either of those things was still affecting them...
The mood was then broken by Suika. "So if this Tsukasa is some kind of violent bad guy, and Gen has been working with him, that means Gen's a bad guy too!" She cried out as Gen was outside, and he walked away from the ladder. "But...isn't Gen also the person who saved us from Magma? Then he's a good guy." She turned to Sumi and Senku, not sure how to feel by any of this.
"Heh heh," Senku looked up at her, seemingly back to normal now. "He's honestly not a good guy or a bad guy."
"He's nothing but a rat who's only in it for himself," Kohaku stated with her arms crossed.
"Don't worry, Suika," Sumi turned to the little girl, sitting back up. "Gen's game here is...well, only he knows at this point. His actions are intentionally conflicting to us. It's honestly a game of cat and mouse with him."
"It actually doesn't matter to me if he's good or bad," Senku spoke up to them. "At the end of the day, we need him to be an ally of the Kingdom of Science."
Sumi nodded in agreement at his statement. "His mentalist skills can be really useful against Tsukasa or to sway others to our side," She stated, her elbows resting on her knees. "He could help us win more favor from the villagers."
"We'll have him give a bogus report to Tsukasa, saying 'Senku is definitely dead and Sumi is definitely not ready for marriage'," He looked a bit annoyed at that last part, grateful that Sumi didn't think of Tsukasa that highly anymore. "That's the only possible hope we have of winning this."
"If Gen goes off now and tells him otherwise, we're done for. And all of our hard work goes right out the window," Sumi closed her eyes in thought.
Chrome stared at the duo before getting up. He then stood in front of the entrance to the shed. Gen was slightly in the shadows up ahead. "Listen up, Gen!" He screamed at the mentalist. "I know you saw the electricity! The light! That's what badass science at work looks like! So why care about who wins? Why even give a crap whether Senku and Sumi or Tsukasa has the edge? Cause the Kingdom of Science is obviously the side that's more fun!" He smiled confidently, Gen's back to him the entire time.
Gen was quiet for a few seconds before looking back with a fake grin. "Oh, is that so? You are the passionate type. Too bad for you, I don't really care about that," Chrome recoiled back a bit, letting out a small breath. "I'm probably the most superficial man on Earth. All I consider is what's beneficial to me," He then turned around and walked off, his cloak swaying back and forth.
Senku had his hand up near Kohaku as she had a dagger pulled out. Sumi had her hands on Kohaku's shoulders gently. The blonde was shaking, her eyes white as she wanted to attack Gen, and she would've done it if not for them. Sumi and Senku stared after Gen silently.
He walked up to the generator, looking up at it. His eyes softened a little looking at the invention.
Stone broke out and the first thing he could see was the ocean and blue skies. He then blinked as he was butt naked, and his arms were held out. He was standing on top of a cliff, and his stone pieces were underneath him. "Uh. Uh..." He stammered as he had no idea where he was. He was on a stage, and the next thing he knew, he was here. "What is this, some kind of prank?" He wondered while looking at his hands. "I'll have to have a word with my manager. They should understand that I'm a mentalist! Doing a show where I'm the target of a prankster goes against my image," He then got onto his feet.
"Welcome to the year 5739 AD," Tsukasa suddenly spoke up behind Gen. He flinched from the voice with wide eyes, sweating a little. "Though the year has changed, you're still only 19."
"Say what?" Gen looked back at him while processing the new information. "Hold on..." He recalled doing a show. "You were on the special about psychological magic. We did that gig together." The lights had turned off during the show. "I believe you were called...the strongest primate high-schooler." Tsukasa appeared from behind a curtain, wearing only boxers, boxing gloves, and sneakers. "Shishio Tsukasa!" He looked up at the man, as he was almost completely in shadow despite the sun being out. He then turned away from Gen.
"I've made a choice. You and all of these statues are among the people who I believe should be revived first," He spoke up calmly. "I've gathered all of you into one place." Gen turned to see what he meant, gasping sharply to see the petrified group of people that were behind them. He couldn't tell how many there were...but it looked like at least a hundred of them. He couldn't say anything as he stared at them, wondering how this even all happened...
Tsukasa was leading Gen into the forest, the mentalist now fully clothed. "Those dusty old fossils who used to be in power are even less necessary in this natural world of stone," Tsukasa stated as Gen looked to several destroyed statues. "But I see a massive amount of potential in you, Gen." Gen then looked back to him silently, not sure what to make out of any of this...but Tsukasa was the one to wake him up, and didn't underestimate him either. Tsukasa moved away some leaves, revealing Senku and Sumi's old camp. "There's something I need you for, and your skills as a mentalist will be invaluable."
The two stepped inside, seeing all the broken pots. "Follow them for me, and get inside of their minds. Perhaps I'm being overly cautious, but I want you to track down this man Senku and this woman Sumire. You'll tell me if he's dead or hiding out somewhere with Sumire."
"Who are Senku and Sumire?" Gen wondered while looking at the broken pots, the only light coming from outside.
"He was the first of us to revive. Then Sumire followed soon after him. They used their knowledge of science to create a formula to undo the petrification." Even the clay pots on the shelves were broken in pieces. "That's how they revived me," Gen gasped from learning this, turning to Tsukasa in a bit of shock. "This man and this woman—their only desire...is to revive everyone no matter who they were. They'll bring back the same people who ruined our world, and they'll make weapons...they were the most intelligent people alive...and that's why I killed Senku myself. And why I must have Sumire for myself."
Gen turned away silently, trying to figure out what this guy's deal was...whether or not he could even trust him. But...then again, did it really matter? He himself knew nothing of these two aside from what he was just told...so why should he care what happened afterwards?
He spun around one of the wheels, having a small smile on his face. He continued to admire it, regardless of what he would have to say to Tsukasa later. Then someone from the shadows stepped up behind him, clenching a fist. He rushed towards Gen, who looked back in time to see the fist heading towards his face. He was unable to react as blood seeped from his mouth, Kohaku turning around to the entrance. The mysterious attacker kicked Gen in the stomach, punching him into a tree. He gasped as he landed on the ground, trying to catch his breath while looking up. The mentalist was shaking as he was unable to move, or else he'd get hit again. "Who...are..."
The attacker held up his spear, the shadow of the man in Gen's eyes. "Why...?" He murmured shakily before the spear was thrust into his body. His wavering hand fell near his body, a pool of blood underneath him. The attacker stood over him, still in shadow so that no one could know who it was.
"What was that noise?" Kohaku wondered and the five rushed out of the shed. She had her daggers out and once they reached Gen, they all gasped. The mentalist's face was a mess, the spear still sticking out of his chest.
"GEN!" Sumi shouted as she slid to a stop in front of him, not caring about the blood around him. She kneeled to his side, in a slight panic. Some of the blood got on her hands.
"Holy crap, what happened here?" Chrome bent down to him as well as Gen wasn't moving.
"Damn it. Looks like he died instantly," Kohaku frowned at Gen.
"This is horrible!" Suika stared down in disbelief. Sumi then caught a whiff of something, blinking slowly. The black-haired scientist slowly looked down to her hand, bringing it up to her nose. They watched her catch another whiff of the blood and her eyes widened. She glanced up at Senku arriving and he could tell by the look on her face what was going on.
"Hang on a second!" Senku stopped them from doing anything else. Sumi stood up and grabbed the spear along with him. They both removed it and Sumi pulled out a small bag that was punctured instead of Gen's body. Red liquid was coming out of it. Senku held the spear as a piece of Gen's robe was still on it. "He protected himself with fake blood bags."
"And it's not even blood. It smells like juice. He must've found some berries or grapes and gathered them up to squish them all. Then he filled them up into these bags," Sumi held up her 'bloody' fingers.
"He's got these things all over his body!" Suika smiled in relief as she and Chrome found more of them on Gen.
"This is really freaking bad!" Chrome said as he respected the craftsmanship and the smart idea. "I bet he did this before he even came to the village, just in case!"
Senku's lips turned into a smirk, letting out a chuckle. "Tch. That's pretty impressive, Gen. You really are a magician to your core. Not to mention a showman." Although Gen was still a wild card when it came to who he sided with, the scientist couldn't help but have some appreciation for his skills. Sumi bent back down to Gen, pressing her ear to his lips.
"The blood may have been fake, but these injures aren't. He's still breathing, but it's quiet," She then stood up in determination, turning to the others. "We need to get him into the shed, now!" She told them urgently and they all nodded.
Once they brought him in there, no one could really sleep at the moment. They were too focused on helping Gen.
"Those bags may have helped block the spear," Kohaku spoke up as Gen had regained consciousness at this point. Medicinal herbs were all over his injuries, but still looked worse for wear. He was struggling to breathe thanks to the punch in his stomach. "But he's still really beat up."
Sumi closed her eyes while sitting behind Gen's head. "These herbs Chrome had in his shed were a big help, to reduce the swelling over all his injuries. But without proper medical equipment, this is the best I can do. I'm sorry. All we can do is wait, continue to rub these herbs over him and make sure that these wounds don't open back up."
Senku placed a hand on her shoulder to silently comfort her. "You did great, Sumi. And I'm sure he'll say the same when he's healed." She turned to him and gave a small smile. He could tell she felt bad that she couldn't do anything more for Gen. But it wasn't her fault; despite having medical experience, not everything could be solved that quickly.
"Damn it!" Chrome looked angry from the situation. "We gotta catch whoever did this."
"First we need to find out who would do such an awful thing," Kohaku glanced down at Gen in concern.
"Well, this mystery attacker didn't come out of nowhere," Sumi pointed out, getting their attention. "If it was an outsider, why would he attack Gen and leave him there? Wouldn't he have been barred from the bridge by Kinro and Ginro? Tsukasa's too far away, so we know it's not him. He's still waiting to hear Gen's report. With the close proximity of where we found Gen...the only possible explanation would be-"
The others gasped in realization as she had her eyes closed. "...Someone from the village," Senku finished for her and she opened her eyes, nodding.
"I'm almost certain of it. The wounds over Gen tell me that these were made with someone who has big hands," She pointed at all the herbs over the mentalist. "This is also evident because of the hand patterns that were over his face," She held up her own hand for an example. "If I were to punch him, my hands are much smaller, therefore it'd be a different pattern. And judging by the wound patterns, this person wanted Gen to suffer. A female would've killed him on the spot and not beat him up first, so it has to be a male."
"Whoa, you're like a detective," Chrome blinked at the woman. "You could tell all that just by looking at him!"
"Now we can narrow down suspects thanks to Sumi's diagnosis," Senku grinned at the black-haired scientist.
"Yeah, but why they would hurt Gen is something I still can't decipher," Sumi rubbed her chin.
Suika stayed silent as she looked at everyone, an unsure look on her face. She wanted to contribute to help Gen, but she didn't know how. She then realized something and shook her head to not second guess herself. She clenched her fists and ran towards the door, getting their attention.
"Suika?" Sumi asked her in confusion.
"I'm gonna investigate!" She shouted while rolling her body into the watermelon mask. She then rolled her way towards the village.
Senku was crushing up more herbs in a pot, Sumi biting at her thumbnail in worry. He handed the mixture over to Chrome while Kohaku was tending his wounds. They stared at Gen as he let out a hiss of pain. Sumi sighed and held up a clay cup of water. She gently put it to his lips so he could have a sip, looking towards the others and telling them of what they needed to do.
The next morning, everyone was freshening up for the start of the day. Senku was brushing his teeth with a towel over his shoulder. Kohaku was stretching her arms. Sumi was squeezing her wet hair dry as she had just finished her bath.
"Big news, guys!" Suika shouted while rolling back to them. "I found out something huge!" She untucked her limbs, landing in front of Senku. Sumi and Kohaku walked over to join Senku.
"Excellent work, Great Detective Suika," His voice was muffled thanks to his toothbrush. "Do you mind telling us what it is?"
"I figured out who attacked Gen last night!" She told the three of them. "I know who killed him!"
"Uh, you know he's not dead..." Kohaku told her as Gen was still healing in the shed.
"He needs rest right now, and those blood bags were fake, so he's definitely still alive..." Sumi gave a small sheepish smile, using a small towel to ruffle the top of her wet hair. The wounds were slowly healing thankfully.
"Well, so who was it?" Senku wondered while taking the toothbrush out of his mouth.
"It was..."
Magma laughed while standing near a fire. He looked happy with a smug smirk on his face. "Now that I've killed that sorcerer, I'm the most powerful one!" He was holding some meat as he and Mantle, his right-hand man, were cooking it. "Everyone should fear Magma! I thought he'd put up more of a fight, but that was as easy as taking a toy from a baby!" Suika was in the bushes nearby as he took a big bite out of mutton.
"Oh, yeah! I bet it was easy for you!" Mantle agreed to hype him up.
"Would've been even better to go in and kill Kohaku too. But that woman never seems to let her guard down. And that female sorcerer wasn't anywhere to be found, but I'll kill her too once I see her," Magma said with his mouth full.
"Well, I think that she's way too strong to be a normal woman," Mantle took a bite out of his food. "The only explanation has to be some kind of sorcery from the female sorcerer!"
Magma then laughed in response. "But now that I've gotten rid of one of her powerful allies, she's just like every other little girl." He then gave an evil grin. "Though, if she and the female sorcerer beg me to spare hem, I wouldn't mind them join Ruri and all of them can be my women!"
"I don't know who would be luckier, you having three women, or them having the great Magma!" Mantle stated and the two laughed evilly. Suika was shaking while having heard the whole conversation.
'This is really bad news!'
"It was Magma?" Chrome let out a growl, punching his palm. "That bastard! Wow, you were right, Sumi. He's the strongest man in the village, and has giant hands."
"I see..." Kohaku rubbed her chin as she could see why he did it. "When Magma came over here, Gen made those flowers vanish right before his eyes." Gen stood in front of the three men from the village, holding up the flowers. "I imagine from his perspective, Gen has to be the mysterious male foreign sorcerer that I had tried to bring into the village." Gen made the flowers disappear, to their shock.
"So...Magma tried to murder Gen because he mistook him for Senku?" Chrome asked in realization, earning a laugh from Kohaku.
"What's more offensive is Magma has the nerve to go around saying that my strength comes from sorcery! Or that he thinks he can charm Sumi."
"Well, I always thought you had the strength of a gorilla because you were one," Chrome commented to the blonde. Kohaku stood over him with a glare, a breath escaping her. He kneeled in front of her naked.
"Sorry, ma'am..." He apologized meekly to her.
"Ugh," Sumi closed her eyes, a hand on her hip. "Magma can get in line. I already have one crazy man after me. I'd rather not have two of them..." She reached back out to her hair to remove the towel and tie the ribbon into her hair. Senku glanced at her, flinching again from how...nice her hair looked without the ribbon. He then shook it off quickly and glanced up at the blonde.
"Got a question for ya, Kohaku," He spoke up, and she gasped a little. "Why would Magma be looking for an opportunity to kill you?"
She then turned around to him and Sumi. "Yeah, why would he think killing Senku would make him stronger? We've never talked to him."
"It's probably because...no, it's definitely...because of the Grand Bout," She explained to them. People were gathered around as two weapons clashed with each other. "Once every generation, the village holds a big martial arts battle. It's a tradition called the Grand Bout."
"So that explains the thing on the far island that looks like an arena," Senku stated and Kohaku continued on.
"The last one was several months ago. On the day my sister, the village priestess Ruri, came of age." Ruri was watching from the tower. Two villagers clashed again with weapons that had padding around them so that there were no deaths. Jasper, Ginro, Suika, and Turquoise watched from near the tower. "Whoever won the Grand Bout was supposed to marry her and become the next village chief. That's how my father became the current village chief."
Magma chuckled while holding his weapon over his shoulder. He charged forward and knocked his opponent off the ground. "The winner is Magma!" Jasper announced while holding up a hand.
"Moving onto the final found!" A villager smiled next to a blond.
"Damn, man, Magma is an unstoppable force of nature!" The blond villager grinned while clenching a fist.
"Aw, yeah!" Mantle cheered in agreement, as usual.
Chrome looked on with a frown at Magma winning. He knew that Magma would win, given his strength, and he didn't want him for Ruri...Coughing was heard and he looked up immediately towards the tower. Ruri was coughing and kneeling, Kokuyo standing over her. "Ruri!" He exclaimed in worry at her.
Chrome ran over with a small jar in his hands. It was full of medicine that he thought could help her. "Hey, Ruri! Are you okay?" He asked in concern, Turquoise holding an arm in front of him.
"Stop right there!" She blocked his way from the tower. "You know you can't just casually walk up to the priestess!"
He gritted his teeth at not being able to do anything. He then looked up towards Ruri, who was sipping some water with help from Kokuyo. Kohaku glanced up at her sister in worry since Ruri had been sick for a while now. She then looked to Magma, who looked smug while staring at her sister. He didn't notice Kohaku's gaze on him.
"Rurui? Bet she's got one more year, at most," He said in a smug way. "I don't want that kinda hassle. If she just went ahead and croaked, I could take over as chief without having to deal with her," He then had a scary look in his eyes. "I could make it look like she drowned. Everyone would think her sickness drove her to throw herself off a cliff."
No one except Kohaku heard him, and when she did, she was pissed off. Not only did Magma not care about her sister or her sickness, he would kill her if he won the Grand Bout! And she couldn't let that happen to Ruri. She leapt at Magma with a scream, her shield in her hands. She pinned him to the ground instantly, her shield right above his eyes.
"Have mercy on me!" He cried out in fear, and the final match was between him and Kohaku. So technically, that meant that he had surrendered. "The winner of the Grand Bout is Kohaku!" Jasper announced behind the two.
"Magma," Kohaku growled down at him in rage. "I cannot allow you to marry Ruri! A man like you doesn't even deserve to be in her presence!"
'I get it now,' Magma thought to himself while trembling. 'Kohaku joined the Grand Bout just to get in my way!'
"Does anybody know what's gonna happen now?" Suika wondered nearby, since a woman hadn't won before. "I mean, the rules do say that whoever wins is supposed to marry Ruri."
Ginro gasped and then blushed lightly. "I guess that means Ruri and Kohaku...will just have to marry each other then!" He thought about the two sisters blushing in each other's presence. "That's super forbidden love! Ouch!" He yelped as Turquoise hit him on the head.
"Obviously not! My word," She scowled at the blond guard. "What should we do now? Who's going to marry Priestess Ruri?"
Ruri stayed silent while Kokuyo was growling in anger from tradition being broken. He then smashed his cup into pieces.
Senku chuckled after listening to the story. "Hilarious. I bet your old man disavowed you after that little stunt."
"Sen!" Sumi turned to him with white eyes, sighing to calm down a bit. "Why do you have to be so blunt? But I can't believe Magma said that about your sister. At least you stopped him before he could do anything to her," She frowned, arms crossed.
"Well, let's just say that was the final straw that broke my dad's patience," Kohaku remarked as she didn't seem to be too hung up over it.
"Kohaku's given the chief a lot of headaches," Chrome replied, a hand on his head. "She's been that way her whole life."
"Of course, the Grand Bout ended up getting rescheduled. There'll be another one next month," Kohaku told the four of them.
"Are you saying the real reason Magma killed Gen is so he can win the Grand Bout?" Chrome wondered to her; it wouldn't be too impossible to believe...
"What?! Gen really is dead? That's horrible!" Suika exclaimed in horror.
"No, he's still alive," Kohaku assured her and Sumi bent down to Suika a little.
"Don't worry, Suika. As long as I'm around, Gen's not dying on us anytime soon," She gave the little girl a reassuring smile.
"Oh man, it would be bad news if Magma became the new chief," Chrome stated and the black-haired woman stood back up.
"Yeah. With a guy like Magma in that position..." Senku rubbed his chin in thought. "Getting the medicine to Ruri will prove to be even more difficult than it already is."
"There's no way he'd let us give her the medicine if he ends up in charge," Sumi closed her eyes with a small sigh. "Or he might even ban us even further away from the village if he's so worried about sorcerers..."
"Heh. I see it as an opportunity," Kohaku said in determination with a small laugh. "If a man from Kingdom of Science were to beat Magma and win the Grand Bout, they'd marry Ruri and become the chief. That would fix everything. It would mean more people in the Kingdom of Science, and make it easy to get the medicine to Ruri."
They stood in front of the bridge as Kohaku approached Kinro and Ginro. Suika was back at the shed to look after Gen. Sumi had told her what to do in case they were gone for too long. The guards didn't question their presence, yet. "Listen up, guys!" Kohaku spoke up to the brothers point blank. "I have an important question for you." They stared at her silently before she talked again. "What do you think about Ruri?" The duo stared at her in shock with wide eyes, their mouths open. Ginro started to consider the question. "Do either one of you want her to be your wife?!"
The two were even more shocked by the question, Ginro's eyes bulging out. Kinro stared with small shadows over his eyes, his mouth dropped a lot. "Uhh, I've never really thought about it before," Ginro answered her first. "Would I marry her? I mean, Ruri is super pretty. Kinda looks like you, but better! First off, she's got way bigger-I mean—she's just so graceful and cute. With big round eyes."
"Uhhh..." Sumi blinked incredibly at him and then sweated nervously as it was over her bow. "How about qualities that don't have anything to do with looks...? Because that doesn't send the right message..."
"Exactly!" Kinro agreed with her. "There's more to a woman than how she looks. Is her appearance really all you care about? I had no idea you were so shallow, Ginro," Kinro frowned while scolding his younger brother.
"Hey!" Ginro turned to him in defense, scratching his head. "You heard me. I said...she had a bigger amount of grace about her."
"I have a very simple answer," Kinro turned back to the group calmly. "Guards don't have discussions. The rules are the rules. But listening to one murmur to themselves is not against the rules. I've seen it myself. Senku and Sumire are definitely not evil people. No matter what we said...she was still kind to us and never forced anything." Sumi smiled happily at him finally not seeing them as sorcerers. "So do what you normally do. Skip the details and tell us what you want."
Kohaku was silent as she looked up, the wind blowing in her hair. She had a look of determination and a bit of sadness as well. "The only thing I want...is to save my sister's life." Once she said that, the two could sympathize with her. If Kinro were in her position, he would've said the same thing. And they could tell Kohaku was willing to do anything to save Ruri.
"Alright," Kinro finally agreed with her.
"You don't have to explain any further," Ginro added in and Sumi's eyes shined. "I understand."
"Thank you, Kinro and Ginro!" She beamed happily at the two. "I know you'll make us proud in the Kingdom of Science!"
The two blinked at her statement and then Ginro smiled at the woman. Now they could see Sumi didn't really have any ill intention or was trying to trick anyone. This was...just who she was...someone they didn't think they'd ever encounter before.
The sun started setting as Kohaku was training Ginro and Kinro. Their weapons were all wrapped in cloth. "Nope!" She exclaimed while waving her weapons around so fast they could barely see them. "Your attacks are all way too shallow!" The two were baffled by her speed.
Ginro screamed in fear of her. "I think it's time for a break!" He ran off just as Senku and Suika were arriving back from the forest.
"Come on! Let's get through three more rounds, first!" Kinro called out while backing away.
"Hold up!" Kohaku called out after them, and then sighed at the two. She glanced up towards Chrome in the shed. He was leaning against the entrance, staring out into the distance as he was lost in thought. And she could take a guess why. "...Hey, Chrome," Her voice snapped him out of it. He then looked towards her as she frowned. "If you wanna know the truth, I'd rather be training you. But...Kinro and Ginro are the only ones who really have a chance of taking down Magma. I'm sorry..."
"Yo, Chrome!" Senku popped up in front of her. "The only reason she's apologizing is because the plan means that one of those guys would marry Ruri, even though we all know you're in love with her!"
Kohaku sweated a little while staring at him. "Did you have to say that? You're blunt, but that was brutal!"
Sumi let out a small scoff. She was tending to Gen as she was changing the herbs over his wounds. "How ironic, Sen," She murmured quietly as she thought Chrome didn't hear. But he actually did as he turned around in confusion. She didn't respond as her back was turned to him and was focused on Gen. Chrome raised a brow at her, wondering what exactly she was talking about.
"Hey, Sumi?" She glanced behind her back and his eyes softened a little. "Do you think...that we can really do it? Actually...cure her?"
She paused while putting down an herb, turning around fully. "Well...back in my time...whatever she's going through would've been easily looked at and remedied. And I know what it's like to watch someone that you felt like you couldn't help because nothing could cure it..." She turned away sadly, her eyes glistening. "When I was a child...I didn't know anything about science. Senku didn't either for that matter." He blinked and turned around to her slowly as she had a sad smile on her face. "And he couldn't stand me. But after one fateful day, after he read lots of science books...he asked me to be his science partner. And I said yes...but that wasn't enough to save my grandmother who was sick when she collapsed. She then ended up just like Ruri." His eyes widened from her having to experience that as a kid. "All they could tell me was that...it's just how life works. People will just...one day have everything stop no matter what age. I wanted to help, to figure out how to heal her...but I couldn't. It was too advanced for me back then. But now that's changed...because you, Sen, and I have the capability to turn everything around. It's like I always say. Science doesn't have restrictions because people out there will stop at nothing to advance humanity. If you really wanna save Ruri..." Her smile turned a bit happier. "You'll have to test your own limits beyond what you've collected and learned so far from Sen. And I know we'll succeed. You really do care about her, huh?"
He then turned back to the others, thinking of a childhood memory.
"This place is amazing!" The younger Chrome exclaimed in awe as they were in a big flower field. The younger Ruri bent down a bit to cough and he rushed over immediately. "Hey, Ruri!"
She then looked up with a small reassuring smile. "I'm okay."
"You've always got a little cough, don't you?" He questioned her in concern.
"Chrome...they told me I'm never gonna get better," She told him sadly, earning a shocked gasp from the little boy. "I'm not gonna live to become an adult..." She had a lost look in her eyes and he then gave a determined look. He wouldn't allow her to die that young.
"I can figure out how to cure you!" She looked up at him in confusion. "I'll gather everything I can find. I promise! I know I'll make you feel better someday!"
The memory caused him to smile. Even if Ruri never knew of how he felt...the most important thing was that she would be okay if they got her the antibiotics. He'd rather have her be happy and healthy with someone than to die by Magma's hands. And that was all he could hope for during the Grand Bout. "Yeah. I'm totally cool with that," He finally said to Kohaku, smiling and jumping down from the shed. He stood up to face Kohaku and Senku. Sumi turned around and looked out the entrance. "If we can create something with science that lets her live a long, happy life...that sounds good to me! Because above all else, I'm a genius scientist, aren't I?"
Senku gave him a smirk, chuckling while turning away a bit. "So you're finally changing job titles from sorcerer to scientist, huh?"
"Yup! I'm not a sorcerer anymore!" Chrome ran over to the green-haired scientist. He looked up and smiled at Sumi gratefully. She blinked as she could tell what he wanted to say and she smiled back at him.
"Then let's leave the Grand Bout stuff to the battle team. While you, Sumi, and I on the science team get to work on the sulfa drug," Senku walked beside Chrome, hands on his hips.
"Hell yeah!" Chrome exclaimed in excitement as they walked towards the sunset. Kohaku and Sumi watched, the blonde looking up towards Sumi.
"Sumi..." The black-haired scientist turned to her curiously and Kohaku gave a knowing smile. "You know, it'd be more helpful in the Grand Bout if you put your fighting skills to the test." 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 Kinro and Ginro. She panted slowly while staring at the two brothers, her fists clenched with a stray bang between her eyes. Kohaku turned to her in shock from her actions, but shook it off.
"Aren't you also training Kinro and Ginro, though?" She blinked down at her friend.
"Well, not now technically," Kohaku grumbled as they weren't anywhere to be seen now. "And besides, your fighting skills are almost as strong as theirs. If I train you during the night, we can refine them. So how about it?"
Sumi stared down at her while letting out a small breath, giving her a look of thought. She then closed her eyes with a smile, thinking about what she told Chrome. She couldn't help her grandmother...but maybe now she could heal Ruri. It wouldn't bring back her grandmother...she knew that already. But at least she could help Kohaku with her sister. And her grandmother was a doctor, so Sumi knew that if she were here now, she would've made the right decision too.
"Sure, why not?" She responded in a kind way to Kohaku. "It'll be fun, and it could strengthen our chances of getting the medicine to Ruri."
Kohaku smiled and nodded at her. "Then it's settled. We'll train at nightfall."
Later, it was nighttime as they were gathered around Gen in the shed. Sumi was tending to Gen once more. "I'm planning on participating in the Grand Bout," Kohaku told everyone, Sumi placing a cold press to Gen's head. "And Sumi's decided to enter too."
"Whoa, really?" Chrome asked her in shock, Suika and Senku looking up in surprise. Sumi nodded with a small smile.
"If it's to help Ruri even more, I'll do it."
Senku chuckled at his science partner. "Those villagers won't know what hit 'em, then. I'm positive with you, it'll be an easy win!"
She blushed from his praise, rubbing her neck with a sheepish laugh. "I still need to train, I'm not that good..." Chrome glanced between the two scientists as he couldn't help but think their recent behavior was...interesting. First there was that whole thing at the river, them staring at each other in the light, Sumi's remark about Senku, and now this... Wait a minute...all of that stuff...no way! Are they—no, it couldn't be! He recoiled back a bit in shock as it hit him...that Sumi had feelings for Senku. And he either didn't know it yet, ignored it, or was in denial of the whole thing. She likes him? Like how I feel for Ruri? Has she told him? But if she did, he wouldn't have changed the subject like he did when we were collecting iron sand. Oh, this is so bad! No wonder why they're acting weird. Okay, I gotta bide my time and give them a nudge along the way. That's what they need!
"Chrome?" He looked up to see Sumi and Senku both staring at him in confusion. "What's going on with you?" Sumi raised a brow at him.
"Ah, nothing, nothing!" He waved it off innocently. They're gonna be so grateful to me!
"Anyway," Kohaku spoke up to change the subject. "The two brothers, Sumi, and I will be the Kingdom of Science team. We'll do whatever it takes to keep Magma from winning."
"Sounds good!" Chrome agreed with her, and then Gen let out harsh breaths. He looked down at the mentalist in worry. "Is he alright? He looks way worse!"
"I think he'll be fine," Kohaku answered while looking down at him too. "But his recovery's gonna take longer than we thought."
"Magma really did a number on him," Sumi sighed a little while adjusting the leaves on his wounds. "The area that got punched, right around here," She circled a finger to near the stomach. "Is reacting to some new herbs that I believe will help. But he's been here for days now, which isn't to be expected."
Chrome gasped as he realized what she meant. "And that means..."
"Yeah," Senku spoke, looking up from the medicine he was making. "It won't be long before Tsukasa comes around looking for me and then kills me for real. And then snatch Sumi for himself so he can marry her."
They all turned to him in silence, Gen opening his eyes as he heard everything.
"I can't speed up his recovery," Sumi opened her eyes, getting their attention. "But we do need to do something before Tsukasa gets too suspicious and starts looking for him. Which means...that report is top priority before we can do anything else to save Ruri."
They all stayed silently as they agreed with her and Kohaku stood up. "Come on, Sumi. Time for some training," She smiled a little and Sumi stood up, following after the woman.
"You'll take over for me?" Sumi glanced over her shoulder to Senku, who nodded.
"So long as you don't train yourself to sleep," He told her and she gave a small smile, nodding.
"Don't worry. We won't take long," Kohaku stated as the two left. Chrome glanced to Senku to see him give a small smirk towards Sumi. He then snickered to himself, Senku turning to him in confusion. Chrome just whistled innocently, annoying the scientist a little. A little bit later, the two girls were heard sparring as Sumi swung her weapon to clash with Kohaku. Her hair was in a low bun.
"Harder, Sumi! Your strike is slow." Kohaku struck again and Sumi blocked it off as swiftly as she could. She then attacked with both her covered blades, Sumi stepping back as she fought off all of the attacks coming her way. Eventually, she stumbled and fell backwards onto the ground with a grunt, panting. Kohaku stared at the woman and then held out a hand to her. "You've gotta control your balance. Otherwise Magma will use it to his advantage if you face him."
Sumi looked up at her and grabbed her hand, standing up. "Again!" The two continued to spar.
Chrome was asleep, snot coming from his nose. Gen was lying down on his side while Senku was preparing more medicine. Sumi was back from her training, about to doze off. Gen let out a soft breath, Senku and Sumi turning to him. He said something and they blinked. The two then leaned in as he continued speaking. Once they heard him, the two turned their backs to him, Senku speaking up first. Sumi turned back to him and answered back. Gen smiled from what they said, and then spoke again. Sumi flinched and rubbed her neck, Gen crying out sadly to her. Sumi scratched her cheek awkwardly. Senku snickered quietly so that Chrome wouldn't wake up. She tried to assure him of something, but he was shaking and whimpering a little. She sweated awkwardly at him, and Gen sighed in defeat. He said something and Senku looked annoyed after hearing it from Gen.
Chrome was still asleep the next morning, snoring. "I'm still sleepy," Ginro complained outside and Chrome woke up. The blond guard rubbed at his eyes while yawning.
"Well it's time to wake up," Kinro retorted back to him. "We agreed to do training in the morning until we rotate on guard duty. This is so Kohaku can train Sumire at night."
"THIS IS BAD!" Chrome shouted from the shed, waking up Ginro and getting Kinro to look towards him. "Gen's not here, he vanished somehow!" He was freaking out as indeed, Gen wasn't resting and he was the only one in the shed.
Gen was panting while running in the forest, still injured. He let out shaky breaths while willing himself to run.
"Yeah, well," Senku spoke up while digging his pinky into his ear. "It's obvious where he went. Back to Tsukasa."
Kohaku and Chrome gasped sharply. "But why? Why sneak out like that?" He wondered while climbing down the ladder.
"I bet that rat's gonna snitch!" Kohaku exclaimed as Sumi gave a small smile. "He's gonna go and tell Tsukasa that Senku is still alive! And that Sumi isn't mourning his death!" Suika and Chrome gasped after hearing this.
"Not good, Senku, Sumi! We have to try and stop him!"
Gen was still running, panting as he jumped over branches. He tripped and fell to the ground. But then he grunted and forced himself back up to continue running. He could still feel the injury in his stomach while heading to a shadowy location. He finally made it to a cave with a guard nearby. An arrow was shot to land in front of him, stopping him in place. He gasped as he knew what it was.
"Wait, Tsukasa!" He cried out to the cave. "It's me!" The person who shot the arrow was hiding in the darkness. He panted to catch his breath from both running and still not being fully recovered. "I found a village full of primitives," He panted out as Tsukasa had already revived a number amount of people staring at him. "They attacked me, and I ended up getting a little banged up in the process." Tsukasa looked bored out of his mind, a hand on his cheek. Gen then stood up with a big grin on his face. "But I did manage to find out about Senku and Sumi."
That got Tsukasa's interest as he looked up, since the two were the only thing he cared about hearing.
"We have to catch that bastard right now!" Kohaku exclaimed and then ran off. She didn't make it very far as Senku stepped in front of her.
"No, stop!" The two crashed into each other. Senku was on his back while Kohaku was pinning him, the others watching.
"What are you doing, Senku?!" Kohaku wondered while looking at him and Sumi approached the duo. Her hands were behind her back. "If we don't catch him, it's game over for you and Sumi!"
Senku chuckled, confusing her. Sumi had a sweet smile on her face while standing next to them. "I'm just saying, I think we can let him be for now." Sumi reached out a hand to both of them, Kohaku pausing. The look on Sumi's face...she wasn't worried at all, which tipped off Kohaku. Out of all of them, she'd be the most worried since she was the only one to see Senku die. So the expression on her face...calmed Kohaku down a little. They both took her hands and she helped the both of them up. "Look at it this way. If Gen really didn't have one millimeter of interest in science, he never would've cooperated in the first place. Don't forget Sumi did get him to help out with the villagers. He made up his mind about what side he was on the moment the two of us made electricity. That's what got him. But Sumi...her being resistant to his mind tricks was the start of the slow process."
Sumi smiled while glancing up at Senku. "But he's still a completely superficial man to his core. So he ran away to give us a show."
"I wouldn't worry about him. He just did all that for drama. Although he's definitely getting checked on when he gets back. Running all the way over there and back for his report certainly won't help with his injuries," Sumi placed a hand on her hip with a small shrug. "But that just means I'll have to work harder so he'll have a smoother recovery!" She smiled while pumping her fist.
Kohaku groaned at this. "You men. Such a pain in the ass. No matter what era."
Senku just gave a small smile in response. "Ahh...this ramen is making me wickedly thirsty. A Cola would be great."
Sumi and Senku leaned over Gen last night. "Even in this stone world...could you two make one for me?" He spoke up weakly to the two. "Just one cola...?" He got nothing in response as they thought about his question.
"Yeah...for sure," Senku gave him a small smile. "Nobody else can."
Sumi turned to look at him, smiling. "One cola will be coming up, Gen. Just remember to be careful, though." Gen smiled genuinely from their words.
"Then I guess...it's a promise...between me and my new best friend, Sumi." Sumi flinched from his statement and then rubbed her neck awkwardly.
"I mean...it's great that you think of me that highly but...no?" She gave an awkward smile and gestured to Senku next to her. "That would be Sen, obviously. He's known me the longest and has learned everything about me out of everyone else..."
Gen gave a suspicious look towards the two, wondering if it was really correct. "Everything, huh?"
Senku closed his eyes, holding up a finger. "Favorite food, yakitori. Favorite sweets, cotton candy. Favorite dessert, baumkuchen," He recited as the three foods appeared in his imagination together. Sumi drooled a little as a chibi head.
"Aww, I'm so hungry!" She whined but then smiled brightly. "But he's exactly right!"
"But I'm pretty high, aren't I?" Gen cried out a little sadly and in disappointment. "So I'm second."
"Ahhh..." Sumi scratched her cheek while looking away. "Well, there's Kohaku, Yuzuriha, and Suika for that...?" Kohaku, Yuzuriha, and Suika as chibi heads popped up. "And they can tell you what I'm like and what I enjoy. But y-you're on the list, so you've got that going for you."
"Ha ha ha!" Senku snickered quietly as Chrome was still asleep. "You really thought that you're one of her favorites now?"
"I thought we had something speciaaaaaal...!" He shook and whimpered up at her.
"Gen, now we do!" She waved her hands rapidly so that she could try and help him feel better. He was still injured after all. But she was also honest with herself and other people, and he was a mentalist. So she couldn't exactly lie to his face... "Everyone's my friend," She looked away as she wasn't sure about Magma, Tsukasa, and Mantle. "Well, there are people in this stone world who I have disagreements with, but you're higher than them..."
"Ahhh...!" Gen cried out again in dismay. "What is friendship...?" He lamented to the woman.
"Eep..." Sumi flinched, sweating profusely as she wasn't helping. "Sorry!" She let out a small squeak apologetically.
He then sighed in defeat. "I suppose it can't be helped that I don't have favor with the Kingdom of Science's sweetheart..."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Senku asked him in irritation as a chibi head.
Gen looked up towards Tsukasa. "Senku...was gone. No trace of him anywhere. Sumi is still grieving his death," He snapped his fingers with a grin. "There's no doubt. He's definitely not alive, and Sumi's not ready to be married!"
"Whoa," Chrome commented in awe. "So Gen's gonna join the Kingdom of Science?"
"Yeah. He'll come back before too long and act like nothing happened," Senku answered him, Sumi giving a wink.
"Yup. And Tsukasa won't suspect a single thing!"
"Ha!" Kohaku smiled while looking up. "Well, I guess that was our first battle against the Tsukasa empire. In the fight over Asagiri Gen, the Kingdom of Science claims victory!" She was looking towards their flag.
"Gen turned out to be a good guy after all!" Suika exclaimed in happiness.
"Yeah!" Chrome cheered as well.
"It's the world's most filmsy alliance," Senku spoke up as Gen was on his walk back, though walking slowly since his injuries. "Bound by a single bottle of cola." He sat on a rock.
"Man...this isn't worth all the trouble," He looked up towards the sun. "For just one bottle of cola," He tilted his head a little. "I hope it's ice cold. That's the very least they could do..." He murmured hopefully while admiring the sight.
Senku let out a small scoff. "So our next step is to use our knowledge of science to make him an ice cold cola. And we would love to have it ready by the time he makes it back."
"It'd be a nice surprise for him if we pull that off!" Sumi smiled while clapping her hands. "We didn't gain him as an ally for nothing after all."
"What even is a cola, anyway?" Chrome couldn't help but ask.
"Oh!" She blinked as she realized they wouldn't know what that was. She then smiled while holding up a finger. "Well, I'm glad you asked, fellow members of the Kingdom of Science!" She stepped forward to start explaining it to them. "So cola is a drink from our time, and the first one was made in 1767 by a Joseph Priestly. By using water and carbon dioxide, he..." As she continued speaking, Senku chuckled to himself watching her. She looked so natural speaking about science, even when explaining things simpler to people who didn't understand Senku's language. He felt his heart accelerating, looking down at his chest as he found her...intriguing right now...