Angel: I just wanna say that to those who are a fan of Sumi and Senku, uh, the last episodes of season one I hope will not disappoint, cause there is some major stuff both in the homestretch of this season, and some stuff in season two to watch out for. Currently, I'm working on Joker from season 3, so I'm almost done with the season as of writing it. Looking forward to the new episode this week because already last week's episode just gave me several ideas that I can't spoil right now. Anyways, enjoy the rest of season one for the rest of the week!
The new waterwheel came to life with its new gears and components. Senku smirked towards the sight. "Now that we have gears and a waterwheel, the age of manual labor has officially ended!"
"That's right, guys," Sumi smiled at the group. "With this, our troubles will be over. Well...most of them, anyway."
"With an infinite machine that requires no fuel..." Senku started off as he and Sumi held one wire each. This created sparks of electricity between the two as they kneeled in front of the waterwheel. We're finally truly harnessing the incredible power of nature!"
Everyone gasped in shock at the sight in front of them. Electricity cracked around the duo. "Say goodbye to relying on manpower..."
"And hello to the age of energy!" He and Sumi finished off together.
Hydroelectric power plant acquired!
"So...what is this thing?" Kohaku spoke up while staring at the invention.
"A hydroelectric generator," Senku answered her simply.
Kinro pushed up his glasses. "Hydroelectric?"
"Generator?" Ginro was still in awe.
Sumi giggled while gesturing to the waterwheel behind her. "It means that when water is flowing through our waterwheel, it pushes against the wheel and turns the blades into a turbine. And then it keeps spinning to give us our electricity."
"This is on another evel-lay," Gen sweated a little, not knowing if he should be impressed or afraid of what the two scientists do when they worked together. "You realize that."
Senku just chuckled while giving a small smirk. Sumi smiled with a hand on her hip, her eyes closed. "Don't look at me or Sumi for this one. You can thank Chrome and old man Kaseki. They built this gigantic waterwheel on their own!"
"And we appreciate their efforts, all we did was modify it," She glanced back as the two linked arms again. They were happy from the praise they were getting, since Senku was always too logical to be impressed anymore. Well, he had been on rare occasions when Sumi could pull that off no problem. But she was the only exception to that.
Senku then held up one wire, Sumi holding the other as they brought them together for a reaction. The ends weren't connected, but some electricity already was sparking out. "It's not done yet, though. All of the precious electricity this is harnessing is still leaking away..."
"Um..." Kohaku spoke while she and Suika blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, we need to build containers for it," Senku grinned at her. Kaseku and Chrome were nearby, their bodies slouched since they had gotten no sleep at all.
"Huh?!" Ginro's eyes widened from what he was hearing. "Wait, we can store that spinning power?"
"Of course!" Sumi smiled at him. "Otherwise it'll be too dangerous to let it continue leaking. If anyone were to touch it like that, they could get seriously hurt. So we need to store it to prevent that from happening."
"Yeah, although they're gonna be kind of a pain to build," Senku glanced over his shoulder to Kaseki and Chrome. "Heh heh...so get off your asses, you two! We've got an insane amount of hard-mode crafting to do before we're able to make our cell phones! So there's no time to rest!"
Everyone dropped their mouths while looking at him, thinking back to the other amounts of hard labor they had to do for the Kingdom of Science. Sumi blinked at Senku in disbelief and then sighed slowly at him. "Really? You can't even let Kaseki and Chrome get some rest? If they keep working like this, they'll drop dead. And then they can't work at all," She gestured to the two.
"They'll be fine! They can rest later," He gave her a big evil grin. She recoiled back at this response, her eyes white.
"So savage!" She exclaimed at him in shock.
"That's bad..." Chrome muttered, him and Kaseki exhausted beyond belief.
Senku just gave his usual smirk. His eyes had a manic gleeful look to them. "It's the beginning of our very own Spartan crafts club! This is gonna be fun! Get excited!"
"Fun for you and me, maybe," Sumi remarked and glanced back at the two, slowly shaking her head. Not even three days with no sleep was gonna stop Senku from putting them to work...She bent down to them with a worried frown. "I'm sorry about this, you guys...but we do have a deadline to be mindful of. You can take as many breaks as you want, okay?"
"Thanks, Sumi..." Kaseki and Chrome murmured out gratefully, but also tiredly.
The glass-blowing furnace was being used as Chrome was blowing some out. Senku and Sumi watched as he, Kaseki, Ginro, and Kinro were working. "To make our container, otherwise known as a battery, we take two sheets of lead, put 'em in a bottle, and introduce 'em to our two-faced goddess Sulfurina," He poured in something into the glass bottle battery. By Sulfurina, he meant the sulfuric acid lady they faced twice.
"Who's that?" Gen looked up in confusion from watching Senku. "Oh, the sulfuric acid," He sweat dropped a little. Senku was already standing in front of Sumi so she wouldn't inhale it.
Senku then gave a smirk. "Add some electricity to this and we've got stored power! Heh heh, it's simpler than you think, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry," Chrome piped up, glancing at him. "What about this process has been simple?"
"Well, at least the bottles won't break thanks to Kaseki's glass-blowing skills!" Sumi added with a smile. "These babies are gonna last us as long as the electricity continues at a steady pace!"
"Now we just make five more of these and connect them all," Senku gave Chrome a mischievous smirk, seemingly ignoring the question.
Kaseki gave a small groan. "I know we're the crafts team and all, but have some compassion! We just worked three days straight, and now this?!"
"We're so sorry!" Sumi cried out to him. "But we need good hands like yours to get this done..."
"Ah, no need to apologize for Senku, Sumi. We know you at least do show us a lot of care and sympathy," He assured the woman.
"Yeah, it always makes it worth it when Senku doesn't give us that kind of special treatment," Chrome gave a small amused smile.
"That's because I don't coddle people like they're babies," Senku deadpanned, earning an annoyed pout from Sumi. "Stop distracting them."
"Stop distracting them," Sumi mocked a little towards him. "I will when you start acting like you give a damn to people who worked for three days straight."
"Ha!" Senku chuckled at her, patting her on the head. "I have my science partner taking that up for me, remember?" She sent him a blank look in response and decided not to comment further. Despite this, they continued their work, making five more batteries. Soon, they had six of them hooked up to the generator.
Batteries acquired!
"I don't know," Ginro gave a skeptical look while looking over the batteries. Senku had a finger up his nose while Sumi casually looked at her fingernails. "Are those tiny things really holding all that much power?"
"I wouldn't if I were you," Sumi called out to him, but he didn't listen while holding a wire.
"We had to work our butts off to spin-" A large surge of electricity came from the batteries, and he shrieked as he got electrocuted.
"I told you..." Sumi sighed as she, Suika, Senku, and Kohaku watched him. "Weren't you listening to me before? This is what happens when you're not careful..."
"Yup, it's definitely all in there," Kohaku had a big grin on her face. Once the shock was over, Ginro was on the ground, smoke coming from his body. Sumi walked over to examine him, cringing. Before she could even say anything, he flinched in realization.
"So does that mean that Kinro and I don't have to do all that grueling work by hand anymore?" He wondered while remembering spinning the generator. Kinro's eyes widened in surprise as he looked towards Sumi and Senku.
"You bet," Senku smirked at the two. "Never again. We told you, didn't we? We're in the age of energy now!"
"Yup," Sumi nodded, hands behind her back. "It's like I said before. The water generates all the power we'll need from now on."
Kinro and Ginro shared high-fives, Ginro shedding tears of joy. Kinro was happy in his own way, both of them glad that they didn't have to spin it anymore. "Hooray for the age of energy!" The blond cried out happily.
"I'm not surprised Ginro's happy," Kokuyo looked on with his arms crossed. "But even the diligent, hardworking Kinro's celebrating."
"They turned that thing so much. Must've been a tougher job than we thought," Suika looked at them sympathetically. Sumi smiled while patting her shoulder to cheer her up.
Senku just looked up ahead with a blank look. "It's not like you're free from labor. We're just gonna use your manpower elsewhere now."
"Let them have this," Sumi shook her head at him. "If you and I were the ones doing it, you'd be ready to be done with it too at some point. Probably wouldn't have even lasted a week." Senku grunted a little at her, leaning in to whisper.
"Don't forget that when you found me after de-petrification, I was-"
"Da da da!" She swatted her hands at him and he pushed her away with a small laugh. "Don't you dare finish that sentence," She gave him a small annoyed look. "I know what you're trying to say and you're not getting me this time!"
"If you say so," He shrugged with a small smirk towards her.
Kohaku looked towards the brothers, her eyes glinting while a manic smile was on her face. "And finally, the fighters can focus on their training!" She then sparred with them using their katanas. "Put your back into it!" She turned around to Ginro, their weapons clashing. Kinro yelled while rushing in from behind. She turned around in time to strike back. "We only have a few months until the big battle. You need to be in shape to beat Tsukasa and Hyoga by then!"
"I'm in for hell later, aren't I? No one's safe apparently anymore..." Sumi sweated knowingly that this meant Kohaku was gonna start up training her at night again. And considering all the science work she had to do, she was in for a long few months...
Senku was using the saw to cut at a block of wood in front of him, sweating. Chrome and Kaseki couldn't take it anymore as they looked like they were gonna die. "This is not the best time to be taking a break, you guys!" He called out to them.
"I don't think I can take much more!" Chrome cried out, as he looked way too skinny.
"Old man Kaseki's gonna die at this rate!" Suika shouted while holding the man, who already looked dead.
Sumi turned around to Senku, kneeling between Chrome and Kaseki. "If you keep working them like this, we won't have any help to finish!" She cried out in disbelief. "Don't worry, Suika, he's not dead, but he really needs some rest!"
"Well, there's one additional use for the waterwheel that's worth croaking over!" Senku was tired himself, but smirking. "Heh heh heh. It's time to make us some gears, you guys. They'll work off of the waterwheel's constant motion."
However, because he wasn't looking, he sawed right through the log in half. He gave a yell of dismay as his eyes bulged out. "Seriously?" Sumi looked on in disbelief at this.
"Damn it, it broke again!" Senku felt like a dark cloud was over him while looking at the blueprints. "I thought I copied the blueprints perfectly!" Suika looked on across the scientist while Sumi looked over his shoulder to see it.
"Maybe we're missing something," She wondered, the three so focused they didn't notice Chrome and Kaseki looming over them. The trio then flinched in alarm once they heard the two's heavy breathing.
"Because there's only teeth on half of the disk, they catch the top and bottom in turn. Which converts the rotational motion into a back and forth one!" Chrome murmured as he looked more alive from this new creation. "These ideas humanity came up with are incredible! And badass!"
Kaseki felt like his drive was returning again. "Now you've done it! The craftsman in me is getting so excited, it's starting to piss me off! Here, kid. Why not leave the intricate work to a professional?" He waved his hand a little.
Suika looked at them in awe that they weren't close to dying anymore. "Uhh...they were worn out until a second ago but now they're being all tough just cause they saw some drawings?" She asked in amazement.
"D-Don't you still need to rest?" Sumi stammered at them nervously, sweating a little. "You worked for three days, remember? At least take it a little easy."
"Ah, don't worry about them," Senku smirked, digging his pinky into his ear. "You used to be like this too when you started out. You two should've seen her, she'd always get so excited at learning something from me, and always asking questions. She'd even sometimes do her own little experiments when I started on big projects with things she hadn't known yet."
"Nooo, this is so embarrassing," Sumi whined while looking away with her lips up in a big pout. "I was a kid, remember? Of course I'd be asking questions all the time!" Her cheeks were also a little flushed. Senku just laughed at her face.
Soon, they were making new gears, and once they were done, the hydroelectric generator had an air pump to keep the fire burning into the furnaces. Everyone gasped in awe at the new upgrade, and a furnace was connected to it for demonstration.
"Is this what I think it is?!" Ginro asked with a big grin.
Chrome gave an excited grin towards them. "We've upgraded our blowing capability again! Level 1, level 2, and now level 3!"
The villagers looked on in awe as they looked at the work being done. "Blowing air into the furnace was the most exhausting work we had to do to get a bowl of ramen!" Ganen exclaimed, all of the villagers having white eyes.
"The hellish iron making work has finally been mechanized!" Gen cried out in joy, since he was one of the people doing it too. Everyone then exchanged happy high fives at not having to do it anymore, tears from their eyes.
"Hooray for the age of energy!" They cried out happily.
Senku was nearby, a pinky in his ear. "Like I said, this doesn't mean you're done with labor!"
"Once again, just let them have this even for just a few minutes..." Sumi gave him a sweat drop.
Kokuyo had the same look as Kohaku did when it meant not spinning the generator. "And finally, the non-fighters can focus on prepping for the winter!"
And with that, they all got to work, steaming meat into a jar. Ganen brought it into the lab, Sumi helping take inventory with the local artist. "This is all brand new to me," The former chief commented while taking a jar. "Ahh, is this that bottling thing you mentioned?"
"Yes, the ancestor of canning," Gen smiled from behind, his hands in his sleeves.
"Oh, boy!" Ganen wiped off his mouth in delight. "I can't believe we can preserve meat for the winter! I must be in heaven!"
"Yup," Sumi smiled happily at them, looking up from her paper. "Now that we have more glassware, we can store our food."
"Hey, Sumi! Need to talk to you for a sec," Senku called out from outside, she and Gen glancing to each other in confusion. Both of them stepped out into the open, the rest of the science team in a huddle not too far away.
"So what's the Spartan Crafts Club making this time?" Gen wondered curiously to them.
"Light bulbs," Senku responded bluntly without looking back. Gen's eyes widened in surprise while Sumi was completely unfazed by it. He then closed his eyes in acceptance, since he was getting used to answers like this by now.
You know, that's absolutely azy-crazy, but I'm starting to get used to being blown away at this point.
"What do you need?" Sumi then asked her science partner.
"Gonna need you to hang back on this project," He started off, and she tilted her head in confusion. "Nothing personal, but I can't tell you what they're for. So if you work on these, it'll ruin our plans. Would you mind helping the village prepare for winter instead? I'll give you a list of things we need. You can start by making our winter clothes. Gonna need a lot of 'em. Can I count on you?"
Gen, Chrome, and Kaseki all blinked towards them. Never once had they heard Senku ask Sumi of this before. It was always them working together, so it was a little surprising he wanted to take her off the project.
"Oh, sure, of course you can," Sumi smiled at him and nodded. "I understand. I'll go ask Kohaku if she has any extra fur!" She ran off immediately, smiling to herself. She didn't feel like she wasn't needed, but she also could understand that she'd learn about what the light bulbs were for later.
"Why'd you take her off this? Don't we need all the help we can get?" Chrome wondered once she was gone.
"While it would be helpful, it's a secret. So it's better if she doesn't know until it's time," Senku responded without looking up. "This gets up to about 2,000 degrees Celsius once it's lit," He continued to explain while Kaseki was putting a filament into the lightbulb. "Which makes the metal connections melt apart. So, to keep it all together, we're gonna have to use glass as an adhesive," The craftsman used a smaller iron stick with heat at the bottom to heat the connection together.
"This is such delicate work, even I'm a little stressed about it," Kaseki commented while his hands were shaking. Soon after, the lightbulb shattered in front of them. Both him and Chrome let out yelps in alarm.
"Aw, bad!" Chrome gripped at his hair with white eyes, tears coming from them. "Why is this so hard?!"
Senku just chuckled since he was used to this. And he could remember Sumi acting similarly when she failed at her first task he gave her. That sulfur ball generator he wanted her to make once took her almost two weeks to get correctly. In her own words, it was 'a never-ending circle of pain.'
"What's the matter? Are you going to give up already?" He asked the two of them.
"Hm?" Kaseki stood up, determined. "Not at all! Although my body gave up a long time ago..."
"I knew I could always count on a craftsman's spirit," He grinned towards Kaseki in approval.
"Sheesh," Kaseki shrugged off the compliment. "I've lived such an easy life here for the past 60 years." Senku looked at him in confusion. "But Senku, ever since you and Sumi showed up, it's been a hell of a lot harder, that's for sure! But more importantly, it's been a hell of a lot more fun! Aside from a select few of us here, I bet everyone in the village feels the same way!" By select few, he meant Mantle and Magma, who were annoyed to be put to hellish work. Sumi was guiding people along with a smile on her face. Senku had a small smile on his face, looking towards Sumi as he knew that she'd feel pleased as well if she heard it.
The leaves from the trees started to change from green to other colors. One of the villagers put down a bunch of wood, Carbo carrying some. Shovel was digging for carrots while Suika was picking fruit from the trees. Sumi was carrying a basket on her back, grabbing apples nearby. Ginro and Kinro were walking nearby, dragging over animals for meat and more furs. Sumi looked down at them, waving from above. Ginro looked up and waved back to her.
Ganen held up a big vegetable to the sky, Shovel and Suika cheering for him. Sumi smiled at the size of it, measuring it out with her hands for quantity. Meanwhile, some villagers were out fishing on the water. Ruby picked out grapes, she and her sisters carrying them on baskets on top of their heads. They then carried over the fruit to Senku and Sumi. Kohaku and Ruri were squishing the grapes in a big basket for wine. Ruri had her hair in pigtails as they were both wearing white. Sumi looked down at the wine getting poured out with a smile. One of the villagers passed over fur and needles for Sumi and she smiled gratefully. She then guided Gen and Senku to stand still so she could measure them. Kohaku then took her measurements for her own clothing.
Later, Sumi made a new foxtail millet ramen recipe for Senku and Gen to try. She waited in anticipation as they tried it. Senku slowly put it down and then smiled fondly, Gen hugging her tight in joy. Her eyes shined as she tried some herself, her jaw dropping in shock from how much she had improved on it. Jasper held up a plank in front of Kokuyo, Mantle and Magma panting in exhaustion from all the work. A few kids and elders were spinning more gold thread into wires. Suika ran over to them, pointing behind her. They looked up to see Sumi behind the ramen stand, having just made some. She waved with a beaming smile as Turquoise and another villager offered some. The group all went over eagerly to have some.
Kohaku continued to train with Kinro, Sumi, and Ginro, the leaves starting to fall off. Chrome, Kaseki, and Senku continued to work on the light bulbs, the wind blowing. Sumi was in the shed with the door closed, making winter clothing as instructed by Senku. She pricked her finger and put it into her mouth. She then shook it off and continued to sew carefully. Once she was done with one of them, she held the new outfit up for Senku to see and he smiled in approval. She smiled back and he bandaged off her finger.
Then Ruri and Kohaku helped the woman out, instructing her so that she wouldn't prick herself as much. Plus, the amount of clothing needed was getting harder and harder for Sumi to pull off on her own. She had been helping all around the village the majority of autumn, after all. The black-haired woman took in their instructions, nodding while listening to them. Senku looked on with a smile to himself, glad that she had help when necessary. And since he had to take her off the light bulbs, he was relieved that she didn't seem to be taking it too hard not being able to make them with him.
The sun rose for another day to start as frost started to hit the environment. In the meantime, they had successfully made a lightbulb. Chrome held it up in awe. "Whoa, cool! But last time we made a light source like this, didn't it burn itself out immediately? You know, that time up on the roof? So what's the plan?"
Senku was in the lab looking for something. "Well, when you want something to burn, what do you do?" He questioned back without taking his eyes off the shelves.
"You feed it a ton of extra air with a blowing machine," Chrome asked slowly while looking for the answer. Senku stepped out of the lab with supplies in his hands. "Like what we started doing with the waterwheel?"
"Then what do you think you would do to keep something from burning?" Senku asked again while looking at him.
Chrome hummed in thought while looking at the lightbulb. He then gasped as it finally came to him. "Take the air...out of it?"
Suika was watching Chrome and Senku with a set-up. The green-haired scientist had a cloth around his nose and mouth. He then poured mercury into a glass funnel connected to a tube. Suika looked around as Sumi wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Where's Sumi?" She asked curiously to them.
"Well, she's done preparing for winter, so I'm guessing she has something else to fill her time with," Senku stated with a small shrug. She was actually in the science shed, drawing up something with a smile.
Sumi's winter outfit consisted of a light pink winter shawl. Her hood was over her head, with her hair tucked into the fabric so that it wouldn't get in the way. Her bangs were out of the hood, however, stopping at her waist. The shawl was draped over her normal clothing, stopping at the same spot her bangs were. The shawl also came with sleeves that stopped at her wrists. E=mc2 was on the left side in black, and she also had white fluff material at the bottom of her outfit. The same material was in her hood as well as her sleeves. And she also had on winter boots. The ensemble was something she painfully worked on while prepping for winter.
"There," She moved her hand back from the paper in front of her, as it was a blueprint for something. What it was for, she couldn't explain to anyone just yet. She admired the drawings with a beaming smile. "Alright," She cheered happily for herself. "Now I've just gotta put it into action when the time is right," She rolled up the blueprint carefully and then placed it around her rope belt so it wouldn't fly away.
"We'll take advantage of the way mercury absorbs air. It'll suck it out of the lightbulb as it passes by...creating a vacuum," He explained to the two, and Kaseki had a pair of hot tongs. He sealed the lightbulb with it, Chrome holding it carefully. Suika looked up in interest, turning to Kaseki admiring the lightbulb. He then cradled it with his cheek, since it took months to get this correct.
To test the lightbulb, they connected it to the pack of batteries from the hydroelectric generator. All of them watched in anticipation as Senku flipped the switch. "No matter how hot it gets, if it doesn't have access to air, it won't burn," He then stood up with a grin on his face. "That's why it can last for such a long time. It won't burn out like the last one!"
Gen approached from the side and suddenly Sumi opened up the shed, waving. "Hey, Gen!" She called out, getting their attention. She closed her eyes and smiled in response from the doorway. The black-haired scientist looked excited for some reason. "Can you come here for a few minutes, please? It's really important."
"Why am I slightly nervous about this?" Gen murmured while walking past them. Senku blinked at the two as Gen started to climb up.
"Why does she need Gen?" Chrome wondered to Kaseki and Senku, the latter looking a little annoyed. He too was trying to wonder why Sumi needed a mentalist for herself. He then noticed her expression and hummed in thought.
"Maybe she's cooking up something of her own..." He stated to the two, turning back to them. He chuckled to himself; not because he could guess what it was. But because he figured they were even now since he still hadn't told her what the lightbulbs were for. "I'm getting a little excited now just thinking about it."
Night fell soon, and it was getting even colder. Sumi was in the village, explaining to everyone what she had planned behind Senku's back. Most of them were excited as they listened to her, a smile on her face once they cheered in agreement. She wasn't even focused on what Senku's own secret project was, since she now had her own to concentrate on. Kohaku then stepped up to inform all of them to follow her. She led them down into the forest as they wondered what was going on. Suika was holding onto Sumi's shawl from behind as she was in front next to Kohaku.
"What do you think is gonna happen, Sumi?" Suika looked up at her and she smiled.
"I'm not sure, but given this is Senku, we can only wait and see," The black-haired woman told her, patting her on the head gently. "I'm sure it'll be something really amazing, though!"
"You're right!" Suika agreed eagerly, taking her hand. Sumi smiled down at her softly, curling her fingers around the girl's gently.
"Senku!" Kohaku called out once they reached a big tree. "I brought everyone like you told me!"
"Great," He turned to her, Gen, Chrome, and Kaseki already there as well. "Just hang out for a sec. Almost time." He flinched as he saw Sumi's winter clothing properly for the first time, since she was too busy with her own things for him to see her for too long. He flushed a little as looking at her felt like she was the only person standing there. The way her bangs were the only thing he could see from her hair, how her fur looked, and how...cute it was. Sumi blinked at his expression, wondering if there was something on her face as she examined herself.
The scientist then cleared his throat. "Get ready to take a trip down memory lane, Sumi."
"Huh?" She blinked in confusion as she had no idea what he was talking about. Suddenly, snowflakes began to fall into the air, almost like tiny snow fairies dancing around. It was now officially the first snow of the season. Sumi gasped while her eyes shined a little, holding out a hand. Everyone looked up and Chrome frowned.
"Aw, bad. It's snowing," He murmured in worry, turning to Senku. "We callin' off the test?"
"No, I'd like to do it today," Senku answered, briefly glancing at Sumi with a knowing smile. Gen and Chrome looked at him in confusion. He walked up to the tree as a wire was dangling from it, and it held a switch.
"All set. Ready whenever you are," Kaseki told the green-haired scientist. He then gave a smirk, holding the switch.
"Good. Then let's turn this on." He flipped it and a bunch of light came from the tree. Kaseki gasped and looked up as the tree was beautifully lit with a bright glow thanks to the lightbulbs in it. Sumi slowly opened her mouth in awe while staring at it, letting go of Suika's hand.
"So pretty!" Suika smiled in awe, the other villagers amazed as well. "They're like twinkling stars sitting right in the tree!"
"Some decorative lightning," Gen gave a small smile as the feeling felt familiar. "It feels like I'm suddenly back in the old days. How fun."
"It took us two whole months!" Kaseki looked up at Senku standing next to him. "Oh man. That's a long time, isn't it?"
"Nah, we're right on schedule," Senku answered and Sumi furrowed her eyebrows at him. Gen, however, realized what he was saying. His eyes widened as it hit him, gasping in surprise.
"Wait a second. Don't tell me today's actually...Christmas?!"
Sumi gasped sharply while looking to Senku. He had a soft expression on his face, the light brightening his eyes. "Oh yeah, now that you've mentioned it...it's quite the coincidence," He tried to play it off. Gen stepped up to him with a sneaky smile.
"You liar..." Both of them blinked as Sumi stepped past them slowly, focusing on the tree. It now all finally made sense to her...why he didn't want her to work on the lightbulbs. Because he wanted it to be a surprise...
A younger Sumi and Senku looked up at the big Christmas tree in the local market, the snow falling. She cheered happily while looking up at it, all decorated and lit up. Senku just had an unreadable expression on his face. She enjoyed looking at the Christmas tree every year.
Sumi shook a little as tears came to her eyes, though not from missing that tree. But because the new one brought all of those happy memories back to her...of seeing the beauty from the tree and what it meant to people. "It's been so long...since I've seen a Christmas tree..." A tear flew down her face as it fell onto the snowy ground. "I didn't think...that I'd get to see one again...after 3,700 years...!"
Senku turned to her and lifted his hand to wipe away the tear trail from her cheek. "The hell are you crying for? It's only a tree," He mumbled to her and she gave a small laugh, using her hand to wipe at her eyes.
"But it's a Christmas tree, Sen. One of the most wonderful things about the holiday..." She hummed as she remembered her holidays with him. She and Byukaya would make a snow fort and a snowman, and get Senku to have a snowball fight with them. Then he'd always complain at them about how the snow melted into his coat, and they'd make hot chocolate to make fun of Christmas specials.
"Yeah...those were good times," Senku gave her a small smile. "Think of it as your present if you want." She gasped while turning to him, baffled. He just chuckled in response, hands on his hips. "Why do you think I didn't want you to help with the lightbulbs? Wouldn't have been your surprise if you knew about it ahead of time."
Her lips trembled happily as she felt like she could cry again. "Senku...don't say that. Because then that meant I didn't get you anything," She sniffled happily and he poked her forehead repeatedly.
"If I didn't do all this for the first Christmas in the village, you'd be all depressed and crap. I had to do something big. Don't worry about my present," He gave her a small smile, but Gen knew that he wanted to do it for Sumi to have a Christmas tree again. Sumi let out a sobbed laugh as she knew what he really meant to say as well, and it meant a lot to her. Anytime she doubted her feelings of him, he eventually came back around to show that she could still have them. She really wanted to give him something affectionate, since he had already done it to her a few times. And so...she did.
Sumi stood on her tippy toes, holding his arm and pulling him closer to place a soft kiss on his cheek. Senku's eyes widened in shock at her lips pressing against his skin. Despite it being cold and the snow falling, it felt warm like a fire to him. Everyone was staring at the two in shock and before Senku could even comment, she pulled away with her eyes closed. Senku slowly turned to her, time stopping for him as he wasn't expecting that at all.
"Words weren't enough to thank you for this...so Merry Christmas, Senku Ishigami," Sumi explained softly before opening her eyes. She flinched as he was staring into her eyes. An unknown expression was in them and then it went away before she noticed. All they could hear were their beating hearts, as he didn't know how to feel. He could either pretend it didn't happen, or he could accept her affection...but this feeling was always something he had always mocked, until now. Until he was forced to think within his heart, because what she did...was going more and more towards acceptance. But he couldn't do anything about it still, not yet.
Sumi's cheeks went red as it finally hit her that maybe she shouldn't have done that. She turned back towards the tree with wide eyes. "I-I should just admire the tree now...don't mind me!" She said quickly with an awkward smile. He finally reacted by chuckling, running his fingers through his hair. He tried to calm down his heart that was beating rapidly the whole time. That was more than enough of a present for him…
"Right," He murmured while glancing at her. The snow continued to fall onto them as they both admired it.
"...So it seems that Mire-Chan finally tested her limits when it comes to our Senku," Gen chuckled in amusement, smiling a little. "How sweet." Santa was in the skies riding his sleigh, a smile on his face as they continued looking at the tree in silence.
The next morning, all of the flora had been covered in white snow. "Whoa, I got a bad idea!" Chrome suddenly exclaimed in excitement. "Let's go check out the caves! We could go way deeper than we could before! And we won't need torches anymore!"
"Right," Senku popped up behind him with an amused smile. "With the help of batteries and lightbulbs, we could go ten billion times farther."
Chrome turned around to him and Sumi as he was only more fired up. Senku gave him a small frown and Sumi giggled at his expression. "I bet there are loads of cool rocks that were hiding just beyond our reach! I hope you're ready to go, science spelunkers! We're gonna nab us some bad mineral resources!" He suddenly had all the equipment he needed, including a headlamp with a lightbulb used to power it. Sumi blinked at him in alarm, wondering how'd he do that. "Hear that, you guys? You two may be leagues ahead of me in science, but when it comes to exploring, I'm ten billion times more skilled!"
"Naturally," Senku remarked bluntly, digging his pinky into his ear. He looked a little bored. "You have experience."
"Everyone has their mastered skills somewhere, right?" Sumi smiled encouragingly at Chrome. He turned around with a smile towards her, pumping his fists as he was in their faces.
"Yeah! I knew you'd get it, Sumi! So what do we need?! Just name it and Captain Chrome will go find it for you! We've gotta be missing something! We have that whole cell phone roadmap to complete!" He pointed out to the duo.
"Oh? What materials we're missing?" He turned to Sumi with a smirk. "Are we missing anything?"
Sumi glanced up in thought and then they both had innocent looks on their faces. "None!" They both answered like it was no big deal, Senku's pinky in his ear again. Sumi just whistled gleefully while Chrome looked at them in disbelief.
"What do you mean, none?!"
"We already have everything it takes!" Senku explained to him. "Thanks to our hard work in our previous missions."
"We're halfway there, actually! I did say we could speed through some of this stuff no problem," Sumi pointed out while holding up a finger.
"Then do we actually have a reason to go exploring at the moment?" Kohaku pointed out with her arms crossed, looking a bit unsure. "We're short on labor as is."
Ginro turned to the blonde, whispering in her ear. In the meantime, he glanced towards Chrome knowingly. "I bet anything he wants to go cause he's got some new gear. He gets to play with it while we work."
Chrome turned to them, a bit flustered as he let out a shocked sound. "Aw, don't worry, Chrome," Sumi walked up to him. "You'll find something down there that we can use for our project! It's not playing if it's gonna help us against Tsukasa."
Senku held some glassware in his hand, glancing back with an amused chuckle. He had a sly smirk on his face. "Well, it wouldn't kill us to have some extra copper laying around. There's no telling how much we'll use during our next brutal crafting session."
"Yeah, there it is!" Chrome perked up at this. "I knew there had to be something! Leave it to me!" He turned around to run towards the forest.
"Just be back here soon!" Senku called out to him, a hand on his hip. "Like at latest, new year's next week, alright!"
"Stay safe down there, Chrome!" Sumi called out while waving to him with a smile. If he heard it, he didn't respond as he was fired up while running. Kaseki then turned around to the scientists curiously.
"So what's this brutal crafting you mentioned? I wouldn't mind having something complicated done by the time Chrome's back to surprise him."
"You can think of it as the next level lightbulb," Senku responded with a small grin, his arms crossed. Kaseki lit up in excitement at this, smiling up at the duo.
"Hoo hoo! The regular lightbulb was already brutal! This sounds like it's gonna be a challenge!"
"Well, it's essential for a cellphone," Sumi started off, glancing to Senku.
"We're making computer eggs! Basically electronic gears, vacuum tubes," Senku explained next to the craftsman. They got to work on them, Gen staring at what the three were doing.
"Vacuum tubes, huh?" He asked the trio as Kaseki was making something out of glass. "We're getting to the point where I have no idea what you're making. Or rather, I do know, but I've only ever heard the name. If you ask me what they actually do, I wouldn't be able to tell you."
"They emit electrons when their temperature increases, letting us control the direction of the current and make it stronger," Kaseki had his eyes wide while moving around the rubs into the glassware. "Like I said, you can think of them as the gears of electricity. They're the heart of a cell phone."
"And with the lightbulbs no longer having air in them, the electrons have a clear path from the cathode to the anode," Sumi spoke up, holding up a finger. "Which then creates the current. They weren't really that used anymore back in the modern world for smartphones, but for a regular phone like this, it's perfect."
Kaseki let out a sigh from all the hard work he had been doing. He was also sweating while standing behind Senku and Sumi. A lightbulb was connected to the batteries again. "This is still tough work, but it's almost the same as what I had to do to make all those lightbulbs."
"Yeah," Senku bent down to the switch. "But as the name vacuum tube would suggest, it's a vacuum. So we've really gotta get rid of all the air inside it," He then turned on the switch, and the filament glowed inside. "We'll place a bit of phosphorus right on the filament, where it'll get hot. That little flame will burn up all the oxygen inside and-"
He was interrupted by the glass cracking. The three recoiled back in shock at this.
"Oh," Kaseki examined it, a bit nervous. "I swear I didn't do anything different!"
Suika then popped up, just as nervous as him. "It looks like the crack started at the base of it!"
Senku narrowed his eyes a bit while Sumi frowned. "The wires are expanding..." The two said in unison, getting Kaseki and Suika's attention.
"We've got a metal line going through the glass, and it expands a bit from the heat of the burning phosphorus. That size difference of just a few microns broke the glass."
"If you have too much heat on the line, it causes the line to rise. Almost exactly like when you bake something, and the dough or batter expands," Sumi sighed while closing her eyes.
"We're dealing with change that's happening on the scale of microns?!" Gen exclaimed at them with white eyes. "What do we do them?! This is errible-tay!"
"This kind of thing's normal," Kaseki then spoke up. "Nothing ever works right on the first try, does it?" At the hydroelectric generator, Kaseki and Sumi watched Senku pour in melted metal. Senku chuckled as he was then drawing up a plan.
"Yup. We can't expect everything to go right immediately. You've gotta go through failure before reaching success," Sumi agreed with him. "It's just motivation to try even harder!"
"Yeah, it's just trial and error," Senku said as Kaseki then hit his hammer against something he was crafting. "When is it ever anything else?"
"Let's give it another go!" Sumi and Senku said in unison and determination.
"Yo!" Chrome came up behind them the next day. "Guess who's back?" The three turned around to see him holding some copper in his hand. He had a big grin on his face. "I copped me some copper!" The three weren't impressed with the pun at all, not even Sumi. "Uh, no pun intended?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry, but I think that was definitely a miss..." Sumi dragged a hand down her face.
Senku then walked up to Chrome, hands on his hips. "Hey, your timing couldn't have been better," He snatched the copper right from Chrome, Sumi shaking her head slowly as the brunet yelped in alarm. Senku then took the copper, heating it up and then putting it through a funnel to make a tube. Gen held it up curiously once it was done.
"Okay, then. A copper tube?" He questioned while Kohaku, Suika, Chrome, and Kaseki watched the two scientists. They had another lightbulb connected to the batteries to test it out.
"It makes the most sense. The tube will expand inward instead of out, which means our glass won't crack!" He turned on the switch with a grin.
"It's finally working! Boy, these vacuum tubes sure gave us a hard time!" Kaseki exclaimed...but this too was a failure as to their shock, the filament burned up to explode. They all looked on in shock, Senku and Sumi especially disappointed.
"That's bad!" Chrome frowned down at it. "The bamboo filament, it just burned out instantly!"
Sumi groaned a little to herself, rubbing a temple in frustration. Later that night, they had tried dozens of methods, but no matter how much they did or changed...every single attempt was the same. For the first time, Senku and Sumi were stuck. He walked a couple of feet away from them, letting out a breath of air. He then gritted his teeth as he tried to hide his frustration, but it was still evident on his face.
"Damn it all!" He cursed at their continuing failure. "Bamboo filaments are just fundamentally too weak to use in vacuum tubes!"
Kohaku furrowed her eyebrows a little and then huffed. "I'm not gonna claim to understand the science behind it, but basically, we need something stronger!"
"Then what's your call?!" Chrome immediately offered to help. "Captain Chrome is ready to ship out at any time!"
"No..." Senku spoke up in defeat, surprising everyone. He then slowly turned around, looking towards the ground with furrowed eyebrows. "We might be outta luck. There's nothing better in this era."
Sumi blinked at seeing him like this, her hands into fists. She didn't want to accept that, and she knew he didn't either. She stepped forward, a clenched fist in front of her heart. "I refuse to believe that, Senku!" Senku glanced up at her in shock, his eyes wide. "There has to be something out there! We're just not looking enough," She turned around to the others, looking determined. "Maybe if we all work together, we can find something that'll solve our problem! So this isn't the time to be sad, it's time to test our limits!"
All of them except Senku smiled, nodding at her in agreement. "She's right!" Kohaku held up a fist. "We didn't give up when we were making the sulfa drug, so why do that now?"
The green-haired scientist blinked a few times and then chuckled at her. "Always firing people up at the right time, huh?" He placed his hands on his hips. She blinked while turning to him as he approached, placing a hand on her head fondly. "Alright, Sumi. We'll push our own restrictions like you always say. Right guys?"
"Right!" They all cheered, running off to go get Chrome's materials. Sumi beamed happily that she was able to inspire them again.
They placed the baskets down to begin searching. "What about this one?" Suika held one up.
"Okay, these are all the minerals I was able to collect in the caves around here," Chrome examined them closely. "There's gotta be one we can use! Something! Anything strong enough to take the heat!"
"Ooh, this one looks like a gemstone!" Ruby smiled at a rock in her hands.
"That's a jewel bug corpse, actually," Senku corrected her bluntly and she dropped it with a scared squeal.
Ginro cradled one to his cheek with a big grin. "What about this? It's really dark but light as a feather. Must be special!"
"Raccoon poop," Senku deadpanned to him. Sumi caught a whiff of it and groaned, pinching her nose in disgust.
"Get it away from me before I throw up please..." She said in a nasal voice.
"Ah, poop!" Ginro crushed it into his hands by accident.
Senku stared away in silence, giving a tight smile. Sumi noticed his expression and her eyes softened sadly from it. Maybe...they were really at a dead end now. She looked frustrated while tugging at one of her bangs.
A dead end. After coming this far...
Gen and Suika frowned at him, the little girl having tears in her eyes. Sumi squeezed hers shut, as she knew that there had to be something, anything to help...Senku had done so much for her, and now it was time to repay for it. She had to find something to make him happy like he always did for her...Suika looked up at her knowingly that she wanted to repay back Senku...
After spending that time searching, they called it a day much to their disappointment. Suika was still outside, however, looking through the basket. She put down some rocks onto the ground. I may not be a rock doctor like Senku or Sumi are, but I've seen a lot of rocks while playing in the mountains and forests. So maybe I can find a rare rock that could help us out, and be useful to everyone...
She continued searching while in the shed, Sumi was laying between Chrome and Senku on the ground. She looked up towards the ceiling as she couldn't sleep. Not while they were all going through this...the finish line was so close, and yet they still didn't have anything strong enough. She couldn't help but feel that whatever it was, it was right there, they just needed to look some more!
With that, the black-haired woman slowly sat up, wiggling out of her sleeping bag. She then tiptoed over Senku to leave. The green-haired scientist opened his eyes just as the door closed in front of him. He couldn't really sleep either...but decided to leave Sumi be since she probably needed time alone. The woman slid off the ladder and noticed something up ahead.
"Suika?" Sumi let out a yawn while approaching the little girl. She had the minerals in front of her on the ground. "What are you doing up? You might catch a cold," She stated while bending down over the girl's shoulder.
She looked up at the woman. "I...I wanna find a rock that can help. You and Senku know more about this stuff than I do, but I've been around a lot of these! So I wanted to find one for you guys..."
She blinked at Suika from her explanation, touched by her unwavering feeling to help. And she was also taken aback that Suika wasn't going to sit back and do nothing, just like her. Sumi stood up, humming with a smile. "I'm sure he'll appreciate that. Tell you what, how about I help you look? We might find something faster if I'm working under Great Detective Suika!" She smiled while holding up a finger.
"Ha ha ha!" Suika beamed happily at her, delighted while she nodded.
"Hmm...let's see what we have here..." Sumi murmured while looking at the rocks and sitting down.
"I know we'll find one! We have to," Suika pumped her fists in determination. One particular one stuck out to Sumi and she smiled knowingly. It was a white ore type of rock, and it was the only one like it. She then pointed down to the rock.
"This one. This might do the trick," She picked it up in her hand.
"Really?!" Suika asked her hopefully while examining it. "Will it be strong enough?"
"Yup. See this?" Sumi hit it against the basket. "Not gonna break unless it's cracked open with some tools. Now hold onto it, okay? We can tell them tomorrow," She gave the rock to Suika, who smiled happily at her.
If we can't make cell phones, we can't make cell phones, Senku thought to himself, standing in the entrance to the shed. He couldn't see what Sumi and Suika were doing. I don't have time to sulk, like Sumi said. Come on, just think of something else.
Gen popped up with a mischievous grin out of nowhere, holding a flashlight. "Oh, Senku! Wakey-wakey!" Senku yelped with his eyes bulging out. Gen then put down the light, smiling a little. "It's officially the new year. And everyone's planning to go watch the sunrise together." He climbed down, the others gathering near Suika and Sumi. She was asleep in Sumi's arms, the woman leaning against the basket. At this point, they were napping thanks to being up almost all night.
"It's important to have a mental reset every now and then," Gen spoke up, causing Sumi to slowly open her eyes. She let out a yawn while rubbing at an eye. Kohaku noticed the way Sumi was holding Suika protectively, like a mother with her daughter, and smiled fondly. "Trust me, I would know."
"Yeah, yeah, you're a mentalist. I get it," Senku retorted and Suika woke up in alarm.
"Come on, let's go, Suika," Sumi smiled while standing up, putting the little girl down.
"We wanna come too! Wait up, you guys!" She picked up the rock Sumi recommended and ran after them. Sumi walked after her, yawning again. She imagined that Senku would've scolded her for her lack of sleep if other things weren't taking his focus right now.
"Suika, were you and Sumi going through rocks all night?" Chrome asked them curiously as they were walking up a hill.
"It's because you wanna be useful too, huh Suika?" Ruri asked her gently.
"That's right!" Suika agreed cheerfully, Sumi patting her on the head. Senku then came up next to her, Gen standing on her left side.
"It's cold out, you dummy. You can't go falling asleep outside. If you got sick, it'd be even slower getting work done," He gave her a small frown. Gen blinked as he thought at first Senku didn't notice that she was even napping.
"It's fine," She smiled in amusement, hands behind her back. "It was only the one time, anyway. I feel great, though just still a little tired."
He sighed at this, patting her on the head affectionately. "Just don't do it again."
"Kay!" She replied cheerfully at him. He chuckled, a small smile on his face. Sumi then glanced to Gen knowingly, humming lightly.
"Already New Years," Gen spoke up to the duo. "My internal clock is messed up. Must be due to the petrification. I couldn't even tell you how old I am anymore."
Senku let out a small yawn. "Don't you know how many days you've been alive?" Gen glanced to him in confusion, though Sumi wasn't fazed. Kohaku then glanced over her shoulder to the trio, raising a brow.
"Who in their right mind could possibly remember such a thing?"
Gen then leaned forward a bit to look at Senku. "You don't, right Senku?"
"6,268," Senku answered without hesitation. "As for Sumi, it'd be 5,844 soon." Gen gave a nervous chuckle while Kohaku chuckled in amusement.
"He counted for the whole time he was petrified, not surprising," Sumi giggled at their reactions.
"Huh, I could've sworn you two were the same age," Chrome glanced back at her and Senku.
"Nope, she's a year younger than I am. Explains why she acts like a kid sometimes," Senku chuckled in amusement as she pouted at him.
"It does not..." She huffed a little, crossing her arms.
Ruri then gasped up ahead, glancing over her shoulder. "We're almost there!" She told everyone, and a few minutes later, they walked towards the top of the mountain. They came to a stop right at the edge to watch the sunrise. After a few seconds, Kokuyo brightened up in excitement.
"The sun is just about to rise!" He said and the sun did so, in a glow of gold against the blue. The colors started to change, and then something occurred near Suika, a blue glow. She looked down at the rock she was holding, as it was glowing blue. They all stared at it and then Senku's eyes widened in recognition.
A blue...gemstone?
"So pretty," Ruri said in awe, a hand in front of her mouth.
"Uh...huh? But—what the—why is it glowing?" Suika was utterly confused at this. Senku walked up to her, pointing down at the rock.
"I can tell you why. It's scheelite!" Suika turned around to look up at him. "It glows blue to ultraviolet light! Reactions to ultraviolet light are especially visible right before the sun rises! So...only right now!"
Sumi smiled at the two from behind. "It would only glow in this moment?" Gen spoke up while staring at them. "Quite the poetic magic rock!"
"I've never seen this! Like ever!" Chrome murmured while bending down to get a closer look. His eyes were in awe looking at it.
"Yeah, you're not the only one!" Senku had a massive grin on his face, his eyes amazed. "That's an ultra-rare mineral right there! An insanely good find from the Chrome and Suika tag-team! This is the exact stuff used in 21st century filaments! Atomic number 74: Tungsten!" It could go up against anything, even a dinosaur. "The strongest metal known to man, that can't be defeated by heat!"
"Ah..." Suika blinked as she remembered that she didn't technically pick it out. She turned to Sumi in realization, as he mentioned 21st century, so she had Suika hold that one for a reason. "Sumi, did you...?"
"Eh?" Sumi looked at her in confusion, giving an innocent look. "What do you mean? Suika, you really helped us out."
"Huh?" She was confused that Sumi wasn't taking any credit here, or why she'd let them believe that Suika found it. Especially since she wanted to do this for Senku...but now she was giving that up to let Suika have the praise? "But didn't you tell me-"
"No, I didn't do anything," Sumi smiled softly, hands behind her back. "Great job, I knew you could do it." She then silently lifted up a finger to her lips, giving a small shh to Suika. The girl stared at her in disbelief, but wasn't going to say anything. Senku looked between the two and smiled knowingly at them. Sumi herself didn't mind giving it up for Suika...even if it meant she couldn't do anything nice for Senku this time around. Because to her, seeing Suika happy was just as important.
"Excellent job, Suika!" Senku smiled, arms crossed while smirking towards Sumi, but she didn't notice it. Suika slowly beamed up at them while holding the rock tight.
Later on, Senku, Chrome, and Sumi all had equipment to go spelunking in the caves. Chrome had a ladder on his back, the group having sleeping bags and baskets for what they would find. And the three all had head lamps tied with rope. Chrome looked down at the rock Suika had. "This small chunk won't be enough, but it came from upstream in the cave. So there's gotta be more farther inside," He smiled towards the two. "A bona fide treasure trove of this heat-resistant tungsten!"
"Yup!" Sumi nodded with a smile, hand on her hip. "But we're not ready to go just yet," She glanced at Senku, who nodded while holding the last lamp.
"We only have one set of lights left," He looked towards the villagers. "So the last member of the exploration team'll be..." They all waited in anticipation as he scanned the crowd like in a video game. Obviously, he, Sumi, and Chrome were part of the team.
"It shouldn't be me," Kohaku spoke up first. "I have to keep training our fighters. But who, then?"
"If I'm called upon, I will go," Kinro had no problems being a choice himself.
"Yeah, no way!" Ginro exclaimed in protest. "Just pick one of the others. I'm too scared!"
"If they need me, I'll make myself as useful as I possibly can!" Suika exclaimed in determination.
"I wouldn't mind, but we're exploring caves, right?" Kaseki pointed out next. "My back may give out."
"I get the feeling you won't be needing a mentalist in the caves," Gen explained, and plus, he didn't want to be carrying a bunch of heavy rocks. Senku smirked as he had made his choice, pointing at his pick.
"Magma!" Everyone was shocked by this choice, including the man himself. "Tungsten's tough as hell so we're going to need your brute force to collect it! Heh heh heh, we're a quartet of spelunking buddies! You ready to go cave diving? To the real life treasure dungeon!" He could already see them exploring in a video-game like setting, kind of like Mario.
"Buddies...?" Magma murmured in utter confusion.