Ruzewaa 🧪🦁

Inside the central base in Japan lies the immense and primitive computer of the Stone World, and a place where Sai naturally gravitates to it. The room was filled with low hums of distant machinery and the familiar rapid clicks.

Sai's fingers worked meticulously and swiftly on the computer just like how he used to do in the modern world as he hummed a simple tune, usually forgetting there's a whole world other than programming entertainment. It's surprising how he still manages to make use of it with ease.

He doesn't notice you walking up behind him until you place your hands on his rigid shoulders, making him jump under your touch.

“Sai! In your own world again?” You called out as you shook him gently.

He doesn't turn his head your way but his fingers stop working. “Yeah, these games don't get programmed by themselves you know.”

You huffed and shook him with more force. “Come on, you need some social time with me. Move it!”

He chuckles at your attempt to remove him from his sanctuary, good thing he loves you just as much as he does for video games otherwise he wouldn't even move an inch, and maybe the fact he also enjoys your company better than most people.

With a stretch of his limbs and fingers, he gets up and finally faces you, as he takes your hand, his lips grazing against your warm skin. “Alright, take me to whatever chaos you're planning.”

Then, a strange noise intervened. Click.

His breath hitched a little from the abruption, he couldn't tell where it came from.

“Is something wrong with my genius?” You teased with a suspiciously calm look.

His eyes scanned the perimeter, your figure, and your face. There wasn't anything unusual. You're standing quite innocently, one hand behind your back and the other still on his, he's unsure if he was hearing things. A blush paints his cheeks when he realizes he's gazing at you longer than he should rather than answering your question properly. “Nothing.” He mumbled under his breath.

Your lips merely upturned from his unconvincing answer but gave no effort to push out his thoughts, and you pulled him away to step outside — the hums of the machinery were getting on your nerves honestly.

He blinked once the afternoon light loomed over his face, trying to get used to the sudden glow.

Giggles left you when you saw him adjusting to the outdoors. “You're ridiculous, three millennia have passed and you're still getting yourself sucked into devices for hours.”

“I had to make up for lost time.” He quickly defended himself.

“Then do the same for ours!” You bit back and took his hand as you marched away completely from the area with him stumbling slightly and trudging behind. “I need to teach you a lesson mister.”

He perks up an eyebrow, he couldn't tell whether you were joking or serious because your tone indicated neither. “Uh, sure?” He hesitated but went along with you anyway. Surely it's nothing too bad.

Surely.

…

It doesn't take long for you two to arrive at your place since you live nearby; it takes about 10 minutes to get there. A simple wooden hut with a few flowers surrounding it for decoration, nothing too much, but enough to feel like you're at home.

Of course Sai — the gentleman he is — walks up to the door first to open it for you. His hand grabbed and barely pulled the handle when he already heard the same noise. Click.

He whips his head in your direction, but you peck his cheek briefly before stepping inside, making the poor boy flush at the sudden affection of your lips, even though it lasted almost a second.

He shrugged it off and decided it's best to forget about it; maybe going back to that unhealthy screen time routine is getting to him. Although he can't shake off the feeling that something is up.

You already settled yourself at the futon and called out to him the second he's inside. “Sai, come here.” You patted the spot to your right, gesturing to him to sit beside you.

The moment he steps over and slumps down on the futon, it goes off again. Click.

And immediately, you move your fingers through his scalp, brushing through his soft and curly strands — it makes you envy how smooth it feels despite having limited hair products. Are his genes seriously that good?

His ears blushed in a deeper shade of red than before, and melted under your touch. It's hard to deny how much he loves your hands working on his head. Thanks to that, he completely stops thinking about the click and focuses on the sensation of your fingers playing with his hair.

But that feeling of contentment vanished when you removed yourself from him, his frown almost made you think of a puppy, an adorably sad one. It was amusing to see your boyfriend acting like one.

“Sai, can you grab me a glass of water?” Your request was simple. Maybe too simple because you wouldn't ask him something like this. That doesn't stop him from getting up and eagerly following your words though.

He returns sooner than expected, holding a glass cup, and carefully hands it to you. Click. His ears perk up at that noise.

“Thank you, my genius.” Your voice held that alluring tone. Has he ever mentioned how much he loves that nickname, especially when you call him like you're trying to seduce him? It does wonders for his brain, causing it to buffer slightly.

He's starting to ponder why he's feeling like this. Well, he's always been a mess whenever you flirt with him, but never this badly.

As you take a sip from the cup, something unfamiliar peeks out from your other hand. A clicker — the only thing you begged Senku to make, you can never forget the look of disgust on his face when you asked for it. So that's the source of the sound.

He shrieks at the discovery and he couldn't help but feel disbelief that you've been clicker training him since earlier.

You empty the glass and shift your attention to him, you weren't hiding it anymore. You held it up to him like a prize with a smirk. “Feeling surprised?”

“Yes! You've been doing that to me?!” He yelled and pointed at you as if you committed a crime.

“Oh please, I know that you enjoyed it.”

“No! I! Did! Not!” He fluttered his hand up and down frantically in each word.

“Mhm, you're in the stage of denial.”

And that's the unfortunate part, he did like it. A lot. But he'll never admit to it, he would rather be stuck with Ryusui than mutter that statement out to you.

He placed his hands inside his sleeves, his face mimicking a creepy look. “An attack. An attack on the Kingdom of Science.” He muttered under his breath.

“Ah, the news was successful?”

“Indeed! It was delivered, and now Tsukasa-chan will take over this village for the empire.” His tone was convincing enough for you.

“As long as this so-called army doesn't take too long, it's good enough for me.” You shrugged.

“You eriously-say won't even feel pity for them?! Not even if he kills them?!” He shrieked at your casual response, wondering how you could be so cold-hearted despite being a caring person — to certain people, though.

“Nope! They'll be fine, it's not like they're stone statues. He's definitely planning to expand his own kingdom for his whole purification plan.”

“That's too much trust in him…”

“Maybe 'cause he is trustworthy.”

He lets out a dramatic sigh, then turns away as he walks back to the forest where he came from.

“Oi, you just got here, and you're already leaving?!” You called out but followed him anyway, jogging to catch up. As you venture deep inside, the greenery envelops both of you.

“A guy like me deserves some washing up. A whole day travelling from Tsukasa's empire to here is a pain! Not to mention your azy-cray perspective about Tsukasa-chan adding to my headache.” He complained without looking back, focused on the direction towards a nearby river that he was sure was there.

“Geez, you should've just told me that.”

“Never mind that- why are you following me?!” He groaned and tilted his head behind to steal a glance at you. “Don't you have a sense of privacy?”

“I'm not staying there doing nothing.”

“So you're going to watch me take a bath like the pervert you are?”

“Not a pervert!” You yelled at his horrible accusation. “And I doubt you would shower. You look perfectly fine.” You studied his body, which showed barely any dirt or scratches.

“Too bad for me that you catch up on something like this. I would've gotten a beautiful chance to embarrass you.” He feigned sadness, placing his hand over his chest to emphasize it. “Woe is me, I just need to wash my hands and feet.”

“A child can catch on to that bullcrap. It's obvious. And you should mostly clean your feet. Who told you to walk barefoot?” You narrowed your eyes at his nonexistent shoes. His soiled feet padded softly against the ground.

“Never felt the need to have footwear! Adaptability is my greatest strength.” He shrugged playfully.

“You're trying too hard to be unique.”

“You're too harsh!” He whipped his head to you as he bit back.

“Honesty isn't harsh.” You scoffed.

His posture slumped, and his head turned away to its original position. “You're really playing the role of a mean person too literally.”

“I'm just saying, who on Earth in their right mind refuses to wear any shoes?”

“Forget about my feet for once! We're here now, so quit questioning my fashion sense.” He pointed to their destination, a peacefully quiet river. Only the hums of the birds and a few splashes of the calm currents against the rocks were heard.

His pace quickens as he steps over the edge first, dipping his hands and rinsing them in the water. A sigh escapes him as the cool temperature eases his fairly warm skin. “So, tell me, Y/N-chan, how are you and Senku-chan? Seems there's a lot yet to be unpacked between you two.”

“Oh we're doing great. Just as great as your attempt at making small talk.” Your voice is laced with obvious sarcasm.

“Come on, I doubt that's it. Don't you ever think anything else about him other than as a bastard you grew up to hate?” He didn't look your way and continued to rub his hands in the river, causing ripples and splashes.

You not only hate Senku, but also how uncomfortably right he is. You never stopped to think about what other aspects he has besides his love for science and his arrogant personality. And the past few days weren't much help for your relationship with him. Whenever Senku tries to talk to you, you would either dismiss or ignore him like he's not there.

Looking back at your observations closely, unfortunately, his ‘bastard’ title slowly dissolves into something else. You thought he used those villagers to get what he wanted — which is technically true — but his scientific creations actually benefit them at some point. For example, the ramen he reinvented, he took advantage of it, yet he allowed the primitives to experience the delicacy that the modern world once had.

And the time you found him having a serious discussion with Chrome about getting the sulfuric acid. You merely looked at them once, although you could tell their expressions between them suggested something emotional happened — especially Chrome's because he's more chalant than Senku.

You start to realize you never really gave a shot at digging deep into his persona. Never bothered to actually try to get to know him better.

“You being strangely quiet suggests you're starting to connect the dots,” He interrupted your train of thought; you nearly forgot you had a mentalist with you. He stopped washing his hands and moved onto his foot. He cleans out the dirt particles stuck to his skin and the tight spaces between his toes.

“It's quite surprising how, after all that time with Senku-chan, you only know the surface level of him.” He continued.

“What's your point?” You deadpanned at him.

“What I'm saying is, you should give him another chance. It's unfair that he still has to deal with your hatred for him after 3 millennia, don't you think?” He switches his foot to the other, giving it the same necessary hygiene care.

“And if I don't?"

He doesn't react or look at you. “Then you might not get an opportunity to improve your relationship with him. Having rivals is exhausting, you know. We're in the Stone World that depends on survivability, Y/N-chan. I think it would be better to call this whole illy-say prejudice off.”

You diverted from him, moving to the far left without wasting a second. “I'll think about it.”

“You're leaving me alone so you can reflect your feelings without an audience?” He joked.

“You can say that. I think better like this.” You waved off and kept your pace steady.

“I'll be waiting here then, don't get lost just because I opened your eyes!” He shouted out teasingly, clearly not giving a care that you would disappear for a while.

You rolled your eyes, but your lips upturned anyway. Using your time to stroll around, you decide to contemplate his suggestion. That thought didn't last for a second when you heard a screech in the area. Your ears perked at the noise and moved to a defensive stance, silently sneaking to check the source.

You use the bushes nearby to hide, crawling through them as leaves and sticks crush against your knees and hands. Propping your head up slightly, a bright green object that was almost camouflaged in its surroundings at the side of a tree trunk caught your attention.

Carefully, you get out of the bush and come closer. To your surprise, it was Suika, boundlessly tied to the bark for an unknown reason. “Suika?!” You called out to her loudly as you hurried to her.

She was startled at the sudden presence but quickly felt relief when she saw it was you. “Y/N! I'm so glad you're here!” She exclaimed brightly with tears.

You untie the knots with ease and rush to hug her as tightly as you can. Her small body felt the warmth of your huge embrace. “What happened to you? Who did this? Why were you out here?” You frantically asked questions all at once.

“I was trying to get ingredients, but Mantle saw me by the river and tied me up.” She snuggled onto your chest and reciprocated.

‘Mantle, you're so fucking dead. I may not know who you are, but I'll find you eventually.’ You cursed mentally. “You shouldn't be out here all alone, Suika.”

“I know Suika is sorry, but Senku said he knew I would be okay. Because you're here with us.” She whimpered.

You caught your breath from her words. Senku entrusted you. Despite being on different sides of the world-reviving situation and having a bumpy relationship, he trusted you. She basically pointed out the biggest evidence that proves that your rivalry with him is ridiculous.

For 3,700 years, you finally doubt your own grudge against him. Only with a push of confrontation from Gen and Suika's comment.

You chuckled heartily, making the girl feel slightly confused by your reaction. “You really believed him of all people?”

“Everyone does. He's the best person you can rely on, especially since he said he's gonna cure Ruri.”

You huffed and opened your arms to let her go. “Whatever you say. Now go tell that leek-head that he's relying on your safety on me too much.” You patted her helmet gently.

“Suika will go now!” She waved you off before popping inside her watermelon, rolling off with a gleaming energy.

Standing on your feet, you make your way back to where you came from and where you left Gen behind. “He's gonna annoy me like hell.”

…

Gen plopped down earlier under the tree to relax in the cool shade. His breathing was controlled and soft; his eyes were closed, paying attention to the natural hums of the environment, and his head, resting on the bark, was supported by his arms.

He hears your familiar steps and props one eye open in the direction of the sound, smirking as if he knew what just happened. “Let me guess, Y/N-chan. You finally realized you were stupid to be rivals with him, and you decided to make amends.” He snickered in his sing-song voice.

“Oh Gen-chan, I was so brainwashed because of how I grew up with him acting like that all the time to me. How could I be so wrong?” You mocked his talking style, and he snorted.

“That's not how I talk.”

“You can't deny the truth. It's how you sound all the time.”

He clicked his tongue playfully and removed his arms from his head. “You're horrible.” He got up with legs slightly trembling and dusted himself off

“You're the same.”

“Then we're the same. I have to take you down with me.” He corrected you before dragging his feet on the route back to the KoS, with you trudging behind him. “But seriously though, this means you'll be friends with him or what?” He continued.

“Friends is a stretch. And that's way too soon for me since I just saw him in a new light.”

“Too soon? Millennials have passed and you call that soon?” He stifled a laugh.

“Shut it, Asagiri. God forbid someone doesn't want to rush.” You bit back.

“How dare you call me by my last name! After everything we've been through, you're so ean-may!” His exaggerated whines were of a child that got their favorite toy stolen. You can't help but let your laughter echo through the forest, while he clutched his chest and acted hurt.

…

The tournament has been full of twists and challenges, especially for the KoS. Many of the physically capable members are out of the game, all of the hope for the title of village chief is on Chrome's, Senku's, and Ginro's shoulders.

Despite Chrome's disheveled and injured appearance, he still stands on the battlefield out of determination. The stick in his hands held Suika's helmet, willing to make a fire using the concave lens — which he turned into a convex one using his sweat and tears — attached to it. But the time yet to make said fire is unknown.

“Will that be enough to start a fire though? I onder-way.” A mysterious voice spoke up from behind.

“Of course it will, dummy.” Another followed.

“Yeah, it's called a burning lens. There's actually a pretty cool case about it once. Using air and a suction-” Senku blinked and froze in place for a moment before whipping his head back. He finds Gen standing at the pole of the bridge with you leaning against it.

“Y/N? Asagiri Gen?” He exclaimed in surprise.

“It's been a while.” Gen spoke up.

“I expected you to be here somehow, but not her.” Senku shifted his gaze to you.

You gestured your hands vaguely. “This unbearable guy managed to convince me.”

“Enough about this,” Gen interrupted. “What about poor little Chrome? I'd like to help him out but this woman might kill me for it, after all we're technically on Tsukasa's side.” He stares down at you. “Y/N-chan, what do you think?”

You put a finger over your chin to ponder. “Helping Chrome meant a guaranteed chance for the KoS to have this village to themselves. But, the reason for it is to cure Ruri. I don't see why you shouldn't help him.”

“Excellent. Exactly how long does it take to start the fire?”

“The math sounds easy but it's not, so leave that to me.” Senku held a finger in the air, brows furrowing as he calculates the time mentally with little trouble, mumbling incoherent words that not even an average modern person can grasp the complicated variables he's sputtering out. He grins when he figures out the approximate. “Sixty seconds on the dot.”

“Alright, time for the mentalist to do its job.” He jumped down and swiftly moved to the top of the priestess’ place in record time.

“We're doing this for Ruri, not for you Senku.” You reminded him and went over to his side.

“Kukuku, I know. Your loyalty to Tsukasa is quite impressive.”

“I wouldn't say loyal to him, rather I'm loyal to the ideal world our generation needs.”

“That's still the same thing if you look into it.”

You didn't argue with him this time and simply nodded, leaving him puzzled from this change. “Did the mentalist hypnotize you? You're not usually like this.” He gave you a sideways look.

“Eh, basically he opened my third eye in some things.” You dismiss it as you watch the whole interaction between Gen, Magma, and Chrome in amusement.

“The world is ten billion percent ending.” He joked.

“You're making me regret this.” You groaned but you still held a smile on your face.

“Nah, don't, I like it. Makes you ten billion percent more approachable.”

“Wow, so you're saying I'm scary?”

“Who wouldn't be scared of a woman that could take down ten men?”

“You're describing me like I'm a monster.” You both chuckled from the banter. “Speaking of taking down men, you know a guy named Mantle?”

“Ah, that idiot. He's over there.” He points out a man of short stature with physical appearance that speaks below average and unattractive, cheering on Chrome's opponent. You contort in disgust once the suspect enters your line of sight.

“You gotta be kidding me. Him?” You mumbled in disbelief.

“Unfortunate right?”

Your face shifted into something more serious and disturbing. Scanning your eyes around the area for the nearest object, a fighting stick left on the ground unattended was the only one available. You grabbed and held it firmly as you planted your feet on the ground, resting your weight on them. “A scum like you doesn't deserve to touch an innocent child.” Grumbling out words that were never heard to your target.

With the help of the built-up energy, you dashed forward with precise speed, the world around you passed like a blur. Your figure was approaching him so quickly that he didn't have a chance to react to your sudden arrival.

“Yo, Mantle.” You blurted out dangerously and immediately spun the weapon and jabbed it at his side, making him gasp from the heavy force against his ribs. The movement pushed him onto the edge of the village, causing him to fall into the water in his demise.

At the same time, Magma's clothes burst into flames like magic, following the similar fate of his companion when Chrome pushed his stick against Magma's crotch. The duo both fell into the saltwater for two different reasons, one for the sake of protecting a priestess, the other out of vengeance.

You skip back with an unusually bright grin to Senku and his crew as if you didn't push someone off.

“Kukuku, remind me not to get on your nerves again.” Senku commented with sweat running down his temple. “Satisfied?”

“Very satisfied.” Your eyes shone with relief and bliss that anyone would've thought you accomplished an achievement.

Well, for you, it is an accomplishment that you were able to get back at Suika's captor.

AGHHH FINALLY I worked on this for days I'm so sorryyy 😭😭 I barely had the time to write for so longggg. Thank you goat for beta-reading @taigumii 💗

He calls out to Suika — who was playing with Chalk earlier — to go find you as soon as possible.

“Okay Senku! Leave this to Suika!” She jumped and transformed inside her helmet, rolling off for a mini search party after you. He mentally thanks her for her willingness and enthusiasm; she always finds you somehow. He wishes he had that ability as well, but alas he's merely a genius leader with attachment issues.

“Senku-chan, why don't you look for her yourself hm? Is it perhaps your reputation as an arrogant scientist will be downgraded to that of a miserable cat who misses their owner?” Gen mysteriously approached Senku with a sly and teasing grin.

His sudden statement caught Senku red-handed, making his tail whip against the ground and his ears flatten on his head. “I'm not, you fool. I just need her for… computations.”

“Only for computations? Eriously-say? You're a bad liar Senku-chan.” He sang-song.

Senku's shoulders tensed more; Gen's bothersome questions got to him. “I don't remember a mentalist being capable of forming interrogations about what I do.”

“And I don't remember our leader being a lovesick bum yet here we are!” He dramatically waved his arms in the air. “I thought cats were solitary and independent, no?”

“That's a stereotype about the biology of us felines.” He scoffed.

“So you're admitting you have such a strong emotional bond with her.”

Senku clicked his tongue but made no effort to deny his accusation, which is a factual one. Not a second later, Suika came back from her rolling session and popped out with a smile.

“Senku I did it! I know where she is!” She ran towards him with her arms flapping at her sides.

His tail curved slightly, and his lips upturned into his knowing smirk. “Well done detective Suika. Where is she?” She pointed out the direction from which she came.

“Straight ahead! She's doing something with Ukyo so she's easy to spot!”

“Ah, I see.” His tone was slightly off but she didn't notice it except for Gen himself.

“How interesting! You might want to run off to your fellow owner before she replaces you.” Gen teased.

“There's no replacement happening. And she's not my owner.” Senku bit back instantly.

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.” He cooed.

Absolutely exasperated from Gen's behavior, he dashed away to leave the scene and find you. His fists clenched as it sways aggressively with each step, unsure why you're with Ukyo in the first place.

Why him? Why not me?

I don't understand.

You're not that close to him, right?

No, of course not. You're always with me.

Always.

His negative thoughts plagued the poor boy's mind. An overthinker like him sure has its own cons.

…

He quickly sees you in his line of sight, and he does, unfortunately, catch you beside Ukyo. You weren't having any casual conversation with him, you were learning how to use a bow from him. And his figure was uncomfortably close to yours from Senku's perspective. Ukyo held your arms gently but firmly, guiding your hands for the perfect trajectory.

He knows this is how people learn to shoot an arrow, but seeing you in a position like that makes his eye twitch in irritation and his chest feel heavier than ever.

“Just relax your hands. Don't grip too hard. Remember the anchor point.” Ukyo whispered in your ear. You took a deep breath and released the string. The arrow dashed and landed near the center point.

“That was close!” You beamed.

“Good job, a few more practices and you'll master it.” He commented and patted your head softly, resulting in an irrational move by Senku that exposed him.

“Okay that's enough.” He blurted out and walked over to you immediately, placing a hand around your waist at your side as soon as he closed the distance between you two. “I'll be taking her man, she's supposed to be working on something. This isn't a great, optimal use of her time.” He hissed directly at him.

“Really? I thought you told me you weren't busy.” Ukyo's voice was surprisingly calm as if he knew what was happening.

“Well-”

“She's busy now.” Senku interrupted you, holding you tighter against him and leaning down to rub his cheek on yours. “If you excuse us, we'll be heading to the lab.”

“Of course, go ahead. It seems there's something important you want to show her.” His comment didn't feel innocent due to the emphasis he added.

Without wasting a second, Senku straightened up and took you by your wrist, walking away with you stumbling on your feet behind him from the abrupt departure. Ukyo simply chuckled heartedly at his reaction, musing how someone like him could fold this hard from jealousy.

Step after step, Senku slowly increases his pace, his feet crushing the soil and fallen twigs with no mercy. You, on the other hand, felt perplexed by this whole attitude he's having. His tail flicks from side to side, hinting that he's experiencing something unusual.

Did something urgent happen?

An emergency?

An explosion?

Why is he acting like this?

You wanted to speak up but he stopped dead in his tracks, causing the words in your throat to die out. It turns out, you're already here at the entrance of the lab. He hurriedly opened the door and yanked you inside — balance faltering because of his uncharacteristic impatience. He shuts the entrance as soon as you are in and turns to you with an unreadable face.

“Sen? What's up with you? You never act like this unless someone is in danger-”

Out of nowhere, he lunged forward at you, causing both of you to fall onto the ground with a loud thump. He used this as a chance to hug you tightly and bury his face between your neck and shoulder.

“Senku what the hell?! Are you okay?” You struggled to break free from his grip, but he held you tightly against the floor, leaving no space to move.

“No, I'm ten billion percent not.” His words muffled your skin.

“You mind telling me what's going on then? This is out of your character.”

He groaned although he reluctantly decided it was best to tell you. He shifted his head so he could speak better. “My useless bonding hormone decided to plummet from the absence of social stimuli, which is undoubtedly you. Basically, I felt like a malfunctioning being from the lack of your… presence.”

Your eyes widened from his response, not expecting that he would actually admit himself. It caused you to giggle at the reason for his absurd behavior. “Oh, so you missed me that much?”

“You're making this weird.”

“You're cuddling me as if I would disappear if you let me go.”

Instead of a harsh comeback, he accepted it and hugged you even tighter like he was trying to merge your bodies into one. “Fair point.” He snuggled his head back into the space of your shoulder and kissed it as he inhaled your scent deeply.

“Are you trying to memorize what I smell like?”

“Yes, I concluded that your skin wasn't that unpleasant. Surprising how you don't stink like shit in an era like this.”

“Way to be romantic.” Still, you scratched and patted his scalp with care, which made a quiet purr leave his mouth uncontrollably. “Never knew you'd like that.”

“Shut up, don't ruin this.” He buried his face into your chest even more to hide his flushed face.

You never thought you would encounter Senku Ishigami — who states that physical affection is nothing but an action that a neurochemically hijacked person does for the sake of feeling the dopamine rush — to cling to you just because he missed his lover. A lovesick bum indeed.

“You think you can make my sketchpad? I know it doesn't help anything for humanity, but I heard you made paper a while back so…”

He faced you with a smirk. “Kukuku, obviously I can, I know how much you love doodling pointless but impressive things there.”

“Those aren't pointless!”

“I'm ten billion percent sure it is.”

You frowned and playfully crossed your arms against your chest. “You just don't understand art,” You turned to leave and glanced back at him with a changed expression — a genuine smile — before adding one more thing. “But seriously, thanks Sen. You know me too well, now I gotta go to the village and check out stuff. See you later!” Facing back at the exit, you waved him a simple goodbye and left the room.

His gaze still locked onto the door, his mind was filled with nothing but you and the way you looked at him, unfortunately for him, Gen noticed it and pulled him out of his thoughts.

“My, my Senku-chan, what's that all about?” He almost forgot that he's in the same vicinity as this guy. To be fair, his contribution in the laboratory is playing around at the sidelines rather than helping out on anything science-related unless he's forced to. When a guy like Senku is in his own world, they tend to remove everything else that doesn't interest anything in their minds. Including someone that doesn't give any progress to inventions.

“Cut it out you mentalist, they just want a sketchpad.”

“It's not exactly useful to us now, is it?”

He scoffed but he knew Gen was right. “I suggest you get outta here before I dump workload on your weak ass.”

“And I suggest you fix up that mistake on your poor roadmap before I scream to the whole world how lovey-dovey you are about-”

“Out.”

Gen fled out of the lab immediately with snickers escaping his lips. Senku gave out a heavy sigh, he glanced at the blueprint on the table, the uneven and shaky line stuck out like a sore thumb; reminding him of how he is to one person.

He doesn't react like this to anyone — except the time Gen scared him during New Year's on Chrome's hut — but when it comes to you, his emotions and reactions skyrocket without his consent.

He tried his best to hide it under formulas and sarcastic remarks, but little cracks of it always find a way to show up. And those cracks are painfully visible to everyone except you.

…

Hours passed by like a blur, you're currently chatting about what the modern world is like from your perspective to Kohaku and Chrome. You talked about your interests, places you loved, and memorable events that kept them hooked and in awe. The topic soon shifted to your friends when Kohaku questioned it curiously.

“Oh them? They were all caring and being their usual selves. Taiju was always loud and funny, Yuzuriha was cheerful in a calm way, and Senku… how do I describe him?” You paused for a few seconds before continuing. “Well it's just, there's more to him than someone who's obsessed with science that I can't put my finger on.”

“Yeah, he's obsessed with you.” Chrome blurted out to which Kohaku jabbed him harshly on the shoulder. “Watch it gorilla!”

“Don't call me that! Also, you need to keep that down, they don't know that.” Kohaku mumbled the last part to him.

“Obsessed? That's so not like Senku.”

“Really? Then why is he approaching you weirdly with something in his hand right now?” The slightly injured Chrome pointed out behind you. Looking back, there is indeed a scientist who's striding towards you with a suspicious grin.

He stopped in his tracks once he got close — too close to be friendly — and handed you the sketchpad you requested earlier. “Here's the totally useful thing you asked for, you should've just stayed in the lab. It took me no longer than 15 minutes to prepare this since I already had the materials needed.” He exclaimed casually, the comment brought unwanted attention from Chrome and Kohaku, who are now looking at him as if he stated that the sky is green.

“Ah thanks Sen,” Your hand took the pad away from him, fingers brushed against his unintentionally. It would've gone unnoticed if those two weren't analyzing every small interaction you're having. “Next time I'll stay longer whenever you're going to make these quickly.”

“With the necessary items already available, that's possible.” Everyone went quiet after that conversation, Senku stayed in his spot longer than he should, he didn't move a single muscle and kept his eyes on you.

“So uh, aren't you gonna do your bad roadmaps?” Chrome broke the silence.

“That, of course I will you fool. I was making sure that the sketchpad I wasted the precious minutes of my life on isn't a waste.” He instantly defended himself and dashed away curtly before Chrome had the chance to speak up about Senku's denial.

“It won't be a waste!” You shouted out, unsure if he heard it at all since he was somehow farther than you expected. “I don't understand how he can move that fast.”

“I don't understand his weirdness towards you.”

“He's just overdoing it. He always complains when he makes something that doesn't benefit him at all.”

They both slammed their palms to their face, and you stood there in confusion. Technically it is true, but you're completely missing the bigger picture.

…

Later in the evening, you sat down inside the makeshift laboratory on your own, sketching out common but detailed flowers you found in the area of the KoS. It's a nice hobby to do whenever you want to relax and take a break once in a while. Your back was hunched over the worktable as you drew, failing to notice someone sneaking behind you.

You only do so when a chin rests on your shoulder. Peeking over your shoulder, that person was none other than Senku. Maroon eyes looked over to the paper and shifted to you slowly. “You working on this now?”

“Yeah, why are you here though?”

“This is the lab you know. I was going to work on a calculation for the hot air balloon.” He didn't remove himself from you.

“Right… I'll just leave then so you can tweak out whatever variables that I know nothing about.” You grabbed the sketchpad but his hand interrupted you when it barely lifted an inch. “Senku?”

“Just stay. It's illogical to use your energy to move somewhere else.”

You pondered over the thought for a moment and decided it's best to comply mostly because you're feeling lazy. “Okay, can't say no to a friend.”

He huffed in relief — not that you can tell — and detached himself so he could stand up properly; he gestured to you to give him some space on the bench. The two of you stayed in comfortable silence in the presence of the other. You worked on your picture and he worked on his formula.

There were no words needed to be said.

Unbeknownst to both of you, Gen and Chrome watched the whole thing through the slight opening of the door. Chrome's mouth was wide open in disbelief and Gen had to put in all of his effort to prevent himself from bursting out laughing at the scene.

“How can they act like that and still be friends with him?!” Chrome whispered aggressively.

“Just as dense as Taiju-chan, but even he knows when someone is deeply in love. They're quite interesting.”

“They make me badly sick. And I mean bad bad.”

“Same here Chrome-kun. This illy-say romcom isn't going anywhere tonight, let's just go.”

They left you two for the night, absolutely tired from seeing the ridiculousness of the situation. In Gen's head, he's betting that no matter how many neon signs that say ‘He's in love with you’ are pointing to Senku, you're going to be blinder than an actual blind man.

Back inside the lab, he's been giving you numerous discreet sideways glances — which he counted to a total of 17 — for the past five minutes. His foot shook up and down restlessly, unsure whether to speak up or not. With all of his courage, he cleared his throat abruptly, which caught your attention and stopped whatever you were doing.

As soon as he felt your eyes, his own frantically looked everywhere but yours. “Hypothetically, if someone confessed to you about… the neurobiological phenomenon that bypasses all logic because of you, how would you react?”

You blinked. “Huh? Oh you mean love?”

“... Yes.”

“Good question,” You didn't even question why he asked something out of character. “If they're strangers, I would reject them like a normal person. But if I were close to them, like really close, then I would definitely consider it.”

He gulped down the remaining anxiety. “Consider?”

“Yeah! I will totally love someone back with all my heart when I'm loved as well.”

“I see. Well…” He tries to find the words to say it himself, just a confession, a simple one. However, the way you look at him with such curiosity only leaves him speechless.

“Well?”

“...

Nothing.”

He failed to tell his own sentiment, at least he knows there's a chance. It's going to take a while for him to build that courage back. His luck is truly amazing. Maybe next time, you'll realize his feelings sooner or later so he wouldn't have the need to water down his pride to tell you himself.

Maybe, he should've just told you.

With a confident smile, you bowed to them and began introducing yourself with no hesitation. “Hello everyone! My name is ______, and I'm the transferee in this class! I can't wait to get to know all of you!” You spoke in English with your lively American accent. A lot of perplexed expressions were visible among the crowd because they didn't know a thing you said.

“Right, everyone! I forgot to mention that they are from the US, the language barrier may complicate your communication with them. So, I'll be picking someone here to guide them.” Everyone looked at each other, curious as to who will be the victim at helping you with the huge language barrier.

Then, they pointed out someone with spring onion-like hair who's sitting at the corner, reading a book with a title that speaks about aerospace engineering. “Senku Ishigami, as far as I'm aware, you have decent English-speaking skills. You'll be assisting them until they are capable enough to know simple Japanese.”

“Tch, I learned English for the sake of getting professional solutions in building an acceptable spacecraft from NASA, not to become a real-life Google translator. If they want to learn in this obviously Japanese only school, they should know the basics of our native language first before they decide to enroll. That's illogical.” He placed down his book and dug a pinky in his ear out of frustration that he's been disturbed.

“As your teacher, I have the right to decide who'll help who. You need to learn some basic human decency yourself. Do you think scientists have no sense of empathy?” They retorted to his rude remark.

“Fine, fine. I'll help, as long as they don't piss me off.” He picked back up his book and went back to his own world after giving a half-ass effort of an agreement.

They shut their eyes and sighed in annoyance but slightly relieved that he dropped the argument. They lead you to the direction of your seat, which just so happens to be next to Senku's. He felt your energetic aura when your presence approached the available desk and gripped his book unreasonably tighter.

“Sooo, you're my seatmate huh? It's really nice to meet you Ishigami!” You greeted him, oblivious at the fact he's clearly busy. It brought some attention from the students nearby towards you guys.

“Call me Senku. And tone it down, you'll ten billion percent rupture my eardrums before I get the chance to become your spokesperson.” He gave you a sideways glance as he muttered to you curtly.

“Ten billion percent? Don't you think it's redundant?”

“It's my way of exaggeration, you idiot.”

“I'm not an idiot!”

“You two, silence! I don't allow any rackets during lessons! If I hear another word, expect to find yourselves out the door!” The ruler slammed against the whiteboard, making both of you jerk on your seats from the bang and the harsh scolding of your teacher.

“This is going to be a long day.” He mumbled with a click of his tongue.

…

A sudden ringing of the school bell greeted your ears like a heavenly choir. It's a melodic sound to the starving students that survived on water and formulas for hours. Jumping from your seat, you aggressively placed your hand on Senku's desk. “Come on partner! We don't want to be the last ones in the line.”

“When the hell did I become your partner? Go by yourself, I'm gonna visit the lab to check on the materials.” He stood up stiffly and stretched his limbs that went numb after spending so much time sitting still.

“Laboratory? Let me go with you then! Forget snacks!”

“No way in hell am I letting you go with me!”

“But you're my translator! I need to stay by your side!” You whined like a child begging for candy. After many awfully persistent attempts, he gave in to you bitterly.

“Just don't touch anything!”

You squealed in excitement and grabbed his hand, immediately invading his personal space in physical touch. “Then let's go!”

He flinched a little from the contact and tried to squirm his hand away. “Oi, don't touch me!” But you didn't listen to him and dragged him with you anyway, leaving him grumbling as he trudged behind. Yet, he goes quieter and quieter the longer you hold him, he starts to acknowledge the way your palm felt warm against his. It was, surprisingly, not unpleasant for him. In fact, it made him soften a little. He shook his head when he realized what he's thinking.

It's just hand holding. Nothing more.

A booming voice erupted at the hallways, following a much calmer one. Taiju and Yuzuriha spotted you two — his two closest friends — and saw you holding Senku's hand. He finally used all his strength to take his own back away from your grip, it was unbelievable that the moment they saw you two that's when his weak physical abilities got a power-up.

“Senku! We didn't know you finally got in a relationship!” Taiju gushed from the discovery that their loner of a scientist found someone to be with.

“Yeah Senku-kun, who would've thought you would find someone.” Yuzuriha followed with a gentler tone, contrasting against his intense comment.

“No you fools, I'm with them by force because they speak English. Since I'm the only capable jackass that understands it, I became the victim.” He denied it instantly.

You didn't have a clue what they're talking about, so you decided to greet them and placed your hand out. “Name's ______, nice to meet you guys! You two must be his friends!” They don't know what you just said, but they can tell you're introducing yourself.

He dismissed your outstretched hand with a smirk. “Basically they're saying they want to form a friendship bond with you two.” He translated in his own way, fortunately nothing too bad that he could've come up with.

“I see! So they're a foreign transferee?” Taiju spoke up with fists high.

“Ten billion points to you for stating the obvious.”

“They should come with us! The more friends the merrier, right Yuzuriha?” He nudged her arm gently with expectant and bright eyes.

“Of course! It would be nice to have another one with us.” She clasped her hand against the other.

“For you to comprehend their replies, they want you to join us.” He glanced back at you with a smirk, he knew you would agree. And just as he predicted it, you bounced in your spot in glee.

“I would love that! We're gonna have so much fun together!”

“As much as I'm happy, the language barrier would be a problem without you though Senku.” Yuzuriha commented.

“No worries. It was a crazy coincidence that Sai programmed an app just for that, although it's still being tested, it doesn't hurt to make you try it yourselves. Here I'll send you guys the link.” Senku picked up his phone in his pocket and sent something in their group chat. Their phones buzzed and they opened it at the same time.

“Woah, what's this for?!”

“Be quiet geez. It's a digital translator for you two to use on them.” He covered his ears and backed an inch away from him out of instinct. “Try it out. It would be exhilarating to see how it works.”

Yuzuriha spoke something unknown on the app and directed the screen towards you.

“Can you understand me?” The device's speaker emitted the sound in a robotic voice, replicating what she said but in a way that you understand perfectly.

You nodded aggressively and she took it as a sign that it works. Looks like you found a new way to communicate with your new partners. Four-person friend group acquired!

…

A serene and soothing atmosphere greeted you and Senku in the library with open arms. The floorboards creaked faintly against the footsteps, pages occasionally flipped and made that crisp sound, pens tapped on the wooden table rhythmically. It's the perfect place to learn Japanese with your new buddy.

“This is too difficult…” You grunted as you tried to memorize the foreign letters.

“Oh please, this is just the beginning of your hell.” He highlighted another character with his index finger on his notebook.

“Why are there thousands of kanji characters?!”

“You don't need to know all of it so relax. Just learn the basics and you're good to go. Plus, I can only help with a thing or two, I'm not that great for teaching stuff like this.”

“How come?”

“It doesn't interest me by a millimeter.”

You gritted your teeth and muffled a groan, begrudgingly began to write down each letter on your scratch paper with Senku's spare ballpen. The ink overflowed a little, but you managed to write — poorly — on the clean lines. Hesitant and shaky strokes were all you could do with your little experience, and he snorted at your horrible penmanship. “You can do better than that.”

"In my defence, I barely pick up a pen!" You moaned and emphasized your point by showing him your fingers struggling to hold it right.

“Geez, I'll help you then you baby.” His calloused and slender hand positioned over yours. He subconsciously takes a mental note at the size difference and the radiated warmth that filled his sensors again. He pushed those thoughts down when it began to invade his brain like a parasite, you're just a friend, he's only helping a friend.

He gripped you tight enough to guide your movements on the sheet with precision. Your lines drastically improved with his help. It was pretty humiliating for you. After a few writing practices, he let you go, but his finger lingered to you a second longer than needed.

You moved the pen 10x better than earlier now, it looks readable than your drafts before. “I'm finally getting the hang of writing these characters!” You beamed a little too loudly which earned you a shush from the librarian.

“Kukuku, just practice more and you'll get that muscle memory.”

“Of course, soon enough I'll learn how to talk in Japanese.”

“Sure you will.” It sounded sarcastic, but his mouth curled upwards into a small and genuine smile. He doesn't know that though, he's too busy observing you put in your all on grasping his mother tongue.

…

“Senku! Perfume gone! Is discontinued, help is me!” You started to speak some essential Japanese weeks ago thanks to multiple study sessions with Senku, but your grammatical structure goes poor when you start to spout words in a panic.

“Calm down fool, I can't understand shit.” Even though he can't decipher your exclaims, he's glad that you understand his native tongue more, he's finally free from talking in English all the time.

“Discontinued per- ah forget it! Senku please help me! My favorite brand of perfume stopped production, it got discontinued!” Whenever you can't say the words the way you want it to, you resort back to your roots.

“Ah that. The one you practically bathe yourself in for the sake of smelling like pure botany. Its scent was so intense I could tell you were in the vicinity in a 30 meter radius.”

“I'm gonna be sick! It was something I used for years now it's gone for good…” You dramatically hovered a hand over to your chest as you grabbed the empty bottle from your pocket and clutched it tightly like a vice, shoving said bottle to his face. “Look at it! Only drops remained!”

“Tch, you're doing too much.” He took it away from your grip with no hesitation.

“Hey, that's my memorabilia!” You yelled out and rushed to get it back from him, but thanks to his height, he managed to hold it as high as he could.

“Chill you shorty. You won't need this.”

“Why would you say that?!” You're still struggling to reach it despite being on your toes.

“Because I made you a new one. In fact, it's ten billion percent better than your last one. I can assure you it won't invade anyone's nostrils and suffocate their lungs from that crude toxin you call a perfume.” He stepped back and extended his hand to his school bag, a glass tube emerged from the inside, glinting a shine in a specific angle. It contained something suspicious, but the color was almost transparent. “Take this instead.” With unusual gentleness, he handed it over to you.

Snatching it away, you immediately popped open the cork and sniffed out the contents. To your surprise, it wasn't bad. No, that's an understatement, it got you smelling it for a whole minute without any break. “This is… incredible.” You whispered under your breath, a sign you finally calmed yourself down.

“Kukuku, I told you. And you don't have to worry about the supply, the recipe is jotted down in my head and notepad, not saying I can't do it mentally but in case you're ever curious at the raw ingredients.” He played it off casually.

He's just helping a friend out.

Nothing more.

“Thank you so much Sen!” You rarely spoke Japanese because you're still learning, however, hearing your gratitude in that way felt nice, the new nickname was the cherry on the top. Sen. He doesn't dislike it.

It's only a name though.

…

You've been improving your communication skills a lot lately. You got the hang of your accent and pronunciation, you sound like you truly belong with them.

Many students noticed how you put in your effort to understand them, making you quite known among the school as the lively foreigner.

It also meant they know the way your friend acts around you.

They've never seen him be so close with someone before, not even Taiju or Yuzuriha. It was the first time they witnessed him not just tolerating your ongoing behavior, but feeling genuine fondness over it. The way he gazes at you when you weren't looking at his attention was one of the signs. They could've shrugged it off as just analyzing you.

But then, more and more flags appeared.

Remember the perfume he renovated himself? He recreated more things you brought up once like a chocolate and a keychain.

He would ramble about quantum physics and thermodynamics to you more than his other friends for hours. Every now and then, he would glance at you to check if you're still listening, and he will always find you paying attention to him with curious eyes even when the topics give you little to no understanding at what it is about.

The last one was the most shocking thing. Most of the time, you weren't the one clinging onto him, he's been the one moving much closer to your personal space. The distance becomes much more obvious, slowly growing non-existent as days go by like you have some sort of gravitational pull on him.

His presence with you screamed love.

His actions were a way of showing you his affection.

He finally felt the peace he never expected to have from you. It gave him the same feeling just like how he would look at the vast stars of the growing universe.

Yet after all of that, he was clueless about his true feelings, he only acknowledged these weird actions when some random person pointed it out to him. Despite being the smartest guy in the whole school, he's the dumbest when it comes to his emotions.

He simply replied by saying it's only casual with his smug smirk. He foolishly convinced himself that it's normal because humans are social species, attachment is natural. It's normal.

.

Is it really normal that his heart beats faster with you?

Is it really normal that his hands sweat a little when you're with him?

Is it really normal that you're always on his mind even when he's doing mental calculations?

He's a genius. He's supposed to know the answer to this. But sentimental thoughts are something he can never fully master himself. It's the biggest hurdle he has. He needs to confront you now, to finally understand everything.

…

“Senku? What's up? I got your text message that you want to meet up here.” At a park bench, Senku sat with an unreadable expression.

“Look, you know damn well that you're one of the closest… friend I have.” He blurted out, making you jump from his sudden words.

“Of course… what about it?” You were about to inch closer to him but he stood up abruptly and marched towards you himself. He forcefully grabbed you by your shoulders, you stared at him bewilderedly with your mouth agape, unsure what to say from his uncharacteristic demeanor.

“This is inefficient as hell yet here we are. I'm a dumbass when it comes to… this. But I want to tell you something that will change everything between us.” He paused for a moment to look at you, his eyes pleading for permission. Closing your mouth, you nodded weakly, allowing him to continue. “Look, we've been friends for a while now, but our time together flooded my stupid neurons full of dopamine and oxytocin. I never calculated this possibility before, although it doesn't mean I dislike it.”

You blinked twice. Is this supposed to be a confession?

He sighed when you didn't understand quick enough, he moved his hands to cup your face carefully. Without any warning, he crashed his lips against yours. You gasped softly against his mouth, and soon enough, you melted your body onto his. The world around you stopped moving, only the sensation of his plush mouth and the warmth of his palms on your cheeks clouded your mind.

He pulled away after exactly 15 seconds (he counted that in his head) and took deep breaths in sync with you. Neither of you spoke. The tension around you finally broke into something more vulnerable. Something only yours to call.

You giggled nervously, unsure where to go about this. “This was unexpected.”

“Yeah. I didn't mean to.” He dropped your face to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. “It's just way too new to me. I'm sorry if this ruined something-”

“Idiot… I'm glad you did it. This didn't ruin what we have, rather it gives us an opportunity to see where this will go. Unless you're planning to avoid me by burying yourself in your experiments.” You cut him off teasingly.

“Shut up. Let's just get together already, it's been driving me insane.”

“Of course,

darling.”

His face grew into deep shades of red like a chemical reaction.

“Shouldn't we do something?! He's going to tell him that Senku's still alive!” Kohaku turned to prepare to chase him, but a figure leaped forward to her with a spear in hand. The tip of it was held in front of her face, preventing her from moving any further.

“Y/N?! Seriously out of all the times, this is where you decide to finally attack us for real?!”

“I'm not attacking you, I'm keeping you in your place. Nobody is chasing anybody.” Your words hold no space for any argument.

“You can't-”

“I said it firmly last night, I'm Tsukasa's spy. I have the right to keep you from ruining our mission.”

“She's stubborn and determined, Lionness. There's no point at convincing her.” Senku interrupted before she could respond.

“But Senku, that bastard is going to snitch. You're going to die at this rate!”

He simply placed a hand at her shoulder and moved closer to her, whispering unknown words into her ear. She only reacted with a huff and backed away from you.

“I'm sorry, but I have to keep you away from him, I hope you understand. To compensate, I'll still help you guys train for the tournament soon, for now I need to wash up at the river.” You walked away from them curtly, going deep into the forest. The dark greenery slowly consumed your figure, and eventually you were out of sight.

Senku sighed in relief as soon as you departed. “Kukuku, looks like I don't have to worry about her eavesdropping on us.”

“Eavesdropping?” Kohaku gave him a perplexed stare.

“You couldn't tell, huh? That mentalist will clearly give Tsukasa a fake report. It's obvious since he's been helping us earlier and refused to let Y/N leave with him.”

“So, Gen is actually on our side?”

“Ten billion percent, he's going to convince that primate that I'm dead for real.”

“But what about her? She's not gonna like it knowing that Gen became a traitor.”

Senku cracked his neck and waved dismissively in the air. “That's not our problem, it doesn't affect us by a millimeter. Now let's put ourselves to good use, we'll be making him an icy cold cola. He's a shallow man, we need to give him one thing to prevent him from switching up again.”

…

Hours passed and the sun peaked in the middle, its rays much more blinding than before. Ever since you left the KoS you've felt something weighing in your chest. Your body sat nearby the river, completely slumped on the grassy area, gaze locked at the river and looking at it like it personally betrayed you. You finished cleaning up long ago, but a part of you refused to go back for some reason.

Your hand drifted towards the cool water, feeling the soft currents moving against your fingers. ‘Why am I like this? It's pointless to mope around. But why am I feeling like shit?’ Thoughts were clouded with negativity, making the world around go mute.

It doesn't make sense, is there something you don't know? Why do you feel like everything is going to go wrong soon?

You shook your head violently from the thought, it was eating your mind up. With a harsh groan, you reluctantly stood up from the ground, wiping away the stray drops of water on your hand.

“I guess it's time to go back. Wonder what they're up to.” You mumbled to yourself as you grabbed your only stone weapon that was left forgotten at the side. When you're making your way back, you start to think about how Gen is doing with his report to Tsukasa.

‘Hopefully he doesn't mess it up. We need to get over this as soon as possible.’

…

(At Gen's side):

He ran away frantically, his hands shook aggressively in the air. Even through the occasionally stumbling on tree roots and small stones, it barely did anything to stop him. He was panting greedily, a burning sensation on his legs were rising high — threatening to give out any time soon.

Fortunately, it wasn't too long when he finally arrived at the Tsukasa Empire, looking like he lost a fight to a bear. He dashed to the entrance of a dark cave and jerked when an arrow nearly landed on his bare foot.

“Wait Tsukasa it's me!” He called out, words echoing on the walls of the cave. His chest heaved and his hands fell onto his knees as he grasped for more air to refill his weak lungs.

“Me and Y/N-chan found a village full of primitives! They attacked us both, but she allowed me to flee while she distracted them on her own.” He explained between heavy breaths. “As for Senku-chan, he was gone. No trace of him anywhere.”

He snapped his fingers as he shifted into his usual sing-song voice. “There's no doubt that the man is dead! And I forgot to mention that Y/N-chan insisted on spying on them as soon as she calmed their nerves down. So there's no need to worry about our fierce goddess who's unfortunately not by my side.”

“Gen, you and Y/N didn't actually see his body. If he's somehow still alive, he'll find the village and turn it into a Kingdom of Science.” Tsukasa gave him a look of something dangerous and unshakable. “Unfortunately, I failed to mention to her that if she does manage to find him, she should kill him immediately. So, we'll build an army as soon as possible, and we'll take over the village alongside her.”

“Of course~! Expanding the empire is important for the Stone World.” Gen exclaimed in his foolish voice to disguise his internal immense dread about the situation. ‘Senku-chan is so screwed!’

…

The KoS was starting to become visible in your field of vision as you walked closer and closer, your horrible leather shoes crunched against the ground softly. It didn't take long for Kohaku to see you thanks to her 20/20 vision.

“You came back really late.” She puffed with her arms crossed as she ambled towards you.

“I was washing up.”

“Until it's practically noon?”

“The dirt was such an ass.”

She sighed from your answers, it was way more simple and blunt than Senku's. “Whatever you say girl.”

“Anyway, what's up with this place? Where are the others?” Only the sounds from clashing sticks from the battlefield and the crackling fire from the furnace were heard around the vicinity. It indicated that the presence of some special people are missing because usually there would be chatter about experiments.

“Ha! You finally noticed. Senku and Chrome left with Suika to test out her glasses.” She pointed with her thumb to where the scientists went.

“Ah, she couldn't see well. That explains why she wears that helmet, I'm guessing it's something about the pinhole effect.” You pondered.

“How did you know that? Senku explained that earlier. I didn't know you're a scientist either.”

“Used to be a decent one, but I only became one to compete with Ishigami.”

“Ishigami? Isn't that the village name?”

A confused expression was visible on your face. You looked at her as if she said that pigs can fly. “What are you talking about? God you know what, nevermind.” You immediately dismissed your own question when it escaped, not wanting to be bothered with lore that has a chance that he's the main focus of it. “I meant to say.. Senku.” You feel mentally disgusted at using his first name for the first time ever.

“Oh I see. Wait, why aren't you competing with him now?” Her questions were beginning to annoy you slightly.

“Academic competition in the Stone World? I'll pass. Survival is much more necessary than chemical play.” You responded with little irritation.

“Then this means you're okay with Senku since your science fight stopped right?”

You grumbled weakly when she asked more, still, you replied with no hesitation. “It doesn't mean I stopped disliking him. He's still an asshole, I'll never be fond of that guy even if thousands of years passed again.”

“You modern people are so complicated. What's the point of holding a grudge?” Her shoulders sagged from how ridiculous your relationship is with Senku. You responded to it by rolling your eyes, it's way too hard not to when you clearly hate talking about him.

And speaking of the devil, the said person that was the topic of your conversation walked out of the forest with Chrome and Suika beside him.

“Kukuku, look who's finally here.”

“You're the one that came back.”

“You left hours earlier for who knows why. A bath doesn't take approximately 3 hours when you don't have the hygiene products that contribute to that hellish time.”

You clicked your tongue at how well thought out his argument is. “Screw you, you don't have the right to be curious about what to do with my life. What are you, my boyfriend?”

“You're ten billion percent delusional. It just doesn't make any sense dumbass.” He didn't deny it, but you didn't put much thought into it when your attention moved to Suika's helmet which changed a little from the glasses.

“Suika, you can see better now right?” You intentionally ignored Senku out of spite.

“Yep! Detective Suika can help easily now!” She beamed with her arms stretched in the air.

“That's great to hear!” Your sudden change of demeanor made the others look at you like you're a totally different person.

She nodded happily at your comment. “And Suika can see your face clearly. You look so beautiful!”

A slight blush appeared at your cheeks warmly from her innocent compliment. “Oh, I appreciate it a lot.” From the outside, you were composed enough to give her reasonable gratitude. But internally? You're screaming and crying thanks to the girl's sweetest words. Sure, your classmates back in the 21st Century admired your looks as well, however it didn't hit hard enough for your heart to beat a millisecond faster. Children are an easy exception for that, you know they are always honest just about everything.

“You broke her capability to speak after that sweet lie, well done Suika.” Senku interrupts your thoughts in which your mood goes upside-down quickly.

“I'm gonna throw you off a cliff.” You bit back.

‘There it goes again! Her insane mood swings!’ Is what the rest shouted in their heads in unison by chance.

“Do that and in exchange you help these primitives evolve their scientific progress-”

“No.”

…

(Huge timeskip)

Several days have passed since Gen's report. He still hasn't come back, you assumed he's planning an attack on the village with Tsukasa. It's not like you want that possibility, but this village is one step closer to rebuilding the old world, it's going to be necessary.

You're sitting at a boulder nearby, watching the members of the KoS finish up at recreating chemical compounds in their makeshift laboratory, it almost felt nostalgic. Almost.

“Y/N, are you a bad guy ‘cause you didn't help us in the lab?” Suika skipped towards you.

“I'm not a bad guy per se, but I don't help just because. If I were one, I would've killed Senku myself, and since I'm not, I'm just observing you guys.”

“I don't understand why you're spying on us though.”

You chuckled at her innocence. “I'm just doing my job, that's all.”

“Tch, job my ass. You just don't have the guts to kill me.” Senku walked over to your conversation with a sly grin when he wasn't even mentioned.

“My job was to protect Gen, which recently changed to keeping watch of you idiots. Nobody said that I should take your life.” You retorted.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, kukuku.” His teasing reply makes your temple throb in rapid pulses. You've been stuck in this kingdom for far too long in your opinion, one more day with this bastard you'll explode into smithereens.

“Don't you have more dangerous ingredients to bring back?”

“Nah, I need alcohol for the rest, dummy. It won't be a problem soon because the Grand Bout will be starting in a few moments. Our chances of getting it have increased since I'm joining it to shit on the rules of it.” He shrugged casually.

“Of course you would. You don't care about being fair when you see the advantage it gives you.” Your eyes narrowed at his scummy strategy.

“Obviously, it's ten billion percent more efficient this way!” He grinned like an average Disney villain and you cringe at his stupid look.

“You're so childish.”

“You're boring.”

“Your explanations are worse.”

“Guys can you shut up for one second? Despite being together for days, your relationship is still bad!” Chrome yelled out in frustration. “It's about to start! We need to go!”

“Yeah sure, go gather everyone else. We're going to get that alcohol and save your precious Ruri.” Senku dug a finger in his ear. “You coming or what? We can use another set of hands with us.” He turned his head back to you, expecting you would say no but it doesn't hurt to try. A trump card can turn the tides.

“No chance. I'm staying.” You denied quickly; the bar of his luck is still in the depths of hell.

“Your stubbornness is almost admirable. Oi team! Let's move out already, I can't wait another second to step foot in the village for the first time ever.” He called out to his teammates and walked away to the village's bridge, leaving you sitting alone in boredom.

“And I can't wait to get out of here.” You mumbled to yourself.

“Don't worry Y/N-chan~ it'll be soon enough.”

“Hopefully.” You froze when you realized what you just heard and said. Turning your head to the direction of the voice slowly, a dark but familiar figure starts to emerge from the shadows of the trees in the far side.

“Long time no see,

Y/N-chan!”