#suika

When Senku said that he would be reviving someone crucial to their plan of bringing back all humans from stone, everyone from the Kingdom of Science developed their own image in their head.

Chrome imagined another genius like Senku, someone who can help create things that seemed like magic.

Kohaku expected an athlete, meant to do the heavy lifting that she normally found herself doing for Senku and his experiments.

Ginro shook at the thought of a leader, commanding and terrifying and ready to rule over the Kingdom of Science with an iron fist.

Obviously, Senku thought it was unnecessary to explain who he was actually planning on reviving and what they were like, because no one expected him to emerge from the thickness of the forest with someone like... you.

You, who looked as normal as could be, save for the cracks etched upon your skin from the de-petrification process.

"Senku... who is this?" Kohaku asked. Typical of her, one of the only ones who had the guts to openly question the scientist's judgement.

Senku grinned like he had just uncovered diamonds (and to him, maybe he did). "This, ladies and gentlemen of the stone world, is the capable apothecary back from the modern world."

You had smiled and nodded at them, introducing yourself. "Nice to meet you all. I look forward to working with you."

Gen was the only one who was actually wary of you — you, who did not seem fazed at all when you came out of the petrification to find yourself in a world that has descended into over three thousand years without a single human soul from the modern world.

From his experience, the only ones who had that kind of reaction to this new age were the ones that had a couple of screws loose in their brains, much like Senku.

If only he had followed his gut.

After you had explained to the rest of the Kingdom of Science what an apothecary was, little Suika was eager to learn form you as you wandered through the forest together in search for herbs. Senku had your own clinic constructed beside his lab, where you kept various leaves and plants that you thought would be useful.

It took a few weeks for you to properly settle in and get used to the difficult simplicity of things, but once you did, Senku knew that he had to keep a tighter leash on you.

"Kinro, Ginro," he had told them one day when you were holed up in your clinic. "While you're guarding the village, make sure that the apothecary doesn't leave the area."

Ginro had tilted his head, confused. You kept to yourself most of the time, sure, but you seemed harmless to him. "Why?"

Senku shook his head. "Trust me, you do not want to see what would happen if they're left unsupervised."

Nonetheless, Kinro and Ginro nodded. It was part of the rules to be wary of outsiders anyway, so Kinro had no problem keeping an eye on you.

But of course, even the strict Kinro could sometimes slip, especially with someone as sneaky as you under their watch.

They didn't even notice you were gone until Gen went into the clinic one day to bother you, only to find it empty.

He thought that bringing it up with Senku would be no big deal, and that he would probably know where you were.

Until his news of your sudden disappearance caused Senku to look up from his messy science-y notes so fast Gen knew that man had to have gotten whiplash.

"Get Suika, Kohaku, and Chrome and tell them to search the forest," he barked, storming out of his lab like a man on a mission.

Gen stumbled to keep up with him, eyebrows pinching together. Why was Senku, the normally logical, overall detached scientist, act like you not being here was a war crime?

Gen began to question how much you really meant to the scientist. Obviously you were something to him, seeing as you didn't have extraordinary skills, and yet you were still one of the very few people that Senku decided to revive.

Either way, this level of overprotectiveness is crazy! Gen thought.

"Wha — What are you gonna do?!" The mentalist sputtered.

"I'm gonna have a word with the bodyguards," Senku grumbled, and he didn't wait to see if Gen left to do what he was told (he did leave — no way did he want to deal with an angry Senku) before he approached Kinro and Ginro at the end of the bridge.

"I thought I told you to watch the apothecary!" He said, his voice shaky and maniacal, the way it always sounded when he was stressed about something. "They're gone!"

Kinro was the first to speak up this time. "I apologize for losing sight of them, but guarding the village is our number one priority. If they leave the Kingdom of Science, which is not technically part of the village, then it is not really our concern."

"They could be anywhere doing gods know what!" Senku threw his hands up, one raking through his hair.

"They — They couldn't have gone that far," Ginro reassured, but his hands were shaking the spear that he held. "They're probably still around the area, gathering their herbs or something!"

The statement was meant to reassure Senku.

It did not.

"Shit, what if they come across...?" Senku began mumbling to himself, walking away as he dived deep into his thoughts.

In the end, it was Kohaku that found you.

In a not so good condition.

"They're unconscious!" Kohaku called out as she came out into the clearing of the Kingdom of Science with you in her arms. "There are weird, soapy things coming out of their mouth."

Senku almost tripped over himself to get a better look at you. There was foam on the corners of your purple lips. Your skin was deathly pale, and your chest was barely rising.

But you were alive, that was the good thing. Keeping you alive would be a different challenge.

"You stupid apothecary," Senku laughed, but there was no humor in his voice.

Despite his... less superior strength, he took you out of Kohaku's arms and brought you to your clinic, laying you on the stretcher on the ground as he rummaged through your shelves of remedies and herbs.

"This is why you can never leave my sight," he said, more to himself than you. "Who knows what you find in this forest? The plants are different from how they were three thousand years ago, of course you'd be curious of its properties. Of course you'd test it on yourself."

He found a bottle you had labeled "generic antidote" and snatched that one.

He pulled the cork out with his teeth and brought the lid of the bottle to your lips.

"No."

He paused his movements when he heard you. Your words were more air than voice, but he had heard you nonetheless due to your proximity.

"Your lips are purple, you're foaming at the mouth, you're deathly pale, and you're barely breathing," Senku listed down. "That's the generic effects of poison. What's wrong with the generic antidote?"

Your eyes cracked open, and Senku almost recoiled in shock.

"Your eyes are black."

Sure enough, even the part of your eyes that were supposed to be white were almost fully coated in black, like you had put on contacts.

"Different... poison..." you muttered, like speaking was the hardest thing you ever did in your life. "White petals, salt... the green paste in the small bottle. Grind 'n boil 'em 'until 'til they bubble."

"Is there enough time for that?" Senku asked, but he was already reaching for the ingredients. His hands moved with lightning speed, determined to give you the antidote.

"Yeah... got lots of time..." you had started to fade into unconsciousness, but Senku was quick to lightly slap your cheek.

"Oi, stay awake, stupid apothecary," he commanded.

"Yessir," you slurred slightly, a weak grin on your face.

The preparation took forever, when in reality it only took around twenty minutes until he had a strange concoction in a bowl, ready for consumption.

He knelt beside you, pushing you up into a sitting position so the antidote would travel around your body faster.

With one hand behind your back and the other holding the bowl, he brought the antidote to your lips. "Open up."

You drank obediently, your face faintly scrunching up at the expectedly awful taste, but you had finished everything in the bowl.

"Good." Senku laid you back down. "Now you can rest."

He didn't even need to tell you that; you were already knocked out the moment you had drank the last of the antidote.

—————

Throughout the rest of the day, various people came to check in on you, asking Senku how you were doing and if you were alive.

He was quick to snap at all of them, telling them that you would recover faster if it was quiet. Obviously that wouldn't really change anything, but they don't need to know that.

You woke up late at night, your head feeling like a balloon and your body feeling like lead.

Senku perked up from his seat on the side of the clinic when he heard you groan, immediately standing up and kneeling by your side.

"You good, apothecary?" He hated how worried his voice sounded; a scientist like him shouldn't be chained down by emotions.

But you literally just poisoned yourself, so could you really blame him?

"I..." It took you so long to finish your answer that Senku was convinced that you had fallen asleep again, until you bolted upright with the widest grin on your mouth. The contrast of your bright smile with your pale face and bloodshot eyes made you look like a character straight out of a horror game. "I feel great!"

Senku blinked. "Huh?"

"Did you get the flower that I ate?" You started rambling, pulling at your sleeves to examine your skin, as if looking for residual poison. "I knew that there would be new kinds of natural poison around here since it's been a couple hundred years, but wow! That flower was unlike anything I've ever tested —"

Your eyes suddenly snapped to Senku's. "Did you record how long it took for me to pass out? How long it took for the antidote to take effect? My symptoms? How close I was to death?"

Senku was in disbelief, to put it lightly. He knew from the moment that he met you that you were as passionate about poisons as he was about science, but he forgot how actually insane you were.

"It took you eight hours to recover, but that doesn't include the time from when the poison started to take effect to the time that Kohaku found you," Senku replied, not to answer your question, but to scold you. "What have I told you about trying poisons out without telling anyone?! What would have happened if I didn't tell the Kingdom of Science to look for you?!"

You waved his concern away like it was unnecessary (it was very much necessary). "My heartbeat would have been slow enough to not even be detected by a machine, my chest would barely rise, but I was confident that I wouldn't die. I'm immune to most poisons."

"Well, obviously not this one!" Senku groaned. He felt like pulling his hair out. "You could have died!"

You put your hand to your chin, suddenly deep in thought. "What if the flower gives you the effects of death, but in reality, it doesn't actually kill you? Or what if it does kill you, but giving an antidote can basically revive you?" You muttered.

It was like Senku wasn't even there!

He slapped the back of your head, hard enough to pull you out of your brain but not hard enough to actually hurt you. "Stop that! Stop plotting ways to commit suicide! You're grounded until further notice!"

"But Senku!" You whined, clutching the front of his shirt like you were begging for your life rather than freedom to roam through the forest and find more lethal poisons. "This is the pinnacle of poison discovery! I'm the only one alive that has true experience with poison, and I could find new ones that'll be named after me and carry my legacy for generations!"

"I understand that discovery comes with risk, but this is neither necessary nor calculated risk on your part!" Senku retorted, flicking your hand away. "Kohaku was already caught off guard when you were surrounded by strange, purple flowers!"

The silence made Senku sweat. He should not have said that.

Before he could react, you were already out of the cot, dashing out of the clinic. The fire in front of Chrome's storage facility was still alive, which meant that there were still people awake in the Kingdom of Science.

You spotted a familiar head of blonde hair. "Kohaku!" You called, dragging her name out as you ran towards her, your smile as maniacal as your laugh as you evaded Senku, who was shouting at you to get back to bed.

You slid on the ground, stopping right beside Kohaku. You grabbed her shoulders and made you face her. "Do you remember where you found me? Did you get any of the flowers that you found me with? Do you —"

"Do not answer any of their questions!" Senku interrupted, wrapping his arms around your waist and hauling you up. "It'll only encourage them to test stuff on themself!"

The rest of the people surrounding the campfire — old man Kaseki, Chrome, and Gen — stared at you in horror. You thrashed around in Senku's arms, but ultimately gave up when his hold on you never faltered. For a scientist who normally lacked physical strength, he sure was good at keeping you in place.

"I knew there was something wrong with you," Gen muttered, a scared smile spreading on his lips.

"This is bad," Chrome moaned, clutching the sides of his head like he just found a live bomb. "I thought the apothecary was tamer and more mature than Senku. Turns out they're just as bad!"

"No," Kohaku shook her head, watching Senku drag you back to the clinic where he would undoubtedly imprison you until you were fully recovered and properly confined within the Kingdom grounds. "They're worse."

Kaseki sighed, tending to the fire. "At least young Senku is there to keep them in line. It seems he cares about them very much."

Gen nodded. He may have missed you being a complete suicidal maniac, but that's one thing he was sure of: despite your tendencies, Senku was always there to make sure you never actually "step into the light", so to speak.

And he's pretty certain that will not change any time soon, not even in the stone world.