n-3^07-! (I love you)

Chapter Two

The newcomer, Senku, left Yae with much to think about. He too had strange black markings, only his was on his face. She decided, for now, to keep quiet about it, and wondered if Kohaku even remembered seeing similar symbols on her. For now, Senku was staying with Chrome in his hut. The poor lad wasn't welcomed into the village just yet and she couldn't help but feel bad for him. It was then that a wonderful idea sprung from her head.
Ah hah! She thought. That's what I'll do!
Yae grabbed a basket and placed different kinds of fruit and vegetables inside. Surely the two boys were hungry, and with the sun going down and the cool temperature fast approaching with the night, she poured hot tea into a mug, wrapped the top with a cloth and then tied it with a thin string of rope to keep it from spilling. Once she had everything accounted for in her basket, she took off across the bridge and made her way to Chrome's hut.

The door was left wide open and Yae could hear the two talking about Ruri. She walked up to the ladder and took careful steps to not rushing herself in case she slipped. Yae clutched the basket in one hand while she took extra caution while climbing the ladder.
"What are you two talking about?" She asked as she peered over the ledge.
Chrome quickly walked passed Senku to take the basket from her.
Senku decided to help too and held out his hand for Yae to pull herself the rest of the way up. This was the closest he had ever been to her. All those years during school he never saw her make physical contact with anyone. He wished he had at least attempted to talk to her before the stone world.
Yae then tripped on the last step of the ladder, falling forward. She would have landed face-first on Chrome's doorstep if Senku wasn't still holding her hand.
"Thanks!" Yae gave him another sweet smile just as she did earlier that day.
"Careful now," Senku told her as she laughed nervously and let go of him to rub her eyes. "What's the matter?" Senku asked.
"It's strange; I can see things far away but not up close that well."
Ah, thought Senku. That's right. She doesn't have her glasses anymore. She must have hyperopia. In other words, she's farsighted.
"You two are talking about Ruri, right?" Yae asked.

Chrome frowned as he led the two back inside the hut and shut the door. He lit a candle and set the basket down in the middle of the floor. "Yeah..." Senku said. "For a while now, Chrome and I have been trying to find a cure, but no such luck." Senku thought to himself, the answer should be easy for you, Yae, but it's buried deep in your subconscious mind. He sighed. "Let me take you both back 3700 years ago." Senku thought best not to tell Yae that she was like him. Instead, he was going to treat her the same, and hopefully, she would fall back into her daily routines (whatever that was) and regain her memories. But as of now, he needed to keep all that aside and focus on what was happening now.
Yae and Chrome listened to Senku carefully as he laid out the history of the Human Race and Chrome looked as if he was going to cry.
Yae studied Senku with a serious face. Everything he had just explained somehow came as no surprise to her as if she had heard all those stories before...but where? How?
Finally, Yae spoke. "Can you help us find a cure, Senku? I imagine you can with all that knowledge crammed inside your head."
Senku smirked. "You're one billion percent correct! Two million years of human history hasn't gone anywhere. It's all right here, inside my head." He paused. "And it's inside you too." He brought his fist forward Chrome. "Am I wrong?"
"No, you're not. I'm gonna help you build this kingdom of science, and we're gonna find a cure to whatever it is that's making Ruri sick! So are you up for it? Using science to find a way to cure her?"
Senku smirked. "Hell yeah! We're gonna use science to make the ultimate medicine. The three of us are going to make antibiotics!"

The word struck one of Yae's brain cells. "A bacterial medicine." She said. "Doesn't it help destroy or slow down diseases caused by this thing called bacteria?"
Chrome flopped back down on his butt, mouth Ajar.
Senku on the other hand grinned. "That's right." He told her.
"How do you know this?" Chrome wanted to know
Yae shrugged. "I don't know. When Senku brought it up, it somehow became familiar to me. I can't remember anything else, though, unfortunately." She bowed her head.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up." Senku stretched his arm toward her just as he did to Chrome. Yae lifted her head and bumped her fist with his. "I'm sure you'll get your memories back soon." He hated that he had to pretend he didn't know her. To help him from mentally kicking himself for it, he grabbed fruit from out of the basket. "Thanks for this." And he took a bite.
A soft chuckle came from Yae and she smiled. "Of course! I thought you two might be hungry."

It was all very weird to Senku. Maybe this was how she acted when not in school. He stole glances at her from time to time while they ate their food from the basket.
Try everything. He thought. "Yae," Senku started.
"Yes?"
"I want to help you get your memory back."
Yae felt uncertain. "Are you sure? I mean, with trying to find a cure for Ruri, how will you have time to help me?"
Senku smirked. "Just leave that to me."
Before either of them could say more, a knock came to the door, and before anyone could answer, Kohaku let herself in.
"There you are." She said to Yae. "I've been looking for you. I was wondering if you would help me prepare Ruri's bath. It's easier with two people."
Yae stood up immediately. "Sure." She picked up the basket and waved the boys goodbye.

The girls made their way down the ladder and towards the bridge.
Senku ran after them, telling them to stop—Yae particularly.
"You never gave me a straight answer. Will you let me help you, or no?"
"Help her with what?" Kohaku asked.
"My memory..." Yae said, never taking her eyes off Senku who waited for an answer. The look on his face was sincere. So he was being serious about helping her. "Yes, Senku. I would like that very much."
"Alright!" His arm shot forward, hand bawled into a fist. "Time to get excited!"
Yae laughed a little and bumped his fist again.

This sparked a newfound friendship and a means of survival. Yae's lost memories were a valuable asset to helping Senku and the others survive.

A review is food for the writers soul. Thank you so much for reading!