Petrified | Dr. Stone

05.

Inoko quickly ran to a vacant corner where she could hide herself. What is she supposed to do now? There are more people than she thought. She wanted to find Minami since she's the only one that she is familiar with but can she really consider the two of them as friends? Maybe acquaintance, but maybe it's too soon to call themselves as such.

She sat down, legs crossed. The pain on her feet is now becoming unbearable. She held it and tried to remove the dirt that is clinging to it, cringing at the slightly wet texture of the dirt. The redness of it is noticeable if seen closely.

While she was busy removing the dirt on her feet by using a leaf, she didn't see someone approached her. This person has been observing her as soon as she walked into view with Tsukasa. He clutched the sling that holds his arrows. She looks young, and those expressions just screams innocence. Why would Tsukasa bring someone like her here?

Inoko looked up in surprise as someone sat down next to her. It was a guy with his hair hidden by a yellow orange hat. He wore an orange cloak and on his back was a quiver with several arrows on it. She just notice the bow that was placed on the ground in the middle of them two. He gave her a small smile as soon as their eyes met, in which she shyly give in return.

Stranger warning! Stranger warning!

"H-hello..." her shy attempt on starting a conversation. He didn't give her a reply, instead he reached for his shoes and slid them off.

"Here." He said, handing her his shoes. "Your feet are hurting, right?"

"No! I mean... yes, but I can't possibly take that."

"It's fine. Just give them back as soon as you had your own." There it is again. The smile that makes Inoko feel warm inside. The sun shone behind him, giving the nice impression of him being an angel and Inoko fought to look away.

"... thank you, um...?"

"Ukyo."

"Thank you very much, Ukyo-san."

Inoko smiled as she hid behind her hair, her face heating up. She cleaned and removed the last bit of any removable dirt on her feet and wore the shoes given by Ukyo. She gave it an experimental stomp a few times before nodding in approval. It is a lot bigger than her feet but she can at least manage to walk with it.

"I'm Inoko. It's nice to meet you, Ukyo-san."

Ukyo stood up, now with his bare feet. The sight of this made Inoko guilty of using his shoes. She shook her head. "No, Ukyo-san is nice enough to let me borrow his shoes. I should be grateful to his kindness."

"There's this girl named Yuzuriha. She serves as our tailor." Her brows rose up at the name. "She's also the one who made your clothes. You should ask her to make you some footwear."

"Yuzuriha? It's one of those two people who Tsukasa-san wants me to follow..." she thought.

She stood up, patting off the dirt on her behind. "Um... Ukyo-san. Can you..." she looked down, trailing off when his blue eyes shifted to her. She twiddled her thumbs, feeling shy in front of the man in front of her. "...can you take me to this person, Yuzuriha?"

Earlier, Tsukasa told her to keep an eye on two people who are apparently the first members of the group. One girl and one boy; Yuzuriha and Taiju. Tsukasa said that they were not a threat and it is just him being cautious. Inoko is confused by this but didn't voiced out her thoughts. If these two were already there when Tsukasa is just starting, why would he be acting suspicious of them?

"Sure." Ukyo said, adjusting the quiver on his back.

As they walk, Ukyo informed her of the things that she should be aware of; things that should be done and what not to do. She learned that almost everyone here just arrived recently. It hasn't even been a week since Ukyo was freed which shocked her.

The system that Tsukasa runs isn't as bad as she thought. Each one of them plays a role. Ukyo acts as a scout because of his sensitive hearing. Yuzuriha is their tailor since she has talent for craftsmanship. The guy who is always around her, Taiju, is one who works for the physical labor. Everyone also knew Minami since she is the one who is in charge of choosing who should be added and can help their growing group.

Questions ran through Inoko's mind and Ukyo's voice soon faded out in the background as she focused more on her thoughts. She noticed that the majority of them are fighters or at least physically fit. "It's like Tsukasa-san is gathering all of the most capable in fighting. Are they up against something? Would that mean that something out there is dangerous?" She gasped. Could it be the source of the light and the reason behind the petrification? Speaking of that, are they the only humans who survived? They were called the 'Empire of Might', could there be another group of people out there? "If so, why are they not together? How did they survive? Did they use the same method that Tsukasa-san and Minami-san did? What was that anyway?"

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Is everything okay?" Ukyo asked, concern laced in his voice. Inoko just nodded her head gently and looked at the ground. She saw the shoes on her feet and his now bare feet which makes her face go warm. She cupped it, turning away from the man beside her. "We're here."

Right after he said that, Inoko looked around, hoping to find the person she has been looking for. Unlike the entrance of their headquarters which still have some trees albeit a few, this place was surrounded by really huge rocks that blocks the view of the sky. Bald trees can be seen everywhere she looked and the best word to describe the place is dull. In the center was a cross attached to the ground.

"Excuse me, Ukyo-san..." she started. "...did someone died?"

She noticed the dark and grim expression on Ukyo's face as soon as she asked her question. Oh no. Did she just crossed the line? She should not have asked!

"Why can't you read the mood?!"

"Yes." Ukyo said, tipping his hat down. "I never really met the person but he was the first person who survived."

"Oh." Was all that she could say. The first person to survive, eh? He must be really old, then.

"Yuzuriha and Taiju often stay here. If you need something from them, they will definitely be in this place." Right after he said that, footsteps were heard causing the two of them to simultaneously turn their head towards it.

It was a young woman with short brown hair. She wore a headband that is shaped like a headphone and wore a white dress that is only being held up by the red strings stitched loosely on the side. Inoko blushed in shame as another well endowed woman showed up.

"Why are they all blessed with great appearance?!" Inoko thought. "And why is she only dressed like that? I thought she was a tailor?!"