Constant Variable (Senku x Reader)

9: Let There Be the Light of Science

Although, you couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not as you refilled a villager's bowl with more ramen broth.

"He's way too blunt," Kohaku, on the other hand, disapproved of the green-haired teen's straightforwardness and narrowed her eyes at the male as she asked, "You never make small tall or anything, do you, Senku?"

You shook your head in exasperated fondness when Senku shrugged in response to the blonde's scolding, not caring at all as he focused on what he was doing.

"Here you go!"

You raised your head at the sound of Suika's voice and was greeted with the sight of the young girl running about as she served bowl after bowl of ramen to the villager, unable to catch a break. "I'm losing track of who I've served!"

You giggled at how adorable she was but shifted your gaze to Kohaku when she said, "The response is amazing. Everyone's coming over."

At the satisfied smile on the blonde's face, as she watched her village enjoy their ramen, both you and Senku exchanged high fives with each other at the success of Operation Ramen (you just thought of that name on the spot).

"No problem," Senku chuckled before a dark look falling over his face, red orbs glimmered with malicious glee. "I'll just work them to death in proportion to however much they ate."

"You really do make sketchy faces." Kohaku sweat-dropped at the scientist's dark expression while you turned your focus back to the cart when a villager called out for another bowl of ramen. "Coming up!"

The next few minutes were spent preparing and serving more ramen as the villagers couldn't get enough of it when the peaceful routine was disturbed by an unfamiliar voice.

"Ah, this is making me thirsty for a drink. Like, say, cola."

Both you and Senku paused in what you were doing upon hearing that, a certain word in the sentence having caught both your attention.

"Cola?" You muttered beneath your breath in slight confusion, your eyes widening as realization dawned upon you.

Senku, on the other hand, said nothing as he remained motionless, the corners of his lips turning downwards into a deep frown with each passing second.

"Senku, (Name), is he with you?" Kohaku questioned as she stared at the newcomer, with bi-colored hair – black and white split evenly down the middle – and wearing a purple robe, who was leaning against a large boulder while enjoying a bowl of ramen.

"No," The scientist replied in a quiet voice as he placed his chopsticks down and without needing to be told, the blonde sprung into action.

"Kinro, Ginro, stop squabbling for a moment," Kohaku called out to the two brothers who were still arguing over ramen as she approached them.

"What? What are—" Kinro answered and turned to look at the blonde but stopped mid-sentence and was on red alert, Ginro doing the same, when he noticed how her head was hanging down and immediately knew that something was not right.

"I'll get to the point," Kohaku began as she raised her head, blue eyes glinting for a fight. "Enemies."

In the blink of an eye, they surrounded the stranger with the sharp ends of their weapons aimed at his head as they cornered him, cutting off all possible escape routes.

"Answer truthfully, or I'll slit your throat here and now," Kohaku growled, the tone of her voice suggesting that she wouldn't hesitate to carry out her threat if the guy didn't listen to her words. "Are you one of the long-haired man's underlings?"