5. The Foreign Lioness
09-08-2022
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"The rain has let up! The sounds are gone, so we gotta be quiet now!" said Taiju.
"You're right!" Yuzuriha agreed as they both looked around frantically. "He's not on his way now, is he?"
You saw Senku stand up with his usual smirk. Happiness rose inside of you, and you couldn't help but tear up and cry with relief. The scientist patted your head, letting you know not to worry anymore, and so you wiped away your tears. He chuckled, "I'm impressed, realizing about my neck from that crappy hint I gave you. All of you receive ten billion points!"
"Senku!" Taiju and Yuzuriha cried out and turned around with shock as they had tears in their eyes.
Taiju immediately grabbed Senku and pulled him into an ecstatic bear hug, causing your friend to scream. He kicked Taiju off, causing him to flip backward.
"HAH?! WAS MY CERVICAL PLEXUS NOT ENOUGH?! ARE YOU GONNA CRUSH MY BODY THIS TIME?! WANNA DIE, PUNK?!" Senku scolded him in rage. He then calmed down after yelling and spoke, "I'm sure you all understand, so we don't need to thank each other for every little thing that happened. We can just leave it at this."
Your lips curled up into a small smile. "Yes, of course. Welcome back, Senku."
Yuzuriha wiped her tears, then began to tear the bag you all carried, turning it into a flag. The design on it looked like a rocket and stars. She attached it to a giant stick and tied it to Senku's back, acting as a splint.
"I thought the design looked like a little rocket, and we could use it as a science flag. Anyways, you need this for your neck," she said. "You need one too, (Y/N)-chan!"
"I don't need this! But I feel better already," Senku replied. "Professor Senku's life-risking self-experiment was a success! The restoration abilities of de-petrification are no joke!"
You replied in a soft voice, "It's okay, Yuzuriha. I don't need one."
Taiju cheerfully exclaimed, "Man, to think that even though petrification caused us so much trouble, that thanks to that, you'd be healed like this!"
You let out a small laugh. "It's like what you said about soap, Senku. In place of a doctor, we have this stone of life. Our Dr. Stone...how amusing."
He looked at you with wonder. You weren't wrong. Petrification was a curse and a blessing--two sides of the same coin. It was weird. When one was restored, everything else was too, as if everyone petrified was a scientific phenomenon and that this wasn't an attack.
Yuzuriha tried to put a statue back together as you all cleaned up. "I wonder...if your neck could be healed, then maybe these statues could."
"I tried with a few, but all that came back were corpses. With so much vital power..." Senku's eyes widened, then he whispered something to Yuzuriha. When she heard it, she began sweating bullets, and her eyes were wide with shock, but she nodded her head. "That is your mission. You got that?"
"Yeaaaaah..." she dragged on. "This sounds crazy, but I'll do it."
Taiju intercepted the conversation, "What's with the secrets? Come on, tell us!"
Yuzuriha replied, "Well...I thought that we should go back to Tsukasa."
"Huh?" You raised an eyebrow as you looked at her.
"Oh, yeah! Go back to Tsukasa--WAIT, WHAT!?" Taiju widened his eyes with shock. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her back and forth as he started rambling on, "He's dangerous! He killed Senku--well, technically, he's alive--but he believes he killed Senku! He almost killed (Y/N) too!"
"And that's why you need to go. Tsukasa believes that I'm in the afterlife, giving us a huge military advantage! I will know where he is at all times because you two will infiltrate as spies! I've told Yuzuriha the mission; you gotta protect her," Senku said to Taiju confidently. "(Y/N) will stay and help me bring civilization back. However, you need to develop a good excuse for why she isn't with you. Tell him that she ran away and went missing or something, alright?"
You were surprised that Senku even said that. Then again, even if he didn't, you still wouldn't want to see Tsukasa. He almost choked you to death, after all. You had feared him and his strength.
"Got it. Leave it to me!" Taiju nodded and pumped himself up.
You then warned, "You two be careful. Since Senku told him the formula, I think he will be creating an army of his own to control, then revive the young if he isn't stopped."
"To defeat Tsukasa, we need to create a revolutionary army and fight him with science!" asserted Senku.
Yuzuriha questioned, "But how are you gonna do that by yourselves?"
"And you guys won't have gunpowder anymore since Tsukasa has taken it over!" Taiju added.
"We'll be okay, Taiju, Yuzuriha. With the two of you on the other side, we will be fighting separately," you said softly.
Senku gave a smile as he looked up at the sky. "Ah, here comes the sad goodbyes overflowing with tears. And since I'm dead, don't forget to visit my grave, got it?"
With that, you said your goodbyes to your friends. You embraced Taiju and Yuzuriha before packing up your things and leaving with Senku. As you saw them go, you turned your back towards them until you heard Taiju yelling at the both of you, holding his fist up in the air. Senku held his flag up in the air as you waved to them. Then, the two lovers disappeared, and it was just you and the scientist.
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It was silent as you walked together. It was painfully obvious that Senku couldn't rush you nor take any risky paths because of your neck, hence the slow pace you were taking. You felt guilty already, as though you were a burden to him. But you also had no idea what else Senku was thinking about. All you did was follow him, as you assumed that he had plans. However, just to make sure, you needed to break that silence.
"Senku, what's your plan for our fight against Tsukasa?" You questioned him. You winced at the sound of your voice. It wasn't completely there, as it was weak and quiet.
He replied, "We're going to find that mysterious group 'x' that lit the signals. We can get them to be our allies. The problem is, if Tsukasa and 'x' make contact, we're screwed."
"Then if they pass each other, let's hope that they don't meet--" You were interrupted by the sound of wood splintering in the distance, along with a long tree falling. "Senku!"
"I know!"
The scientist ran in the direction of the felled tree, with you slightly behind. It took quite a bit of distance, but you two saw it. A blonde girl stuck underneath a log. You two approached her with worry.
She spoke up with her bright blue eyes staring at you, "You there! The gentlemanly sorcerer and the woman he saved! You're alive!"
You two met up with her to check if she was alright. Senku tried to use his stick as a wedge to try prying the log off of her, but it was too heavy to lift.
"We can introduce ourselves later, so please save your strength!" You begged.
"Do you think you can hold until sundown?" Senku asked her. "If not, I can gamble and use the last of the gunpowder to blast you out, but if so, then I'll one billion percent save you, even if it kills me! Decide now!"
"You still have gunpowder?!" You questioned the scientist.
"Yeah, but that's not important right now!"
She seemed to be in shock by what was being said, but she answered firmly, "Yes, my organs and bones are fine. I can hold on!"
He smirked as sweat dripped down his head. "Okay, let's get to work then, slowpoke."
You nodded. The scientist gave you a spare ax, and you began to slowly help him to chop some wood into circles. The scientist explained to you that the log seemed to weigh 1 ton, and to get it on one side, it was 500 kilograms. He calculated it to equal somewhere near 500 kilos with just his weight. Senku took a bit of gunpowder to hollow out the inside of the logs to fit some bamboo stuffed packed with dirt inside of it. You helped make some rope with him, and he rubbed soap and water with it. Once you were both done "soaping" it down, you tied the rope to the ends of the tree trunk, and Senku tied it to a firm branch above.
"What is this?" The blonde asked.
Senku answered, "This is science. Made by Archimedes a few hundred years BC. It converts the strength of high schoolers into Herculean might."
"In short, it's called a pulley!"
You saw Senku jump to pull the rope. The log slowly lifted as he went down with it, and the woman looked in awe. She found it incredible, even though she didn't seem to understand it.
"As your helpers, it'd be best to introduce ourselves now. My name is (Y/N), and this is Senku," you said as the scientist dropped down next to you.
She spoke up softly when you two finished, "My name is Kohaku, and it seems I have quite a liking for the both of you."
Senku looked disgusted and completely uninterested. You, on the other hand, just nervously chuckled as sweat dripped down your temples, hoping it wasn't what you thought it was. Sure, she was beautiful, but you didn't have any feelings for this foreign-looking girl you had just met.
"And it seems like you said something completely tiresome. Suddenly falling in love in this kind of emergency..." Senku drawled out.
Kohaku yelled at him, "That's not what I meant in the slightest! I was only saying that because I found you two interesting as humans! I want us to work together!"
"Ah...thank you for clearing it up then..." you told her, still nervous about it. "We're not knights in shining armor that kisses royalty after saving them, you know?"
"A brain full of love is illogical, after all," Senku added.
You looked at the sky and sighed. "It's getting late. Let's camp out here for now."
You unpacked what you had left in your bags. Senku created a campfire, and the two of you ate before going to sleep in your makeshift sleeping bags as it got dark. You adjusted your head to make sure your neck wouldn't feel pain. However, Kohaku had nothing to use, so she leaned up against a tree as she held her knives to sleep.
"Is sleeping with knives a new human thing, or is it just you?" asked Senku when looking at how Kohaku was resting.
"It's because you brought up romance!" Kohaku snapped at him. "Just because I'm interested in your actions doesn't mean I trust the both of you. I've been living my life fending for myself, using my abilities. Don't read too much into it."
You asked her, "Do you think we can attack you? We don't have much."
"Yeah, even if a lioness like you attacked me, I wouldn't stand a chance. My physical abilities suck," Senku added.
Kohaku's eyes widened. "Lioness?! That hurts, even someone like me! Even though your actions might be those of a gentleman, your tongue is sharp! How does this woman put up with you? Is she your lover?"
Immediately, you denied it, "No! We're just good friends!"
Senku agreed with what you had said. "Exactly. As I said, love is most illogical. Now go to sleep."
You pulled the sleeping bag over your head and curled up into a ball, as your face was a little red from what Kohaku had asked. But you calmed yourself down and went to sleep in that same position.
-----
As the sun rose and morning came, you quickly pulled the sleeping bag off of your face. You did not sleep comfortably during the night, as you had a nightmare. But you did see Senku already sitting up and looking down at you. You looked over to your side to see Kohaku already gone.
You blurted out, "Morning, Senku... Where's Kohaku?"
"She left while carrying a large jug, but she said to meet us by the hot spring that's down the path she made," he told you. "But the lioness said she'll come back if she's finished before we come."
You sat up. "You didn't go with her?"
"You were still asleep, slowpoke."
Then his eyes trailed down to where your neck was, and he slowly brought his hands up to examine it. You froze, then slightly began to hyperventilate as his fingers wrapped around the back of your neck. You immediately grabbed his arms to push it away.
"It's okay. It would help if you calmed down. I'm only checking your neck because of what Tsukasa did," he softly elaborated. You let go of his wrists and placed your hands in your lap, your heart still beating rapidly. Senku then put his hands back, and you flinched when he pushed down a little with his thumb. "Your voice is slowly coming back to normal, and by the way you're acting right now, your headache seems to be gone... but it looks like it'll take a while for these bruises to heal. Unfortunately, we don't have any cold compresses or cream, so you need to relax your neck whenever we get the chance to rest, got it?"
You slowly nodded. Then you felt water dripping onto your hands and legs. You tried to wipe your face, but the tears wouldn't stop falling. You were afraid. Your body was on high alert, unconsciously protecting you. All Senku could do was take his hands and fingers to help wipe the tears off of your face as you hugged your body. You needed time to heal.
"I thought I was going to die at the hands of Tsukasa," you stated. "I didn't analyze his movements and I didn't consider the amount of strength he had. But I did it to save Yuzuriha. Yet, I still failed because I had no strength to push him back."
"With his muscle mass, his strength is at least four times bigger than yours. It's to be expected," said Senku. You knew he meant no harm in that, and he was right.
"I know. I just wish I was strong enough to handle him so I can protect you as you save humanity."
"To me, you're the strongest I know. I don't need saving. If something like that happens again, I will ten billion percent save you and prevent it from happening," he pledged. You looked up at him to see the sincerity he had in those ruby-colored eyes of his.
"Thank you, Senku." You appreciated your time with him. You then wiped your remaining tears away and stood up, trying to be as positive as you could. "Let's get going. We don't have all day."
The both of you packed up and met up with Kohaku, who filled her massive jug with hot water. She noticed the two of you approaching but had gotten closer to you.
"I hope you are alright. You were shuffling a lot in your sleep, and I can see that your eyes are puffy from crying," she mentioned.
You were surprised by what she had said, but you answered honestly, "I'm just...okay. But I'll be better soon."
She nodded. "But you're going to fight that long-haired guy, right? Let's work together on that. I have no intention of shamelessly backing down."
"Yeah, that's why we're going to make a kingdom of science," Senku replied. "First thing we need is manpower."
"Well, then you two should come with me. I'm heading back while carrying this jug of water for a hot spring bath for recovery purposes," said Kohaku, carrying the water with her strength.
"No matter how you look at it, you're one billion percent the epitome of health. How does a strong lioness like you need to recover?" The scientist questioned her.
She roared back at him, "I'm not a lioness! It's not for me; it's for my older sister! My sister is a huge bother and is super annoying, but she hasn't been feeling well lately. Aside from using this extremely sturdy body, there's nothing I can do for her."
You felt sorry for her. You thought about the amount of water she's carrying and that it wouldn't be able to fill a bath. She would have to make multiple trips for her, day after day.
"This is a part of my daily training. Since the water is a perfect weight, my body gets better and better," she said, then nearly stumbled. You and Senku caught the jug to prevent her from falling over.
"Your injuries haven't healed yet, Kohaku," you mentioned to her. "You sure you'll be okay?"
Senku added, "Yeah, it'd be a real shame if you dropped dead from overdoing it. Hand it over."
As she let it go, Senku had already collapsed under the weight of the jug, causing it to tip over and the water to spill out. You pulled the jar off of him, realizing it wasn't too heavy for you, even if there were to be water inside of it.
"You're the one who shouldn't be overdoing it," Kohaku told the scientist with a straight face, then looked at you. "You shouldn't either, especially with that injury on your neck."
"I'm okay, this isn't that heavy anyways," you mentioned.
"Everyone in this stone world aside from me must be gorillas. Kohaku, (Y/N), Tsukasa, and Taiju too..." Senku muttered as his face was planted into the ground.
Kohaku, who became irritated, scowled, "Gorillas?! Go back to lioness! Even that's better! And call (Y/N) something else!"
You chuckled a bit, "Ehehe... he already calls me slowpoke..."
"At least that name is better than gorilla! But anyway, how are we going to get down since you don't want me carrying this jug around?" Kohaku questioned.
"Leave that to us," Senku snickered.
-To be Continued-