Edited: Oct 30, 2023
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"I'm still confused with how your hair stays up naturally..."
Ana hummed thoughtfully as she used a spare cloth to dry Senku's hair. The two were dressed in their dry clothes as they sat on nearby rocks a few meters away from the hot spring. Ana was sitting on a rock while Senku was on the ground so the girl could dry his hair all she want.
"It's just naturally like that." Senku dismissed as he showed her the bag of sulfur he collected, "Come take a look at this bunch I've collected so far!"
Senku slightly moved away from her as he reached for the bag, immediately leaning back to her space as he raised the bag up to show her excitedly.
"Mhmm! That seems plenty!" Ana grinned as she rested her hand on top of Senku's mostly dry hair, "By tomorrow, we would have more than enough in our collection!"
"Exactly! There are lots of uses for sulfur, so having some spare will be beneficial for us. Making gunpowder is just our main priority right now."
In the middle of his ramblings, Ana gently and slightly pushed Senku a bit to make space between the rock and his back. She easily slid between the space and pulled Senku close to her again so he was now leaning on her side.
"And to be honest, we really don't need this kind of plot twist in this stone world but that's what makes it exciting!" Senku continued, not even bothered at the close proximity, "Building civilization and speed-running it from the scratch is something I've never done but I'm looking forward on doing just that."
"And you have me."
"And I have you." Senku agreed without missing a beat.
"If you ask me to do anything, I'll do it."
"Just like that?"
"Since when have I not done anything you asked of me?"
Senku paused, really thinking about it.
"No time really comes up in my mind." He admitted, and then he smirked, "Thanks to you, I was able to proceed with my experiments that I would've had to wait for months or years to start because of the budget."
"You're always welcome!!" Ana replied happily as she leaned her head on his shoulder, "You've gotten a bit taller, huh."
"And I'm still gonna grow for the next few years." He replied smugly.
Senku yelped as he felt her poke at his side.
"Yeah, but your body's way too weak for this world. You should do some cardio." Ana snapped her fingers, "After this, I'll give you an easy workout routine you should follow regularly just to keep your body in shape, and to keep active."
"Do I have to?" Senku complained, "I'll be busy with all the experiments and other thin-"
"Nope! No complaining!" Ana cut him off, "Besides you know full well yourself that you need it! I can takeover your tasks, you know I can. So you'll be working out during that time."
Senku pouted.
There was comfortable silence between them for moments before it was broken by Taiju from the hot springs.
"Yuzuriha, I have to talk to you about the petrification incident! About 3700 years ago, when I called you out to meet under the Camphor tree."
Senku and Ana both had the same expression as they looked at each other to make sure if they both heard it right.
"Is he..?"
Senku nodded at her.
"At that time, what were you going to say, Taiju-kun?" Yuzuriha's voice drifted through the quiet night.
There was a relaxing silence.
Ana closed her eyes and started to hum softly so it could only be heard between her and Senku, careful not to ruin the precious moment between their friends.
Senku was familiar with the song she was humming, but couldn't quite name the song.
"What song is that again?" He asked softly.
His father used to play songs similar to what she was singing.
Ana momentarily paused, "Nothing's gonna change my love for you."
"... Right back at you." Senku's voice was so low that Ana didn't quite catch his reply.
"Come again?" She asked but Senku only shook his head.
Ana had a confused look on her face, perhaps Senku did not hear her?
"The title of the song is 'nothing's gonna change my love for you. It's English."
As Ana continued to hum, Senku felt a part of himself slowly withered away in embarrassment.
'Why did I say that in the first place!?'
"Yuzuriha, while I was petrified, I never stopped thinking about talking to you again! For hundreds, and thousands of years." Taiju's voice was heard loud and clear.
"You oughta know by now how much I love you..." Ana softly sang the lyrics instead of humming the chorus, "One thing you can be sure of. I'll never ask for more than your love..."
"But, now, in this extreme stone world, there's nowhere for me to run. When it comes to saying it, I can't help but feel cowardice as a man."
"The world may change my whole life through but nothing's gonna change my love for you~"
"EH, SORRY! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO SAY YET! YOU'RE PROBABLY THINKING 'I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT HE'S SAYING,' BUT..."
"No, I get it."
"... When we restore civilization and save humanity! At that time, even after 3700 years! Please listen to the rest of what I have to say, Yuzuriha!"
"... Okay, I will. Let's restore this world. For sure!!"
Senku glanced down at Ana.
"Sing another song."
Ana smiled.
"Sure."
Yuzuriha, Taiju, Lalaine and Ana were gathering woods by come next morning. Ana searched nearby for herbs. Lalaine was carrying a bunch of sticks. If you were wondering where Athena was; No she was not helping Senku back at their temporary campsite, she was just slacking off.
Taiju was enthusiastically talking with Yuzuriha as he handed a new set of woods to Lalaine and they start walking back to their temporary campsite.
"Then, let me give you a summary of events from when you were stone!"
Yuzuriha looked equally energetic as Taiju told her their story so far.
"Thousands of years after all of humanity was turned into stone, only Senku, Ana and I were revived."
Yuzuriha was surprised at this information.
"Eeeh?! You were able to make that restoration water from nothing?"
Taiju smiled widely with Ana's own grinning face in the background, they finally arrived back.
"It was all Senku and Ana!"
Ana nodded at what Taiju said, she carried some woods that Lalaine have to make it easier for her friend, "Give yourself more credit, big guy! You helped lighten the heavy workload and made it easier for us."
Taiju faced Ana with something akin to marvel.
"Really!? YOU'RE THE BEST!" They exchanged high-fives before he continued, "With that water, we were able to revive 'The ultimate primate highschooler' Shishiou Tsukasa."
Ana decided to also tell the summary of their story so far.
"But just then, Tsukasa revealed his ideals and intention on creating a new world! A paradise in his on definition without the rich people- Wait a second...! I mean, The cruel ones who abuse their power and authority and not think of the consequences of their actions to the common people!"
"Right, right!" Taiju nodded along at her words, "And then it turns out he's been breaking and killing people who are still petrified! That's why we have to fight and put a stop on him!"
They reached their base just as Senku dropped some burnt wood, somehow being able to silence Taiju with that action.
"Isn't that why we came all this way? We've gathered the three ingredients needed to make gunpowder! Now then, it's time for our 'fun gunpowder cooking'...!"
He thought for a moment before seemingly deciding on something.
Senku did not give Ana a heads up as he tossed some of the ingredients that could be tossed to her. In which she caught reflexively.
"Gunpowder ingredient number 1!" Senku started, "The plentiful Sulfur of this hot spring! Number 2, charcoal! Just burn some wood, and this is easily attainable."
Ana took that as an order to mix the ingredients, she got to work immediately.
"Number 3! The last and most difficult: SALTPETER! Making this takes a shit-ton of time so I prepared this saltpeter here LONG IN ADVANCE!" He showed the to the other the bag of saltpeter enthusiastically.
All of them had the same awe expression at their newfound knowledge.
"Whooah!?"
It seemed familiar to Taiju.
"...Huh? That salt-something, where have I heard that-? THAT ACID! THE MIRACLE WATER! DID YOU GET THAT FROM THE CAVE!?"
Ana gave the bag of Sulfur and Charcoal to Senku, who took it, praising Taiju.
"Your blockhead was unusually right for once. 100 billion points for you. Saltpeter, 75%. Sulfur, 10%. Charcoal, 15%. That's about the right balance..."
Senku looked at Ana, "How were you able to mix the right amount of Charcoal and Sulfur without me telling you the measurements? Did you use a measuring tool or something?"
Ana rose an eyebrow, "I'm the one who's always lucky here, Senku. Luck is something you don't have."
"Keep your secrets then." Senku grumbled lightheartedly as he added the last ingredient, "And to bring out the flavor, a dash of sugar will raise the potency."
Athena was in awe.
"I thought the making of gunpowder was hard and it was just this easy?"
Senku gave her a blank look.
"Don't go trying this at home now."
"My home no longer exists, so that's null and void."
"The last step is to hit and harden it!"
Taiju lifted a huge rock over his head.
"Hitting, is it!? LEAVE THE HEAVY LIFTING TO ME!!"
All five of them were shocked at his show of strength.
"WHOAH!!!"
Lalaine and Athena slowly stepped away from Taiju, standing behind Ana. They could always use her as a shield and Ana would just let them.
Yuzuriha stopped Taiju before he could continue.
"I-I-Isn't that too much? If Taiju-kun hits it with all of his might, then the gunpowder might ignite, like with flint..."
Senku sat back.
"Actually, no, you can't get a spark by hitting two of the same kind of rock."
Yuzuriha faced him, "Eh, really?"
Ana was the same too, "That's how it works? Oh my gosh, so I was hitting rocks when I was a child for hours and I wasted my time?!"
Taiju slammed the huge rock on the gunpowder with normal strength.
There was no spark.
"OHH, YOU'RE RIGHT!"
Ana knew what Senku would do next.
"Trivia time~"
Senku smiled, deciding to explain it.
"You can't use just any old rock or flint. It has to have some iron in it for a spark to appear. Hot spring equals Volcano equals Iron Pyrite..."
The two nerds froze along with Lalaine and Athena. Senku repeated what he said with emphasis.
"IRON Pyrite."
Ana realized something.
"And some unreal strength."
All four of them tried to stop Taiju.
"WAI-"
Too late, Taiju slammed the huge rock onto the gunpowder with all of his might.
The six of them looked closely at it with horror-struck faces.
The first spark appeared followed by one and another.
There was only one thing that Ana said.
"Ain't no way..."
They all ran away, Taiju grabbing Yuzuriha and Ana grabbing Lalaine, Athena, and Senku. They were all blasted away, all of them screaming. The explosion was massive, most of their things got blown up. When it was done, Senku was staring and chuckling at the results in disbelief.
"This is nothing. Our 'gunpowder cooking' was a huge success!"
Lalaine was still recovering from the sudden explosion.
"This gunpowder is seriously this powerful!"
An image of Tsukasa who had burns and some smoke coming off his body with his hair tangled in all places appeared in Lalaine's mind, with him saying something like "It's my loss. Okay, I'll stop breaking the statues."
Laughing at what she thought, Lalaine shared it with the others.
"Ahaha, I can't help but think of that kind of image!"
Taiju, Yuzuriha, and Athena agreed with her.
"ME TOO!"
Senku put a hand on his hip, still looking at the destruction it caused.
"From a long time ago, whenever a student failed at an experiment, there wasn't much chance of limbs going flying off, huh?"
Yuzuriha squeaked at this fact.
Senku continued.
"This is a weapon with that kind of potential."
Athena nodded her head, "With this we will, fight Tsukasa?"
The lettuce-haired teen turned to her.
"No, we'll make an exchange. Tsukasa is not some killing machine past all communication. Didn't he say so himself back when he fought with you and Taiju?"
"There's no exchange at all."
"That means inversely, in this war. There's a room for negotiation. With a gunpowder-based weapon, we can dominate it."
Senku turned away from them, Taiju and Yuzuriha smiling at each other and Lalaine and Athena picking up their clothes that somehow survived the explosion.
He had a dark look in his eyes.
'However, if by some chance, negotiations with Tsukasa break down... At that time, Tsukasa...'
Ana faced the Mt. Fuji, stretching her arms upward, closing her eyes.
'If Tsukasa ever try to lay a finger on Senku... At that time, Tsukasa...'
Ana opened her amber eyes as she took in the vast view of nature. She looked softly at the mountains and Fuji from the distance.
Glaring at the direction he was going, Tsukasa couldn't help but let his mind wander.
'If Senku and Ana have already completed the gunpowder, at that time, those two...'
'I'll have to kill him.'
'I'll have to kill them.'
Athena stopped on her tracks, looking at Ana, whose back was facing them. She tapped Lalaine's shoulder, whispering to her
"'Laine, I don't know if this is a good thing but..."
"Ana's giving off a different vibe?" Lalaine cut her off, narrowing her eyes.
"For me, it's a good thing because of our current situation. But I don't know about after this." Athena reasoned, Lalaine nodded to her.
"Okay, hurry and put it out. In the one in ten thousand chance Tsukasa has followed us, he's ten billion percent certain to see this." Senku instructed after recovering from the blast.
While gathering water, Yuzuriha noticed something from the forest.
"Everyone, look, OVER THERE!" She pointed out.
Senku noticed the smoke signal with the others, wide-eyed.
"A signal."
He was shocked as three possibilities entered his mind.
Forest fire, Tsukasa, or another survivor.
Yuzuriha whirled around to face them.
"TSUKASA??"
Senku shook his head.
"No, that's the opposite direction. More importantly, Tsukasa wouldn't give away his position to us."
Taiju and Athena were ready to run in that direction, holding a bag.
"THEN WHAT IS IT!? A FOREST FIRE??"
Ana analyzed the smoke signal, "That timing can't be a coincidence. It's obviously a reaction to our smoke."
Yuzuriha looked at her, "Then..." She trailed off.
Senku nodded at what she was implying.
"Yeah, this means, in this stone world, there are other out there!"
He started thinking, thinking up every possibility there was with their current situation.
'From their point of view, wouldn't they think our explosions was probably by the volcano if we don't light another beacon? But if somehow Tsukasa did follow us, if we let him know our position, we're fucked.'
A mad expression appeared on Senku's face as he smirked. He was feeling stressed and pressured at the sudden decision making he was being forced to make.
'That illogical 'intuition' of mine, telling me what to do. If we light it now... Which to choose? Safety? The future?'
Ana stood beside him. Based on his expression alone, she figured he already made a decision but just needed someone to give him a little push.
So she decided to be the one to give him what he needed right now.
"No sacrifice, no victory, Senku. Right now, we need to sacrifice our safety for the future knowledge that can potentially impact the plans we have in mind." Ana said as she placed a firm hand on his shoulder, "Don't be afraid to take risks, Senku. Do it, you have me."
Senku mulled over her words as Ana gave him some space.
"WHAT WILL WE DO, SENKU, ANA!? SHOULD I PUT IT OUT!? OR LIGHT IT UP!?" Taiju asked in a panicked and loud voice.
Ana ran past them to collect more woods, she already knew what Senku's answer will be.
Lalaine and Athena followed her. Finally, the slacker was working.
"LIGHT IT UP! LIGHT THE BEACON!!!"
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Edited: Feb 27, 2021
Edited: Oct 30, 2023