All of the villagers were enjoying the telescope and the observatory. They were mesmerized at how far they could see and how clear it was. "You can see so far away!" Suika cheered, "The sun's gonna rise soon!"
"Don't look at the sun through the telescope!" Senku warned from outside of the observatory.
Kohaku turned to the basket of rocks, "If the stones you guys got are the right ones..." She said, and the stones began to glow.
Everyone was in awe.
"Wow, it's like a mountain of jewels." Ruri said.
"It's not like a mountain of jewels. It is a mountain of jewels." Senku clarified and chuckled, "It's a treasure trove of super rare metals. "
[Y/n] smiled a bit at Senku's reaction while standing next to Gen. Magma huffed, "Jewels, my ass. They're just slightly heavy rocks. After all that fuss..."
"We're going to win against Tsukasa's army with these rocks." Gen said.
"With these rocks?" Kokuya questioned and picked one up, "I see. With these gems. I can see them being heavy enough to hurt."
Senku, Gen, and [Y/n] gave a disturbed reaction.
"Father, I don't think that's what..." Ruri muttered.
"You can't blame him. Father is of an older generation." Kohaku said, and [Y/n] giggled.
"We're up against Tsukasa-chan's army. They're going to be seriously tough. Our plan is to make cellphones using these rocks and win the information war." Gen said.
"But, Senku, how much longer is it going to take to make our cellphones?" Kohaku asked.
"She's right. Once spring comes, Tsukasa-kun's army is going to be rushing in." Ginro said, and Senku smirked.
"The goal's not that far away." Senku said, "To put it simply...The vacuum tube is the heart of the cellphone. Plastics make up the skeleton. The microphone is the vocal cord. The gold wire is the veins." Senku counted off with his fingers, listing each item then held up four fingers, " With these four body parts, we can finish the cellphone."
Everyone was in awe. Time seemed to have passed by to quickly.
"This mega-huge science project is coming to a close. Everyone, we're sprinting all the way to the goal from here." Senku explained and picked up a stone, "First, we're going to make the filament, which are essential for the vacuum tubes...Using tungsten, the most heat-resistant metal in the universe, sleeping inside this blue light."
"But, Senku, how are we going to get it out of the stone?" Kohaku asked.
"About that...It's going to be tough as hell." Senku said. Then Magma and Mantle started smashing the stones.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" Chrome yelled.
"Huh? We're getting it out of the rocks, aren't we?" Magma said while continuing to smash the stones, "All we need to do is destroy it."
[Y/n] gave a deadpanned look while Senku was a bit shocked. "I mean, that works. We'll be turning it into powder, anyway." He said.
Magma stuck his tongue out. "See? I was right!" He mocked to Chrome.
"Magma...is helping...? What happened in that cave?" [Y/n] questioned, and Senku only responded with his usual chuckle.
"Gee, I don't know..." Senku muttered, and [Y/n] pouted a bit.
"Are we keeping secrets now, hmm?" [Y/n] teased, and Senku smirked. Then he turned to face her.
"Why did you kiss me?" Senku suddenly asked, and [Y/n] blushed, "That's a secret I really wanna know."
'Again with these questions? Why can't you figure it out?!' [Y/n] thought and fumbled with her fingers. She noticed Gen, signaling her from behind Senku, telling her to tell Senku that she loved him.
"I-I..." [Y/n] muttered while getting redder. She wanted to tell him the truth about everything, including her feelings for him, but nothing seemed to be coming out of her mouth, "It was a deal I made with Gen since he helped me convince everyone to help on the Observatory for your birthday." [Y/n] rambled the first thing that popped into her head.
Gen face-palmed.
Senku's eyes widened a bit then his eyes softened. Senku patted [Y/n]'s head and walked away.
[Y/n] watched as Senku walked to the laboratory. "Why did he look...so disappointed?" She muttered.
"[Y/n]-chan..." Gen said in disappointment while walking closer to her and placing his hands on her shoulders, "You shouldn't have told him that."
"Why?"
"Wh-?! You don't tell your crush the tricks your wingman is pulling! It's to bring you and him closer." Gen explained then sighed, "[Y/n]-chan, I say this with a lot of love, but, you're kind of dumb when it comes to love and relationships. You need to really think about what you want from Senku-chan. You can't show him affection one minute then try to avoid him the next. I know you were pretending to be asleep with Senku and I were talking."
[Y/n]'s eyes widened in shock.
"You know how Senku feels about you. It's only fair for him to know how you feel about him when you're ready." Gen continued and crossed his arms, "As of now, your wingman is off duty. It's your time now, [Y/n]-chan."
With that, Gen walked into the lab. Senku was standing there near the table, sulking a bit. "Was that your first kiss, Senku-chan?" Gen teased, and Senku sighed then ran his fingers through his hair.
"This is why love is so troublesome." Senku said and chuckled, "She has me sitting here, sulking, instead of doing something productive. She thought of it as a debt to be repaid."
"What did you think about it?" Gen asked.
Senku's eyes soften as he looked up at the ceiling. "I felt so many things in that simple kiss, and..." Senku said, softly, placing his fingers on his lips. He's been dreaming of the moment where he could hear [Y/n] say a simple 'I love you...', where he could kiss her whenever he wanted without thinking about the risk to their friendship.
Senku wanted to be loving dopes like Taiju and Yuzuriha, but... Senku didn't want to feel like he was trapping [Y/n] in an unwanted relationship. She admired him and respected him as far as Senku knew. But, there was a part of him. One tiny illogical part of him, giving him hope that [Y/n] did love him. However, the cons outweighed the pros in that aspect.
"It was the best damn feeling in the world." Senku finished.
"[Y/n]-chan sure has you whipped." Gen continued to tease Senku, "Wrapped around her little fingers."
Senku chuckled, "Yeah..."
Later that morning, Magma and Mantle were finished smashing all of the stones. "We're going to do chemistry stuff to this powdered blue rock to turn it into something resembling toothpaste." Senku said while looking at powder.
"We?" [Y/n] questioned.
"You and me, of course. Who else?" Senku said, and [Y/n]'s heart swelled with happiness. She thought Senku wouldn't want to spend time with her anymore because she hurt his feelings. [Y/n] blushed and smiled.
"Of course. We're a team." [Y/n] said, cheerfully. Senku smiled back at her.
Senku and [Y/n] began to collect the powder in little sacks. "Lastly, we're going to get rid of the rust of the toothpaste stuff using hydrogen, warm it up in a glass container, and it's done." Senku explained, "It needs at least 1,000 degrees. The hotter it is, the stronger the tungsten will be."
"So all we have to do is cook it." Kaseki said.
"Hey, it's actually pretty easy." Chrome said, and [Y/n] gave a deadpanned look while Senku looked at them in shock.
"What are you, stupid?" Senku questioned, "What would happen to a glass container if you threw it into a fire that's 1,000 degrees?"
Kaseki and Chrome thought for a moment about how that high of a temperature with melt the glass.
"We have to heat up only the tungsten toothpaste inside the glass container." [Y/n] informed.
"Then we need a heating mechanism with pinpoint accuracy. How do we do that?" Kaseki asked.
"We don't have time. Let's split up the work. [Y/n] and I will deal with the toothpaste-making chemistry stuff." Senku said.
"So who's making the pinpoint heating mechanism? Are there any other science users?" Chrome questioned, and [Y/n] and Senku looked at Chrome. It took Chrome a moment to realize it.
"Chrome, you know everything you need to make one from scratch. Throw all the science tricks you've learned at it." Senku said and chuckled, "Or do you need Senku-sensei and [Y/n]-sensei's help?"
Chrome smirked. "Don't make me laugh. I'm Chrome! I'm a smart-as-hell science user!" He announced.
Chrome and Senku high-fived. "Don't come crying to me for help at your lab." He said.
"Yeah, we got the lab stuff. I'm leaving you in charge of the heating team." Senku said.
Kaseki stared longingly at the two. "You make me jealous." Kaseki said while sitting on top of the furnace, "You know, I've always loved making things, even as a kid. I made all sorts of things-bridges, shields-so that people wouldn't look at me funny. Thanks to that, I get to pretend I'm still in the game, even at this But to be honest, I can't help but I wish I had a maker buddy, too."
[Y/n] pouted. "What am I then?" She muttered, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, but you have three friends, Old Man Kaseki. Maker buddies." Chrome said.
"Three? Where?" Kaseki questioned, looking around.
Chrome pointed at himself and Senku while [Y/n] pointed at herself. "Right here." Chrome confirmed.
"I'm actually a bit hurt." [Y/n] muttered.
"Me? Even though I'm almost fifty years older than you?" Kaseki questioned.
[Y/n] smiled as she looked up at Kaseki. "We create things together, no matter the age, because we're maker buddies, Grandpa." [Y/n] said.
Kaseki began to tear up then he ripped out of his clothes. "What the hell?!" Kaseki and Chrome got to work.
"He's even more gung-ho than usual." Gen said.
Senku grabbed Gen by the back of his collar and grabbed [Y/n]'s hand, causing her to blush. "Come help us over here, modern man." Senku said to Gen, "You must know at least a little more chemistry than the villagers."
"I'm not so sure. Are you sure you want me being a third wheel here?" Gen questioned, nervously, while [Y/n]'s heart was going a million beats per minute. Her face was red.
Once they made it inside of the lab, Senku let them go and began putting chemicals together. "There's a ridiculous number of steps. I bet you won't get a millimeter of this, so I'll make it simple." Senku said to Gen, "Cook the blue gem powder in sodium hydroxide; use sea shells, hydrochloric acid, and ammonia to crystallize it; and then bake it and mix it with honey."
Gen had a carefree expression while he shrugged. "Okay! I understood all of that, Senku-chan." He said, cheerfully, "Honey! Bake it, and then honey. I got that much."
[Y/n] and Senku gave him a deadpanned look. "You're useless, Gen." [Y/n] muttered while Gen shrugged again.
"I'm not entirely useless." Gen said and smirked, "I'm somewhat of a romantic expert. A Love Guru, you could say." Senku and [Y/n] blushed and glared at him. Then they got back to work.
｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
It took all night, but the chemistry team made the Tungsten toothpaste. Gen could barely stand from the exhaustion while [Y/n] and Senku had bags under their eyes. "All right, it's done! Tungsten toothpaste!" Senku cheered. [Y/n] and Senku went outside to see how things were going.
"We're done, Chrome." [Y/n] announced as they walked closer to him.
"How are things on your side, heating team?" Senku asked.
Chrome wiped the sweat from his forehead. "We're just about done." Chrome said which impressed Senku.
"Not bad, science user." Senku said, and him and [Y/n] turned their attention to the weird contraption that was in front of them.
"What the hell is this all-of-the-above mega set?!" Senku yelled while [Y/n]'s face went blank.
"Senku, you were the one who said to throw everything at it." Chrome said with a proud smile.
"This isn't what I meant. This thing's ugly as hell." Senku said and chuckled, "Honestly, though, this might actually be the best solution. If the goal is for all of us to join together to raise the temperature..."
"We're going to make a long, thin blob of Tungsten toothpaste." Magma squeezed the pasted Tungsten out of the tube. "Zap water with electricity, and it'll produce hydrogen. That hydrogen, with a lot of heat, peels the rust right off the toothpaste..." Senku continued to explain.
"Here we go. Pinpoint heating..." Chrome cheered. "...to several thousand degrees!" The heating team cheered with him. [Y/n] was impressed by their teamwork. The toothpaste was heated into a filament which made [Y/n] smiled. "We have the most heat-resistant metal in the universe...A tungsten filament!" Senku announced.
"Now, we have everything we need." [Y/n] said, and Chrome nodded.
"Yeah! We're on our final sprint to making cell phones!" Chrome cheered.
"Let's get this done one step at a time." Kaseki said while winding up his arm, "Time to build the cell phone's heart, the vacuum tube."
"There's some slightly complicated glasswork we need done to finish that." Senku said while looking at the blueprint, "I don't know if you even can handle it, Old Man Kaseki."
Kaseki held up a glass instrument, proudly. "Oh, please. I made this ridiculously challenging, twisty thing before. It'll take more than that to scare me. Here, show me the blueprint." Kaseki took the sheet from Senku, and his eyes widened.
"It's called a Hickman pump. Its vacuum action is off the charts! A level ten billion vacuum pump!" Senku announced while [Y/n] and Gen gave Senku a deadpanned look.
"You sound like a vacuum cleaner commercial." Gen added.
"Vacuum tubes are made to remove as much air as possible. The prototype we built before was a simple level-one pump for light bulbs. It won't give us enough power." Senku explained.
"Where do I even begin? Is this even humanly possible?" Kaseki questioned.
"In our age, only super talented craftsmen-built Hickman pumps. Then again, this is a different age, so don't feel too bad, Kaseki-chan. It'll never work." Gen said, mockingly.
"Is that true?" Chrome whispered to Senku and [Y/n].
"Yeah, but why would the mentalist know that? He's just talking out of his ass to get Kaseki fired up." Senku said while [Y/n] nodded in agreement.
Kaseki hummed and chuckled. "I'm fine. I don't need your mental care. It's the complicated stuff that gets me fired up anyway. In exchange...." The old man said and looked at Senku, "I want to do the thing you did with Chrome the other day. Y'know...as maker buddies."
[Y/n]'s eyes softened as she watched Senku and Kaseki high-fived.
"Alright!" Kaseki cheered.
"You can handle the vacuum tube, Kaseki." Senku said, and Kaseki got to work.
"Hey, hey, Senku, I just noticed something..." Ginro whispered, "Old Man Kaseki's acting like a kid and all, but he's actually trying to lighten your burden a little."
[Y/n] gave a blank look. "I know that. What are you, stupid?" Senku questioned.
"S-Senku..." Senku turned to Suika. "Is there anything we kids can do?" Suika asked.
Senku's smiled a bit. "Yeah, you guys can handle the wire." He said and gave Suika a high-five. This made [Y/n] even softer as she followed Senku into the lab with Chrome and Gen. "Now the chemistry team can focus on making plastic." Senku said while grabbing some glass equipment.
"Yeah!" Chrome cheered, "Although I have no idea what this whatever-tic stuff is."
"Actually, that's the step on the road map that I was the most worried about. Can we even make plastic in this world? Isn't it, like, petroleum or something?" Gen questioned, and Kaseki grabbed him by the back of the collar.
"Come, Gen, you're with us. I'm going to work you to death in return for getting hyped up." Kaseki said and dragged him away. "You too, [Y/n]." Kaseki called over his shoulder.
[Y/n] smiled and nodded then turned to Senku. "I'm sorry, Senku. Will you be alright with only Chrome helping?" [Y/n] asked as she subconsciously held Senku's hands.
Senku blushed a bit. "S-Sure." He stuttered, and [Y/n] gave him a smile before catching up to Kaseki.
Chrome smirked, "You like her."
"Shut up." Senku said.
｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
"Huh? Zinc-Carbon batteries?" Gen muttered while looking at some blueprints, "Are we using batteries to finish the vacuum tubes?"
"The build instructions and materials are all there. We'll use the manganese we got in the caves." Senku said as he walked by.
"So, you want me to make them, right?" Gen asked and sighed.
"It's fairly simple, Gen." [Y/n] said and went to gather the materials in the shed. Once the materials were gathered, they set up shop in a heated hut. [Y/n] demonstrated how to make it. "Have you ever made an Onigiri...?" [Y/n] asked as she sat on her knees in front of the heater, and Gen gave her a confused look.
"Yes...?" He said, and [Y/n] nodded and pulled out a zinc sheet. "Zinc for seaweed." [Y/n] said while Gen followed her action. She placed the manganese inside of the zinc. "Manganese rice balls." Gen did it as well. [Y/n] used chopsticks to place the coal in the middle. Then glued the carbon on top. "There, a zinc-carbon battery." [Y/n] finished and showed him.
"Huh? It's already done. It wasn't that brutal at all!" Gen cheered as he stood up. They continued to make more until Senku popped his head in the door.
"We need 800 of those." Senku said with a smug grin.
"Huh?! Eight hundred?!" Gen yelled and fell on his knees. Gen only had three done compared to [Y/n]'s ten. "This is brutal!" He whined.
Ruri came in. "I'll help, of course." She said. The work was quicker when Ruri, Kinro, and Ginro came in to help. They couldn't help but notice [Y/n]'s sluggish expression as her work began to slow down. "Are you alright, [Y/n]-san?" Ruri asked, snapping [Y/n] out of her thoughts.
"Hm?" She hummed, and Ginro smirked.
"I think she's missing Senku already." He mocked.
"Ginro..." Kinro growled, but [Y/n] shook her head.
"It's not that at all. I'm a bit worried that I hurt Senku's feelings earlier..." [Y/n] muttered, "The truth is that I do love Senku very much. He's funny, considerate, and very attractive." [Y/n] blushed as she smiled, thinking about Senku.
Then she blinked, snapping out of her trace. "I-I'm sorry, I... don't remember where I was going with this." She muttered as her blush darkened. They laughed.
"Why couldn't you just tell him that?" Ruri asked.
[Y/n] sighed again. "For some odd reason, I get tongue-tied when I try speak to Senku about my feelings. Then I always end up saying things that I don't mean." She mumbled.
"[Y/n]-chan's terrible at speaking her feelings while Senku-chan's terrible at physical affection. What a perfect match." Gen said, sarcastically.
[Y/n] pouted. "It's difficult, Gen. I've never felt so strongly about a person before. It... still feels like it's just some odd dream that I'm having." [Y/n] said, "I'm afraid if I do confess my feelings for Senku, I'll wake up from this crazy dream, and I'll be back at square one."
Gen pinched [Y/n]'s cheeks. "Ow!" She whined.
"It's reality." Gen said and got back to work, "You have to tell him one day before your both old and clammy. I want to be the godfather of your children. With all of the hard work I'm doing, I think I deserve it."
[Y/n] blushed while Kinro, Ginro, and Ruri laughed. "It's not funny." [Y/n] whined. Little did they know, the man that they were talking about overheard the whole conversation. He chuckled and slipped away, unnoticed.
｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
Thanks to all of the hard work from everyone, the cell phone was done. "It's the birth of the cell phone!" Senku announced.
"Yeah, baby!" Chrome cheered.
[Y/n] stared at it in awe. In big white letters, it said S[Y]'s cell phone. It was a reminder that she and Senku would always be a team. It almost brought [Y/n] to tears out of happiness.
"We managed to finish before spring." Senku muttered, and [Y/n] nodded.
"And the battle's only beginning." [Y/n] said.
"This is exhilarating." Senku said with a smirk.