1. A Stone World
Aug. 11, 2022
A/N: This will mainly follow the manga. I was also convinced to publish this despite not having many chapters written.
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Walking down the hall, you wave goodbye to your classmates and friends. You had finished talking to your kenjutsu instructor, so you were quickly headed toward your other club room.
"Sorry, I'm late," you bow a little bit and apologize as you slide the entrance of your classroom open.
"Yo, slowpoke. I thought you would come right after your other club was over. You said you wanted to assist me."
You looked up and saw your best friend in his lab coat, doing a science experiment on a machine as he was waiting for you. You waved hello at the other students in the classroom as you walked up to him.
"I was going to come right away, but shishou wanted to talk to me about something, Senku," you explained, "and I thought I already told you to stop calling me that."
The boy smirked, and he looked straight at you with those red, determined eyes of his. "I'm ten billion percent sure that she was moving you up a grade in kenjutsu, (Y/N)."
Smiling, you replied, "Ah, you're right again~. I requested using a katana instead of the wooden stick."
"As expected from the rising prodigy. Also, the name fits because you're a little slow like the Pokémon," he quickly added with a slight snicker.
You rolled your eyes. You admit that you're not as intelligent and don't memorize names and equations like Senku does. However, you enjoy science, and your intuition helps you figure things out since it's hard for you to understand every single thing. So, whatever he needed, you would get for him, even if he didn't tell you. You were his little assistant, by his words.
You set your stuff down on a nearby table and rolled your sleeves up. Senku handed you some latex gloves and began working on the chemicals with the machine. As the both of you were working together, you heard the door slam open.
"SENKU, (Y/N)! I have some news to tell you!" A loud voice cried out.
You turned around and saw your other friend, Oki Taiju, standing at the door, all sweaty and determined. Senku looked quite annoyed at the fact that his work was disturbed.
"Listen up, Senku, (Y/N)! There is no stopping me now, and it has to be today! After having feelings for Yuzuriha for five long years, I'm finally going confess my love!" Taiju announced. It sounded as though it came from deep within his heart.
You smiled and clapped, "Oh, congratulations, Taiju!"
Senku turned around to face him. He did not look amused. "Interesting...very interesting. I'll be cheering for you so hard from the lab that my vocal cords will snap."
"Thank you, (Y/N)! Thank you, Senku!" he happily thanked the both of you.
"Shut up. I won't cheer even one millimeter for you, you big oaf," Senku told him.
"Senku, don't be so mean to him," you slightly scolded the green-haired boy.
Confused, Taiju asked, "Wait, so which one is it?!"
"What?" Senku looked at you, then rolled his eyes towards the love-struck teenager. "A fool who takes five long years to say anything is the epitome of absurdity."
"Huh? I could say the same about you!" Taiju retorted. You raised an eyebrow, confused as you were.
Senku furrowed his eyebrows then clicked his tongue. "A brain full of love is most illogical. However, science knows that it has all my love."
He turned towards you and pointed at the flask filled with liquid that you were closest to. You handed it to him, and he began to show his evil smile. "Allow me to give you a method so rationale that it'll kill you. It will send your pheromone production to overdrive. It is basically a love potion! Your success is ten billion percent assured if you drink this!"
He handed it to Taiju. The boy took one good look at the chemical flask in his hands and then dumped it in a nearby sink.
"Thanks, but no thanks, Senku! I can't go cheat my way into her heart!" he proclaimed, then quickly barged out of the classroom to meet with his love and your friend, Ogawa Yuzuriha.
"Was it really a love potion, Senku?" A curious student asked, his face blushing a little.
You walked towards the sink and grabbed the empty glassware. You looked inside it, then slightly wafted the smell up to your nose using your hand.
"This is gasoline," you shared with the students. They were shocked to hear that from you.
"Correct. Ten billion points to you, (Y/N). We produced it from plastic bottle caps," Senku explained. He grinned as he continued, "Think about the structure of polyethylene, you fools! It's merely long gasoline molecules cut up by a few hydrocarbons, simple enough to understand!"
None of the other students understood. You nervously chuckled, "If Taiju had drunk it, he would've died, huh?"
Senku gave you a confident smile. "I was ten billion percent sure he wouldn't drink if. You should know that too, slowpoke. He's an honest fool."
You lightly laughed, "I know, I know~."
You and Senku cleaned up the classroom and desks and walked out into the hall together. Your classmates looked out the window to see Taiju and Yuzuriha already by the giant camphor tree next to the school. Senku walked towards the nearest vending machine to get himself an energy drink while you waited by the window to watch the confession unfold.
"I bet you a hundred yen that he's getting rejected."
"Five hundred says she'll reject him."
"Put me down for a hundred."
You rolled your eyes and sighed as the other students made bets about the brunette's confession.
"Senku and I bet ten thousand she'll accept him," you blurted out.
Senku added, "Contrary to expectations."
The students were surprised, then continued watching closely through another window further down the hall, hoping that they weren't wrong about it. Senku approached you as you had leaned yourself over the open window.
"I cannot wait to see them finally going out! It's been so long since Taiju told us," you told Senku, staring at the two teenagers. "Love can be so amusing."
"And irrational," he replied to you as he took a sip from his drink.
You turned your head towards him and exclaimed, "But I thought your love was science!"
"Of course, it is! My love for it is strong. That is the only love I have that is not illogical."
Senku snickered as you gave him your cheeky grin but then looked out the window. His eyes grew wide with confusion, and he proceeded to step forward and pushed you behind him, most likely to get a better look. Wondering what was going on, you turned towards the direction he was looking at and saw a bright, green light coming over the horizon.
"Senku--"
You step forward and reach your hand out towards his lab coat. Then everything suddenly goes dark.
You couldn't move.
You couldn't speak.
You couldn't breathe.
I can't move. Did I pass out? What happened? Is Senku okay? Are Taiju and Yuzuriha alright?
Your head was full of questions and thoughts, so many that were full of worry and fear.
I need to hear or see something, anything. I need a sign that someone is with me...
Wake up.
Wake up.
WAKE UP.
...why...
You were slowly losing consciousness, falling into a deep sleep. It was challenging to stay awake.
Taiju...
Yuzuriha...
Senku...
You tried to stay conscious, hoping for something good to happen to free you from your frozen state.
Please save me...Senku...
⢠⢠⢠⢠â¢
Cracking sounds. Those were the first sounds you've heard in a while. You felt bits and pieces of something falling off of your face. You tried to open your eyes right away, but the massive ball of plasma in the sky had blinded you for a bit. You did, however, see a tint of something green and puffy below the blue sky, along with dots of red. A small, soft smile appeared on the being who was before you. You then felt yourself falling forward as your legs seemed to be stuck on something, only to be caught and pulled out.
"Welcome back to the living world, (Y/N). I'm sorry that I didn't help you sooner."
You felt a little dizzy and slowly opened your eyes. "Sen...ku...?"
Senku, holding you from underneath your arms, collapsed under your weight since he lacked any physical prowess. It managed to wake you up a bit more from the impact. Your eyes had managed to widen, vision clearing, tears slightly forming as to how bright it was outside. You let out a sigh, relieved that someone was with you and that you weren't alone anymore.
"Thank you for helping me, Senku," you quietly whispered as you slightly clung to him.
"You're fine now," the boy comforted you with a straight face. Then, he gave you a dead look. "Now get up. You're buck naked, slowpoke."
Eh?
You pushed yourself up with your arms and looked down. You were naked. On top of that, naked on top of Senku of all people. You quickly pushed yourself off of him, maybe a little too hard since you saw him wince in pain, and turned around as you crouched down to cover yourself with nearby leaves. You felt more pieces of stone fall off of your body every time you moved.
Embarrassed as you were, you questioned him with a shrill cry, "Why the hell didn't you say anything in the first place?!"
Senku stood up with his pinky in his ear; his eyes averted away from you. "This is a new world. Nobody is gonna care if you got a dick or whatever hanging out."
"I care, Senku!" You yelled at him, wiping the leftover tears that you had on your face. "Don't you have anything to give me so I can cover up?!"
He then proceeded to throw some cloth over your head. You took it off and saw that it was a short, sleeveless, cloth dress made of animal skin. It was sewn well enough, especially by the edges, but something is better than nothing. You quickly put it on. The sides of the dress were a little wider than your waist and made it feel like you were wearing a towel, so you got some string that Senku was holding and tied a ribbon around the core of the dress so it wouldn't feel so baggy and loose. You stood up, and then he threw something smaller over your head. You took it off to see that it was underwear. Blushing, you quickly slipped that on as well.
"Don't forget these, too." Senku tossed you a pair of shoes made from animal skin as well. There was string around the ankles to tighten it so it wouldn't fall off. You put them on and looked up at him when you were finished. "Okay, let's go and stay close."
You nodded and began to follow him as the two of you walked together. As you looked around the scenery, all you saw was lush green trees and fresh grass. The air was warm and a little humid. The sounds of cicadas buzzing surrounded you, and the smell of summer filled your nose when you took a deep breath. You looked behind you to see a cliff with trees growing out of it. What stuck out to you most was that there were so many stone statues of people lying all over the place, whether on top of the ground or inside it. Most had their body parts broken off, while a few had their entire body intact.
"What happened... after we saw that green light at the school?" You questioned your friend as you faced forward.
He replied with a sigh, "Everybody has somehow turned to stone. Three thousand seven hundred years had passed, and our modern world has been eroded and destroyed."
"Three thousand seven hundred years? You counted how long it's been?"
"Of course I did, (Y/N)! Date and time are ten billion percent important, especially at a time like this."
You raised an eyebrow. "What year is it?"
"5739. I've been awake for a little over a year now," Senku told you. "I was conscious the entire time, and I could've made myself wake up, but I needed to keep the date in check because if I woke up in the winter, it would've been game over for me."
You felt a little bad. "You were alone this whole time?"
"I was, but I got some help."
"'Help'?"
As the two of you walked down the river, you spotted a hut propped up on a tree with its large root and some poles supporting it from underneath and its side. There was a stand with hand-made spears leaning against it, along with uneven pots and a makeshift furnace underneath the hut. You also spotted a familiar someone carrying what looked to be a clay pot around the hut.
You squinted your eyes to get a better look. "Is that...Taiju?"
The figure turned to see both of you walking towards him. He carefully placed down the pottery and began running in your direction.
"(Y/N)!" he exclaimed with his arms open wide. You opened your arms out as well, and he took you and Senku into a massive bear hug. "You're okay! I'm so glad to see you!"
"Haha, hello Taiju! It's good to see you too," you let out a small giggle.
Senku pushed Taiju's face and cried out, "Put us down, you big oaf!"
As Taiju put the both of you down, the leek-haired boy faced you. "I've been waiting for you for a long time because I was ten billion percent sure that you were still alive. I just needed the time and effort to make sure you were okay."
You felt a warmth grow in your chest and slowly smiled. You were right to believe that Senku would save you.
"Listen, it took about two million years for humanity to transition from the Stone Age to modernity. We're gonna jumpstart the process and take back this world," Senku vowed.
"Last year and up until today, Senku and I were the Adam and Eve of this world, though I don't understand how it worked!" Taiju professed.
"Is that a metaphor?" You pondered. Senku placed his hand against his face and sighed. You then asked, "Since the two of you were together, how did you revive me? How did you guys get revived?"
"For us, it was constant exposure to nitric acid. To make it short, we used it from bat dung and mixed it with distilled alcohol from grapes after a hundred and something experiments, then used that on you. We still have enough to revive another person," Senku informed you. "I let Taiju choose who he wanted to revive first, and he said you."
You pointed at yourself. "Me? Why not Yuzuriha?"
"Because we need more defense and science help, especially for Senku! But since we have enough, we can revive Yuzuriha, too!" Taiju happily exclaimed.
"Where is she?"
"In the opposite direction from where you were revived! We found you after gathering resources for food."
"Well, then let's go revive her! Speaking of food, I need to eat as well..."
-To be Continued-