19. The Cure-All.
Mar. 4, 2023
A/N: Thank you for 3k reads and 250+ votes everyone (^з^)-â¡
I got sidetracked with writing the romantic scenes for this fic, and I almost forgot to write this one. But I can't wait for you guys to see them when it gets to that point. You'll probably get hints to what they are later on.
( ï¾âï¾)人(ï¾âï¾ )
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"So Senku is gonna get married now?!"
You were shocked beyond compare. You were hoping to see Chrome marry is first love, but not all things seem to go your way. Never did you think you'd see the day where Senku would get a wife, let alone a total looker. The feeling of jealousy slowly grew within you, little by little.
"I wanted to get married before him!" you groaned.
"That's what you're worried about?!" Kohaku questioned you.
"What are you talking about?" You raised an eyebrow.
She replied, "You're not worried about Senku marrying my sister?"
You shook your hands and scoffed, "Uh, no? He's never been in love nor does he have feelings for anyone, so why would I be worried?"
The blonde girl had squinted her eyes and was staring directly at you, making yourself a bit uncomfortable, as if she was trying to get you to admit something. But when you weren't budging, she waved it off. You let out a sigh of relief as she turned away.
"Ugh, this is so annoying. So you're telling me that if I marry Ruri, I get the entire village, no strings attached? Fine, I'll do it," Senku placed his hands on his hips while looking down at the woman. He then looked over to you, using his finger to beckon you to stand on his right side. "I will also appoint (Y/N) as my second in command."
You grinned as you went over to his side. The previous chief was not happy. He roared in anger, "You...Senku! (Y/N)! Where'd you two even come from?! An outsider can't be chief, nor the second in command!"
The scientist started picking his ear with his pinky, a confident smirk had grown on his face. "Well, well, well! If it ain't the former chief. I couldn't care one millimeter if you accept it or not!"
With the two chief's fighting, many of the villagers were split on the decision. Some believed in the previous chief, as outsiders were not allow a to become the leader of the village, while others believed that Senku had the right to become the new chief due to fate.
"There are no rules to which outsiders couldn't join, nor are there rules to where women couldn't join as well. You have to accept the fact that Senku won because he didn't break any of the rules, you old-school boomer!" You argued with the chief.
"Don't you dare speak to Chief Kokuyo like that!" The chief's previous righthand woman barked. "We will still follow him!"
"You can follow whoever you want, but it doesn't change the fact that I am chief! Now since I did win this thing, gimme all the damn booze you got!" Senku demanded with a greedy smile on his face.
Kaseki and Kohaku were pretty much done with everything going on. They thought Senku looked like one of those greedy drunkards when they ask for alcohol. The men of the village brought over large jugs if alcohol and set them down on the ground before the two of you.
"One of these is no good. It turned into straight vinegar," said one of the men.
"Don't toss it, I'll take that one too!" Senku hopped over to the pots.
Soon, you heard Ruri letting out exasperated coughs, blood following after. Kohaku went over to her side, fearing for the worst.
"The clock's ticking fast...there is no rest for the weary," said Senku.
"Then we gotta get out of here," you mentioned.
You picked up one of the jugs and tried to cross the bridge, but you were blocked by the villagers. "You can't leave now! In honor of the marriage, we will drink the night away!"
Senku put a pinky in his ear. "Is that so? Then I demand a divorce."
This left the entire village shocked. You immediately picked up the jug and ran the hell out of the village, with Senku dragging Kaseki with him and Kohaku carrying the rest of the alcohol.
"Kukuku! We earned a ton of alcohol and vinegar! There's no time to lose, Kingdom of Science citizens!" The scientist cackled as all of you ran.
"When did I become one of your citizens?!" Kaseki questioned him.
"The first day we met you!" You replied.
Kohaku called out to her sister, "Sorry, Ruri-nee! We'll explain everything later!"
All of you made it back to the warehouse and dropped off the alcohol. Kohaku left to grab Chrome and left him in the chemistry lab to let him rest for a bit. Once that was done, Senku had Kaseki create a spinning device to place under the waterfall that was at the end of the river.
"What's this? The water is making it spin?" asked Suika, who had joined your group. She didn't have her glasses, so it was difficult for her to navigate without getting up close and personal.
"Oho! Success on my first attempt, as expected. Are you charmed, young ladies?" Kaseki chuckled.
"Good going. My DIY projects usually require a few failures before taking off," Senku replied to his statement with a smirk.
"I'm not trying to charm you, Senku!"
Gen, who had joined your group after seeing you leave the village, asked, "What's this device for?"
"That's beyond me, I'm afraid," the old man replied.
The scientist then added before leaving, "Kuku, just look forward for tomorrow."
"Gen, could you please stick around with Kaseki to keep watch? The feeble man needs help," you snickered.
"But I wanna see you open your gift!" The mentalist complained, but Kaseki grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him.
"You're gonna leave a feeble old man to watch by his lonesome? You don't look like you have much to do around here, so help me out!" Kaseki kept pulling Gen towards him.
"I'd rather not, gramps."
Eventually, Gen ripped the old man's shirt off trying to pull himself away, but ended up seeing how incredibly ripped he was. The man whipped his head over to you with a frightened look on his face, causing you to laugh as you headed towards the lab with Senku.
"Chrome really needed a well-deserved rest after what happened during the Grand Bout," Kohaku sighed. "Senku isn't a devilish after all."
"I'm not so sure about that..." you told her, then pointed at the boy sticking two rods up the brunette's nose.
Senku cheered as Chrome shot himself awake. "WAKE UP AND SMELL THE AMMONIA, SCIENCE TEAM!"
"Yeah, he's the devil..." Kohaku and Suika stopped to stare.
"We just gotta combine all of our ingredients to finish, then our sulfomanide panacea will be completed by tomorrow!" The green-haired boy informed all of you.
All of you got to work. The first step was to get some coal, which was unfortunately gone because of the iron cooking sessions that happened previously. But the material that was really needed from the coal was the tar leftover in the furnace.
"Rinse it with hydrochloric acid and throw some ethyl acetate from alcohol and vinegar, and you get aniline!" Senku explained.
"Hold it! Slow down! I'm not getting any of this!" Chrome demanded. "That's just the first step? How many steps do we gotta get through by tomorrow?"
"Eh...about twenty-five, give or take..." he replied.
"Crap..."
And so the rest of you got to work. Whatever materials you needed outside of the lab and warehouse, you got it with Kohaku. Senku and Chrome, as well as Suika, were doing all the chemistry work inside.
"Slowpoke, I need your help over here," Senku called out to you as you came back with Kohaku with a large sponge. "You can set the sponge to the side. We're using that for filtration."
"What do you need help with?" You asked him.
"I need you to hold this pipe so we can add some vinegar to the seashells I burned. Suika is too small and I don't want her here for this," said Senku.
You gushed inside. You thought it was adorable that he was protecting her, even though it wasn't outright. As you grabbed the pipe and held it up, you then continued, "What happens next after this?"
"We'll use the sulfuric acid to extract glacial acetic, turn it into ketene with the pipe, then put it back to get acetic anhydride. After all that is done, we'll drip it into the aniline!" He enthusiastically explained you to.
You helped Senku and Chrome with the rest of the chemicals. Of course, everything was going extremely well due to the scientist's clear instructions. That is until you needed to drip the acetic anhydride into the aniline.
~~~
"Good morning! Oh Senku-chan, (Y/N)-chan~, whatever will we do with this carbonated water--EH?!"
It was the next day. You, Senku, and Chrome were passed out in the laboratory with shards of glass and pottery all over the floor. Parts of your clothing were singed off and dirty with leftover soot. Your eyes were sunken with dark circles underneath, as well as small pieces of debris had stuck to your head. Gen picked up a fragment of what was left over from the pottery to examine what happened to the three of you.
"An explosion? Another azy-cray experiment? What happened?" The mentalist wondered.
Senku got up first, you coming second. He told him what he had explained you to the day before, except he added the event of what happened, "Then we dripped the acetic anhydride into the aniline. But it was too much and too fast."
"Hence the damage in the lab," you added with a sigh and looked down. "My clothes are completely and officially ruined."
"That means you can open your surprise gift now!" Gen happily pointed out.
"I guess you're right."
You took the soft, wrapped gift from one of the shelves you put it on to keep it safe. Placing it on the table, you took your fingers and pulled the strings that held the cloth wrapping together to separate it. When you opened it up, you saw that it was a new pair of clothing. Except there was one thing about it that you instantly recognized.
"This is literally your outfit, but tailored for me," you told Gen with an annoyed look on your face.
(Artist: dcon_34 on Twitter)
He nodded joyfully. "Yup~! We can be twins! I even told Yuzuriha-chan to make you a matching overcoat with your favorite color~!"
"It's better than having no clothes, slowpoke," said Senku. "You can go change and join us after trying it on."
"Okay but don't do the fun stuff without me," you said with sarcasm lacing the words.
You left to put on your new clothes in the warehouse. After slipping on the clothes, you were actually satisfied by how comfortable it felt. Props to Yuzuriha for being a master seamstress. You could always rely on her for making comfy clothing, especially in a time like this. You hurriedly picked all of the remaining debris from your (H/C) hair, then went down the ladder to meet with Senku and everyone else. All of them were surrounding a pot with a beaker boiling in the middle.
"Oh my, (Y/N)-chan, you look great!" The mentalist went over to your side and pushed you towards everyone, specifically Senku. "Doesn't she look so cute~?"
"Wow, you look so pretty, (Y/N)!" Suika complimented you. She still didn't have her glasses, as she was squinting before you got closer to her.
"The outfit does suit you, despite looking like this man right here." Kohaku nodded with approval, Kaseki and Chrome following suit.
You then looked at Senku, who was staring at you the whole time. You noticed him look up and down, which made you nervous. You could feel Gen's mischievous grin growing behind you as well.
"You look good. Better than the clothes I made you, that's for sure," he stated bluntly.
You let out a sigh of relief, with a small hint of disappointment. You didn't know what you would've done if he said something else.
"Now then, you have finally joined for the final step. The last ingredient needed for this is carbonated water!" Senku informed you. He snatched the glass beaker from Gen's hands. "With carbonation, this means..."
"Yes, with carbonation--!" Gen was anticipating for Senku to continue.
"With carbonation, we get sodium bicarbonate by mixing it with sodium hydroxide!" The scientist finished, pouring all of the carbonated water into the larger beaker, leaving Gen disgruntled. He continued to pour something else into the concoction as well. "Then we finish it off by rinsing it with sodium bicarbonate, and we have sulfonamide, also known as sulfa drugs!"
Your eyes gleamed with delight. "That means our panacea is completely done!"
"Ten billion percent done!" Senku added with a grin. He took the drugs, which had turned into a powder, and put them in a glass petri dish.
Chrome then began cheering the most out of everybody. "WOOHOOOO! It's been a long and crappy six months!"
"But now...finally...Ruri-nee will..." Kohaku couldn't finish her sentence. Her voice was trembling, and her eyes began tearing up.
You grabbed her hand and spoke to her softly, "Don't cry yet, Kohaku. Save the tears for when we win against the disease."
She smiled, but then Senku interrupted with a coy grin, "Yeah, don't cry you fool. Wait until she's cured. Anyways, we'll head over there in a bit. I need to finish another project before heading over there. (Y/N), you follow me."
"Okay!"
The two of you headed into the laboratory alone, while the others were still cheering and talking among themselves. You then noticed two recognizable glass bottles sitting on the table, with ingredients sitting around them.
"No way, is that cola?" You were in disbelief.
"Yup. I made it with some of the carbonated water that the mentalist brought over," Senku told you.
You approached the table and examined the ingredients used. "I can see that you used a lime...and some caramel. Where'd you get the caramel?"
"I used honey and heated it. The leaves beside it are cilantro leaves. After mixing all the ingredients, I used a strainer to pour the carbonated water through it," he explained, then handed you one of the bottles. "Try it."
You took the drink from his hand, which was surprisingly cool to the touch. The slick glass was covered with evaporated water, and you noticed that he painted the words "Senku Cola" on the cloth surrounding the bottle. You opened the bottle and a whiff of the cola aroma reached your nose. You've smelled the scent of cola many times before, but this time, it felt so nostalgic and too good to be true. Placing the bottle against your lips, you drank some of the liquid and were delighted to find that it was a delicious, yet healthier version, of cola.
"This is so good!" You praised him and beamed. You tried giving him the other bottle. "You should try it, Senku!"
"I already did, but it wouldn't hurt to drink some more," he said, then snatched the drink out of your hands. With no hesitation, he downed some of the cola from the bottle you drank from. You widened your eyes as he drank nearly half of what was left over.
"Wha--why didn't you drink from the other one? Why from mine?" You were puzzled by his decision.
"Yours? That bottle was originally mine, slowpoke. Didn't you see that it wasn't filled to the top?" He snorted. "This second one here is for the mentalist!"
You slightly blushed at his statement. He deliberately gave you the almost full bottle, and you drank directly from it. That could only mean one thing.
An indirect kiss?! You shook your head. Senku doesn't believe in that stuff! Get your head out of the gutter!
"Now that you've tried it, let's get going. We gotta give Ruri that cure-all," the boy reminded you, dismissing your reaction.
You then nodded, putting the cap on the cola and having it rest in one of the pockets of your new clothes. You followed him out of the laboratory and began heading toward the village with the group. Gen was the only one who stopped by the bridge.
"Sadly, I remain barred from the village, unable to bear witness to the long-awaited administering of Ruri-chan's medicine," the man said, who was slightly disheartened.
"Kukuku, you get to hang by back in the lab like a loner," Senku chuckled.
"Poor Gen. He did so much work to help us. I feel sorry for him," said Suika, with a sad look on her face.
You patted her head. "Don't worry, Suika. There's a surprise for him waiting in the lab."
Right on cue, you heard Gen screaming with joy, causing all of you to sweat drop.
All of you reached the village, where Ruri and the villagers stayed, waiting in the middle of the arena. She was already sitting down on a cushioned chair, awaiting the drug that Kohaku had informed her about.
"Don't worry, Ruri! This medicine is the powder of life, born from stone. It's the cure-all of science, and it'll knock out your illness for sure!" Chrome told her.
You and Senku approached the woman, and the scientist put the drug on a leaf with a tipped end to help guide the medicine in her mouth. She consumed all of it with ease, and then the boy pulled a glass cup out from his bag. He immediately went over to her back and put the cup against her, with his ear on the other end, much to everyone's surprise. Ruri was also shocked by the sudden movement.
"Say 'eeeh' for me, would you?" Senku asked, covering his other ear with his hand.
"E-Eeeeh?" She hesitantly bleated.
You then noticed Senku furrowed his eyebrows, and he took a glance around the arena. Standing up, the boy gave you a small bag and tongs made out of sticks and rope. "(Y/N), I need you to get that dead mouse over there."
"What did you find after assessing her?"
"If I told you right here, right now, everybody might freak out."
You nodded. You picked up the dead mouse, and Senku made sure that everyone knew that you'd be back.
~~~
At the lab, Senku had already covered his face and hair with cloth to serve as a surgical mask and hair net. He placed the mouse in a glass tray on the table and took some supplies from the cabinets and shelves.
"And what are we going to with this mouse, Senku-chan?" Gen questioned the scientist. It was just you, Senku, Kohaku, and Gen in the laboratory.
"Are we eating it?" Kohaku questioned.
"You jumped to that conclusion real quick," you raised an eyebrow as you looked at her.
Kohaku crossed her arms."I don't eat mice..."
"Thank goodness." Both you and Gen let out a sigh of relief.
"Not usually."
"Oh...sometimes then..."
Senku chuckled. "Kukuku, they make for valuable sources of protein. But sadly, we're not here for a meal. This is an autopsy."
You all watched him cut open the mice to inspect its insides. You took a quick glance to notice that compared to the other organs, the lungs were highly inflamed and red. Senku then took the time to toss the mouse carefully and took his protective gear off. He cleaned his hands using the soap and a water jug thoroughly and walked out of the lab.
"Our culprit is some type of bacteria, and even a so-called panacea has its limits. If we're up against bacteria, there's nothing that's ten billion percent guaranteed to wipe it out," he informed all of you. "But if Ruri has tuberculosis, that is, if the enemy is tubercle bacillus...then no weapon we have stands a chance."
"Tuberculosis, huh..." you quietly mumbled.
"W-What kinda disease is tuberculosis?!" Chrome questioned the two of you.
"It's an infection that attacks the lungs...back in the day, it used to be called 'consumption', as many people thought that it was something eating you from the inside," you told him.
Senku added on, "It was so deadly, that 900 people per 100,000 population per year had died. There was no way to stop it before modern medicine."
This left both Kohaku and Chrome in shock. Even Gen was concerned with how the events may turn out. Soon enough, you all heard Suika calling out for help, running towards all of you with tears in her eyes.
"C-C-Come quick! Ruri-sama...!" She couldn't even finish her sentence when all of you hurriedly dashed towards the village.
When all of you entered the Chief's hut, Ruri was letting out violent coughs as she was lying down on the bed. The previous chief and his assistants, Jasper and Turquoise, were by her side, trying to comfort her and were in a panicked state.
"Ruri! Don't get up! Stay still and try to breathe slowly!" Kokuyo told her.
"In all my time watching over Ruri-sama, I've never seen her in such a state," said Jasper. "I fear for the worst!"
"She swallowed that strange white powder, and now this?! Like I said, the medicine was enchanted!" Turquoise cried out.
Senku's eyes widened, then he fell to his knees with his hands balled into a fist. Furious, Kokuyo saw the two of you and tried to grab you by the neck. The boy then pulled you out of the way, causing him to be caught.
"Senku!" "Father!" Both you and Kohaku called out to your respective people out of fear.
"Senku, (Y/N), if not for your dubious 'medicine', Ruri wouldn't have taken a turn for the worse!" Kokuyo bellowed out in fiery rage. It was understandable he was acting out, as his eldest daughter had suddenly gotten sicker.
"You might be right..." Senku looked up at the man, pushing his hand away.
"I knew it...!" The chief was visibly shaken with anger, he couldn't even grab him again.
The scientist began explaining, "The bacteria suddenly showing its true colors. It fills surrounding, harmless bacteria with its own poisonous genes while bolstering its own ranks. That's a streptococcus pneumoniae's trademark move...the name of Ruri's ailment is--"
"Pneumonia!" You blurted out. "That means...we can win!"
"Ten billion percent correct! Our sulfa drugs can slaughter streptococcus pneumoniae!" Senku smirked. He held up a fist with victory. "The enemy is all washed up now that we got its number. All that's left to do is pump the sulfa drugs into her!"
"There is no way in hell that I'll let you give your sorcerous poison to Ruri--!" Kokuyo was about to punch the boy, so you stood in front of him to try and block. Kohaku did the favor of blocking for you, as a loving father wouldn't punch the life out of his healthy child.
"Father, it's not sorcery, magic, or make-believe! Science is the culmination of humanity's knowledge. I believe in science, and I believe in Senku and (Y/N)!" Kohaku proclaimed.
Chrome butted in, "Heck yeah! Same goes for us!"
You and Senku watched Kinro, Ginro, Suika, and Kaseki agree. Even Jasper and Turquoise had given up, as their only option for Ruri's survival was to believe in you. You let out a sigh of relief, and saw how Senku looked grateful for all of them. Kokuyo noticed this, then calmed down. He agreed to let you continue the creation of the sulfa drugs to cure his child.
~~~
"Sheesh, I'm surprised Ruri even lived to eighteen. Staying clean and keeping warm, all of that slowed the disease's progression...and the water that Kohaku hauled from the hot spring every day protected her," said Senku.
"Even then, they used science to keep her safe," you told him with a smile as you stood next to him.
All of you, including Ruri, Kokuyo, Jasper, and Turquoise, had joined you for a walk in a field of flowers. The blonde woman was completely healed after taking all of the sulfa drugs, being able to walk and breathe with ease.
"Oh Ruri...!"
Kokuyo had tears welling up in his eyes, and he had fell to the ground and begun bawling out of joy and relief. Kohaku was also crying, knowing that her only sister was alive and well. Even though they were trying to hide it, Jasper and Turquoise, too, were weeping. Ruri went up to every single person to comfort them, letting them know that everything was alright.
"I don't remember how many years it's been since I've been able to run around or left the village!" Ruri beamed with enthusiasm, and started speeding around everywhere, leaving everyone shocked.
"Guess that rambunctious attitude runs in the family!" Kaseki chuckled.
Ruri ran all the way back to the village, and the rest of you followed. As you made it back, Kokuyo had gathered all of the villagers in the process and you were talking amongst yourselves in the arena. Standing between you and Senku, Kokuyo had grabbed each of your arms from the both of you and lifted them up high for them to see.
The man declared, "Everyone! From this day forward, this man known as Senku, and this woman known as (Y/N), is the new chief and second in command of Ishigami Village!"
"Ishigami..." Senku started as everyone roared with approval.
"...Village?" Your eyes were wide open as you finished his sentence.
Ruri came up from behind the both of you. Both of you stared directly at her as she spoke to you.
"That's right, Senku, (Y/N). I've known you both for a long time. Your name's are Ishigami Senku and (Y/N) (L/N)."
-To be Continued-
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this long chapter!
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