'W-What's going on?! A-Am I dead?!'

Your mind was in a panic mess, unable to think straight as darkness filled your vision. You could feel the fear thrumming through your veins, rendering you motionless as it took over your whole being.

You had never been afraid of the dark, not even when growing up as a kid. You believed, just like light, the inky blackness had its own beauty to it. Besides, it was never pitch dark as there would always be remnants of light if you looked hard enough.

When night fell, there would be the moon that bathed the earth in its silvery glow as millions of stars blanketed across the vast space. Likewise with the sun when it rose high in the sky, there would be pockets of shadows dancing here and there.

So, there was never a reason for you to be frightened by the darkness. However, the darkness that currently plunged all mankind was of total blackness, not a trace of light to be seen.

'I-I have to get out of this darkness!'

In desperation, you tried moving your body but you realized it couldn't move at all. Not one to give up, you wiggled your fingers and toes, shaking your head or even something as simple as blinking but it was fruitless.

'Is that it? Is this how I'm going to die? At a young age of 16 and turned to stone? I didn't even get to say goodbye to my loved ones.'

As your mind drowned in despair, you could feel your consciousness giving up and slowly began to ebb away, surrendering to this eternal darkness you were plagued with. Unshed tears welled up at the back of your eyes at such a sad way to go, your heart churning with regret for the one thing you didn't get to do.

'As I wither away with time, the only one thing I regret will be not telling Senku my feelings for him which I should've done so when I still had the chance. I guess the saying "You never know how precious something is until you've lost it" is true after all.'

You scoffed at the irony of it. As your conscious came to a standstill, your eyes fluttered shut and the last you remembered feeling was the overwhelming sadness washing over your heart as it beat for the last time.

'I'm sorry and I love you. Goodbye, Senku.'

...

(Name)!!

Your eyes flew wide open as you let out a huge gasp, your lungs inhaling large gulps of air as your heart went into overdrive in pumping blood constantly throughout your body.

The memory of Senku reaching out to you in desperation as he called out your name that echoed faintly in your ear flashed through your mind. You remembered the slight fear you saw in his eyes, afraid of losing you as his fingers barely brushed against yours like a flutter of butterfly wings.

At that moment, you felt like slapping yourself. How could you give up so easily when in that very last instant before darkness enveloped you, the only thing on Senku's mind was to reach for you so he could protect you from whatever harm the green light would befall upon you?

It wouldn't be fair to the scientist that even in the last few seconds of his life, it wasn't about him but you. For someone who was all about facts and figures, his action really showed that he cared more than he let on.

And you weren't going to let Senku's emotions go to waste just like that. In fact, you were going to prove him wrong that emotions weren't illogical and mattered as much as science did.

But first, you had to break out of this darkness and knowing your green-haired friend, he was already thinking and figuring how to get out whatever prison he was being encased in.

'I-I can't give up now! Not when Senku's waiting for me!'

No matter how long it would take – months, centuries or even millennia – you were going to fight with every last cell in your body even if it ended up killing you. Your only sole goal now was to get out of this eternal darkness.

'I can't give in to this darkness! I've to keep fighting until the day I'm free from it!'

The moment you broke free, you were going to tell Senku your feelings for sure this time around. You weren't going to make the same mistake twice.

'Wait for me, Senku! I'm coming for you!'

You weren't sure how much time had passed but it didn't matter since you couldn't tell being stuck in that black prison. Instead, you passed the time by playing all the memories you had created with Senku over and over like a never-ending movie which also helped in maintaining your consciousness all this time.

There were a few times you nearly slipped away and almost succumbed to the darkness, but then you would remember that memory of Senku before you were plunged into the very same darkness.

That memory was your beacon of light and encouragement to never lose hope. Finally, your efforts were paid off when you finally broke free from this seemingly endless darkness and saw the light again for the first time in forever.

***

"Ack!" You coughed as the first breath of fresh air rushed through your lungs and it had never tasted so sweet to you before after being stuck in that shell for so long.

After getting your breathing under control instead of gasping like a dying animal, you pushed yourself into an upright position and took a look around your surroundings. (E/C) eyes burnt with curiosity as you took in the sight of nature everywhere – not a single infrastructure in plain view.

'Just how long had it been since the day humans turned into stone that Mother Nature had completely taken over the earth once more, completely erasing any traces of humanity?'

Suddenly, something caught your attention from your peripheral vision. Glancing down to your side, you noticed what seemed like stone fragments lying on the grassy floor around you.

You picked up a piece and turned it left and right to take a better look at it, tilting your head to one side in wonderment. 'Stone fragments? Was this what I broke out of?'

Deciding you wouldn't find any answers by staying here, you got up from the ground and dusted off any remaining pieces of stone fragments still stuck to your naked body.

'W-Wait a moment! I'm naked?!' The idea of being butt naked sent a thought of panic through your mind.

With wide eyes, your gaze slowly slid down your body and sure enough, to your mortification, you were as naked as the day you were born.

"Ah!" You squealed in embarrassment and immediately squatted down to maintain some decency, your cheeks turning red at the thought of your private parts exposed for anyone to see.

Although, you weren't sure if there was any other human beside you.

Still hiding your naked body, you wrecked your brain for the next step on what you needed to do. Firstly, you need to secure some kind of coverage for your body before heading out to find a water source then scavenging for food.

It would do you no good if you ended up dying from starvation after just weeks of being free from your stone prison.

Once you had guaranteed your chance of survival in this new world, then would you begin searching for Senku or other humans who might have broken out, depending on which you stumbled across first.

You felt a surge of confidence welled up within you as a determined smile appeared on your face. Pushing down the urge to never get up from your current position since it would mean exposing your naked butt to the world, you began your journey in acquiring the first item on your list.

"Goddammit!" Your shout of frustration echoed throughout the forest, startling a few birds to take off into the air.

You were currently trying to gather some leaves that you could use to make your clothing until you found better materials. You thought it was going to be an easy feat because how hard could it be to find leaves when you were literally in the heart of nature.

Well, it looked like you were wrong because it was just your luck that it was currently too warm for the leaves to fall anytime soon.

It would have been no problem plucking those leaves off their branches if it wasn't for your short ass height. For the past ten minutes or so, you had been struggling just to get your hands on even one leaf.

No matter how high you jumped, you still weren't tall enough to reach even the lowest branch, the tip of your fingers barely brushing the leaves sitting on it.

"Stupid. Short. Ass. Height. Making. My. Life. Difficult!" You growled out in frustration and mentally cursed yourself for being so short, kicking the trunk of the tree at each word.

As though if you weren't having a hard time already at this survival thing, Mother Nature just had to be a b*tch and introduced a rock out of nowhere.

"OUCH!" You cried out in pain as your big toe came in contact with said rock, causing you to clutch it and hopped around on one foot.

Just then, a voice came from above you.

"If your clumsiness doesn't kill you first in this stone world, your loud ass voice will definitely be the death of you since the chances of predators lurking around are ten billion percent high."

"Eek!" You let out a scream, startled by the sudden voice since you weren't expecting another living soul besides yourself and whirled around to see who it belonged to.

Glancing up, (e/c) eyes widened at the familiar sight of a green onion-looking hairstyle that always defied gravity with red piercing eyes peering down into your own (e/c) eyes, the corners of his mouth lifted into the confident smirk he always wore.

Even after all these years, he still looked exactly how you remembered him to be, minus the two cracks on top of his inner eyebrows.

"What did I say about having a loud noise in this stone world?" Senku spoke up again and tears welled up in your eyes at the thought of being able to hear him once more.

"Senku," You laughed, wiping away the happy tears trickling down your cheeks. "It's been so long.

For a moment, those pair of red eyes that always held so much intellect softened into an unreadable emotion as he crooned in a low tone. "It has, hasn't it? Welcome back, (Name)."

Hearing the way your name sounded from his lips, it brought on a new wave of tears. For the first time in a long while, you felt the fear and hopelessness that had clung to you like a second skin finally faded away as a second chance of starting your life afresh was bestowed upon you.

There were a few minutes of silence, besides the sound of Mother Nature, as both of your minds caught up to all that happened.

Suddenly, a blew through the air, rustling the leaves and causing a shiver to crawl up your spine. You let out a sneeze, sniffling as you wrapped both your arms around your upper body and rubbed your hands up and down on the sides of your arms in an attempt to produce what little heat it could provide.

Senku noticed and a frown crept onto his face. There was a light thump as he leapt down from the tree he was standing on, trampling the grass beneath his feet as he made his way over to you.

"We need to get you into some clothes before you catch a cold which we really can't afford in this stone world which doesn't have the proper medication to treat it." His frown deepened as his gaze roamed over your body.

Starting with your face, red orbs followed the path of your eyes, nose and then mouth before trailing further down your neck where your stone markings rested just above your collarbone and finally the top of your bosoms coloured a healthy flush when it hit him.

You were naked which meant your most intimate parts were shown clear as day! Now, usually, Senku could care less about such trivial matters but even he couldn't deny that you were quite attractive when it came to the outer appearance.

Although, he would never admit that out loud, not even over his dead body.

So, no one could blame Senku as he simply stood there with wide eyes and resisted the temptation to slide his gaze downwards and look further than what was considered appropriate.

You could feel the scientist's stare burning holes through you, earning him a curious look from you which soon gave way to mortification when you noticed where his eyes were fixed upon, the apples of his cheeks dusted in light pink.

"Senku!" You screeched in horror and immediately resumed your crouch position from before, hiding your private areas from the eyes of your friend.

"H-Huh?" The green-haired male mumbled, blinking his eyes in confusion which was rare of him since he was never puzzled about anything.

"Stop staring at me while I'm naked, you pervert!" You cried as your face heat up in embarrassment for the second time since you realized you weren't clothed.

The word "naked" echoed in Senku's current empty head before realization dawned upon him and snapped him out of his trance. It was his turn to resemble a tomato as he quickly turned away, his back facing you.

"S-Sorry, I really didn't mean to stare." He stammered out an apology and ran his hand through his hair while mentally berating himself for committing a crime of sexual harassment even though it wasn't on purpose.

An awkward silence enveloped the two of you, feeling too flustered by the situation to bring yourselves to say anything. Suddenly, you felt another shiver wrecked your body, causing you to sneeze and broke the silence.

Remembering your current issue, Senku spoke up.

"J-Just—" The scientist paused and cleared his throat before continuing on. "Just wait here while I go and get you something to wear. I'll be right back."

Without even waiting for your reply, he simply hurried off in the direction of where his camp was to fetch you some clothes.

The moment you could no longer hear Senku's footsteps, you let out an embarrassed groan as your face suddenly felt so much hotter to the point you covered it with your hands.

"This is not how I imagine our reunion to turn out," You mumbled into your hands before letting out a muffled sigh.

Hopefully, by the time your friend returns with the promised clothing, both of you would shove this incident to the back of your minds where it would never see the light of day again.

Time skipped

"So," You dragged out the "o" as you tightened a piece of (f/c) cloth acting as a headpiece into your (h/l) hair, keeping any stray strands out of your face. "How long has it been since you broke free?"

"Hmm?" Senku hummed from beside you as he led the way to where he had set up camp. "I broke out three months before you. Today is July 5th, 5738."

"Eh?!" You came to a halt as Senku continued to trudge forward, (e/c) eyes blinking in disbelief. "You've been counting the entire time you were stuck in that stone prison?!"

Your green-haired friend paused in his footstep and threw an unamused look over his shoulder, replying in a deadpan tone. "How else am I supposed to stay conscious in that darkness?"

"Huh." You replied dumbly as the scientist clicked his tongue in annoyance and resumed his walk without even bothering to wait for you.

When he realized you were still glued to the same spot, he exclaimed in a loud voice to get your attention, not once looking back to make sure you would catch up to him. "I'm going to leave your slowpoke ass behind if you don't hurry up."

Snapping out of your daze, you quickened your pace to close up the gap. When you were walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Senku again, you turned to ask him. "If that's the case, then how many years have passed since that mysterious green light hits the earth?"

"It's been a good 3,700 years." He replied, his voice trailing off as silence enveloped both of you.

(E/C) orbs slowly widened in shock. '3,700 years?! I've been stuck in that darkness for 3,700 years?!'

"So, what did you do to manage your consciousness all this time seeing how you're alive and breathing next to me?" Senku asked in that disinterested tone of his whenever he was curious about something not related to science but didn't want to show it.

You smiled when your mind flashed back to that day in the science lab when Taiju burst into the room, claiming how he had made up his mind without even giving any context. A wave of nostalgia hit you, eyes softening with sadness at the reminder of how much time had flown by.

Glancing from the corner of his eyes, Senku noticed the droop in your shoulders as well as the faraway look in those (e/c) orbs, knowing you were probably reminiscing about a day from long ago before the Petrification.

For some unknown reason, he didn't like that look of sadness sitting across your face. His heart sat heavily in his chest, a feeling which he couldn't quite place his finger on welled up within him.

Senku didn't have the time to figure out what this foreign emotion was as he had other ten billion things that needed to be done for him to achieve his goal in this stone world. However, that didn't mean he wouldn't try bringing back the expression you always wore around him.

The one where whenever he gazed into those bright (e/c) orbs of yours, he would see a galaxy with its own charted stars and planets in it.

"Did you not hear a single word I just said?" Senku spoke up in a slightly irritated tone which drew you out of your thoughts.

"W-What?" You blinked and tried to recall what your friend said before you had zoned out. "Erm? Did you say something?"

The green-haired scientist let out a hopeless sigh, muttering about how he didn't have the energy to deal with this which earned him a sheepish smile from you.

Rubbing his forehead where he felt an oncoming headache, Senku sighed again as he repeated his question. "I ask how did you manage to maintain your consciousness the whole time?"

"Oh!" You exclaimed as understanding dawned upon you, a bright smile appeared as you answered him happily. "Easy! I was thinking about you and how you were waiting for me the whole time..."

You trailed off, your voice becoming softer and softer as what you had just revealed sank into your mind. Light pink dusted the apples of your cheekbones as (e/c) eyes widened in horror as they slid over to Senku to see his reaction, your heart skipped a beat in fear.

The scientist had come to a stop, his green hair and clothes swaying as a gust of wind blew through the air, sending stray leaves dancing before fluttering gently to the ground.

His back was facing you and it felt like time slowed down as he turned around to face you, each anticipating second sending your thoughts reeling. Your breath hitched as piercing red eyes bore into your (e/c) ones as though they were staring into the very core of your soul.

Your stomach churns with anxiety, your mind thinking all sort of excuses to throw out to avoid your feelings for Senku being found out by the said person. You might have come to a resolution to tell the green-haired scientist about it, however, you wanted to do it in your own way and time.

You were ready to silence Senku for good which was why you were taken aback by his response because it wasn't what you had expected at all.

"If you speak that softly, I can't hear what you're saying," Senku answered as he stuck a finger in his ear and dug around before removing said finger and brought it to eye level, red orbs squinting to see if there was anything on it.

Your jaw dropped wide open in surprise,