when Kohaku's father, Kokuyo, won in the Grand Bout. I went all-out when I made it. Gosh, that really takes me back..."

There was a warm smile on Kohaku's face as she recalled the memory of her father giving the shield to her at a young age. The action didn't go unnoticed by you and your lips curled into a small grin, thinking to yourself that the blonde must have a wonderful childhood while growing up.

Time skipped

"The construction is ridiculously advanced for the technology, so I had a feeling there must be a really good craftsman," Senku explained as he led Kaseki back to the science shed by the rope while everyone else followed behind. "But I never thought it'd be such a worn-out old fart."

"Senku!" You hissed; the corners of your lips curled into a disapproved frown as you reprimanded your friend. "Don't call Grandpa that. It's rude!"

Ignoring you, Senku turned to the old man with glimmering eyes and asked, "Is that awesome suspension bridge your handiwork, too?"

"Yeah, that's right," Kaseki answered without missing a beat. "And you had the gall to pull the planks out! I'm never going to help you..."

He trailed off when he noticed the failed glassware on the ground from the corners of his eyes and was taken aback by the sight of it. "Wh-What's this translucent stonework here?"

Unbeknownst to the old man, both Chrome and Senku were cackling in the background as an evil aura surrounded them; causing Suika to tremble in fear and you let out a small sigh, knowing that the duo was going to be up to no good again.

"You don't have to help us if you don't want to." The green-haired scientist picked up the iron rod used for glassblowing and dipped one end into the furnace where the remaining melted glass sat while declaring with his trademark smirk. "Just sit there and watch. You're going to love this, Kaseki. This is going to be ten billion percent exhilarating for you."

'I see. Heat makes it pliable and soft. It's like blubber.' Said old man thought to himself, remaining silent as he observed Chrome blowing into the iron rod; only for his mouth to widen in surprise when the melted glass began to expand. 'What ease of molding!'

"Crap, it's too thick again." Chrome frowned but didn't stop what he was doing and began to spin the iron rod.

It was obvious that the brunette was getting the technique all wrong and it was beginning to drive the experienced craftsman up the wall as he hopped up and down in frustration. "What are you doing?! Darn it!"

Meanwhile, Senku was grinning from ear to ear at the old man's reaction before going at it himself too. This time around, Kaseki's full attention was on the scientist, his eyes fixated on the iron rod. 'He's not spinning it steadily. He's never going to make a good vessel like that.'

Meanwhile, you and Suika were watching the entire thing from the sideline. Feeling confused by what was going on, Suika glanced up at you and asked, "(Name), what's happening?"

Chuckling at her puzzled expression, you explained to the young girl. "They're doing this to provoke Grandpa Kaseki since he refused to help them and for someone with years of experience under their belt, watching an amateur doing a poor job is torturing to his pride as a craftsman."

Just as you said that, Senku gave a knowing smirk and began to provoke the old man. "There's no way a man who's spent his whole life as a maker is going to stay put in front of something as drooltastic as glassblowing. Am I right, Old Man Kaseki?"

That was the final blow and Kaseki couldn't take the torture anymore as he gave in to the temptation.

"This is unbearable," The old man spoke through gritted teeth and using all his strength, he broke free from his rope prison to reveal a muscular body. "You got me good, damn it!"

"Eh?" Both Chrome and Senku were stupefied while you blinked in surprise, not expecting any of that to happen.

Snatching the iron rod out of Chrome's hand, Kaseki exclaimed with determination. "Let me handle this."

"Are you serious with those muscles?" Senku asked, dumbfounded while Chrome let out yells of disbelieving awe.

You, on the other hand, let out an impressive whistle. "Woah, now that wasn't what I was expecting."

The craftsman got to work as he dipped one end of the iron rod into the furnace before twirling the rod a few times and bringing the other end to his mouth where he began to blow while keeping a steady hand at spinning. Next, he grabbed a pair of tweezers and pressed it against the glass to make a flat bottom by rolling the rod back and forth on a thick branch. After that, he placed the rod back into the furnace to soften the glass once more so he could attach another iron rod to the flat bottom.

"Suika, water." He called out to the young girl who brought over a bamboo cup of water.

"Got it!" Suika exclaimed and poured the water over the end of the glass where the second rod was attached to which Kaseki broke off with a hit of the tweezers.

Then, he placed the glass back into the furnace again to heat it up once before taking it back out to form the neck.

Chrome, who was watching from the side, couldn't help but exclaimed in awe as he watched Kaseki work his magic. "Oh, man! Oh, damn! Isn't this your first time seeing glass?"

Smirking, Senku replied, "He's got far more years of craftwork experience."

The craftsman let out a satisfied chuckle at his finished handiwork, his voice filled with pride as he explained, "I've been a craftsman for fifty years, believe it or not. I'm kind of a big deal."

"Amazing..." You let out a breathless sound of awe, unable to feel anything other than respect for the old man.

There was a wistful look in those red eyes as Senku commented, "There are people like you in every age. Dudes with true talent, who've spent their whole lives with their heads down, dedicated to their work."

Upon hearing that, your lips stretched into a small, knowing smile as your gaze slid over to the green-haired scientist, thinking to yourself. 'You're the same, Senku. After all, it takes one to know one.'

***

The following day, thanks to Kaseki and his expertise in craftsmanship, the Kingdom of Science obtained a science lab filled with various types of glassware where Senku could work on his chemicals.

"Sweet!" Everyone let out loud cheers, their faces painted with wide grins.

You could feel the huge smile on your face threatening to break your cheeks as (e/c) eyes sparkled with excitement when you noticed the nostalgic look that the green-haired scientist was sporting.

Your face softened, knowing that the science lab must have reminded him of a memory from his childhood days where he received all sorts of science equipment from his father – that same feeling of joy rushing through him now.

Stepping up next to Senku, you slipped your smaller hand into his larger one and intertwined your fingers with his before giving it a tight squeeze. Your action caused the teen to snap out of his trip down memory lane as his gaze shifted over to meet yours, raising a questioning brow.

You simply leaned into his side and whispered so that it was only just between both of you. "You did it, Senku. I'm so proud of you."

The corners of his lips curled into a soft smile, red eyes softening with fondness as he tightened his hold on your hand and said, "No, you and I did it because, without you, I won't be where I am today. You're everything to me."

At those words, butterflies erupted in your chest as your heart skipped a beat while you felt your cheeks heating up. You couldn't stop smiling as you nodded your head in agreement, (e/c) eyes glittering with adoration in the morning sun.

"Mn, we did it, Senku."

Senku said nothing at first, his eyes lingered on your face as though searching for something within the depths of those (e/c) orbs before turning his head back to the science lab and said, "Yes, we did it."

The moment between the two of you lasted for a few more moments before it was interrupted by Chrome who mistook the wistful expression on the scientist's face for one of sadness.

"Hey, what's the matter, Senku?" The brunette complained, unsatisfied with the lack of response from said person. "We finally have a lab now! Show some joy!"

"Yeah, sure. Yippee." Senku sighed and let out of your hand before turning to Chrome with a smirk. "We're just at the dawn of chemistry. Things are starting to look pretty fancy here in our Kingdom of Science, chock full of attractions ten billion times more fun than Tsukasa Land."

After that, the group split up and everyone returned to what they were doing before, except for you and Senku who remained at the science lab.

"It's kind of spectacular, isn't it?" Chrome grinned, walking over to join both you and Senku who were observing the various activities taking place at the same time. "This Kingdom of Science is starting to heat up."

Chuckling, Senku said, "We've only made the bare essentials. We wouldn't get anywhere if we were missing any one of these."

Glancing over to both of you, the corners of his lips turned into a serious frown as the brown-haired teen asked, "Was the technology even crazier before the world collapsed?"

"Yeah," You replied with a small smile, thinking back to all the technology that ever existed in the world. "It took two million years to get there. And we're going to catch up and run past it."

Upon hearing that, the grin on Chrome's face widened as brown eyes sparkled with exhilaration.

Senku let out an amused chuckle and exchanged a knowing smirk with you as he added, "(Name)'s right and our first step is the cure-all sulfa drug."

Timed skipped

"Senku!"

At the sound of his name being called, the scientist stopped what he was doing and glanced up towards where you were running towards the science lab with a large grin stretched across your face, (e/c) eyes glimmering with eagerness while waving the glassware that you were holding in the air to get the male's attention.

You skidded to a halt in front of Senku and presented your hard work to your friend, the huge smile threatening to break your cheeks in half as you exclaimed proudly, "Look! I managed to make a perfect glass container by myself on my first attempt!"

Senku let out an amused chuckle at your excitement in wanting to show off your work to him, the corners of his lips stretched into a fond grin. Lifting a hand, he gently ruffled the top of your head and said, "As expected of my lab assistant, getting things right on your first try. Good job!"

Immediately, you felt your heartbeat stuttered for a few moments before picking up speed and racing at a hundred miles per hour while your cheeks heated up – as it always does whenever the scientist sprung his affection on you without so much of a warning and from out of nowhere.

Still blushing, you cast your gaze to the side, unable to take the searing pair of red eyes directed at you and mumbled, "Well, it's not like I did this all by myself. I've got a bit of help from Grandpa Kaseki since I'm a newbie at glassblowing."

"Of course," Senku agreed with a smirk. "But it's still amazing that you got it right on the first attempt considering you've no experience before this."

Your face suddenly felt so much hotter than before – unused to the scientist heaping praise after praise at you – so much that you had to cover it with both your hands while letting out a whine of complaint. "You need to stop doing this to me every single damn time. My heart can only take so much before I die from a heart attack."

Senku, on the other hand, was confused by your action and words; not understanding a single thing that you just said. However, before he questioned you about it, both of you were interrupted by a sudden small cough.

Lifting your face from where they were hidden behind your hands, both you and Senku turned your heads towards the sound where you were greeted by Kinro and Ginro who were trembling with unconcealed excitement.

"Huh?" Senku let out a dumbfounded sound after hearing the brothers' reasoning on why the scientist should dye the tips of their spears in gold and silver.

The two of you exchanged looks of doubt with each other before the green-haired scientist glanced over to Kohaku, who came over after realizing the other two weren't at the training grounds and asked in a low voice so that the conversation was just between the three of you. "I don't know anything about fighting. Is it trust that gold and silver spear will help them beat Magma?"

"I'm pretty sure they're just using that as an excuse to get you to give them what they want." You added bluntly, unimpressed by how obvious said idiots were being.

Kohaku gave a slight nod of agreement as she said, "Senku, to borrow your words, they ten billion percent just want gold and silver spears."

Despite being ignored and rejected many times over, Ginro refused to give up on getting a spear made in his name. Entering the lab, the blonde's gaze swept over the shelves of glassware as he continued to try and convinced Senku. "I mean, now that you have all this...glass, was it? And this amazing laboratory...I thought maybe you could make a silver spear, you know. And then taking down Magma will be easy-peasy."

Just as he finished speaking, Senku let out an amused chuckle and his lips stretched into a gleeful smirk as he played along with Ginro. "That's right. Now that we have glassware, we're going to have to suck it up and go get the most difficult material to obtain."

Everyone was confused by what the scientist said and watched with puzzled gazes as the teen walked away from the group. "All right. Let's break in this brand new laboratory by making a silver spear."

Upon hearing that, Kinro let out a loud cheer of celebration for things were finally going his way while Ginro's mouth dropped wide open in disbelief at how he wasn't getting a gold spear at all.

Grinning with glee, the blonde turned to his older brother who was still reeling with shock and began to tease him. "I'm sorry, Kinro. I have a way of becoming everyone's favorite."

"You aren't the slightest bit my favorite, idiot." Senku let out a scoff before glancing over his shoulders at the blonde, his lips curled into a sharp smirk that promised danger as he warned him. "This could literally cost you your life, Ginro."

His words caused Ginro to snap out of his happiness as he gave the green-haired teen a look of confusion.

A dark look fell over the scientist's face as he continued to speak in rhymes instead of providing a proper explanation as to what he had in mind. "We're off on a great adventure to find chemistry's greatest treasure. You'll be putting your life on the line in a maximum danger area. You could seriously die there in an instant."

After hearing that, all colours drained from Ginro's face as green eyes widened in fear and he wondered what he had just gotten himself into.