It was one of your favourite spring memories with Senku.
"What's wrong, Yuzuriha?! Who made you cry?"
You snapped out of your trip down memory lane when you heard Taiju's loud voice covered in concern and turned to see the brunette shaking his head left and right, trying to locate the culprit before pointing to himself. "Was it me?!"
"No, I'm not crying!" Yuzuriha denied, yet her tears kept falling. "I mean, it's not that I'm not crying...But it's not like that, Taiju-kun."
Taiju blinked his eyes in confusion, unable to react. Yuzuriha gazed up at the statue once more, her voice filled with wistfulness. "I just woke up today, and nothing feels real right now. But seeing the Great Buddha of Kamakura made me realize we really are in Japan. It really has been thousands of years...I started thinking about my mom and dad, and everyone else..."
A tear fell when you closed your eyes, clasping your hands over your chest where your heart laid as the memory from before surfaced once more and agreed with what your friend said.
Suddenly, you felt a gentle hand on your head, fingers threading themselves through (h/c) strands. You didn't have to look to know who it was because this was his way of showing comfort whenever you needed it.
"Why are you being so melodramatic too? It's just a statue." Senku grumbled. "Don't tell me you're going to cry every time we come across one."
Chuckling, you opened your eyes and wiped away the lingering tears. A gentle smile shaped your lips as you watched the swirling petals danced in the air, saying, "For me, it wasn't the statue but rather the cherry blossoms. Being surrounded by so many just brought me back to the past where I always dragged you out of your room to witness the beautiful scene with me."
Senku definitely remembered those days clearly in his mind. "You were so annoying, always disrupting me in the middle of my science experiments."
You giggled at those fond memories. "Well, I don't regret doing so."
The scientist clicked his tongue, but he didn't deny nor confirm. Instead, he thought back to one particular memory.
Senku watched with bated breath as you twirled underneath the large tree, laughter escaping like bells chiming, so clear, so bright that it stole his breath away.
It was too much for him, seeing the (h/c)-haired girl in this new light. So, he glanced away with folded arms and grumbled, "This is a waste of my time. We see the same thing every single year. I'm going back."
Without waiting for a reply, he turned on his heels and made his way home.
"Senku!" You whined but didn't force him to stay as you chased after him until the two of you were walking side by side.
Despite the young scientist thinking that cherry blossoms looked the same each season, he couldn't help but found this year's one to be more breath-taking than the previous years because you were there to share it with him.
He definitely didn't regret coming along with you.
Senku came back to the present and decided that was enough reminiscing for the day as they had to keep going before Tsukasa caught up with them.
He broke the silence with his chuckles. "There's nothing to worry about. We're about to beat Tsukasa and save all of humanity."
You piped in with a nod of agreement, grinning confidently. "Yeap! We'll definitely save everyone without a doubt!"
"They're right, Yuzuriha!" Taiju beamed before running a few steps ahead and gesturing to the giant statue. "And the Great Buddha just told us the way! He's stood for thousands of years without falling apart. He really is a god! Wait, a Buddha? Well, anyway, something like that!"
He let out a burst of boisterous laughter, both hands placed on his hips and the comical sight earned giggles from both you and Yuzuriha.
While Taiju was the idealist in this situation, Senku, without a doubt, was the realist. "Well, yeah, they made the Buddha out of bronze. Scientifically, it just doesn't rot."
"Look!" Taiju declared, standing at the foot of the statue with arms extended to the side, showing his point. "There's absolutely no foliage around the Buddha! It's like he made it so we could find him easily!"
"Well, yeah, it's leaking copper ions like crazy." Senku continued from a logical point of view. "It's just poisonous to most plants."
Then, a lightbulb went off in his head.
"That's it! Bronze!" The scientist hit palm in realization. "We can use it to make mirrors! Time to upgrade my trash sextant!"
The scientist announced and aimed straight for the statue where he whipped out a stone axe, ready to hack away and get his hands on some of those mentioned bronze. "I'll just help myself to some of this!"
"Stop!" Taiju cried and ran down to stop Senku who was cackling like a mad scientist. "You blasphemous bastard! It's a Great Buddha!"
"Shut, up, simpleton! Go away!"
The remaining two girls exchanged startled looks before bursting into giggles at the sight, knowing that it couldn't be helped.
Time skipped
After a well-rested night, the four packed up, left their overnight camp and set off for the day, continuing their travel to Hakone in search of materials to build the weapon needed to defeat Tsukasa.
The sun was hanging high overhead, beating down on everyone's back when they arrived at a river. They quickly got to work and made a simple raft to carry them and their belongings down the waterway.
"That giant body's actually struggling for once, huh?" Senku teased as he watched Taiju pulled the raft through the waters while everyone helped in rowing.
"I'm barely fine! I'm just tall enough, I mean!" Taiju huffed as he kept going. "I still have plenty of energy, though! Not to worry!"
"You're the best, Taiju!" You smiled at the brunette, grateful for his hard work before turning to Senku who had stopped rowing just so he could poke fun at his friend, furrowing your brows in disapproval. "And you, stop making fun of Taiju and stick to your rowing!"
Senku rolled his eyes and grunted in complain, but eventually listened when you wouldn't stop glaring at him. Satisfied, you picked up on your rowing as well.
The next few minutes were filled with a peaceful silence as Taiju kept pulling and wading through the waters while everyone else tried to take some work off him by rowing, but honestly, it wasn't really helping much.
Then, the brunette noticed something.
"Yuzuriha, your toe's still petrified." His gaze was fixated on the part of her feet still covered in a layer of stone.
"Yeah, it does sort of get in the way, but I guess it's okay," Yuzuriha assured, not wanting to create trouble for anyone over a minor issue.
"It's not oka—" Taiju wasn't able to finish his sentence when suddenly, he went underwater.
"Taiju-kun!" Yuzuriha called out worryingly while Senku just laughed like the bad friend that he was which earned another pointed glare from you.
His head popped back up and he waved off Yuzuriha's concerned gaze. "I'm fine! Just slip on some rocks."
After that small incident, the rest of the journey went smoothly and before long, they arrived on land. However, before they continued travelling, Taiju insisted on removing the stone around Yuzuriha's toes to make walking more comfortable for her.
"That's cold!" The teen flinched as Taiju poured the revival fluid over her petrified toes. "Hey, the pain's going away, too."
"The revival fluid has rejuvenating properties, too?" Taiju stared at the small jar in awe.
"No, it doesn't," Senku answered, cracking his neck which you noticed had become a new habit of his. "It's just that the small cracks get mended when the petrification is reversed. Haven't you noticed we're still alive even though our faces are cracked?"
As he said this, he pointed to the crack above his left eye.
"That's true." You hummed in agreement, feeling at the crack on your face with Taiju doing the same while Yuzuriha simply looked on in curiosity since hers was located on both her upper arms in a spiral pattern.
"Let head to our goal," Senku announced then added with a smirk. "If you want to take a bath in actual rejuvenating fluid."
(E/C) eyes widened in realization as they stare at the scientist in excitement. "When you say the goal in Hakone, do you mean..."
Both Taiju and Yuzuriha caught on as well, eager grins shaping their lips as their eyes sparkled like yours.
With that, the four of you continued your journey westward towards where Hakone's famous hot springs were located.
***
"We made it to the goal!" Taiju cheered, jumping side to side in victory as the group came to a stop in front of a large waterbody with hot steam rising into the air. "Hot springs!"
By the time everyone had arrived at their destination, the sun had already begun to set and the horizon was painted in streaks of purple and orange with the first few signs of stars appearing.
"Wow..." Yuzuriha exclaimed in wonder as she surveyed the surrounding before her eyes landed on Japan's past famous volcano in the far distance. "There's a great view of Mount Fuji, too.
You smiled with delight, agreeing with your friend. "It is really an awesome view from up here!"
Senku, who was gasping for air from the hike up to the hot springs, reminded the group. "You three better not have forgotten why we came all this way."
"So what's this 'weapon of science'?" Taiju questioned as he glanced back to the scientist.
Senku grinned as he replied, "The greatest invention in human history..."
"Smartphones?!" Taiju was quick to guess.
"You sure love your smartphone. No." Senku held out a hand and motioned holding a gun. "Guns. We're making gunpowder. The stone age was two million years ago. And gunpowder was invented just recently, around 700 AD. Basically, we're about to warp 1,998,700 years ahead in civilization."
"This is exhilarating." He finished off with his trademark smirk, red orbs glinting with confidence in the evening sun.
Taking out a pickaxe, Senku began to pick away at the rocks surrounding the hot springs. "Thankfully, Japan is full of volcanoes. Go to any hot spring, and you have an all-you-can-carry bargain sale of sulphur, the main component of gunpowder."
The rest of you watched with widened eyes as he scooped up a pile of yellow powder and closed his hand around it, holding up in front of him. "It's the birth of our ultimate anti-Tsukasa weapon: black powder."
Time skipped
Soon, night fell and the sky was dusted with stars of faraway planets imaginable to mankind. Yuzuriha and Taiju had decided to take a dip in one of the smaller hot springs in the area, washing away the weariness of their bodies after having travelled for two days.
Not too far from where they were, sat their two other friends. Senku was in his own world. giggling like a madman as he collected more sulphur despite he already had a bag full of the yellow powder.
Meanwhile, you were sitting a bit farther away and gazing up into the Milky Way, not wanting to intrude on the couple's conversation. Even though you couldn't hear what they were saying, you still had an inkling of what they were talking about.
It brought a small smile onto your face when you thought back to that fateful day, watching the two of them standing under the camphor tree in your school backyard. You remembered admiring Taiju's courage when he burst into the science lab declaring he was going to finally confess to his crush of five years.
That felt like a lifetime ago and in a way, it really did.
You brought your knees to your chest, wrapping your arms around them as you rested your chin on your kneecaps and wondered would you ever plucked up the courage to be in that position.
A wistful sigh escaped your lips at the thought of it.
"What are you thinking about now?" A familiar gruff voice piped up from beside you.
"Senku!" You blinked in surprise and slid your gaze over to where Senku had settled down, his shoulder about an inch away from yours. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough that you didn't hear me coming over." He grumbled and glanced over to meet your stare. "So, what's on your mind?"
You hummed and moved your eyes away from him, looking to the vast space once more. "That's so unlike of you, Senku. Asking about me."
"The sulphur fumes must've gotten to my head." The scientist clicked his tongue, shifting his focus onto the stars twinkling above him too.
You chuckled but otherwise said nothing else and Senku stopped asking. The two of you sat in silence, enjoying each other's presence and a shared pastime; stargazing.
Ever since you became friends with Senku back in the first year of middle school, you had also come to love space like he did, wanting to help him achieved his dream of going there someday.
You were the first to break the stillness. "Ne, Senku. Do you think there is a point in achieving our dreams that are centre around the modern world anymore?"
"Huh? What kind of question is that?" Senku snorted, but then he quietened down and gave a more definitive answer. "I'm still going to space no matter what anyone says. Even if it'll take me forever to get there."
When you looked over, you saw red burning with passion for the things he loved most: science and space.
"Have you found it?" Senku asked, his eyes staring into yours. "The answer to whatever question was in your mind."
(E/C) eyes widened slightly in surprise before the edges softened with endearment directed at the one you loved even if he didn't know it. However, that was going to change; not now, but definitely someday.
"Thank you, Senku." You whispered and closed the remaining gap between both of you, laying your head on his left shoulder.
In a rare moment for Senku, he leaned his head against yours and his left hand found your right one, loosely interlocking his pinkie finger with yours in a gesture of a silent promise in helping one another to achieve their dreams in this new world.
"You're welcome."
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