"Now that I'm on your side, you'll never have shortage of prey again" Tsukasa affirmed as he grasped four ducks, while his other hand held a spear with stacked fishes, and behind him laid giant boars.

Taiga childishly whoa as if she could see what because she had covered her eyes to not look at his naked figure. Senku, who was next to Taiga, had his arms crossed disinterestedly beside Taiju who was already savoring their future meal.

———

"I see. So if you cook it immediately, you don't need a fridge to keep it from going bad" Taiju rephrased.

"I'm not cooking it" Senku's smooth voice explained. "I'm using the adehydes in the smoke to kill the microbes. To put it simply for you to understand, I'm smoking it"

"If Senku and I work together, we'll have plenty of preserved food." Tsukasa commented.

Taiga looked over wondering his choice of words. Senku and him. Yes...they were the kings of the chess table here in the stone world.

"Now we can take the first step towards civilization."

"We were still at step zero?!?!" Taiju yelled surprised.

Taiga raised her brows as she was surprised too. She grinned looking at the science boy until Taiju's concern voice emerge.

"Hey Tsukasa what's wrong?"

They all turned around to see him punch a rock into pieces with his bare hands. The impact caused air to swirl them. Taiga quivered, holding into Senku'a coat in a inclination. Subtly pulling it back in her instinct.

Senku widened his eyes in shock at Tsukasa's strength as he drew his hand across her to assure her of their safety.

The dust that created the fog soon revealed a young stoned female. "Sorry for startling you." Tsukasa mention as he carried the statue into a safer place "this person was placed under a rock"

"He really is a good guy!" Taiju yelled exited at the news .

Taiga smiled at Taiju's innocent ingenuity to trust immediately due to his kind heart. She turned to look at Senku who's focused angry face soon smirked as he chortle "He's a superhero at this point, huh?" He raised his hand, closing his eyes.

———

"Man, I'm full!" Taiju mentioned as he slapped his satisfied belly.

Taiga took a bite from the fish as she sat beside the genius who held his half bitten fish. Tsukasa calmly sat near Taiga as he smiled at Taiju's confidence to sprawl and at the tigress beside him who took carful bites to avoid the bones of the fish.

"Time for a fun quiz" Senku said "what the most important thing we need for a technological civilization? Ten billion points for the correct answer"

Taiju immediately grunted at the question as he found it difficult "HMMM. Technological civilization? The most important thing we need?" He repeated the question with his deep hoarse voice.

"Smartphones!" Taiju exclaimed as he pointed at Senku with complete enlightenment.

"Sure, smartphones!" Senku gave him a closed eye smiled as he spoke with cheer "smartphones would be nice to have, huh?"

"How many ten billion years ahead are you?!" Senku rebuked as he pointed at his friend.

"St- eel?" Tsukasa reluctantly asked.

"Steel, too, but that's later" Senku calmly replied. "There's something like useful"

"Calcium carbonate" Senku gave the answer.

"Of course!"

Taiga kept eating her fish having no idea of what the boys were speaking of. Steel? Calcium carbonate?...yeah not for her brain.

(Reference^)

"As always, I'm totally clueless!" Taiju cheerfully admitted.

Taiga sweat dropped "you're not the only one" she mutter in defeat.

Senku looked over at the bubble heads. "That's putting it in terms that a simple mind can understand"

Simple mind? She couldn't yet understand what the calcium carbonate was. It was like those times teachers explain and they say that that was the simple part of the subject and the whole class are like 'wt-'

"The stuff they use to chalk athletic fields" Senku explained it in simple terms.

Taiga innocently tilted her face, still not understanding. Her fish in her hands as she took small bites from it.

Tsukasa smiled at her curious face and looked at the enlightened Taiju.

Taiju again, all enlightened, pointed at Senku "so we're going to be looking for a gym storage room to get something-or- other carbonate!"

Senku eye-closed smiled "yeah, that's it na. A gym storage room na."

"IF ONLY THEY WERE ANY STILL NAA AROUND 3700 YEARS. NAAUH!" Senku exploded unable to believe his friends's nonsense

Taiga laughed at Senku's outburst that almost caused his eyes to pop out of anger and disbelief.

She quiet down, a smile plastered on her face as she turned to look at Tsukasa who was looking at her tenderly. She gave him a smile in a way to say 'I told you so'.

Senku looked over at Taiga and Tsukasa and he felt his heart shake. His brow pulled down immediately in a questioning look. He turned his head around to watch the ocean, the waves soothing in its continues path. Attempting to pull down the possible heartburn he was experiencing. That aching soreness around his chest down to his revolting stomach was a possible heartburn.

A from of indigestion felt as a burning sensation in the chest. Caused by acid regurgitation into the esophagus. In simple terms, a burning pain in the chest that usually occurs after eating. Commonly at night, and worsened by bending or laying down.

"You know the shells that have been so useful for trimming your hair, big oaf?" He leaned down and picked up a shell as he stood beside the tides "pulverized them into powder, and you have something-or-other carbonate stuff" He turned around extravagantly and showed them the shell.

"Allllllllright!!! Brawn duty, here I come!" Taiju only left them to see the dust as he drove himself to pull out shells.

Taiga stood up but Senku caught her skirt  "you got an injured leg"

"But...yeah" she murmured in defeat."oh"

The two boys looked at her, interested in what caught her attention. Following her gaze that focused on red marks.

"Don't be punching rocks or hard surfaces nonethelessly. You'll hurt your hand one of these days. And Dr. Stones already said we don't have the medications to fix one!" She pouted as she pointed towards Tsukasa's hand that had red scratches. Her hands were placed on the air to check them out, yet she didn't touch his hand. She hesitated and retrieved with a concern look.

"Don't worry. I am physically strong that simple scratches like this don't harm me" he placed his hand on her head as she smiled "you're too kind. You have always been caring for me and everyone else"

"I don't think so, Tsu-ka-sa-Chan~" she sang out leaving her childishness aside to truthfully smile at the giant.

Senku looked at them with slight irritation.

He turned his gaze away into the the ocean again, his stoic face taking over. Away from the tigress and Tsukasa who were kindly smiling at each other like two playful lovebirds that haven't seen each other in years. He keek over just to be met by a pair of eyes in the distance. His heart discreetly soothed in a manner he didn't even realize it was. The corner of his lips faltered up, and so did hers.

She played around with the shell in her hand as if she had never seen one. Senku observed her as he sat before her. Her profound intrigue eyes looking into the shell as she imitated Senku's actions of clamming them together like he did before he trimmed Taiju's beard.

She smiled at Senku again, with her innocent bubbly look that soon eased into her shy smiles she usually gave him. He smiled back as they both stared at each other in utter wonder.

She returned to her shell as she looked at the boys. Senku and Tsukasa staring each other with amigable smiles, the other one named Taiju working as he yelled 'shells' repeatedly.

———

They all left to sleep, Tsukasa on Taiga's bed, Taiju in his own and Taiga cuddled up with Senku. Taiju could remember Senku's smug face when Tsukasa got aware Taiga slept on his bed not only because of emergency accommodations, but for simple want.

Senku smirked as he introduced the room to new member of the science civilization.
"Same plan. You'll sleep on Taiga's bed today." He admired Tsukasa's doubted face as he laid down without another word of explanation, cuddling into the blankets Taiga had made.

"And Taiga?" Tsukasa asked as Taiju had already rested down on the last empty bed.

"With me" Senku calmly responded without even turning around.

There was a perplexed expression on Tsukasa's face as he watched Taiga carefully climb into the hammock without reluctance. "Taiga"

"Hm?"

"You can sleep on the bed. I don't want to disturb you by causing you to crowd yourself with a boy"

"Taiga-Chan has slept with him before." Taiju commented and then he quickly began to rephrase "NOT SLEEP! YES, SLEEP- just sleep not..not...not what you're thinking!" Taiju immediately blushed as he explained.

Taiga chuckle as her knees poke Senku's back, her upper half body turned around to see Tsukasa's brow lower in confusion.

"I appreciate it, but there is no need for you to sleep on the ground. I have slept with him before when times were hard and when Taiju didn't have his bed. He's completely respectful, and I have come to feel safe around him too" She smiled as she tuck herself in beside Senku. "Good night, guys"

"everything is good Tsukasa!" Taiju gave a thumbs up "they sleep together often! She even hugs him during night. When they wake up Taiga barley lets him out, and strangely enough Senku doesn't fight off. That's because he lik-"

"DAMARE stupid!"

Her hands secretly snaked themselves to grab the back Senku's coat in a way that it didn't create a bulge on the covers to not aware the boys. He subtly flinch at her touch.

"Gomenazai!" Taiju immediately yelled.

"Go to sleep already. You guys have tasks to do tomorrow." Senku grumpily mumbled.

———

"Nothing's as exhilarating as calcium carbonate" Senku stared at the packed powder. He turned around and placed four fingers up "there are four insanely useful ways to use it."

"First, agriculture. We use it to blow away all the hydrogen ions. In other words, it upgrades the soil. Second, construction. Cook it together with sand, and you have mortar. Mortar is basic cement. We can build huge furnaces and houses."

They all created a small garden. Taiga almost dying in the heat of the sun, where she seemed to be the only one that the sun affected the most. Senku knew she disliked the heat, her stamina decreasing overly, but she never gave up which Senku conveniently liked.

She continuously moved her hair aside, until she grabbed her bandana and tied it into a deform bun.

Taiju and Taiga covered their tree house in mortar. While Tsukasa gathered resources for them to survive and Senku conveniently watched them work with a smirk plastered into his face.

When the mortar ran out, he dragged Taiga away to help him.

Tsukasa then arrived with the meal, and she cheerfully greeted him back and took the small boars away to skin them as Tsukasa followed carrying the big ones, when Senku suggested her to help him skin them.

Senku smirked at Tsukasa to which he smiled back.

"This will keep us all fed up for a week at least." Tsukasa informed.

"Ten billion points for you!"

Taiga turned around giving two thumbs up, then turning around returning to her work.

They all set themselves to work. Tsukasa noticed how Senku turned around to glance at the girl who wiped her cheek to remove her hair out her face every so often.

"Done, Captain!"

"Ten billion point for you too"

"Yay-" she closed her eyes, her cheek rising as Senku wiped her cheek up with his thumb.

"You got dry blood on your face. Reminds me of the wild woman you are. Like a tiger"

"Oh" She was startled at his touch but her smile appeared "I didn't know heh"

Those days where the sun annoyed her, she always took the blanket away sprawling and caused her to deprive from sleep. She disliked the heat. That day being one of those causing her to throw the blanket into Senku as he grumpily stared wide awake, red-eye, at the wall due to the continuous worm beside him wiggling in discomfort.

Occasional murmured grunts knowing well Senku was awake, her hands clasping his coat, and then wiggling around again. Too hot to cuddle or hug, but her yearn calmed her down.

ANYWAYS. ———

"Third, soap. Gather sodium carbonate from seaweed, mix it with oil, and the reaction creates soap. Getting sick means game over in this world. This little chunk that keeps germs off us, is our doctor stone."

"Senku, you're an amazing man." 

His attention was caught with Tsukasa's words. Senku rubbed the soap in his hands as he sat crossed leg on the ground.

"In the moment I revived, too. You communicated the situation quickly and calmly. I've never seen anyone as clever as you. I admire you, truly."

As Tsukasa spoke, Taiga observed Senku's face subtly change. Senku's stoic look could be noted as normal, but the tigress could distinguish it's coldness as he stared at him down to strip him out his true intentions, in a similar way he had done with her in the past, but it off-beat from that time because he had not changed his expression even if he was faced with the person causing those changes.

She was so used to him, his reactions, his grunts, his smirked and smiles and eyes, she was able to perceive his change and very single movement that indicated it. But they were new reactions from him that she was surprise to witness.

His eyebrows had deepened so subtly it would be hard to notice to anyone else. He slightly bended down, his shoulder drooping in a tiny subtle movement as he furrowed his brows so vaguely. As if the predator were ready to attack if threaten, yet not wanting to cause a quarrel.

He blinked as he stared at Tsukasa, with his red dark crimson orbs that were obscured at the perfection by the landscape. His predator self attempting to decipher the truth.

She looked over at Tsukasa who stared at her with question as if he could sense Senku's change and attempted to get answers from her.

Senku continued to work as he dug out the calcium carbonate into a pot. "A man who praises a man to his face is full of ulterior motives. It's been that way for ten billion years."

"Oh dear" Tsukasa smiled as he turned to look at Senku again "I really didn't mean anything by it. I have a feeling you might be able to build modern civilization from scratch...Yes. That's all I wanted to say."

Senku's eyes stayed on Tsukasa as he had changed his gracious expression into a thoughtful, threatening one. Taiju came over breaking the tense area.

"Whew! So this is how you build civilization huh?"

"Yeah" Senku dug the powder out with the carved spoon like tool into the pot Taiga held. His stoic face staring at the dust fall into the pot "one step at a time. We're slowly, but surely approaching modern civilization." Senku tiredly spoke.

"So what's the fourth thing? You said there were four handy uses for seas shells" Taiju asked.

Senku stayed looking at Taiju for a brief moment. He then placed three fingers up. "No, three. Didn't I say three?" Senku gave a small gentle smiled.

Taiga looked away to evade Tsukasa's eyes that wanted to catch her gaze. Senku's smile was different. His voice and actions were distinct, like those days he is tired and worked for days. Small tired actions.

"Huh, did you?! Man, even my memory is screwy. HAHAHAHA"

Snores. Snores prevail from the male that yelled and expressed his emotions diligently. Taiju, the brown hair boy that had the stone scars on his eyes similar to the ones Senku had.

He was sprawled in his bed while Tsukasa slept on Taiga's. Senku slept beside Taiga who cling into his back like she always did, her grasp on the coat becoming